LAS VEGAS – The age old question – could God create a shotgun big enough to blow his own brains out? – has finally been answered. And that answer is, yes. Yes he can.

God was found dead yesterday at the Wynn Las Vegas of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Much has been said about Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s performance at a debate recently. Here is a quick look at how Brewer quickly went to pieces during her opening statement:

So, apparently we've reached the point in our present national decline when our modern day Father Coughlin has decided it's time for full-blown anti-intellectualism:

Via Roger Ebert, I just learened tha Glenn Beck is set to hold an event in Anchorage, Alaska this September the 11th.  I was able to confirm that tickets are on sale for the event here.

Since David's recent blog has attracted attention from some self-described Objectivists and Libertarians, let me say a few things to those new commenters.

It's clear that you feel that all taxes are illegitimate ("stolen money"), and do not believe in any social contract (a la John Locke) by which citizens preserve the maximum freedom possible for them by delegating their personal legislative rights to a freely chosen legislative authority. In short, you don't accept taxation with representation. We can argue the point, but many of you seem quite set in your convictions.

We know that environmental disasters have led to the downfall of civilizations. We know that, in other cases, it is greed and largess that has tipped the scales. Some societies have fallen victim to outside invaders or disease; others simply disappear, leaving no easily-followed clues as to their demise. I suspect those that crumble under their own stupidity are difficult to document, historically speaking.

Hey, remember this?

Born in 1792 in Monaco, Aynamal "Ayn" Rand was a divisive figure from her very first day. Born with a twin sister, Rand consumed said twin out-of-utero, leaving little left but rib bones and patches of hair from the twin. This incident was inpirational to Rand, who was often quoted as saying "the weak, like my twin, must be used for food by the strong."

Tucker Carlson’s greatest journalistic achievement.

So Beck is going to start his own news website is he, well, AP, take that!

cue Meredith Brooks:

President Obama's response to crazy conspiracy narratives about him is predictable and cool. He doesn't want to wade into the nonsense, and in that much he's absolutely right: you can't argue people out of their irrational beliefs. And in general, Obama has put his faith in the public's preference for real-world results over conspiracy theories.

American politics these days doesn't make a lot of sense if you expect people to act with sensible self-interest in mind. The Democrats, who were elected with large majorities after the other party's policies led the country to disaster, are apparently afraid to argue for their own policies. The Republicans, after suffering a resounding defeat because their policies led to disaster, have handed their party over to an angry faction that wants to push those failed policies even further.

I have a few questions for you former Senator, is that how I shoud refer to you?   Can I Call you Al? Well Al, you really stepped in it, and you made me laugh hard. I always think you old guys will learn, you know, understand the public, even a little bit, but you don't do you? You old white guys are just plain out of touch with what it is to live in America as a regular person. And as much as you try, you just don't get it, do you. Will you all ever come around, will you ever get it?

Alan Simpson’s opinion of Social Security and those that accept it.

News/Politics

Pakistan Floods: The watery nightmare continues unabated.

I have been a little angry lately, things are not going right in Afghanistan and I want everyone who reads me to know why. This isn't going to be too long, because I need to get a bike ride in this morning.

The furor over the Islamic center near Ground Zero has led many to conclude that the right wing has rediscovered its passion for Muslim-bashing, and some predict more to come. But what strikes me most about the recent outburst of Islamophobia is its exceptionality. Nine years after 9/11, the once preeminent obsession of American foreign policy and Republican politics had been all but forgotten. Even the attempted bombing of Times Square failed to generate much rage from the right.

Via Palingates:

You just aren’t American if you aren’t protesting something.

News/Politics

More Bad Eggs: Remember, if you’re going to make an omelet, you’re going to have to give a few thousand people salmonella.

NEW YORK – Ann Thomson, an 83-year-old widow, was awoken last last night to screams of protests by angry conservatives at her her home on 39th Street, in an area known as Hell’s Kitchen.

The protesters were angry that Thompson, a long-time liberal, had told a friend that she didn’t mind the Islamic Center being built two blocks away from Ground Zero.