Reason Morning Links: Obama's SCOTUS List, Highway Deaths Way Down, Vatican Says the Gays Did It

• Obama floats list of 10 possible Supreme Court nominees.
• Service Employees Union International President Andy Stern to step down.
• Highway deaths reach lowest point since 1950s.
• Obama administration celebrates: Federal deficit only $1.3 trillion!
• Number two official at the Vatican blames Catholic sex abuse scandal on homosexuality.

Comments

[sage]

OK, maybe this is the place to put this:

Foes of tea party movement to infiltrate rallies

Opponents of the fiscally conservative tea party movement say they plan to infiltrate and dismantle the political group by trying to make its members appear to be racist, homophobic and moronic.

Bonus: click the comments section on that article. The stupid is coming in waves.

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

Truly, some of the commenters seem to think that this will be "proof" that the "teabaggers" are teh evil.

And these are the people who think that they're so intellectually and morally superior that they're entitled to run our lives.

[BakedPenguin]

Well, if the Tea Partiers take the opportunity to beat the living shit out of anyone who appears at their rallies chantic racist slognas, etc., won't that be too bad.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

+Word

[wylie]

Rob Reiner, Anti-Smoking, Southpark.

That is all.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

True.

[JW]

...trying to make its members appear to be racist, homophobic and moronic.

Has self-awareness been bred out of the progressive breeding stock?

[WTF]

And uh, remind me again - who are supposed to be the "brownshirts"?

[2010 Voter]

If ... the budget shortfall surpasses the $1.4 trillion recorded last year, voters in the November midterm elections could punish the Democrats

No "If" about it. It's clobberin' time!

[Captain Holly]

Highway deaths reach lowest point since 1950s.

I call BS. Everyone knows that cell phones and texting have released a tidal wave of blood and gore on America's highways.

[sage]

But all the red light and speed cameras have reduced collisions to zero.

[John]

Only the strong hand of the government arresting and harassing millions for the crime of texting, using a cell phone or drinking a beer has brought these deaths down. If only it were stronger, the death rate could be zero.

[Tulpa]

It's probably due to vehicle safety improvements (no thanks to Toyota). That and safety improvements with regard to highway design (eg, water barrels in front of split walls, curling the ends of guardrails, etc.

[John]

that is exactly what it is due to. And imagine how much lower it would be if we didn't have dumb ass CAFE standards and auto makers could build cares just for safety rather than mileage.

[boomshanka]

they can't do both?

[BakedPenguin]

Safety, mileage, low cost.

Pick two.

[SugarFree]

Yeah, why not just ride unicorns?

[JW]

Government safety standards mandate a horn at both ends.

[The Gobbler]

Someone here yesterday was mentioning that their city's transit workers went on strick causing people trouble for over a month. Someone else mentioned that that is a downside to public transportation that no one ever seems to mention. What it got me to thinking about was the clear conflict of interest in having public employees unions. They can hold a city hostage. IANAL, is there any way to legally challenge this?

[Michael Ejercito]

Someone here yesterday was mentioning that their city's transit workers went on strick causing people trouble for over a month. Someone else mentioned that that is a downside to public transportation that no one ever seems to mention. What it got me to thinking about was the clear conflict of interest in having public employees unions. They can hold a city hostage. IANAL, is there any way to legally challenge this?

What stops some rich dude from buying some buses and offering bus service in competition to public transit?

[cynical]

Because once the strike ends the city can undercut him and put him out of business? But if he charged what it would cost to break even before the strike ended, he would be accused of price gouging.

[John]

Yes but there are trade offs. Heavier cars are safer cars. But heavier cars get worse mileage.

[JW]

Didn't Baked just say that?

That''s why I drive a Ford 500 (based on the Volvo S80). 'Effing tanks.

[boomshanka]

From what I understand, manufacturers are trending toward lighter carbon fiber, which can be safer in a crash than steel.

[kinnath]

that would be the "low cost" part of the pick-two equation above.

[SugarFree]

And don't forget that the greedy oil companies have been paying off the car companies for years to keep that hyper-efficient engine that runs on old Birkenstocks and alfalfa sprouts under wraps for decades. It's in the crate between the 200-year lightbulbs and The Ark of the Covenant.

[WTF]

Top. Men.

[Isaac Bartram]

Yeah, my cousin worked with a guy who's uncle knew a guy who's brother-in-law invented that hyper-efficient engine.

That engine's real, man. Godamn oil companies crushed the man's dream.

[Tulpa]

I've seen too many flipped-over SUVs to believe that. Stupid drivers can find ways to get themselves and their passengers killed even if they were driving a tank. But I do oppose CAFE standards for unrelated reasons.

[JW]

All things being equal, greater mass for the win, baby. A higher center of gravity can bork that formula all to hell, though.

IIHS finds sub-compacts fare poorly against mid-size sedans

[Zeb]

CAFE standards are stupid for many reasons, but there really is not that much impact on safety. People can and do buy the type of car they want. I see no shortage of large heavy vehicles on the road. Fuel efficiency is not just for dirty hippies. Saving money is a good thing, and a priority for many people.

[R C Dean]

People can and do buy the type of car they want. I see no shortage of large heavy vehicles on the road.

Most of those large heavy vehicles are classified as "light trucks" and are exempt from CAFE.

[John]

Reason missed this little bit of justice

http://volokh.com/2010/04/13/judge-baltazar-garzon-indicted/

[Bertone and the Vatican]

"Neither Bertone nor the Vatican has the moral authority to give lessons on sexuality"

WTF?!

[Mike M.]

I'm not sure what kind of bullcrap Obama is shoveling here, but all you have to do is look at the Treasury web page to see that he's once again lying.

The national debt has gone up by more than $500 billion already this calendar year, we're not even a third of the way through the year, and every single bit of it is publicly held debt.

There was a brief slowdown a few months ago when they needed to do some accounting shenanigans for a couple of weeks while they were up against the debt ceiling, but by and large the debt has been pretty steadily increasing $5 billion a day since he came into office, and it's increasing as fast as ever right now.

[Mike Laursen]

If I'm doing my math right, that's like $333 per day per unemployed person in the U.S. I could throw an absolutely raging endless party and invite them all for that kind of money.

[Rich]

Since the median household income in the United States is $46,326 and Washington will spend $31,406 per household this year, the average household should take in over $77K.

These estimates may be a little off, but *clearly* bad times are nearing the end.

[Steve Nash Equilibrium]

Is this a joke?

[Tim Geithner]

Figures don't lie, Son.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

It's clearly a joke.

[P Brooks]

"Neither Bertone nor the Vatican has the moral authority to give lessons on sexuality"

WTF? Most of Bertone's cars were chick magnets!

[James Ard]

Don't worry, highway deaths will go back up as soon as the new cafe standards go into effect.

[boomshanka]

Really? How so?

[James Ard]

Cars made out of fiberglass don't hold up too well against trees and 18 wheelers.

[T]

Or older vehicles like my '75 Blazer.

[WTF]

So who's making cars of fiberglass these days, other than kit makers?

[The Art-P.O.G.]

CART and NASCAR, I believe.

[SugarFree]

Birth Defect Key to Ending Racism.

[Rich]

Obviously a ploy to get conservatives to cave on genetic engineering.

[P Brooks]

Andy Stern: next Secretary of Labor!

[Corduroy Rocks]

That hadn't occurred to me until you said it. Now I'm depressed. Thanks.

[JW]

Service Employees Union International President Andy Stern to step down.

So, what position within the Obama! administration is he taking? Is he on the longer SCOTUS list?

[Slut Bunwalla]

Highway deaths reach lowest point since 1950s.

How can this be? You know, since Toyota is deliberately manufacturing cars programmed to kill their drivers. Millions have died already, right?

[Tulpa]

Last night I got a call from some idiot security company at 3 AM about a family restaurant's burglar alarm going off asking me if they should send the police. I told them I don't own or manage a restaurant, and that they had the wrong number.

About 30 minutes later, they called me again, apparently not fixing the number from the last time. So I unplugged the phone from the wall.

Around 8:30 AM, I woke up to the sound of my knocker being banged on the door constantly for about 30 seconds. I was ignoring it, thinking it was one of my idiot neighbors asking if I could give them a ride to Walmart or something, but finally got up out of bed, uttered some curse or another, and facetiously thanked them for making sure the knocker worked. Then I opened the door, with face red and eyes bulging in rage, to find a Pittsburgh cop with roughly the same expression on his face.

"Are you [insert Tulpa's name here]?"

"Uh, yes, officer, I am."

"Your car is going to be towed in 90 seconds if you don't move it. Public Works has to trim the trees in that area and put up no parking signs two days ago."

"Uh, I think my car has been there for about a week, so I didn't see the sign..." [Tulpa realizes it's illegal to park in the same spot for more than 48 hours, shuts up]

"It needs to be moved now. I tried calling your phone but you didn't answer, so I had to call someone else to let me in the building."

...

to make a long story short, the cop probably spent 10 minutes of work trying to find me rather than just letting my car get towed. (the city tow truck was coming down the street after I threw some clothes on and went out to move the car) Without knowing my race, socioeconomic status, opinions of police, etc. The only stickers I have on my car are for Matlab and the NRA, so it's not due to any sticker bribery.

Just wanted to share a positive cop experience with you all, to let you know that they do sometimes happen.

[sage]

You forgot to add "Then he shot my dog for good measure and tazed my grandmother."

[Tulpa]

No, they refrained from doing that. But that might just be because both of them died recently, you boorish prick. I should expect that from someone who solicits Polish jokes about that terrible plane crash, though.

[Warty]

How recent, and where are they buried? They might still be good.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

Heh heh, you guys are dicks. Thanks for sharing, Tulpa. I've had to deal with cops on a few occasions and most of the time the encounters were with professional and courteous police officers. One time it wasn't, but it's useful to not disregard the positive experiences just to focus on the negative ones.

[robc]

I unplugged the phone from the wall.

Phones come with walls now? Oh, wait, yeah, I remember those phones like that. I thought they went away with the turn of the millenium.

[Tulpa]

I wouldn't have one either except my apartment building requires a land line to use the voice entry system.

[Zeb]

I still have one that you can't even unplug.

[wylie]

Does Ma Bell still have to come by to service it?

[robc]

Now if we could just get them to take 10 minutes to verify the street address before busting down doors.

[T]

Well, that's a situation with no deadline or urgency, so why would they verify an address then?

[P Brooks]

Just wanted to share a positive cop experience with you all

I'm happy for you. Seriously.

[Tulpa]

Unfortunately, my car isn't a Cougar -- then I could have made a joke about "towing the [mountain] lion".

[Jose Ortega y Gasset]

"Zero is the only thing that's acceptable."

Yet another example of a government bureaucrats who understands neither engineering or economics. The only way to have zero fatalities related to travel is find a technology that makes all travel impossible.

[J sub D]

Officials said the White House was also considering Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow and two politicians: Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who was formerly governor of Arizona.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[Me Myself]

Jesus Lord, fucking Michigan isn't enough for that twat?

[Michael Ejercito]

Jesus Lord, fucking Michigan isn't enough for that twat?

Why did Michigan re-elect her?

That would be like New Orleans re-electing Ray Nagin or Kathleen Blanco.

[R C Dean]

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm

Also a Harvard Law grad, I might point out.

[Warty]

Morning not-metal

[P Brooks]

Granholm on the Supreme Court?

I would be astounded if that dumb cunt can even dress herself.

[J sub D]

She's not stupid. She's not evil. She is merely incompetent.

[Warty]

The Porn Stashing Agency

[The Art-P.O.G.]

Guffaw!

[P Brooks]

She's not stupid.

Having seen her in unscripted question-and-answer situations on the teevee, I find that difficult to believe.

[Cardinal Herbert]

To be fair, concealing mass child rape isn't the worst thing the Catholic Church has ever done.

[Cardinal Dick Holder]

"Number two official at the Vatican blames Catholic sex abuse scandal on homosexuality."

Fucking queers!

[Michael Ejercito]

"Number two official at the Vatican blames Catholic sex abuse scandal on homosexuality."

Fucking queers!

Were most of the victims boys or girls?

[P Brooks]

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm

Also a Harvard Law grad, I might point out.

The debasement of a degree from Harvard Law continues.

You're known by the company you keep, R C.

[R C Dean]

Not just in my class.

In my 1L section. I was fortunate to be seated across from her in class. In her day, she was good scenery.

[Dagny T.]

Jezebel quote of the day: "I'd sooner give up sex than pasta.".

That just makes me so very sad.

[wylie]

Buckup Dags. She sounds fat, so we're not missing out on anything.

[Dagny T.]

I'd always suspected that good sex and militant feminism were mutually exclusive, but damn.

[SugarFree]

When all you do it look for things to be offended about, joy wants nothing to do with you.

[Warty]

Anyone who loves carbs that much hasn't seen their genitals for years.

[The Art-P.O.G.]

If the person who said that isn't fat, I don't know what to think. Asexual?

[SugarFree]

It's odd to watch that blog in the gestalt. They all gripe about about not wanting to have sex because of birth control/anti-depressants/kids/infertility/weight/housework/crushing pressure of Teh Patriarchy, but when the common sense observation is made that--in general--men would prefer to have sex with their partners more often--they howl about that. And then rush to proclaim it is the guy in their relationship that doesn't want to have sex.

One or the other ladies.

[Dagny T.]

And they looove anything Lysistrata-esque. Desire to control everything + especially men + low self-esteem = trifecta of crazy.

[SugarFree]

Not to get all gender essentialist, but--on a gross generalization level--the male sex drive and the female sex drive are a perfect illustration of the differences between want and need. Men need sex, women want it. A want can be suppressed, a need cannot.

Men are not animals, of course. We are in control of our desires. But an uncapped toothpaste tube, an improperly positioned bathroom seat, an offhand remark about a newscaster's excellent breasts, and a general inability to give two shits in a paper cup about mowing the grass doesn't really impact our sex drive.

[Dagny T.]

I will cop to not understanding the allure of newscasters. Like, even the non-hot ones are somehow hot? I respectfully maintain that this chick's face is kind of fucked, but I don't want to fight about it, ok? ;-P

[Warty]

She got hit with a shovel, you insensitive and verminous Canadian.

[SugarFree]

Which is not surprising since that vast majority of their jobs is the ability to not blink often.

I think a lot of the attraction is that librarian/teacher thing. The seem so repressed, that you know they are a tiger in the sack.

As for actually hot newscasters, the French get it right. I mean, they are just reading off a damn teleprompter, why should they pretend to be serious journalists?

[CharlesWT]

So the French female newscasters are all clones?

[cynical]

"Men need sex, women want it."

If only men could reproduce asexually like women!

[P Brooks]

They all gripe about about not wanting to have sex

If, by "gripe" you mean "brag".