Limericks 2012

March 17, 2012

Some days the mood strikes me. This is one of those days. The fact that I’m not Irish (not even today) is clear in the liberties taken with the sacred form.

A GOP man named Santorum
Hates sinners and sins, he abhors ‘em.
“Women taking the Pill?
It’ll take us downhill.”
I think ‘twould be best to ignore ‘im.

(I suppose I could have started this with the traditional, “There once was a man named Santorum,” but that would have been conventional and trite and we can’t have that, now can we?)

The hot topic of the day drew me in like an Irishman to an argument.

Those lacking a big frontal lobe
Are prancing all over the globe
Say casual sex
Our nation it wrecks
To dissuade you? The vaginal probe.

______

“Hell no!” U.S. women respond.
“With our dignity you won’t abscond.
You think we’re all tarts
With well-worn girl parts
You can keep your trans-vaginal wand.”

_______

And finally, one for the local boys.

Cub fans think that this is the season
How come? They’re not sure of the reason
Zambrano’s gone south
And he’s taken his mouth
And that by itself is quite pleasin’.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

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Posted by Mark Wegener

American Exceptionalism Is Expendable

July 25, 2011

Those who believe in “American Exceptionalism” should be  aware that the “qualitative difference” between America and other nations that make us exceptional is a depreciable asset.  It is diminished when our elected officials act like they’re running a third world country.

How can you be exceptional if your elected officials behave like spoiled four-year olds, stomping their feet and demanding their own way on every point?

How can you be exceptional if  you tell the capital markets, on whom you are completely dependent for funding and the future of your society, that you’re not capable of governing yourself and managing your affairs?

I see no path to correct this situation quickly, so we’re stuck with this for the foreseeable future.

Alexis de Tocqueville said that “in a democracy, the people get the government they deserve.”  This is our fault.  Enough of us don’t go to the ballot box and those of us that do go are careless once there.  We’ve created a society in which those best capable of guiding our country understandably don’t want to expose themselves and their families to the unnecessarily intense spotlight of public life, driven by an entertainment-media culture that is not driven by giving the American public information, but is instead driven by its own ratings–in the guise of providing “information” and generating conflict among leaders and elected officials.

I am exceptionally concerned about what the near term future holds for us.

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Posted by Mark Wegener

Media Serves Its Own Interest, Not Ours

June 2, 2011

Despite that we’re more than 500 days from the 2012 presidential election, we are constantly being bombarded with polls about the Republican race for the nomination.  The media lives to tell us who is up, who is down and who isn’t registering above the margin of error.

Some media people I know used to tell me way back before the internet era really began, “You’d be surprised how much information it takes to fill 24 hours per day, 7 days a week of television air time.”  So, looking for anything to write or talk about, we get these polls, among other things.  It’s a complete waste of time and resources.

Now comes The Architect, Karl Rove, speaking truth.  In a piece published today, Rove says, “…polls taken 300 days before the election [have] almost no predictive value.”

So why are media companies paying to have them done?  To simply have something to talk about, because a poll today will neither affect nor predict the outcome of the nomination race.  It’s nonsense to pay any attention to these numbers.  Don’t.  And avoid media outlets intent on pushing them on you.

A serious country deserves a serious media.  As evidenced by what (little) we collectively read and what (and how much) we watch, it’s not hard to conclude that we aren’t serious, and neither is our media.  This is a chicken/egg problem of the first order.

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Posted by Mark Wegener

Separated At Birth – Federal Budget Edition

April 5, 2011

Gabe from The Office and Rep. Paul Ryan (R – WI)

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Posted by Mark Wegener

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