Two of America’s greatest cartoon characters together for the first time!
The Simpsons writers wasted no time in making fun of Donald Trump’s candidacy when Homer is one of the lucky stiffs paid $50 to cheer on Trump’s announcement – but gets captured by Trump’s hair.
So it’s cartoon Saturday everyone. You gotta see this!
Hey remember those poor, persecuted bakers who were forced to pay a huge fine simply for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian couple?
Well, guess what — it’s not true! I know, I know; you’re shocked to learn that a right-wing talking point turns out not to be true. I mean, who would have guessed that they were being dishonest?
Now that the settlement order has been released, we see that what really happened was this:
The lesbian couple asked for a cake. The bakery refused, cited Bible verses, and treated them terribly. The women then emailed a complaint to the state’s Bureau of Labor and Industries. The email contained their names and address.
The bakery then went to Fox News and the rest of the right-wing media. They used this attention to promote their good Christian nature by naming the women specifically, giving out their address, and calling them out as evil. Because that’s what Jesus would do, right?
Sure enough, the women started getting death threats and otherwise being attacked when they should have been celebrating their happy marriage. And the bakers didn’t stop — until they found themselves as the subject of protests. Their business suffered as people who are against discrimination refused to do business with them, and they ended up closing. Those poor, poor bigots!
Anyway, in the meantime, the complaint with the state’s Bureau of Labor and Industries proceeded. Filing with them is the proper thing to do when a business discriminates against you and is harassing you. After an investigation, the bakers were found to have violated Oregon’s anti-discrimination law.
The fine, however, was not for refusing to bake the cake but for causing such terrible pain and suffering to two women who merely wanted to celebrate their wedding. Had the women filed a civil lawsuit and claimed damages, they might have gotten more.
The bakers are heroes to many conservative Christians who think that people should be able to discriminate based on their religious prejudices. These same Christians look the other way when confronted with the damage these bakers did to these women. Had the bakers merely said “no” and not tried to use the occasion as an opportunity to promote their bigotry, then it is likely we would have never heard about this. They would have gotten a letter from the Bureau of Labor warning them of what the law says, and that would be the end of it.
Sure, we hate it. It stands for treason, injustice, and slavery. Anyone who flies that flag is either a bigot, an asshole who likes trolling people, or willfully ignorant of what that flag means to people.
That flag does not belong on public property, nor should public funds ever be used to display it (except perhaps in a museum). There is indeed a movement to prohibit it from being displayed on government property.
But banning it completely would clearly violate the 1st Amendment.
People have the right to hold unpopular positions. They have the right to be obnoxious and insulting. They can fly that flag on their own property all they want, put it on their car, wave it in the air while they walk down the street.
That doesn’t mean we can’t object. That doesn’t mean we can’t protest it and try to encourage people not to support the anti-American Racist Slaver Treason Flag. We can refuse to deal with people who fly it, boycott businesses that support it, and protest using our 1st Amendment rights, too.
There are always extremists on both ends of the political spectrum. There are indeed liberals who don’t understand what “freedom of speech” means who want to ban the flag and force every statue of a Confederate soldier down to the ground. Oh, and statues of Columbus, too. And Andrew Jackson. And anyone else who doesn’t agree with them 100% … because that’s what extremists want — you either agree with them completely or you’re the enemy.
Don’t paint everyone with the same brush, though. Liberals hate that flag and all it stands for and wish for no one to ever fly it again — but a true liberal also loves freedom of speech and is against censorship.
Compromising and negotiating is how mature adults handle problems. They work together to solve their problems.
It’s so sad that our society has so many people who cannot understand this, especially when it comes to politics.
I’m not talking about compromising your ethics. But politics? Law? My marriage? Life in general? 
I’ve learned, as I’ve aged and become wiser, that I’d rather work with the other side and get 50% of what I want than be stubborn and get 0%.
There are gray areas in the world. Not everything is black and white. Compromise is needed to get things done.
A lot of the arguments I get into with people over politics seem to do with this refusal to compromise; with people who see things only in black and white. (And this includes many on the left as well.)
In some ways, it is like those who strongly believe their religion to the point where there can be no compromise because that means you’re helping evil prevail. Abortion is the best example I can think of there. I am more than willing to compromise on this issue — I agree that there should be restrictions based on medical science. I am willing to change my position as medical science changes. However, those who think that a collection of cells is a life from the moment of conception will accept no compromise. They will not budge, so how can we work together to solve this problem?
The gun extremists also think that it is impossible to have any compromise because it’s a violation of their civil liberties as guaranteed by the Constitution. They feel that any attempt to prevent felons, terrorists or the insane from having guns is as much of a violation of their rights as throwing someone in jail without giving them a hearing. There is no middle ground with these people.
Libertarians are some of the worst in this regard. They hate all government (except of course the government they like; they are hypocrites, but uncompromising ones). If you say “You know, people shouldn’t discriminate” they argue that it is their right to discriminate and if you don’t let them kick gays out of their business then you are violating their freedom! (They of course, could care less about the freedom of anyone else.)
Seriously, how do you deal with these people? Well, you can’t. You can lead someone to compromise, but you can’t make them think.
And you know what I’ve found? So many of these people are unhappy with life. They lack empathy for anyone else’s view. They’re angry all the time because they are constantly fighting battles they can’t win because of their inability to compromise.
I don’t always get my way. The people I can deal with also don’t always get their way.
And that’s just fine.
In 2007, a year or so before the primaries of 2008 began, this was what people were saying:
I kind of agreed, even though I supported Obama from the start. And I was pleased to have been proven wrong.
Now here it is, a year or so before the primaries of 2016, and this is what people are saying:
I kind of agree.
But boy, would it be great to be proven wrong again.
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