McConnell, DeMint, Burr, Bunning, Chambliss, Vitter, and Sessions:
Bush’s AIDS program has been described by many, including even his critics, as his greatest diplomatic and foreign policy success and has alleviated the suffering of millions. But now seven Republicans are calling a halt on an expansion of the program, “the best ambassador the U.S. has ever had”, because they’re scared about straight talk and direct action on the ways in which gay sex and drug use affect the spread of the disease.
The opposition is based on the bill promoting immoral behavior. Maybe some more wildly successful abstinence only is the way to go, because as we all know, if you just tell people not to screw around, they don’t.
Am I right, Senator Vitters?
*** Update ***
More win here, as we learn that Larry Craig and David Vitters are co-sponsors of a new Federal Marriage Amendment, just in time for the fall elections. Presumably there will be prohibitions against using high-priced call girls and engaging in anonymous gay sex in the bathroom, but who knows. Not to mention, given Republicans of late, they might not favor banning anonymous gay bathroom sex. I am not sure about this- “Save my marriage before I cheat again” doesn’t seem to have much of a rhetorical flourish to it, so they might want a better rallying cry for socially conservative issues.
By the way, do people still want to flame Obama for his comments in PA, in which he pointed out that the GOP fails to help people economically, so they cling to issues they can control?
South of I-10
As a proud citizen of the gret stet of Louisiana, let me be the first to say that Vitter is a complete moron. Thank goodness Vitter is there to set a fine moral example for the rest of us.
flitterbic
And, sadly – very, very sadly – the other Senator from my state is just as much a tool as is Chambliss. Nothing but a couple of knee-slapping, chaw-chewing yahoos.
They share a spittoon with our imbecilic “Pray for Rain” Governor.
jake
Yep. Saving lives is morally questionable, especially when said lives aren’t male, Caucasian & str8.
Let me guess, they’re all up for re-election and need to buff up their street cred among the knuckle draggers.
In other news, the Repubs have come up with a great plan to help us through these tough economic times. Push the MPA again!
RSA
What I want to know is how seven idiot Republican senators seem to have so much more power to stop the passage of bills than the same number of well-intentioned Democratic senators. What’s up with that?
Oh, also, the story is that seven senators sent a letter to McConnell; he wasn’t one of the seven, but Coburn (of course) was.
Brachiator
And teh gays, especially, aren’t supposed to have teh sex, anyway. And the Catholic Church, of course, has its “don’t do, don’t tell policy,” unless you are a priest.
This is another decision point for voters. Do you want policies based on the best available science and general knowledge, or do you want policies based on superstition, tradition, ignorance and narrow theological interpretations?
Garrigus Carraig
Gosh, I hope Senator Inhofe gets better soon. (Not really.)
DFD
Gotta love the smell of knee-deep hypocrisy in the morning. It’s simply astounding that any thinking individual listens to these shitheads much less votes for them.
Zifnab
Correction. If you tell people not to screw around, and they do, and they get AIDS (or pregnant or indicted on charges of prostitution or indecency), then its their own damn fault. Personal Responsibility*, bitches!
*Offer not valid in Minnesota bathrooms or Louisiana whorehouses.
Zifnab
Actually, you know what? If Reid could pull some political jujitsu and get this bill out of committee, then push the legislation out in front of the FISA amendment, then perhaps have one of the more liberal Senators throw a hold on it, then drag this thing out till November, that would be some pretty funny shit.
4tehlulz
I look forward to the day that Vitters and Bobby “The Castrator” Jindal are caught 69ing in a Louisiana whorehouse men’s room.
jake
You’ll regret that wish if teh press releases photos.
jrg
Leave it to the Republicans to block $50 billion dollars in humanitarian aid while there is a 2 trillion dollar war going on.
Why does business even give money to the Republicans, anyway? If I were running a pharmaceutical company that sold drugs to treat AIDS, the last thing I’d want would be an even bigger epidemic. An even bigger AIDS epidemic would be a potential PR disaster, could encourage socialization of treatment, and would create a much bigger incentive to copy AIDS drugs overseas.
These guys are not just evil, they are complete morons. How on earth the GOP convinces people to give them money is beyond me.
Ed Drone
Fixed.
Ed
Dennis - SGMM
I didn’t know that abolishing irony was part of the Republicans’ re-branding effort.
Napoleon
Totally off subject but about a week ago there was a discussion in a thread about apes, Nim Chimpsky and the like. I just saw this on Slate:
http://www.slatev.com/player.html?id=1630417590
w vincentz
Larry likes strange males, David likes ladies with STD’s.
So what?
At least the goats and sheep are safe, unless….
gbear
So are you claiming that sexual behaviors are ‘issues they can control’? Republicans? I’ll agree they’re clinging, but more likely to interns than to issues.
Joshua Norton
‘nd lo, a little pervert shall lead them. – Foley 13:20
w vincentz
Bring on the chimpanzees!
David Hunt
The guys in charge of the making those big money donations see it there interests.
Long Version: It’s been about ten years since I was getting my Masters in Finance and I haven’t really used it since as I’m in accounting, but I’ll give this a shot. On the corporate side, it’s very difficult to model the effects any change beyond a few years out. The most ambitious projects I was in while in college attempted to model effects five years out. Effects that occured further were pretty much ignored and discounting future events to their Present Value means that events in the near future are more important than events further out. This can lead to corporation being extremely short sighted, especially in times of higher interest rates. The persistent pressure on management to keep up the stock price at all times to keep some raider from coming in at staging a hostile takeover is, well, persistent. The first thing one of these raiders does is fire the old management. So the guys in charge are slaves to that system of valuation as that’s what the Market is using to evaluate their stock price. Vicious circle ensues as they will do all sorts of long-term-stupid shit to try to keep the stock price from going down this week. And we haven’t even touched the incentives to massage the numbers that are created by contingent bonuses that top management gets.
Short Version: Even though the decisions that the guys in charge of the corporations are going fuck everyone, including them, 20 years out, they’re lucky if they’re looking 5 years out, so they’ll take the near-term gain with the attached long-term “OMG the the guys that were in charge 15 years ago FUCKED us!” every time. They’ll have retired or moved on to another corp by then. The Republicans are currently much more willing to sell out to Corporate America’s short-term interest, so they attract a lot of corporate donations.
Nancy Darling
I read a story in the LA Times quite a few years ago about an abortion debate in the Louisiana State House. I don’t remember exact details. I think it was about exceptions to a late term abortion ban. One of their representatives got up to speak and, I kid you not, “allowed as how incest might produce a real smart kid seeing as how when you are breeding horses and dogs you sometimes breed daughters back to fathers if you want a particular trait”. I live in NW Arkansas and there are some real smart people here, but I don’t think any of them are the off spring of an incestuous relationship.
nightjar
And then you have mor eof teh stupid and wrong with this story.
The good news is that some of the former trogs seem to be evolving into modern Homo Sapiens.
Brachiator
The only PR that drug companies care about is PRofits.
Sock Puppet of the Great Satan
“More win here, as we learn that Larry Craig and David Vitters are co-sponsors of a new Federal Marriage Amendment, just in time for the fall elections.”
Well, if teh gay can marry, they’ll spend all their time at the airport finding a nice necktie for their husband instead of heading to the bathrooms for teh hot GOP action.
And maybe Vitter fears it ‘cos if lesbians can marry there’ll be fewer of them to dominate him while he’s wearing Pampers Adult Size.
fordpowers
oh sweet jeebus that is funny.
b-psycho
Craig & Vitter co-sponsoring some “family values” bullshit?!? Do they even think this shit through, or have they discovered that comedic obliviousness works better than V1agra?
nightjar
Think about it. A sitting United States Senator who frequents prostitutes while wearing adult diapers. What a fucking country, I shit you not.
Cain
You mean, he’s not Bobby “Macaca” Jindal? Or maybe Vitter’s screaming “Macaca” while 69ing Jindal. Yeah. that’s the ticket.
cain
Notorious P.A.T.
I just want to repeat that, here in my home of Michigan, those comments apply to at least half the militia whackos and millenialist fanatics that are running around.
Perry Como
The Aristocrats!
jake
And Vitter shits his … never mind.
grumpy realist
Do The Daily Show and SNL even have any jokemeisters around anymore? It looks like they can take the day off and go home, once again…