Something's Funny Here

'Nuff Sorry, Already:  I watched this clip on MSNBC today while riding the recumbent bike at the YMCA.  Think there's something funny about South Carolina politics?   It struck me as ha-ha funny; after the way SC has sacrificed any claim it ever had on the nation's respect (and Lindsey Graham DOES try), how could anybody still act surprised by the state's politics?  We've become quite possibly the ONLY comic relief in the national news these days.



Folks, just in case you hadn't put this together yet, the Palmetto State could rival Hamid Karzai's government for corruption.  I've apologized quite adequately to those of you who live in real states, so that's it; that's all the sorry I'm sayin'.  Hereafter, anyone who points out that SC has some funky things going on politically will have to apologize to me for being as dull witted as ol' Alvin, here.  I just hope they paid him a fair graft; unemployment has been over 16% in Manning, SC.


Sick Parenting:  There is something really strange-funny about parents who would let their 16 year old daughter circumnavigate the globe alone in a sailboat.  If I told you that I knew of parents who had persuaded their sixteen year old daughter to sail alone around the world, would that strike you as cool or...what?  Neglectful, abusive, simply crappy at helping their children resolve sibling rivalry issues, Balloon-Boy-ish?  What if I told you that Abby is selling commemorative t-shirts and sneakers on-line at Abby16.com?

29.99 Black Rihanna Abby Sunderland Sandals

Would you say she was enterprising?  That retail's just not hiring kids these days and paper routes have gone the way of corded phones?  Here's what Abby's parents said on Good Morning America (as reprinted in LA Times):

The parents of Abby Sunderland defended their decision to allow the Thousand Oaks teen to sail by herself around the world, saying their daughter was prepared.

Her parents, speaking on morning TV news programs, said that Abby's journey was no more dangerous than other activities that teenagers do and that she proved to them that she was up to the challenge.

"Let's face it, life is dangerous. How many teenagers die in car accident[s]?" Abby Sunderland's father, Laurence Sunderland, told "Good Morning America."

Laurence Sunderland said that critics have never met Abby and that if they did they would realize she was capable of sailing solo for this trip. He said it was a difficult decision to allow Abby to attempt to circumnavigate the globe but that he and his wife agreed to do it after much training.

"This wasn't an easy decision make. It was done very carefully," he said.

That's not right.  Hell, it's not even wrong.  I can tell you what my reaction would have been if these parents had come to my office and asked for help with this decision, but I bet you can guess.

And, speaking of top notch parenting...

 The Pistol Packin' Prophetess:  Reporting to you from some East Coast women's college, here's something funny going on with the religious right these days. Newsweek tells us that Sarah Barracuda is the prophetess of a whole new brand of Religious Right Feminism.  

To millions of women, Palin’s authenticity makes her a sister in arms—“Sisters!” she called out in Washington, as if at a revival—a beautiful, fearless, principled fighter who shares their struggles. To a smaller number, she is a prophet, ordained by God for a special role in the cosmic battle against the forces of evil. A 2009 profile in the Christian magazine Charisma compared Palin to the Old Testament’s Queen Esther, who saved her people, in this case the Jews, from annihilation.

With her new faith-based message, Palin gathers up the Christian women that traditional feminism has left behind. In her speech to the SBA List last month, Palin derided the old feminism as a relic of “the faculty lounge at some East Coast women’s college, right?”—even as she wrapped the label around herself, channeling the pioneer wives who “made sacrifices to carve out a living and a family out of the wilderness.” Hers is a “mom of faith” movement, a “mom uprising.” It’s an emotional appeal, unfettered by loyalty to the broader policy agenda of traditional feminism. (Palin will praise suffragettes, abolitionists, and Margaret Thatcher, but not the early feminists who arguably paved the way for the 96 Republican women running for House seats in 2010.) 

According to Newsweek, Proverbs 31 is frequently cited by conservative Christian women who idolize Palin. It's been a while, so I had to look up Proverbs 31 and I found,

"'O my son, O son of my womb,
       O son of my vows,
 ³ do not spend your strength on women,
       your vigor on those who ruin kings.
 ⁴ 'It is not for kings, O Lemuel—
       not for kings to drink wine,
       not for rulers to crave beer,
 ⁵ lest they drink and forget what the law decrees,
       and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.
 ⁶ Give beer to those who are perishing,
       wine to those who are in anguish;
 ⁷ let them drink and forget their poverty
       and remember their misery no more.'" 

Ah, yes, the Bread and Circuses passage.  No, wait...that can't be the right part.  How about this part: "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting."?