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You are here: Home / Politics / Republican Stupidity / I’m Sure This Will Come as a Great Shock

I’m Sure This Will Come as a Great Shock

by John Cole|  March 11, 201111:30 am| 114 Comments

This post is in: Republican Stupidity, Science & Technology, hoocoodanode

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But in light of this morning’s tsunami, it is probably worth mentioning that the Republicans, in a fit of fiscal conservatism, are attempting to slash the budget of the agencies that monitor tsunami, earthquakes, volcanoes, and other natural disasters.

All so the Koch brothers and Paris Hilton can get a tax cut.

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Previous Post: « NIXONLAND Reschedule
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Reader Interactions

114Comments

  1. 1.

    David Koch

    March 11, 2011 at 11:33 am

    Guilty.

  2. 2.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 11, 2011 at 11:33 am

    Why does the GOP want the US to be a third world country? How is that good for business?

  3. 3.

    lacp

    March 11, 2011 at 11:35 am

    Well, of course. All of those so-called disasters are “acts of God.” Only DFH atheists and Islamosexuals would interfere with the will of Baby Jesus. Because shut up. As Bill O. would say, “Fuckin’ tides. How do they work?”

  4. 4.

    Ija

    March 11, 2011 at 11:37 am

    I’m sure you are violating the rule that says you can’t use tragic events to make any sort of political points unless you are Newt Gingrich blaming the death of Susan Smith’s children on the Democrats.

  5. 5.

    Napoleon

    March 11, 2011 at 11:37 am

    It is worth mentioning that Hawaii in the last few days/weeks has a volcano that has become active.

    But don’t tell Bobby Jindel about it.

  6. 6.

    PaulW

    March 11, 2011 at 11:38 am

    Why does the GOP want the US to be a third world country? How is that good for business?

    because they make money off of it, that’s why.

    Can anyone please post the current profit margins of US Corporations, so we can get a good idea how making America a poor nation is doing wonders for the shareholders of F.U. LLC?

  7. 7.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    March 11, 2011 at 11:40 am

    That service is what we are using to monitor what is happening here on the south coast of Oregon and elsewhere. Information like this is invaluable to people and can save lives.

    Of course, as far as Republicans are concerned, accurate information is something that must be stopped because it might not be to their advantage.

    Fucking assholes.

  8. 8.

    MikeJ

    March 11, 2011 at 11:40 am

    Those agencies aren’t just important for severe weather. Farmers depend on NWS.

  9. 9.

    Comrade Javamanphil

    March 11, 2011 at 11:41 am

    The obvious solution, of course, is to get in your helicopter and fly away when the tsunami hits. Sheesh. If you don’t have a helicopter, you should work harder or plan better. Leeches.

  10. 10.

    Pangloss

    March 11, 2011 at 11:42 am

    @MikeJ: So when the farmers are taken by surprise, it can serve as another object lesson in how government can’t do anything right.

  11. 11.

    singfoom

    March 11, 2011 at 11:42 am

    But but but, the financial tsunami of our debt will CRUSH US if we don’t stomp on the middle class, RIGHT NOW!!!!

    Christ, the MSM framing of this entire thing has the majority of the US public thinking that A)Republicans are serious about reducing the deficit.
    and that B)Social Security is a big problem.

    Maybe we could get one of the states to change it’s name to Galt’s Gulch and all the lolbertarians and austerity pimps could go live there as an experiment.

    They could get rid of all those pesky government regulations for that state and see what happens.

    When the proles there are sick of suffering under the yoke of their Galtian overlords, we can bring them back to the United States.

  12. 12.

    kd bart

    March 11, 2011 at 11:42 am

    As long as they’re happy, I’m happy. At least that’s what Fox News tells me.

  13. 13.

    geg6

    March 11, 2011 at 11:43 am

    In a similar vein of topic, Ed Markey was fucking awesome today responding to the GOP measure that “overturns the scientific finding that fossil fuel pollution is causing dangerous climate change” (via Steve Benen):

    “I rise in opposition to a bill that overturns the scientific finding that pollution is harming our people and our planet,” the Democrat said. “However, I won’t rise physically, because I’m worried that Republicans will overturn the law of gravity, sending us floating about the room.
    __
    “I won’t call for the sunlight of additional hearings, for fear that Republicans might excommunicate the finding that the Earth revolves around the sun. Instead, we will embody Newton’s third law of motion and be an equal and opposing force against this attack on science and on laws that will reduce America’s importation of foreign oil.
    __
    “This bill will live in the House while simultaneously being dead in the Senate. It will be a legislative Schrodinger’s cat killed by the quantum mechanics of the legislative process. Arbitrary rejection of scientific fact will not cause us to rise from our seats today. But with this bill, pollution levels will rise. Oil imports will rise. Temperatures will rise.
    __
    “And with that, I yield back the balance of my time. That is, unless a rejection of Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity is somewhere in the chair’s amendment pile.”

    Of course, the measure passed. And I’m sure that none of the GOPers who voted for it understood a word Markey said. Good times for future historians, though.

  14. 14.

    trollhattan

    March 11, 2011 at 11:45 am

    @Napoleon:

    Silly, Hawaii isn’t part of the you ess aye. It’s one giant madrassa.

  15. 15.

    Kryptik

    March 11, 2011 at 11:46 am

    Of course they are.

    And they’ll win on it, just like they’re winning on the EPA. Because the entire country fucking hates anything that can be considered even remotely fucking liberal, and concern for the environment is the most Marxist fucking thing in this history of fucking ever.

  16. 16.

    WaterGirl

    March 11, 2011 at 11:47 am

    @schrodinger’s cat: It’s the same behavior we see in dictators who take over with a coup and kills the previous guy and his family, or send them off to exile. Don’t they realize that next time it will be them and their families?

    It’s the same behavior we saw from the makers of the Ford Pinto in the 1970s, who wouldn’t spend the pennies (literally) that it would take to repair the flawed gas tanks that were causing explosions after minor rear-end collisions. Don’t they realize that it could be their mother/sister/daughter that dies in the rear end collision?

    I didn’t understand it then. I don’t understand it now. It’s never about the future, it’s always about the bottom line dollar right now. It’s about what’s in it for them, and screw everyone else. I had better stop here before I can’t stop myself. It makes me crazy.

  17. 17.

    MikeJ

    March 11, 2011 at 11:47 am

    @geg6: π = 3.

  18. 18.

    Violet

    March 11, 2011 at 11:48 am

    God obviously wants earthquakes and tsunamis to be a surprise, so those warning system programs are against God’s will.

  19. 19.

    Suffern ACE

    March 11, 2011 at 11:48 am

    @geg6: I’ve not heard of this bill before. What exactly does it mean “vote to overturn a study?”

  20. 20.

    Ija

    March 11, 2011 at 11:50 am

    @Comrade Javamanphil:

    Like Margaret Thatcher once said: if you are in your thirties and still riding the bus, you are a failure in life. Good excuse for not ensuring a good public transportation system. You shouldn’t be riding on public transports in the first place, losers!

    Anyway, helicopters are for wimps. It’s private jets only for me, baby.

  21. 21.

    singfoom

    March 11, 2011 at 11:51 am

    @geg6: The congressman’s sarcasm is awesome, but the bill still passed. Jesus fucking christ. Oh well, I guess as a species we don’t deserve to make it because some individuals are so fucking stupid that they refuse to see the problem.

    Maybe Congress could start looking at that NP Complete problem set. They could declare some of those problems solvable in polynomial time.

    Science, how does it fucking work?

  22. 22.

    geg6

    March 11, 2011 at 11:52 am

    @MikeJ:

    Hee.

    What I can’t understand is why these assholes think that passing some stupid law that says WE OVERTURN THE SCIENTIFIC FINDINGS actually overturns the scientific findings? Do they actually think that scientists are suddenly going to change all the research and evidence that they have to line with what a bunch of idiots in Congress believe?

    This is why religion makes me insane. They all are about stupid shit like “belief” and “faith.” Fuck belief and faith. They mean next to nothing and have no standing to be respected, let alone create policy on.

  23. 23.

    jrg

    March 11, 2011 at 11:52 am

    …And when one of these disasters kills thousands, there will be a chorus of “teh libruls are blaming the GOP for earthquakes”.

    See Bush, George Dubya, c. 2005.

  24. 24.

    Kryptik

    March 11, 2011 at 11:52 am

    @Suffern ACE:

    It apparently means, that for all intents and purposes regarding energy policy and law making, burning fossil fuels is the exact equivalent of burning incense and laying out potpourri around the house, and that all future laws will be crafted under this premise.

    Because why fucking not, they already believe that all this is is a way to destroy god-fearing real American energy companies for some Green Fascism and to enrich Al Gore’s bank book.

  25. 25.

    Culture of Truth

    March 11, 2011 at 11:53 am

    They’re just being sensible. Disaster response creates jobs.

  26. 26.

    eemom

    March 11, 2011 at 11:53 am

    OT, but here’s a new piece on the Manning case:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12717275
    This will no doubt unleash its own little tsunami of outrage that Crowley limited the adjectives to “ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid,” instead of the more politically correct “worst act of barbarism ever perpetrated by the US Government and for which Obama should not only be impeached but also tried at the Hague as a War Criminal.”

  27. 27.

    jrg

    March 11, 2011 at 11:54 am

    @geg6:

    They all are about stupid shit like “belief” and “faith.” Fuck belief and faith. They mean next to nothing and have no standing to be respected, let alone create policy on.

    Whatever do you mean? What part of “It’s true because I believe it, and I believe it because it’s true” don’t you stooopid libruls understand?

  28. 28.

    cat48

    March 11, 2011 at 11:54 am

    Continuing with the theme, the thugs are either eliminating or severely cutting The Poison Control Center. Don’t know the status right now. They must hate children out of the womb since babies and young children probably ingest the most
    potentially poisonous products.

    Also, Hurricane Preparedness……
    Really don’t get this. Obama could give a speech on this things, but the public wouldn’t believe it. They would think the president was lying since the entire thing has became so bizarre and unbelievable at this point

  29. 29.

    Origuy

    March 11, 2011 at 11:55 am

    @Suffern ACE: It’s the Upton-Inhofe bill. It would block EPA authority to react to climate change. Obama has said he would veto it if it comes to him.

  30. 30.

    fasteddie9318

    March 11, 2011 at 11:55 am

    There’s obviously a free market solution to the problem of disaster monitoring. Simply send me $50 per month and I will call you if I hear anything about a disaster (see DISCLAIMER). If enough entrepreneurs got into this game, all it would take is maybe 30 or 50 disasters and a few tens of thousands of deaths before the market could separate those operations that were reputable from those that were not, and the remaining population of the planet would then obviously patronize those firms.

    DISCLAIMER: I will not call you.

  31. 31.

    MikeJ

    March 11, 2011 at 11:57 am

    @Culture of Truth: And disasters cut down on competition for those jobs.

  32. 32.

    losingtehplot

    March 11, 2011 at 11:57 am

    Disaster – there’s always an upside: BBC World Service reports oil fell $3 a barrel because stock marketeers have decided that Japan won’t be using so much energy for a while, on account of widespread destruction. That is, the disaster in Japan counteracts the unrest in Middle East. Stock market dealers: vultures without feathers.

  33. 33.

    Mnemosyne

    March 11, 2011 at 11:57 am

    I really don’t understand the conservative opposition to prevention. They don’t want women to be able to prevent pregnancies. They don’t want people to be able to get safe food so they can prevent illness. They don’t want to let us prevent the bad side effects of climate change. They don’t even want us to have early warning of natural disasters, fer chrissakes.

    Seriously, are any of our conservatrolls around to explain to us why we shouldn’t even try to keep an eye out for natural disasters before they happen? Is it more virtuous to wait until we have to clean up afterwards, even if that means the damage is far worse than it would have been with some fucking preventive action?

  34. 34.

    geg6

    March 11, 2011 at 11:58 am

    @Suffern ACE:

    It’s the Upton-Inhofe bill.

    A good description of the hearings here:

    http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2011/03/08/scopes-thursday/

    The actual bill here:

    http://energycommerce.house.gov/media/file/PDFs/GG_01_xml.pdf

    As you might imagine, Inhofe’s largest lifetime contributor is none other than Koch Industries.

  35. 35.

    Kryptik

    March 11, 2011 at 11:58 am

    @cat48:

    Don’t you see Hurricane Preparedness and Poison Control centers are simply ways for Obama to come in with his Black Panther Fascism and take over your state and towns?! I mean, thank god we have folks like Snyder in Michigan who not only are fighting back against this but now reserve the power, in their magnanimty, to come in and assist townships faltering under the crushing weight of Obama’s tax and spend economic nuking of the real American people, by wiping out those budget destroying contracts and unilaterally dismissing all those evil corrupt local politicians, and instituting representatives from Real American success stories, like Exxon-Mobil and Koch Industries!

    FREEDUMZ FER ALL, BITCHES!!!

    Seriously, just fucking end it all, you fuckers have already won beyond your fucking wildest dreams, just let us fucking die with dignity you goddamn fucking monsters.

  36. 36.

    PPOG Penguin

    March 11, 2011 at 11:58 am

    @Suffern ACE: It means they’ve never heard of King Canute.

  37. 37.

    Joey Maloney

    March 11, 2011 at 12:00 pm

    @Napoleon: Become more active. Kilauea has been in continuous eruption since 1983. In 1984 it ate a subdivision, Kalapana Gardens. (Astonishingly, some of the lot owners have rebuilt in the last few years; this past fall some of those houses got eaten again.

  38. 38.

    cleek

    March 11, 2011 at 12:00 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Why does the GOP want the US to be a third world country? How is that good for business?

    there are (or will be, soon) larger markets in China and India. the US can suck it.

  39. 39.

    MikeJ

    March 11, 2011 at 12:01 pm

    @losingtehplot:

    Stock market dealers: vultures without feathers.

    The thing with feathers is my nephew. I have to take him to a speçialist in Zurich.

  40. 40.

    fasteddie9318

    March 11, 2011 at 12:01 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I really don’t understand the conservative opposition to prevention. They don’t want women to be able to prevent pregnancies. They don’t want people to be able to get safe food so they can prevent illness. They don’t want to let us prevent the bad side effects of climate change. They don’t even want us to have early warning of natural disasters, fer chrissakes.

    Simple: the plutocrats who run the con movement don’t need prevention because their wealth will protect them in the post-disaster hellscape, and the rubes the plutocrats use to maintain the illusion of popular support are all convinced that they’ll be the rugged individualist heroes thriving after the disaster because they’ve got guns and gods on their side.

  41. 41.

    stuckinred

    March 11, 2011 at 12:01 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Is it in the fucking constitution?

  42. 42.

    dmsilev

    March 11, 2011 at 12:02 pm

    Don’t you mean ‘something called tsunami monitoring’?

    dms

  43. 43.

    Joey Maloney

    March 11, 2011 at 12:02 pm

    )

    Code monkey hates unbalanced parentheses.

  44. 44.

    Mnemosyne

    March 11, 2011 at 12:02 pm

    @geg6:

    What I can’t understand is why these assholes think that passing some stupid law that says WE OVERTURN THE SCIENTIFIC FINDINGS actually overturns the scientific findings? Do they actually think that scientists are suddenly going to change all the research and evidence that they have to line with what a bunch of idiots in Congress believe?

    I guess that when conservatives were envying all of the ways that the Soviet Union was able to repress their people, they had Lysenkoism on their to do list as well.

  45. 45.

    TenguPhule

    March 11, 2011 at 12:02 pm

    Obviously anything that helps Blue states keep Democratic Voters alive and grateful to Big Gov is an abomination to the Gray God Galt and his demand for Liberal Blood Sacrifices.

  46. 46.

    ant

    March 11, 2011 at 12:02 pm

    *off topic*

    Birthers are trying to pass a bill in Nebraska that will make it illegal for President Obama to run for reelection in that state.

    Nebraska, along with several other states including Texas, Arizona and Georgia, is considering a bill requiring any presidential or vice presidential candidate to prove his or her citizenship to state officials. Nebraska’s bill, introduced by state senator Mark Christensen, of District 44, goes one step beyond all other bills by requiring proof of citizenship of the candidate’s parents as well.

    link

    Idiots.

  47. 47.

    fasteddie9318

    March 11, 2011 at 12:03 pm

    @ant: The fucking Constitution, how does it work?

  48. 48.

    Dennis SGMM

    March 11, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    The GOP isn’t trying to turn America into a third world nation: those people have revolutions. It’s trying to turn America into Alabama so that everyone will like them and vote for them – even as the waters rise.

  49. 49.

    Rock

    March 11, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    @Kryptik:

    You know sadly, I think that’s true. Most people in this country totally buy the GOP worldview. Liberals/progressives get pilloried for not having better messaging, but in the end however liberal goals are framed I think most people just don’t buy into them.

    They think the EPA is too heavy-handed (when, in fact, state EPAs are totally in the pocket of polluters already and the fed EPA is still compromised by Bush admin staffing and defanging). I suppose it’s just easy to believe you’d have a better job and more money if the EPA just would stop getting in the way. Even if it is totally wrong.

  50. 50.

    geg6

    March 11, 2011 at 12:05 pm

    @ant:

    Um, a little problem with that.

    Seems George Washington’s parents weren’t citizens either. For that matter, neither were John Adams’ or Thomas Jefferson’s.

  51. 51.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 11, 2011 at 12:05 pm

    Is it just me or does the new crop of Republicans make Bush and Company seem less insane?

  52. 52.

    Montysano

    March 11, 2011 at 12:06 pm

    OT, but it would appear that the Saudi Day Of Rage is a non-event? Apparently all it took was whacking a few protesters yesterday. I’m surely a sternly worded letter from the US Gummint is in the works.

  53. 53.

    Dan

    March 11, 2011 at 12:07 pm

    After the inevitable disaster strikes, they can send in Halliburton to clean it up and reconstruct on a no bid contract. Also, too, Godzilla.

  54. 54.

    TenguPhule

    March 11, 2011 at 12:07 pm

    Is it just me or does the new crop of Republicans make Bush and Company seem less insane?

    No, they just string words together a little more coherently.

    They have always been insane Mohterfuckers.

    The plastic skin over the reptile has just been peeled off.

  55. 55.

    Elizabelle

    March 11, 2011 at 12:07 pm

    @cat48:

    Obama really should give a series of speeches on infrastructure enhancement. Over and over until people hear him through the noise machine.

    And the Senate should hold hearings pronto on our preparedness.

    Tragedy for Japan, but cannot let this wake-up call pass for us.

    Last, lovely that it’s those danged public employees as first responders. Plus government takeover technocrats monitoring — get this — federally funded scientific equipment.

  56. 56.

    Mnemosyne

    March 11, 2011 at 12:07 pm

    @fasteddie9318:

    Simple: the plutocrats who run the con movement don’t need prevention because they think their wealth will protect them in the post-disaster hellscape…

    Fix’d. You’d think that after the series of natural disasters we’ve had in Southern California that didn’t differentiate between income levels that the stupid fuckers would have figured out by now that you can’t offer a bribe to an earthquake or a mudslide, but apparently not.

    Of course, once it actually happens to them we have to listen to all of their whining and grinding of teeth about how unfair it is that their house in Malibu slid off a cliff and why didn’t anyone tell them that could happen? Hey, assholes, maybe you should pay attention to what’s going on around you every once in a while so you’d notice that your neighbor’s house had already slid down that same cliff last year.

  57. 57.

    Kryptik

    March 11, 2011 at 12:08 pm

    @ant:

    So, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, they’re going to not only require something that very few adults would have in the first place, especially if their parents have already passed at that point, but also working on the assumption that if your parents weren’t citizens, you don’t count as a ‘real’ citizen as well? So say someone like me, who was born to legal residents just before they became naturalized, would I not count as a true and honest ‘natural-born citizen’ because I wasn’t born when my parents were already made citizens? And making the assumption that if I were to run for office like that, I’d just happen to have my parents’ own birth certificates around to look up or bug the records office for?

    And because it’s fucking Nebraska it’ll probably pass, because fuck all, again, the assholes always win no matter fucking what.

  58. 58.

    Montysano

    March 11, 2011 at 12:09 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Why does the GOP want the US to be a third world country? How is that good for business?

    This has always been my question. What good does it do to decimate your customer base? Obviously my brain is not sufficient to process Galtian logic.

  59. 59.

    ant

    March 11, 2011 at 12:11 pm

    @Kryptik:

    lol. Dont ask me!

    I report, you decide.

    lol

  60. 60.

    Kryptik

    March 11, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    @Rock:

    The worst fucking thing is, they totally do buy the worldview, right up until they’re told that liberals or Dems support it too. Then it immediately becomes the worst sort of Marxist Fascist evil Anti-Christian blasphemy to every fucking touch the lips of anyone ever.

    And somehow this is precisely what our society works off of on all fucking levels now. Better to hate the fucking hippies and deny them everything and anything, than ever get anything done, precisely because hey, A FUCKING HIPPIE MIGHT LIKE IT.

  61. 61.

    C Nelson Reilly

    March 11, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    BREAKING – House Republicans vote to defund Butterball Turkey Hotline

  62. 62.

    Citizen_X

    March 11, 2011 at 12:15 pm

    @Ija:

    Like Margaret Thatcher once said: if you are in your thirties and still riding the bus, you are a failure in life.

    Did she really say that? Holy shit, what a douche.

    BTW, in this country, riding public transit means either a) you’re poor, and have to ride three different buses for two hours each way to get to your minimum-wage job, or b) you’re quite successful, and are lucky enough to have snagged one of those (expensive) apartments near transit, so you can relax as you ride the bus/train/subway, while your co-workers risk their lives on the highway on their hour-long commutes. SUCK IT, LOOZERS!

  63. 63.

    Shoemaker-Levy 9

    March 11, 2011 at 12:15 pm

    Free market solution: set up a tsunami early warning system, charge $49.95/month to subscribe to it.

    On a related note, I happened to be surfing through CNBC a few minutes ago and I’m pretty sure I hear Larry Kudlow say, paraphrasing, “fortunately the impact from this is all on the human side, the markets don’t seem to be affected.”

  64. 64.

    bemused

    March 11, 2011 at 12:15 pm

    That’s it. I’m convinced that all the republican cuts are deliberately designed to impoverish, main and kill the rest of us. I get that they are confident their cuts will never hurt their wealth, which is only true for the top dogs, but how they believe they will never be harmed by gutting agencies that guard the safety of food, drugs, products and warn us of natural disasters, dangerous weather is nuts. Republicans have to be the stupidest people on earth.

  65. 65.

    TooManyJens

    March 11, 2011 at 12:15 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Why does the GOP want the US to be a third world country? How is that good for business?

    Around the time of the 2010 elections, I saw a report showing how people of different income levels fared under Democratic & Republican presidents and congresses. The richest actually did slightly better under Democrats — but those of us who aren’t rich did significantly better under Democrats than under Republicans, so the rich lost some of their comparative advantage. It seems that many rich people are willing, whether consciously or unconsciously, to sacrifice a bit of wealth in an absolute sense in order that they may increase their margin over the rest of us. Looked at from that standpoint, their willingness to plunge us into Third World status is unsurprising — the richest people in Third World countries can make out like bandits. And they need us less than ever before as a market for their products, because now they can sell all over the world.

  66. 66.

    Bex

    March 11, 2011 at 12:16 pm

    Has our joke media interviewd Charlie Sheen about the earthquake/tsunami yet?

  67. 67.

    elmertfudd

    March 11, 2011 at 12:16 pm

    @Mnemosyne: What about the Supreme Court? They had something to say about tomatoes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato#Fruit_or_vegetable.3F

  68. 68.

    PeakVT

    March 11, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    @Montysano: Being rich(er) isn’t the goal now; being more powerful is. The bigger the income gap, the more power the rich have.

  69. 69.

    New Yorker

    March 11, 2011 at 12:23 pm

    Ah yes, good ol’ wasteful volcano monitoring. It’s not like there’s a ticking time bomb volcano sitting 45 miles away from a major US city…

    And I know, I know, Seattle is full of Fake Americans who deserve to be consumed by a volcanic eruption for allowing nudity at the Fremont Solstice Parade.

  70. 70.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    March 11, 2011 at 12:25 pm

    I’ll get behind cutting tsunami warnings if all of the GOP congressmembers who suppport cutting it move to low lying areas of Northern California and Southern Oregon.

  71. 71.

    piratedan

    March 11, 2011 at 12:27 pm

    well I just have to get past my own darkest fantasies that someone will walk into a room and shoot these bastards dead but I have to admit that my frustration with the politics in this country and the tactics used aren’t helping my blood pressure. I shouldn’t condone a violent solution to solving our problems but trying to talk sense to the folks that walk in lockstep with these asshats is an incredibly frustrating proposition considering the mindset that has been developed around them that keeps any possibility of enlightenment from ever being achieved short of some disastrous epiphany that would take place when they themselves are shown to be unworthy in the light of their corporate masters. I guess I need to walk around the Arizona state capitol with a sign that says “I’m a DFH, please show me the evils of my ways” and wait for Sheriff Joe to show up and arrest me.

    It’s funny because I thought the reason that America existed was because of radical DFH’s and their desire to govern themselves, not to be beholden to a royal family or a religion or a business. According to the Republican screed, I must have been absent that day I suppose.

  72. 72.

    Kirk Spencer

    March 11, 2011 at 12:27 pm

    @Kryptik: Ah, but that’s only the first stage.

    Stage two, then, is where you can /never/ become a first-class citizen. Instead, to be a first class citizen you must be able to show that all your grandparents were first class citizens, born in the US of people also born in the USA. (See Godwin link.)

  73. 73.

    middlewest

    March 11, 2011 at 12:29 pm

    @Montysano:

    Cheap, disposable labor. And you don’t have to worry about your customer base when you have a monopoly.

  74. 74.

    Kirk Spencer

    March 11, 2011 at 12:32 pm

    @middlewest:

    Cheap, disposable labor. And you don’t have to worry about your customer base when you have a monopoly feudal serfdom.

    Fixed that for you.

  75. 75.

    b-psycho

    March 11, 2011 at 12:32 pm

    @ant: They inch ever closer to just proposing the Niggers Can’t Be President Act…

  76. 76.

    debit

    March 11, 2011 at 12:33 pm

    Huh. We just had a crusty old guy who I know is a Republican, possibly even a Tea Partier. He is very open about his dislike for Obama, “Obamacare” our new governor, liberals in general. He just started talking about the situation in WI and said, and I am quoting verbatim, “They’re rioting in the streets. They’re gonna throw the bum out. You can’t take away people’s right to bargain.” My jaw is still on the floor.

  77. 77.

    bkny

    March 11, 2011 at 12:37 pm

    @MikeJ: man on dog santorum while in the senate, turned the formerly free accuweather into a premium pay site; privatization, baby. as long as the owners are repigs. ;-)

  78. 78.

    Yutsano

    March 11, 2011 at 12:39 pm

    @New Yorker: Actually Rainier has been pretty dormant for almost two centuries. If he did decide to blow up though Tacoma would no longer exist on a map. Literally. The mud flow would destroy the city in about ten minutes with little or no warning.

  79. 79.

    Poopyman

    March 11, 2011 at 12:40 pm

    @geg6: Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution:

    Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

    Nowhere is there a requirement for parental citizenship.

  80. 80.

    stuckinred

    March 11, 2011 at 12:43 pm

    @Yutsano: And take Ft Lewis the hell with it!

  81. 81.

    PeakVT

    March 11, 2011 at 12:51 pm

    @Yutsano: Volcanoes almost always give warning, though, and a lahar wouldn’t arrive immediately after the start of an eruption. It will be a Cascadia subduction zone earthquake that devastates the Northwest, not a volcano.

  82. 82.

    Montysano

    March 11, 2011 at 12:55 pm

    @b-psycho:

    They inch ever closer to just proposing the Niggers Can’t Be President Act…

    I’m not sure whether to laugh, weep, or start drinking.

  83. 83.

    piratedan

    March 11, 2011 at 12:56 pm

    @PeakVT: you mean if Mt. Hood or Mt. Adams blows and the water melt off gets pushed down the gorge and wipes out Portland?

  84. 84.

    Yutsano

    March 11, 2011 at 12:57 pm

    @PeakVT: The big guy down south of me doesn’t worry me so much. The fault line not too far from where I live and work does. A lot more. And with all the recent activity in the Ring of Fire I’m concerned that there may yet be more to come. And it’ll happen when I’m 20 stories up.

  85. 85.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    March 11, 2011 at 12:58 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    The core of the conservative position is that people are no-good-shits who deserve to suffer (or if you prefer the more poetic version, to eat their bread in the sweat of their brows). Except for you and me and our friends at the yacht club that is. We’re special.

  86. 86.

    Brachiator

    March 11, 2011 at 1:01 pm

    But in light of this morning’s tsunami, it is probably worth mentioning that the Republicans, in a fit of fiscal conservatism, are attempting to slash the budget of the agencies that monitor tsunami, earthquakes, volcanoes, and other natural disasters.

    Let’s see. Cuts to the National Weather Service and FEMA. I guess if there is a disaster, then local first responders should be solely responsible. Nobody would ever need federal assistance. Nope. Especially not with a black president in the White House.

    And I guess if farmers or others need a heads up warning about an impending disaster, then they should look to the private sector. Only people who can afford to pay for, say the Rupert Murdoch Satellite Warning Service, should get help, and everybody else, tough cookies.

    In the United States of Galt, there ain’t no General Welfare.

  87. 87.

    Turgidson

    March 11, 2011 at 1:01 pm

    @b-psycho:

    if they did, the Village would stroke their collective chins and nod gravely, and a very reasonable discussion would begin as to whether the GOP can poach enough Senate Blue Dog votes to pass the thing.

    and if Senate Democrats threaten a filibuster, they will be pilloried for their lack of civility and seriousness, and somehow this would get tied to the deficit, also too.

    (I myself am not sure if I’m serious right now)

  88. 88.

    ruemara

    March 11, 2011 at 1:03 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    this in a nutshell.

  89. 89.

    Turgidson

    March 11, 2011 at 1:03 pm

    @Yutsano:

    I hear ya. I work 40 stories up in San Francisco currently. Sure, the building is supposed to be able to withstand earthquakes up to 9.0, but…yeah. Shudder.

  90. 90.

    Poopyman

    March 11, 2011 at 1:04 pm

    @New Yorker: Talk of Mt. Rainier made me look up Mt. Fuji:

    The latest eruption, in 1707 (the 4th year of the Hōei era), was known as the great Hōei eruption. It followed several weeks after the Great Hōei earthquake:
    __
    — November 11, 1707 (Hōei 4, 14th day of the 10th month): The city of Osaka suffers tremendously because of a very violent earthquake.[2]
    __
    — December 16, 1707 (Hōei 4, 23nd day of the 11th month): An eruption of Mt. Fuji; the cinders and ash fell like rain in Izu, Kai, Sagami, and Musashi.[3] This eruption was remarkable in that it spread a vast amount of volcanic ash and scoria over a region as far away as Edo.

    Hmmmm. And today’s quake was the largest recorded in Japan since at least the 19th Century?

  91. 91.

    Shoemaker-Levy 9

    March 11, 2011 at 1:04 pm

    @New Yorker:

    Seattle itself would probably not be directly affected, but people from Orting to Tacoma might be in trouble. The wind most commonly comes from the west or southwest, so the ash impact would be similar to that of Mt St Helens.

  92. 92.

    Poopyman

    March 11, 2011 at 1:07 pm

    @Montysano: Learn to multi-task.

  93. 93.

    bemused

    March 11, 2011 at 1:08 pm

    @debit:
    Will wonders never cease. I’ve about given up hope anything would ever get through a single die hard republican.

  94. 94.

    Jay in Oregon

    March 11, 2011 at 1:09 pm

    @geg6:

    What I can’t understand is why these assholes think that passing some stupid law that says WE OVERTURN THE SCIENTIFIC FINDINGS actually overturns the scientific findings? Do they actually think that scientists are suddenly going to change all the research and evidence that they have to line with what a bunch of idiots in Congress believe?

    But remember, they’re all in support of smaller and less intrusive government.

  95. 95.

    rikryah

    March 11, 2011 at 1:10 pm

    this is who they are. cut that which would keep us safe, then then blame the government when catastrophe happens.

    they are who we thought they were.

  96. 96.

    AAA Bonds

    March 11, 2011 at 1:11 pm

    Speaking of emergencies, wouldn’t it be terribly irresponsible to tap a petroleum reserve that we have around in case of war or severe disruption, when even the right-wing financial press concludes that the price is being driven by unregulated speculation, not by real disruption in the chain?

  97. 97.

    liberal

    March 11, 2011 at 1:12 pm

    @geg6:
    Well, they’re gunning for the second law of thermodynamics.

  98. 98.

    liberal

    March 11, 2011 at 1:14 pm

    @debit:
    Does he have a union background?

  99. 99.

    Nick

    March 11, 2011 at 1:15 pm

    @cat48:

    Obama could give a speech on this things, but the public wouldn’t believe it. They would think the president was lying since the entire thing has became so bizarre and unbelievable at this point

    what? but…bully pulpit!

  100. 100.

    Nick

    March 11, 2011 at 1:17 pm

    It would be wrong to make this political. Only Republicans can do that.

  101. 101.

    bjacques

    March 11, 2011 at 1:31 pm

    Without the billions Japan sank into infrastructure and disaster preparedness, it could have been a lot worse. Yeah, right. What do they know? I bet they don’t even have a word for tsunami.

    @Shoemaker-Levy9 63: “All on the human side?” Just wow. Linky?

  102. 102.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    March 11, 2011 at 1:34 pm

    @cat48:

    Really don’t get this. Obama could give a speech on this things, but the public wouldn’t believe it. They would think the president was lying since the entire thing has became so bizarre and unbelievable at this point

    “The public” is even less of a monolith than are the Dems. You have to break it down:

    27% would want Obama impeached immediately for being black on the TV which is clearly against the constatushun.

    14% would wonder why Morgan Freeman is on the TV playing the President of the US and keep changing the channel hoping to get another movie instead.

    11% would want to know what Obama is going to do about Charlie Sheen.

    21% might be receptive to Obama’s argument in the abstract but in reality that doesn’t matter because really they are pissed that Obama is causing traffic
    congestion on their daily commuter route, which is what some guy at work told them because traffic was really snarled up the last time that VP Biden came to town for a fundraiser [note: this is a real example. I actually know somebody who made that argument].

    26% would get what Obama was saying, understand it and believe it, and shake their heads with the helplessness of it all.

    1% would be royally pissed that Obama didn’t go all Oliver Cromwell on the GOP’s asses and immediately flock to all the usual netroots places to write outraged diaries about it.

  103. 103.

    Brachiator

    March 11, 2011 at 1:36 pm

    @AAA Bonds:

    Speaking of emergencies, wouldn’t it be terribly irresponsible to tap a petroleum reserve that we have around in case of war or severe disruption, when even the right-wing financial press concludes that the price is being driven by unregulated speculation, not by real disruption in the chain?

    I heard some conservative talk show weasel, seeming supporting alternative fuels, suggest that it would be best if we used up all the oil, which would lead us to more drill baby drill and cheap alternatives within 48 hours.

    And remember, I drink your milkshake, I drink it up!

  104. 104.

    PeakVT

    March 11, 2011 at 1:38 pm

    @Yutsano: Being 20 stories up would worry me, too.

    @piratedan: I mean the subduction zone off the coast can produce quakes over 9.0 magnitude. Not real often, but the risk is there. The last one was around 1700.

  105. 105.

    Bokonon

    March 11, 2011 at 1:39 pm

    Don’t worry – once you de-fund these projects and get the government out of the way, the free market will develop a solution – such as commercial tsunami detection services.

    And thus, the private sector will then provide an economically efficient product (that won’t cost the taxpayers everything).

    And being rational economic actors, the people living in Hawaii and along the west coast can then exercise their choices as consumers to purchase appropriate amounts of these tsunami detection services, along with extra insurance. Or they can move to higher ground, or join churches and pray a lot. The wealthy store blimps in their garage that they can then inflate and make a quick getaway in the event of a tidal wave. This is efficient resource allocation.

    The magic of the marketplace never fails. It is just so magical! Because it is magic.

    [Kidding, of course]

  106. 106.

    geg6

    March 11, 2011 at 1:41 pm

    @Poopyman:

    Yes, I know. But could you please tell the GOPers in Nebraska?

  107. 107.

    geg6

    March 11, 2011 at 1:48 pm

    @Shoemaker-Levy 9:

    For real? He said this on national tv?

    Unbelievable. What a fuckhead. I mean I detested him long before this, but this is a positively inhuman reaction.

  108. 108.

    debit

    March 11, 2011 at 1:54 pm

    @liberal: Nope. Ran his own furniture shop.

  109. 109.

    Poopyman

    March 11, 2011 at 1:56 pm

    @geg6: Didn’t mean to imply it was directed at you, just for general edification. Though I doubt edification plays well in the Bible Belt.

  110. 110.

    Shoemaker-Levy 9

    March 11, 2011 at 2:06 pm

    @bjacques: @geg6:

    I want to be careful about what I say. I was channel surfing and thought this was the gist of what I heard. It was right before 10AM left coast time and he was signing off his show. It’s possible I misheard or misunderstood his intent.

  111. 111.

    El Cid

    March 11, 2011 at 4:27 pm

    @Montysano: I don’t think the priority goal is to make the US a 3rd world country.

    For one group, what they want is to be able to grab as much money and power as they can as quickly as they can.

    Part of that will be to make sure no one can take it back and no one can keep them from getting as much as they can.

    So it’s making sure people earn shit from working, have no power re. unions, and can be made as disposable as possible.

    For another group, what they want is to have the frighteningly authoritarian system they want of white power, Talibangelical Christianism, the pushing of women back into complete imprisoned status, doing whatever the hell they feel like doing to black people, and so forth.

    The cultural goals, in other words.

    And for both, a clear necessity is to make sure that there is no significant political opposition to stop them. So whatever they need to do to block Democrats, liberals, the educated, colored folk, former immigrants, and any other group from being able to be represented in government.

    Plus, if it’s possible, to remove the very power of government at all to get in between them and their smash and grab setup or between them and their 9th century XTREME goals.

  112. 112.

    Judas Escargot

    March 11, 2011 at 5:45 pm

    @El Cid:

    Yep, this.

    Trashing the overall economy must be the explicit goal. No other explanation fits at this point.

  113. 113.

    jenn

    March 11, 2011 at 6:44 pm

    @geg6:

    OK, now that is AWESOME!

  114. 114.

    Lurker

    March 11, 2011 at 10:00 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I didn’t understand it then. I don’t understand it now. It’s never about the future, it’s always about the bottom line dollar right now.

    It’s human nature to put short-term gains above long-term considerations. I’ve seen it in both exercise/diet and in saving/investing. My friends find it hard to resist delicious cookies when they’re watching their weight. They also find it hard to hold bonds when the market soars and harder to keep stocks when the market tanks.

    That said, I wish we had longer-term thinkers in Congress.

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