(Don't mind me, I'm exercising my exaggeration muscles.) These loosely linked posts both impressed me with their ability to articulate something I wish I'd said.

Over on American Regression, Gary speaks to the frustration in dealing with people/parents who seem determined to ignore evidence and rational arguments when it comes to politics. I've decided against quoting it because it's the kind of post best experienced in totality. So go check it out.

BottleOfBlog is a little too heavy on the sports stuff for me but this post redeems quite a few sports entries in my eyes. And I will quote it, at length, because it is incandescent.

When are these people going to get it? You can't consistently defend the... um... principles of the modern Republican party because they don't have any. They don't believe in anything--not anything they can tell you, anyway, and still get re-elected. They have no convinctions.

They have propaganda.

And if you stupidly adopt one of their "talking points" today as a principle, as a conviction, as a value today, you're going to look like a fucking idiot tomorrow.

You're outraged that John Kerry said "fuck" today? Tomorrow, Dick Cheney says it on the floor of the Senate. You're appalled at the 82nd Airborne providing security in Kosovo today? Tomorrow, they're directing traffic in Baghdad. You're incensed at governement spending today? Tomorrow, you're going to have to defend the biggest deficits in the history of the world and the unheard of increases in discretionary spending.

You're pulling your hair out at the unheard of gall of Democrats asking a Supreme Court nominee to disclose his political and judicial positions? Tomorrow, you'll be demanding a Supreme Court nominee to disclose her political and judicial positions.

Yesterday, you're all for the "rule of law". Today? The world is full of prosecutors out of control!

Don't these people get it? Or don't they care?

I don't blame them personally for the fact that they've voted for two entire branches of our government which are entirely full of shit. Well, that's not true. I do blame them for their votes. But I don't personally blame them that the entire modern Republican party is full of shit.

Though, maybe that's not true, either. I do blame them for being so goddammed gullible and easily manipulated, and so intent on their "team" winning that they haven't noticed the utterly morally and ethically bankrupt individuals they've been sending to Washington for the last twenty years.

I do blame them for being so reliably and willfully ignorant that the modern Republican party can run people like DeLay and Frist, and Bush, confidently, because they know the rubes will heel like dumb dogs if someone shouts, "abortion!" or "faggots!" or "Darwin!" at them.

But I just shake my head at people who have adopted ridiculous positions, in writing, on television, amongst their friends, in support of the modern Republican party, and who have, because of their support, been made to look like the dumbest, most hypocritical, most dishonest, most naive fools in the history of the world.

It just kills me. If someone did that to me, I'd be furious. The rubes, the suckers, the Red Staters? They embarrass themselve more by defending things they denounced before.

Republicans! Pick a thing and believe in it. Stop believing in people--especially these people. George W. Bush is not a political philosophy. Stop humiliating yourselves for a guy who couldn't care less how stupid he makes you look!

Nobody voted for Clinton because they thought he had a great marriage. But the rubes all voted for Bush for a bunch of crap that, after five years, we all know he couldn't care less about. Cut your losses. Let's wrap this national turkey up.

Eighty percent of Republican jokers keep sticking to this clown and they're going to walk away from this administration like the investors of Arbusto and Bush Exploration, and everything else Bush ever ran--broke, embarrassed, and out of bidness.