Hell Bent for Legs

I imagine some people found themselves wondering what the point was of last night's Doctor Who finale. Near as I can figure it out, it's a story about a guy who had a friend so dear to him that he would put himself through hell over and over for her sake. We should all be so lucky to have such a friend and, though it's pure coincidence that this episode comes so close to my best friend's birthday, the association is unavoidable for me. I would also be dishonest if I didn't mention that I was glad that Steven Moffat came up with a narratively supported rationale to show off Jenna Coleman's legs, which are every bit as swell as her performance last night.

Putin on the Ritz

The love affair a lot of self-proclaimed "conservatives" have with Russian President Vladimir Putin may have finally provided the answer to their long-standing question, "do liberals think we're stupid?" Doubtless they won't like the answer, but what else can you say about a group people who use words like "dictator" and "tyrant" to describe President Obama and then fawn over an honest-to-god dictator like Putin without a hint of self-awareness? Seriously, are they taking numbers to see who gets to suck him off first? I wouldn't want to speculate too deeply about this crowd's paraphilias, but I suspect they'd be in for a big surprise when the object of their infatuation decides to perform an impromptu colonoscopy on them with his KGBoner. 

Counting Down to 1/20/17

I wonder how all the people who've been complaining about President Obama so venomously are going to feel when he leaves office in January 2017. As much as I'd like to think that most will realize that they've spent the better part of a decade being taken in by the Hannity/Levin/Limbaugh-industrial-complex's brand of scare-mongering, I'm skeptical it will unfold that way. More likely, a large number will proudly assert that their commitment to freedom is the only thing that stopped the weak-willed Muslim socialist tyrant in the White House from taking all their guns and declaring "marshal law" (yes, usually spelled that way) so that he could make himself President for Life. 

There are very valid reasons to criticize any President, because - as any responsible citizen understands - politics is easy but governing is hard. The criticism of President Obama is something different - and fouler. It's fouler not just because of its racial/xenophobic undercurrents but rather because it stems from a substantial portion of Americans taking leave of their senses. 

In some ways, it's reminiscent of George Orwell's concept of "doublethink" from 1984, where being a good party member requires one to believe multiple contradictory ideas. Instead of "2 + 2 = 5", it's believing that a bacon-eating, beer-drinking, gay-marriage supporting smoker is actually a Muslim despite evidence to the contrary (and the irrelevance of their faith to being President). The sad part is that those ignoring all evidence to the contrary in an effort to believe that President Obama somehow isn't "one of us" aren't doing so to survive a totalitarian regime but rather by choice. The fact that they have this choice is, of course, empirical evidence that they do not live in a totalitarian society - evidence all too many of them will doubtless ignore.