I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the loudest opponents of gay rights are often closeted themselves.
And while I think it should be a personal choice as to whether someone should come out of the closet or not (because, really, it’s nobody’s business), there are times when hypocrisy needs to be exposed. 
I don’t like preachers who warn us not to violate the Ten Commandments while fathering out-of-wedlock children while married to someone else (Looking at you, Jesse Jackson), and I don’t like politicians fighting to keep gays from having rights while being gay themselves.
Congressman Aaron Schock is the latest example. He’s been outed by gay journalist Itay Hod for being a hypocrite. Schock is a Republican who hides his identity from his constituents. Hod argues that the media has an obligation to report this — not because being gay is wrong, but because the congressman is a hypocrite, lying to the voters, in the same way you would report a politician who fights against illegal immigrants while knowingly hiring them.
Schock will join a long line of outed people who fought against gay rights, and will probably lose his seat because of it. After all, Republicans don’t like politicians who are gay.
If only he had merely cheated on his wife while claiming to be hiking the Appalachian trail. Or had been caught with prostitutes while wearing diapers. Or divorced his wife while she was in the hospital for cancer so he could marry the woman he had been having an affair with. Those sorts of things don’t bother Republicans, as we know. Mark Sanford, David Vitter, and Newt Gingrich are still respected members of the party.
But being gay? Well, that’s unforgivable.
The always entertaining Matt Taibbi reports that the GOP establishment is taking action to prevent the party from being completely taken over by idiots.
“No fools on our ticket” is their mantra, and I mean that literally. 
They are literally saying that they’re “tired of being the Stupid Party.”
This is good news for Republicans who are tired of losing elections in red districts when they nominate people so crazy that even their own supporters vote for the other guy (or stay home).
I may disagree with most Republicans, but the majority of them aren’t stupid idiots. I have many friends who used to consider themselves Republicans who have seen the party taken over by religious fanatics, conspiracy theorists, evolution deniers, and radicals who refuse to compromise or do the job they were elected to do. They just can’t support the Sarah Palins, Ted Cruzes, and other crazies that are identified with the GOP these days. And who can blame them?
So this change is good news for the party. Maybe they can rid themselves of these people who cheer when the government is shut down, boo heroic soldiers who are gay, and clap when one of the leaders say it’s better for people to die than to give them health care.
This is also good news for Democrats in two ways:
1. It will split the GOP and cause an internal war. This will make it easier for Democrats to get elected in the short term.
2. If it is successful, we may end up with a GOP of reasonable and intelligent politicians who understand that adults get things accomplished through compromise.
And therefore, in the long run, we all win.
Libertarians don’t like welfare because they think the free market can solve all our problems even though that has never been the case anywhere in the world at any time. I guess it gives them the ability to say no to things like unemployment benefits, food stamps, and social security disability without feeling guilty or selfish when they say “But private charity can solve all those problems” even though that has never been the case anywhere in the world at any time.
No, what really bugs me is when they say, all superior-like, that conservatives give more to charity than liberals. While that is true, the key question is who the charity benefits.
Conservatives give more to religious-based charities. If you only count non-religious-based charities, then liberals give much more. New York state jumps from #18th most generous to #2, and Pennsylvania goes from #40 to #4.
While some religious-based charities certainly help the poor (soup kitchens and homeless shelters are a great use of charity funds), churches also spend a lot of money on churches. Take the Mormons.
The Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City
And then the Mormons (and the Knights of Columbus and other religious groups) spent millions over the last few years in politics — filing lawsuits, buying ads, and campaigning against gay marriage. All of that was considered tax-free “charity” (while those of us on the other side had to consider our contributions as “political” which the IRS does not consider “charity”).
Not all charity is equal, and no one should say, “I give to charity so therefore I don’t have to worry about homeless children.” Your contributions may protect the kids against the horrors of two people in love getting married, but it won’t protect them against starvation.
Man, I wish I could get a job as a psychic. Those guys get paid good money for making up crap. 
Here’s a web page that was posted last year with a summary of predictions made by professional psychics for 2013. I could only find a few that actually came true, and these were all the kinds of predictions anyone could have made. For instance:
Daniel Day Lewis nominated for an Oscar for Lincoln.
In a quasi shake-up, Jimmy Fallon is named host of NBC-TV’s Tonight Show, replacing Jay Leno.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo re-elected; Gov. Chris Christie wins re-election in New Jersey.
College students will find it harder and harder to find jobs.
Shocking, I know! Who would have predicted any of these things, other than everybody?
Some psychics decided to go against the obvious and predict things like “the Red Sox will not be in the World Series” or “Surprising upsets at the Academy Awards: Bradley Cooper for best actor over Daniel Day Lewis. Sally Field for best actress. Lincoln for best picture and Quentin Tarantino for best director.” (None of which happened.)
Here are top stories of 2013 according to Yahoo News:
The only mention I could find of any of these was absolutely wrong:
Prince William and Kate will have a baby girl, whom many will believe is the reincarnation of Princess Diana.
Nothing else.
Man, how do I apply for this job?
I don’t usually do New Years resolutions, being practically perfect in every way*, but there is one I think I need to make.
I resolve to avoid insulting my political opponents.
Oh, I may very well insult their views. There are indeed members of the Tea Party that believe in absolute nonsense.
I need to refrain from saying “That idiot twit Sarah Palin believes that taxes have gone up under Obama!” I can attack her views without attacking her personally. There is enough ammunition for pointing out her mistakes without having to point out the person behind the mistakes.
This may be a difficult resolution to make, because sometimes it is hard to separate the stupid thing from the person saying the stupid thing. But I think all political discourse would be better if everyone stopped insulting the other side personally (“I can’t stand Obummer the Muslim!”), and instead just insult their views — because views can change.
We’ll see how successful I can be.
So happy New Year’s Everybody! Happy New Year even to those freaking idiots Ted Cruz, Michelle Bachmann, and the rest of the neanderthal numbskulls standing in the way of progress.
Hey, I still have one day left.
* that was sarcasm
ventrellaquest.com 