HAPPY NEW YEAR! Resolutions and Wishes for 2015.

2014 has been, to say the least, an interesting year. And if this past election is any indicator, 2015 promises to be equally interesting. With that in mind, here is my annual list of resolutions that we should take to heart for the coming year. Please feel free to break them all at any time.

Texas' "Pray the Gay Away" Stance Exposes Right-Wing Cognitive Dissonance

From Wikipedia (which I try NEVER to use as a reference, but in this case will serve adequately enough)...

In psychology, cognitive dissonance is the excessive mental stress and discomfort experienced by an individual who (1) holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time or (2) is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values. This stress and discomfort may also arise within an individual who holds a belief and performs a contradictory action or reaction.

Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance focuses on how humans strive for internal consistency. When inconsistency (dissonance) is experienced, individuals largely become psychologically distressed. His basic hypotheses are listed below:

1."The existence of dissonance, being psychologically uncomfortable, will motivate the person to try to reduce the dissonance and achieve consonance"

2."When dissonance is present, in addition to trying to reduce it, the person will actively avoid situations and information which would likely increase the dissonance"

Texas GOP Advances "Pray The Gay Away"

Solidifying its place in the ass-end of social evolution, the Texas Republican Party voted this past Thursday to include anti-gay language that would endorse "reparative therapy" in its party platform. The vote taken at their convention in Fort Worth is aimed at rebuking bans on such therapy in California and New Jersey.

From the Associated Press...

Under the new proposed plank, the Texas GOP will "recognize the legitimacy and efficacy of counseling, which offers reparative therapy and treatment for those patients seeking healing and wholeness from their homosexual lifestyle."

Sarah Palin Gives Her $.02 On Bergdhal (She really should have saved her money)

You know, there are some people who really, REALLY should just keep their opinions to themselves. Especially if they don't want folks to start asking questions which may prove more than a bit uncomfortable to THEM. Sadly, Sarah Palin does not feel this applies to her.

Criticizing the president's praise for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was released after five years of captivity in Afghanistan, she opines... (h/t Talking Points Memo)

"No, Mr. President, a soldier expressing horrid anti-American beliefs – even boldly putting them in writing and unabashedly firing off his messages while in uniform, just three days before he left his unit on foot – is not 'honorable service.' Unless that is your standard."

You Are NOT A "Patriot" If...

As I did my annual "walking tour" of Philadelphia this past Memorial Day, observing all of the ceremonies acknowledging the sacrifices of the men and women who have actually fought and died for our freedom, it occurs to me that there is a stark difference between REAL patriots, and those who just use the title to justify their Obama Derangement Syndrome. (Yes. I'm talking to you, Operation American Spring.) With that in mind, I figure I might provide the following as a kind of primer. Think of this as "Patriotism for Dummies".

BREAKING: Divorce Lawyers Expect Surge of Clients as "Opposite Marriages" Become Meaningless

With same-sex marriage bans being challenged, put on hold, or overturned altogether across the country (the latest being in Pennsylvania), divorce lawyers are gearing up for a surge of new clientele as heterosexual couples suddenly realize that the sanctity of their marriage has been diminished by "the Gay".

"We've been receiving a torrent of new calls from distraught couples," says I.M. Slyme of the law firm Dewey, Cheetem, and Howe. "After years and years of feeling so safe and secure in the knowledge that marriage is exclusive to them and them along, I'm getting calls from new clients (mostly men) who are now just saying 'f--k it, I'm done'."

Operation American Spring Joins the #EpicFail Hall of Shame

In the history of really, really stupid dumb-assery there are those moments that stand out. These moments, which seem to come along just when we all need a good hearty belly laugh, deserve a special place in what we call the #EpicFail Hall of Shame.

Remember the May 21, 2011 doomsday prediction of Harold Camping? Thousands of his followers believed his prediction of impending doomsday only to end up dazed and confused like this poor fella.

Homophobes STILL Talking About The Thing They Don't Want "Shoved Down Their Throats"

It's been almost a week since the "kiss heard 'round the world" appeared on ESPN. That would be the 1.5 millisecond lip-lock Michael Sam planted on his boyfriend when he heard that he was drafted by the St. Louis Rams. By this time you'd think that most of America would have moved on, and in fact they have. The only people who are STILL talking about it are the ones who claim that the Gay "lifestyle" is being "shoved down their throats". This from Amy Kushnir, co-host of a local Texas TV station's version of "The View". (Courtesy: Huffington Post)

"When parents do not have a choice as to whether or not they want their children to see this, it's wrong," she said. "It's being pushed in faces.... I don't want to see that. I don't want to see cake in your face, kissing each other."

See the video below.

Former Ole Miss Guard Tweets Reaction to Michael Sam...Then Spends Next 15 Tweets Cleaning It Up

I love Twitter. Seriously, I just LOVE it. Mostly because it's so easy for some idiot to put their foot in their mouth for the whole world to see. Take this tweet from former Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson.

Boycotting sportscenter til this michael sam nasty ass shit is off .... My brothers are 7 and 11 and saw that!!! #SICKENING
— marshall henderson (@NativeFlash22) May 12, 2014

GOP State Lawmaker Claims The "Icky-Icky Butt-Sex" is Bad For You

And we come to yet another ridiculous argument against same sex marriage. South Dakota Republican State House rep and pastor Steve Hickey is apparently so distraught at the prospect of his state being the latest to have its same-sex marriage ban overturned that he felt inspired to beg aid from the medical community to explain how the "icky-icky butt-sex is bad because it's just icky." In a letter to the editor of the Argus Reader that he posted on Facebook he adds this bit of crazy-sauce to the stupid-stew simmering in the slow-cooker that is the Right Wing (h/t Talking Points Memo).

"Certainly there are board-certified doctors in our state who will attest to what seems self-evident to so many: gay sex is not good for the body or mind," he wrote. "Pardon a crude comparison but regarding men with men, we are talking about a one-way alley meant only for the garbage truck to go down. Frankly, I’d question the judgment of doctor who says it’s all fine."

Missouri Mayor "Kind of Agrees" with Jewish Center Killer

Proof that no matter how cray-cray you are, or how unforgivably violent your ideas or tendencies are, you can always find a friend somewhere. From Talking Points Memo...

Marionville, Mo. Mayor Dan Clevenger spoke warmly this week of Frazier Glenn Miller, who allegedly went on a killing rampage on Sunday in Overland Park, Kan.

"He was always nice and friendly and respectful of elder people, you know, he respected his elders greatly. As long as they were the same color as him," Clevenger said while laughing, according to television station KSPR. "Very fair and honest and never had a bit of problems out of him."

Clevenger said he sympathized with some of Miller's views, but didn't like to broadcast that.

"Kind of agreed with him on some things but, I don't like to express that too much," Clevenger, the owner of a local repair shop, said.

Oh, Just SECEDE Already!

Cut and pasted from my diary entry at dailykos.com.

From the fabled land of the Right-Wing Cray-Cray comes yet another resolution for secession.  From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel...

Earlier this month, the [Wisconsin Republican] party's Resolutions Committee voted in favor of a proposal that says the state party "supports legislation that upholds Wisconsin's right, under extreme circumstances, to secede." Read more from Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/...
Follow us: @JournalSentinel on Twitter

Frankly, I'm just about sick and tired of these Teabagger folks' constant smack-talk about secession.  In fact, I've actually gotten to the point where I support secession.  Not for myself, mind you, since my love of this country is not dependent on who's running it (or his skin color), but for the asylum escapees who have spent the past 6 years butt-hurt over the fact that America elected a Black guy as President...TWICE!