We’ve all fallen for one or more internet rumor, passing it along to our friends with comments like “I can’t believe it!” … and then realizing the reason we couldn’t believe it is because it wasn’t true in the first place.
Now I admit — I’m a natural skeptic. I demand evidence. But even I can fall for some of these, especially the political ones where I’ve seen such outrageous things that it doesn’t surprise me when a politician says something extremely stupid.
Still, I try to always confirm before posting. And that’s why Snopes is such a great resource.
If you haven’t checked it out, please do. The web page is dedicated to finding out the truth. And it’s also great reading, and easy to get lost with some of the more fun ones.
Recently, I posted about the school that was teaching kids fables, using the Bible as if it was factual. At the time, Snopes could not confirm whether the test was real but said it probably was. They have since done more research and have confirmed its truth. Yes, kids are learning fairy tales in the name of science. This is one of those rare cases where the incredibly stupid thing posted on the internet which gets everyone upset actually is real.
I am shocked and surprised. Shocked that enough people are paying attention enough to give their disapproval, and surprised that it was so strong.
Seriously — Senator Flake from Arizona dropped 19 points. Portman from Ohio dropped 18. Ayotte from New Hampshire dropped 15.
Maybe this will be what it takes for these spineless politicians to realize that the leaders of the NRA do not represent anyone except the gun manufacturers.
EDIT, two days later: Republican Senator Toomey, from my home state of Pennsylvania, was one of the few Republicans who voted for background checks. His poll numbers have risen. Just in case anyone thought these numbers were not related to the gun vote.
The annual White House Correspondent’s Dinner allows the President to throw some barbs at himself and the press and is a good time to observe a President’s sense of humor first hand. Known jokingly as the “nerd prom” it gets bigger and bigger every year and is starting to look like the Oscars. Sarah Palin complained about it in a tweet today, but I think she was mostly pissed that she didn’t get an invitation.
Obama’s timing keeps getting better over the years and his joke writers are doing an excellent job. He is starting to rank up there with Reagan for having a great sense of humor. (Lincoln is also up there, but we don’t have any video of his performances!)
Conan O’Brien was the guest comedian and he had some great bits, too.
Here’s the video:
And here are some of my favorite jokes from Obama:
Now, look, I get it. These days, I look in the mirror and I have to admit, I’m not the strapping young Muslim socialist that I used to be. Time passes. You get a little gray.
And yet, even after all this time, I still make rookie mistakes. Like, I’m out in California, we’re at a fundraiser, we’re having a nice time. I happen to mention that Kamala Harris is the best-looking attorney general in the country. As you might imagine, I got trouble when I got back home. Who knew Eric Holder was so sensitive?
So, yes, maybe I have lost a step. But some things are beyond my control. For example, this whole controversy about Jay-Z going to Cuba — it’s unbelievable. I’ve got 99 problems and now Jay-Z is one. (To Bill O’Reilly) That’s another rap reference, Bill.
I know CNN has taken some knocks lately, but the fact is I admire their commitment to cover all sides of a story, just in case one of them happens to be accurate.
Some of my former advisors have switched over to the dark side. For example, David Axelrod now works for MSNBC, which is a nice change of pace since MSNBC used to work for David Axelrod.
The History Channel is not here. I guess they were embarrassed about the whole Obama-is-a-devil thing. Of course, that never kept Fox News from showing up. They actually thought the comparison was not fair — to Satan.
But the problem is, is that the media landscape is changing so rapidly. You can’t keep up with it. I mean, I remember when BuzzFeed was just something I did in college around 2:00 a.m.
There are other new players in the media landscape as well, like super PACs. Did you know that Sheldon Adelson spent $100 million of his own money last year on negative ads? You’ve got to really dislike me to spend that kind of money. I mean, that’s Oprah money. You could buy an island and call it “Nobama” for that kind of money. Sheldon would have been better off offering me $100 million to drop out of the race.
I know Republicans are still sorting out what happened in 2012, but one thing they all agree on is they need to do a better job reaching out to minorities. And look, call me self-centered, but I can think of one minority they could start with. (Waves hand and smiles) Hello? Think of me as a trial run, you know?
My charm offensive has helped me learn some interesting things about what’s going on in Congress — it turns out, absolutely nothing. But the point of my charm offensive is simple: We need to make progress on some important issues. Take the sequester. Republicans fell in love with this thing, and now they can’t stop talking about how much they hate it. It’s like we’re trapped in a Taylor Swift album.
One senator who has reached across the aisle recently is Marco Rubio, but I don’t know about 2016. I mean, the guy has not even finished a single term in the Senate and he thinks he’s ready to be President. Kids these days.
I’m also hard at work on plans for the Obama Library. And some have suggested that we put it in my birthplace, but I’d rather keep it in the United States. Did anybody not see that joke coming? Show of hands. Only Gallup? Maybe Dick Morris?
And some from Conan:
The last time I hosted the White House Correspondents Dinner was in 1995. It’s amazing to think how much our country has changed in 18 years. If, in 1995, you told me that in 2013 we’d have an African-American president with the middle name Hussein who was elected to a second term in a sluggish economy, I would have said, “oh, he must have run against Mitt Romney”.
As a late night comedian, I was kind of pulling for the rich guy whose horse danced in the Olympics.
A lot of online stars are in the room but, unfortunately, Matt Drudge couldn’t make it. He had a prior commitment to teach a web design class in 1997.
Some people say print media is dying, but I don’t believe it. And neither does my blacksmith.
The print media are here for two very good reasons: food and shelter.
It’s no surprise that Speaker John Boehner isn’t here tonight. President Obama and John Boehner are kind of like a blind date between Anderson Cooper and Rachel Maddow. In theory, they understand each other’s positions but, deep down, you know nothing’s ever going to happen.
Look, I hate the Westboro Baptist Church idiots as much as anyone. Why they think their religion teaches them to preach hatred is beyond me.
But when people are posting things like this, I have to (sadly) disagree:
So Westboro “Baptist Church” showed up here in Texas at the memorial service in West for the first responders who lost their lives in the explosion. The Chief of Police promptly had all 20 or so of them arrested and put into holding cells (all the men in one and all the women in another) When they told him he couldn’t do that, he let them know HE could. Since he hadn’t officially charged them, he could hold them for 24 hours before he had to charge them or let them go! (plenty of time to hold the memorial service). I guess Westboro didn’t think it through too well… This is Texas. As quickly as we fry people down here, did they really think they would be allowed to show that kind of disrespect?? Their photos were also released to the other small towns surrounding West, where services would be denied to them. Sometimes you just have to admire the way we do things down here in Texas!
Nothing to admire here folks, just move along.
We are abandoning what it means to be an American in our blind hatred of these idiots.
While it is perfectly legal to have restrictions which are not “content based” (such as “No public protests within 500 yards of a funeral” or “No protests or speeches allowed in courtrooms while a trial is in progress”) it appears that is not the case here. The people are being arrested (assuming the above is true — I haven’t found confirmation yet) for the content of their speech. It’s what they are saying which is being punished and censored. If they had all shown up with signs saying “We support our heroes” no one would have said a word.
And that’s the problem.
The 1st amendment is meaningless if it doesn’t protect speech we hate. Speech we all agree with doesn’t need protecting.
So while I hate these Westboro cretins, I love the Constitution more. And therefore, they have to be allowed to protest.
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