Have people stopped thinking?

When the Tea Baggers and Extremists continue to lap up irrational comments and illogical policy, one wonders: has 'thought' become extinct?

A study done not long ago determined that excessive television [perhaps hate radio as well] consumption [perhaps translated to mean 'FAUX'] destroys cognitive thinking.

To accept some of the horse manure below without protest labels us 'sheep' as a nation.

A sad loss! How many more lives will be lost to the 'De-Regulation' Crusade?

Fri Apr 19, 2013

National Review: Giffords childish display in the New York Times is an embarrassment

by Steveningen

 

In an National Review Online post, Kevin D. Williamson responded to Gabby Gifford's New York Times op-ed by churlishly calling her out as an embarrassment.

While Ms. Giffords certainly has my sympathy for the violence she suffered, it should be noted that being shot in the head by a lunatic does not give one any special grace to pronounce upon public-policy questions, nor does it give one moral license to call people “cowards” for holding public-policy views at variance with one’s own. Her childish display in the New York Times is an embarrassment.

I'll tell you what is an embarrassment, Mr. Williamson. It is a Senate who voted against the will of 90 percent of this nation and instead caved to the craven demands of the National Rifle Association. What is embarrassing is having people like you defend this action and take it upon yourself to decide that a shooting victim who was a member of the United States Congress has no moral license to speak out on behalf of the overwhelming majority of this country who stand in agreement with her. What is cringe-inducing is to have people who carry your same sentiments tell the parents of the children killed in the Newtown massacre that they should have no voice in the debate and declare they are merely being used as props.

Given the nation's focus right now on the drama unfolding in Boston, I expect your vile slam against Gabby Giffords will go largely unnoticed, Mr Williamson. However, I noticed and am compelled to share your shameful attack on her.

In the meantime, I stand with Ms. Giffords and will join her in her efforts to fire the members of Congress who chose to pander to the will of the NRA rather than the people they were sent to represent.

Some of the senators who voted against the background-check amendments have met with grieving parents whose children were murdered at Sandy Hook, in Newtown. Some of the senators who voted no have also looked into my eyes as I talked about my experience being shot in the head at point-blank range in suburban Tucson two years ago, and expressed sympathy for the 18 other people shot besides me, 6 of whom died. These senators have heard from their constituents — who polls show overwhelmingly favored expanding background checks. And still these senators decided to do nothing. Shame on them.Mark my words: if we cannot make our communities safer with the Congress we have now, we will use every means available to make sure we have a different Congress, one that puts communities’ interests ahead of the gun lobby’s. To do nothing while others are in danger is not the American way.
 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/04/19/1203268/-National-Review-Giffords-childish-display-in-the-New-York-Times-is-an-embarrassment?detail=email

Interesting article about the Wackiest Republican Candidate to run for President --

Thu Apr 18, 2013 at 07:48 AM PDT

Michele Bachmann's former Chief of Staff breaks silence

by blue aardvarkFollow

 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/04/18/1202856/-Michele-Bachmann-s-former-Chief-of-Staff-breaks-silence?detail=email

 

 

Fri Apr 19, 2013 at 10:40 AM PDT

The wonder of libertarian zoning laws, West, Texas edition

by kosFollow

 

It's tragic enough that maybe three dozen were killed because of the gross negligence of the owners of West Fertilizer Co in West, Texas.

But compounding the carnage, it seems as if half the town was leveled including several schools and houses five blocks from the plant. But wait, there were houses five blocks from a fertilizer plant?

There were actually houses across the street from this plant, and not just houses, but two of the town's three schools:

attribution: Daily Kos

 

Fertilizer is a well-known component of homemade bombs for a reason—it's extremely explosive.

The thought that people would build homes around a fertilizer plant boggles the mind, the thought that they would build two schools directly adjacent to it is borderline criminal. What if that explosion had occurred during school hours? It's not as if they didn't know of the potential danger:

Two months ago, students at the intermediate school were evacuated after school officials noticed a controlled brush burn near the plant. They weren't informed about the burn, Crawford said, but the evacuation went well and students and staff got out quickly.

The middle school suffered severe fire damage. An apartment building adjacent the plant was completely leveled, killing about 15. See that tan circle off the northwest corner of the plant? That was a playground. A nursing home was within the blast radius and was completely leveled. You can see many more pictures of the damage here.

 

There is a reason zoning laws exist. But Texas being Texas, apparently the "freedom" to set up shop next to a bomb trumps everything else—including the lives and properties of far too many in West.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/04/19/1203241/-The-wonder-of-libertarian-zoning-laws-West-Texas-edition?detail=email