The White House Easter Bunny is all of us.

“Our military is at a level where it has never been before….The funding of our military was so important and so many military people are with us here today. Just think of $700 billion because that is all going into our military this year,” @POTUS tells crowd at White House pic.twitter.com/220fJuAJgJ

— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 2, 2018

Trump also seemed to have trouble understanding what to call the White House.

”House or building or whatever you wanna call it in tip top shape. We call it tippy top shape.” It’s called the White House. Then he rambles about spending on the military & how “great” the economy is. This is the Easter egg roll. Trump’s lost his mind. pic.twitter.com/Bp82rqWbWn

— Scott Dworkin (@funder) April 2, 2018

(Hint: It is both the name and the description of the building.)

I do not know who is specifically in charge of choosing the costume for the White House Easter Bunny, but that whole "WTF is he saying?" expression this one wears while Trump blatantly lies about his administration's success, and stumbles around for the right word, is pure gold.

I did some checking and discovered that this is the same exact costume that the Easter Bunny wore for LAST year's White House Easter celebration.

Is anyone surprised?
Trump disappoints kids, screws up the national anthem at his first Easter egg roll https://t.co/VJaDz4aqW1

— The Blackest Heart (@TheReddestRose) April 17, 2017

See?

People are also still wondering who Trump forced to wear the costume.

Last year everybody was pretty sure it was Spicey.

Sean Spicer's humble beginnings as the White House Easter Bunny pic.twitter.com/sczyX8QJVq

— jordan (@JordanUhl) March 3, 2017

So who do we think did the honors this year?

My guess would be Eric Trump since nobody has even seen that guy in months, and he would probably do just about anything just to finally get noticed.

Happy Saturnalia!

I actually typically have no problem wishing people a Merry Christmas.

But since Trump decided to brag about bringing Christmas back, I simply had to defy that orange tinted, anus mouthed, POS.

Besides of course Saturnalia was the true holiday before those uptight Christians hijacked it in order to spread their capitalist religion around the world.

And it might never have taken off quite as well if Clement Clarke Moore had not written that poem in 1823, and Coca Cola had not altered the look of St. Nick from this rather grim looking fellow...

....into this jolly elf.

Oh well, stolen celebrations, reinvented historical figures, evil capitalist underpinnings, what does it really matter if we are celebrating with loved ones and taking this opportunity to share our bounty
with the less fortunate?

I love this holiday, and hope that you and yours have a wonderful day. 

For his birthday this year Barack Obama got his own holiday.

Courtesy of NBC Chicago: 

Former President Barack Obama got a special treat for his birthday this year - his very own holiday. 

Governor Bruce Rauner signed into law Friday a measure to designate Aug. 4 as "Barack Obama Day" across Illinois. 

The newest state holiday will be celebrated each year on the 44th president's birthday, beginning in 2018. 

The holiday will be "observed throughout the State as a day set apart to honor the 44th President of the United States of America who began his career serving the People of Illinois in both the Illinois State Senate and the United States Senate, and dedicated his life to protecting the rights of Americans and building bridges across communities," Senate Bill 55 reads. 

You mark my word folks, someday this will be a national holiday. 

It may not happen within my lifetime, these things can take time, but it will definitely happen.

We were fortunate enough to have lived through one of the most consequential presidencies in our history, and that will become ever more clear with the passage of time.

In twenty years I expect to see Obama National Airport, Obama High School, and many, many Obama avenues and parkways.

Some day the whole country will celebrate the man who the Republican party tried desperately to destroy, and some how that makes it all the sweeter. 

Happy 4th of July!

I am not typically somebody who gets all caught up in over the top patriotism on days like this.

But this year is different from times past.

This year I really feel that my country is under siege and that it is the duty of every citizen to stand up against the tyranny which is spreading like a cancer throughout the land.

We are under attack.

Perhaps not physically, though I fear that will come, but intellectually, emotionally, and, dare I say, spiritually.

I don't mean the kind of spirituality that they talk about in church, I mean the kind of spirituality that makes you feel connected to the land on which you live, and the people who live there with you.

These last eight years I have felt a kind of kinship with my fellow countrymen that I had not felt for many years, if ever. A feeling that we were all moving forward together. Perhaps not all at the same pace, but moving all the same.

I do not feel that any longer.

And the loss of the feeling has left an emptiness that I never knew I had before.

So today we may celebrate the freedom that our forefathers fought for lo so many years ago, while also remembering that the fight for freedom is never truly over. And that fact has never seemed more real than it does today.

Illinois to name Barack Obama's birthday as an honorary holiday.

Courtesy of WGN 9: 

The Legislature in Barack Obama’s home state has decided to honor the 44th president’s birthday. 

A plan to mark Obama’s August 4 birthday as an honorary holiday gained approval 87-0 in the Illinois House Friday. The state Senate endorsed the measure in March. It now moves to the Republican governor’s desk. 

The proposal would officially recognize Obama’s efforts to protect the rights of Americans and build “bridges across communities.”

There is of course the slim chance that the Republican governor will refuse to sign the bill, but considering Obama's popularity in Illinois I think that would be political suicide.

Gee I wonder if New York will name a state holiday after Donald Trump after he is forced out of office?

What's that you say?

Why no, I do not think it is likely that Hell will freeze over anytime soon.

Happy Halloween IMers!!

Man do I love Halloween!

 Not only is it an excuse to spend a full week watching horror movies, but it is one of the few times that candy contains no calories. (Shh, don't say anything to ruin it.)

I just hope I have enough candy.

My house is pretty popular with the kids and I always worry about running out.

Of course my favorite thing about this holiday is that it never fails to freak out the Christians: 

Many Americans love to celebrate Halloween and eagerly take part in the holiday by dressing up in fun or spooky costumes and giving away candies. However, according to a recent survey, 23 percent of Christians in the US do not take part in the celebration because of the holiday's pagan roots and for other reasons. 

The survey, conducted by LifeWay Research, showed that three out of five Americans celebrate Halloween "all in good fun," but 21 percent of the respondents avoid it completely. Meanwhile, another 14 percent still observe it but avoid the pagan elements of Halloween, according to Charisma News.

The pagan elements of course are my favorite part. 

It took me awhile to choose my costume, but I finally settled on "The guy who's pissed off that kids keep interrupting him while he is watching TV."

Which I think is somewhat better than my original choice "The guy who has not showered for three days."

Anyhow here's hoping you have a spook-tacular holiday.

And remember if you are planning to come by my house,  come early, because after 9:00 PM all the remaining candy becomes the property of "The guy who spent too much money on candy and damned if he's not going to eat some of it."

I'm a little Easter'd out, but I thought this needed to be shared.

Photo courtesy of The Obama Diary.

The Obama family also attended services at the Alfred Street Baptist Church, in Alexandria, Virginia.

Today of course will be the traditional Easter Egg Roll at the White House.

Pretty into Easter for a Muslim born in Kenya, don't you think?

By the way for a little more good news this Monday morning, President Obama was also chosen by the American people as the Most Admired Man for the seventh year running.

And THAT'S not bad for a guy who has been under constant political attack and smear campaigns since the very day of his inauguration.

Texas Governor to declare Feb. 2 as "Chris Kyle Day." Well of course he is.

I have declared Feb. 2 to be Chris Kyle Day in Texas. We honor our military heroes. @ChrisKyleFrog #txlege #tcot pic.twitter.com/rhLhIlevNM
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 30, 2015

Let's face it, a man famous for killing over a hundred men, women, and children with a gun, how could he not get a day named after him?

Add to that the fact that he is also a famous liar and to be honest I don't see how Texas had any choice.

I imagine that Florida will now have to declare a "George Zimmerman Day" just to save face.

Kirk Cameron wants people to ignore history and facts and accept that Christmas, and all of its traditions, are Christian. Oh and he wants you to pay good money to watch his movie about that too.

Courtesy of The Christian Post:  

Kirk Cameron is introducing a new way of thinking about Christmas and its many traditions this year with the film "Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas," in theaters on Friday. 

In his first release since "Unstoppable," Cameron aims to "put the Christ back in Christmas" this holiday season by attempting to debunk disparaging theories surrounding Christmastime. Furthermore, the actor shares his own ideas on where Christmas traditions originated, including loose Biblical interpretations of the Christmas tree and the nativity scene. It is the actor's hope that Christians are inspired to protect and preserve customary Christmas activities after watching "Saving Christmas." 

The "Growing Pains" star dismisses theories that Christmas is derived in the pagan celebration of Winter Solstice in "Saving Christmas," offering viewers a Biblical reference to items such as the Christmas tree instead. Furthermore, the film reveals Cameron's take on Santa Claus, the three wisemen, and why Christmas is celebrated on Dec. 25 each year. 

"We don't know this stuff, we kinda drink the Kool-Aid and believe pagans when they tell us they have ownership of these things," Cameron explained to CP.

Clearly Cameron is from the camp that believes that if you tell a lie often enough, it becomes the truth. Which by the way, is kind of like Christianity itself. 

The facts are that we do indeed "know this stuff," and the origins of most of the pagan origins of Christmas traditions are well documented.

Speaking of history and facts Cameron might be interested to know that the Puritans who founded this country roundly rejected Christmas and outlawed its celebration.

And they were well aware of its origins as well:

When the Puritans rebelled against King Charles I, inciting the English Revolution, the popular celebration of Christmas was on their hit list. Victorious against the king, in 1647, the Puritan government actually canceled Christmas. Not only were traditional expressions of merriment strictly forbidden, but shops were also ordered to stay open, churches were shut down and ministers arrested for preaching on Christmas Day. 

The Puritans who came to America naturally shared these sentiments. As the Massachusetts minister Increase Mather explained in 1687, Christmas was observed on Dec. 25 not because “Christ was born in that Month, but because the Heathens Saturnalia was at that time kept in Rome, and they were willing to have those Pagan Holidays metamorphosed into Christian” ones. So naturally, official suppression of Christmas was foundational to the godly colonies in New England.

Actually Cameron's efforts are part of a coordinated effort by Christians to take ownership of the holiday,  which of course makes it less accessible for those of us who do not embrace their faith.

And that is too bad, because Christmas is a great holiday for ALL Americans, and if Cameron, and his fellow Christians, really love it so much they should help to make it something that we all could enjoy without using it to cram their religion down everybody's throats.

By the way once you watch the trailer for this crappy little film it becomes quite apparent that it will not be changing ANYBODY'S mind about the true origins of the holiday.

Sarah Palin wishes the country a happy Veterans Day while pimping something called "The Sportsman Channel." Now why does that sound vaguely familiar?

Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue Vajazzled one's Facebook page:  

Happy Veterans Day! Enjoy this short video honoring the sacrifices of America's finest. 

We're gearing up to show the country a new season of "Amazing America" on the Sportsman Channel, so be prepared to get your Red, Wild & Blue on! - Sarah Palin

Wait, the Sportsman Channel is still a thing? Hell I almost forgot mocking the channel nobody watched before she gave us the "Sarah Palin Channel" to mock.

Well it will be nice to have it back now that the Sarah Palin Channel is all covered with a thin layer of dust and cobwebs from lack of use.

I also could not help but notice that in the video Palin makes sure to push that combat veteran mythology:

"You know you can see his spine stiffen, and you can see him stand a little taller when he gets that little bit of recognition for what it is that he has CHOSEN to do. He has volunteered to, in some respects, put the rest of his life on hold in order to fulfill a duty to protect America."

Yeah, nice story lady, but that is not the way that Joe McGinniss reported Track's enlistment in his book "The Rogue:" (Pg 113-114)

"Track was in pretty big trouble,” a friend of his tells me. “The school bus thing, theft issues, drugs, multiple stuff. Sarah was governor by then, and Track posed too much risk in terms of PR. So she and Todd sat him down and told him he was going to enlist. They said, ‘You’re gonna do this because you owe us. This is gonna look good for us and you’re gonna do it.'” 

Sarah made it look even better by arranging the enlistment for September 11, the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. On September 11, 2008, Track was deployed to Iraq, allowing Sarah to proclaim forever after that she was the proud mother of a combat vet. Some might see this as classic example of taking the lemon that life gives you and using it to make lemonade. 

I talk to the state trooper who drove Sarah and Track to the enlistment office in Anchorage on September 11, 2007. “There was quite a bit of emotion in the back seat of that car,” he tells me, “but patriotism was not one of the emotions."

Yeah that certainly fits better with what people in Wasilla say about Track, and might help to explain why a little alcohol turns him into a drunken thug willing to take on all comers only to have his ass kicked in public. (You know once he gets that nice shirt of first of course.)

Nice try Sarah, but it would be nice if you could take a day off from shoveling the family mooseshit, on the day that we are supposed to be honoring out fighting men and women.

Have some class.

This is what we are dealing with right now. Fire!

Courtesy of KTUU:  

The effort to extinguish two large wildfires is nearly a week old. While hundreds of firefighters from across Alaska, around the Lower 48 and Canada try to get the fires under control.

The fire that has covered Anchorage in a blanket of smoke is the Funny River fire:

The Funny River fire has grown to 106,000 acres as of 9 p.m. Saturday. Fire officials say 20% of the blaze has been contained, and the evacuation advisory is still in effect. No major activity is expected overnight.

The smell outside is pretty strong, and the skies are overcast with this nasty grey haze.

I had planned on going hiking tomorrow, but I think I will wait until this all clears up.

I am too far away from the fire to have to worry about the flames, but the smoke is pretty nasty here in town, and I have noticed that I have been sneezing a lot and have had occasional coughing spells.

Which is no surprise considering the fact that just two days ago the air quality was considered unhealthy for everyone.  That does not make hiking or camping terribly attractive right now.

So much for Memorial Day weekend.

It has been a particularly dry spring, and I have little doubt that the fire season is just now getting started.

Jon Stewart sums up the magic of Christmas.

Hmm, now who could he be talking about?

Arizona Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, brags on Twitter about feeding his prisoners Thanksgiving dinner for only 56 cents each. What a humanitarian.

Joe Arpaio next to Sarah Palin, Trig Palin, and her "servant's heart."

Courtesy of TPM:  

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio (R) took to Twitter on Wednesday to show off the "special" Thanksgiving meal his office served to inmates on Thursday. What made the meal special? The 56 cent cost per inmate. 

"Thanksgiving menu is all set!," Arpaio wrote on Twitter. "Hope the inmates give thanks for this special meal being served in the jails tomorrow."

Thanksgiving menu is all set! Hope the inmates give thanks for this special meal being served in the jails tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/3L5vcWX8Jc
— Joe Arpaio (@RealSheriffJoe) November 27, 2013

I am not sure exactly what "Turkey Soy Casserole" is, but it sounds like a good reason to riot to me.
Look I am all about saving money, but I think that prisoners should be allowed to have an actual meal at this time of year. How can you rehabilitate people if you treat them like animals?

Of course I guess it is to be expected from a guy who hangs out with Ms. "Christmas is only for Christians" herself. Two peas in a hateful little pod.

Cute little boy, terrified refrigerator.

Picture come courtesy of Brancy's blog.

Don'tcha love it when the Palins accidentally post evidence that the stories about them are true?

All I have to say is I have had the same refrigerator for eight years and it remains dent free.

Clearing up the confusion.

For those who are confused by Palin's Easter post, that styling kid up above is indeed Tripp. (And that is Piper next to him, though I assume everybody guessed as much.)

There was some confusion that this might be Trig, but nope. Tripp has had those glasses for awhile now. I remember first seeing them on Sadie's Facebook page.

I did not find anything weird, or nefarious, about the post, though it did serve to make sure people realized that the Grizzled Mama. despite some stories to the contrary, was back in Wasilla.

Now where Trig is during this Easter egg hunting expedition is anybody guess. Come to think of it when was the last time he was photographed with his mama?

Oh yeah, that's right.

Okay, well now I understand. Why didn't someone just explain it to me earlier?

Happy Easter. (I guess.) Update!

"Smile pretty Amy, or the Easter Bunny will steal your soul."

Just another in a long line of religious holidays that always confused me.

Quite literally it is a celebration of the rising of a zombie, and his escape from the cave that the townspeople blocked with a giant boulder to contain him.

And if that were not creepy enough people compound that by reinforcing the mythology of a giant rabbit breaking into their homes to leave false idols of itself made from chocolate, and hiding eggs in every nook and cranny in the hopes that at least one will remain undiscovered until it begins to rot and permeates their house with a sulfur like aroma reminiscent of the darkest corners of a hell that awaits them if they do not promise their very souls to their zombie overlord.

And people wonder why I am not religious.

Update: According to Slate 40% of  Christian believe that Jesus will return in the next forty years.

It is worth noting that the very earliest Christians believed that Jesus would return in their lifetimes and this lie has been stretched out over thousands of years, and is reinforced as fact to every new batch of Christians that come along.

For those of us who cannot believe how long Sarah Palin has managed to tease people into believing she will run for the Presidency, we need to remember that she is fishing in a pool of people conditioned into being deceived.

One hundred years from now there will be ministers once again promising their congregations that Jesus is about to rise again, and who will continue to benefit financially from the dangling of that bait. My hope is that the flock they are fleecing will have greatly diminished by that time.

I love people and I hate to see them manipulated over and over again.

In his never ending crusade against the so-called "War on Christmas" Bill O'Reilly decides to claim that Christiantiy is not a religion. Wait, what?

Okay look I have been debating religion all of my life, and I have had some rather bizarre interpretations of the Bible and Christianity thrown at me, but I have NEVER had anybody claim that Christianity was not a religion, Never!

Now clearly O'Reilly thought this out ahead of time as he seems well prepared to offer this as his iron clad rebuttal to anything that the President of the American Atheists, David Silverman, might have to say.

However all he did was make himself look like an idiot on national television and essentially  undermine over 21 hundred years of work by Christian missionaries, priests, and nuns.

Of course let's not forget that is a previous argument with David Silverman, O'Reilly defended religion with another iron clad rebuttal: 

“I’ll tell you why [religion is] not a scam, in my opinion,” he told Silverman. “Tide goes in, tide goes out. Never a miscommunication. You can’t explain that. You can’t explain why the tide goes in.”

Oh yeah, he's a genius this one.

By the way, just in case there is ANYBODY out there who might be stupid enough to be persuaded by O'Reilly's argument, here is the definition of religion according to Merriam-Webster:

1 a : the state of a religious  
b (1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural 
(2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance 
 2: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices 
3archaic : scrupulous conformity : conscientiousness 
4: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

" A personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices." Gee, what does THAT sound like?

And just when I thought the people over at Fox News could NOT get any loonier!
 

Rachel Maddow offers you the perfect rejoinder in response to that annoying conservative relative this Thanksgiving day.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 Here are the charts that Rachel mentions in this segment.

P.S. Rachel also listed a number of things she was thankful for yesterday. Go ahead and take a look. I have a feeling you are probably thankful for many of the same things.

P.P.S. By the way if the above is not enough help for you this Thanksgiving, say you have a BUNCH of Right Wingers in your family, you can also visit this site for reference in helping you to explain just WHY we should all be thankful that President Obama was reelected.

President Obama pardons turkey in decades old White House tradition.

I think this may be one of the sillier traditions foisted upon the President of the United States (And clearly the President thinks so as well.), but I post it simply because I think it is really cool that Obama gave a shout out to number cruncher extraordinaire Nate Silver.

Perhaps he should create a new post that could coincide with Bill Clinton's "Department of Explaining Stuff," only Nate's will be the "Department of Explaining Math to the Republicans."

You know the funny thing is that if Obama WERE to create such a cabinet position, the Republicans would filibuster their asses off to keep Nate Silver from getting the appointment. Not exactly Nate Silver fans, don'tcha know?