The Republic of T.

Looks like somebody took those Volkswagon “test-drive” commercials a little too seriously.

One Wisconsin man’s idea of a test drive didn’t sit well with a Madison dealer after the 47-year-old motorist took the car on a 150-mile trip around Milwaukee – and didn’t bring it back, police said on Thursday.

“The driver maintained that ‘You just don’t take it for a 15-minute test drive’,” Madison Police Officer Howard Payne said. “In my opinion, his explanation was not reasonable … because he did not bring it back.”

Madison police arrested Robert E. Clark on a charge of operating a motor vehicle with consent of owner on Dec. 30, Payne said.

…Police said Clark drove the car to Milwaukee and returned to his home and not the dealership, both in Madison. His “test” drive was about 150 miles, Payne said.

Clark told officers that he took the Nissan to Milwaukee to secure funds to actually pay for the car, and did have every intention of returning the vehicle the following day, according to the police report released Thursday.

But, police got to him first and spotted the Nissan parked outside his home.

Well, at least he didn’t go to Vegas.

Sure, you’ve seen it already. Yes, this is redundant. But nonetheless.

Per my previous post, here are some of my favorite “Occupy Wall Street” cartoons.

I know by now it’s been by everybody and his brother, but I’m posting it here for all the parents in the world who have ever thought what the title of this book says.

Go ahead, play it again. You know you were laughing too hard to hear the whole thing.

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It’s finally happened. We have reached the end of the internet.

Well, sorta.

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Let’s face it. Nothing about the economic crisis is funny. Nothing about America’s 9% unemployment rate, 14.8 million unemployed, or 6.2 million long-term employed is funny. And there’s nothing mildly amusing about the 2 million Americans whose unemployment benefits began running out yesterday, after the GOP blocked another extension of unemployment benefits. (Especially if you figure that, given the current rate of job creation, millions more Americans will be in the same position

So why a comic strip?

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Granted, we’ve all had days on the job where we’ve long to say, “Screw you guys. I’m going home.” But this guy took it to a whole new level.

A JetBlue flight attendant got into an argument with a passenger on a jetliner arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Monday, cursed the passenger, grabbed a beer from the galley and then deployed an emergency exit slide and fled the plane, authorities said.

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It would be funny, if only it wasn’t reality. That’s what I thought when I came across this while perusing videos on my iPhone recently.

It’s a pretty good compliation of the recent insanity. It’s good political satire. If it was an obvious parody, I could laugh. But it’s not. And as good as it is, the video doesn’t begin to capture the breadth and depth of the present political insanity. (After all, there’s only so much one can cram into three minutes or less.)

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A “demotivation” for the day. C/o “Conservative sWho Are Not John Galt.”

Not much in the way of posts today (busy with work and family, etc.), but this slideshow presentation of “Teabonics” struck ma as worth sharing.

Enjoy!

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What kind of people respond to an invitation with a list of demands?

John Boehner and Eric Cantor have responded to Barack Obama’s invitation to sit down and talk health-care reform. They answered in the form of a ransom note. Here are their demands:

1) “Assuming the President is sincere about moving forward on health care in a bipartisan way, does that mean he will agree to start over?”

2) “Does that mean he has taken off the table the idea of relying solely on Democratic votes and jamming through health care reform by way of reconciliation?”

Well, now we know. This goes on for another 6 items.

While I disagree with Ezra’s advice that the White House accept these terms in exchange for straight, up-or-down votes in the House and Senate, I agree that it amounts to a ransom note from a party that’s holding health care reform hostage, which should read something like this:

If nothing else, it’s much more honest and straightforward.

Maybe that’s how the GOP should have spelled out their demands. But that’s not how the Democrats should read this particular ransom note.

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I didn’t watch the Super Bowl, even after the power came back on. Frankly, I wasn’t interested. Never have been. I’d rather they put the ads on — maybe even put them in a show of their own — and left it at that.

Well, that’s kinda what’s happened online. Now I can see the ads without having to sit through the game. This one is my favorite, hands down.

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George W. Bush may be on his way to becoming the Rodney Dangerfield of American politics (except that he’s a lot less funny, or at least a lot less intentionally funny), because the man gets’s no respect.

There was this:

But now it seems the man can’t even get a slice of pizza in peace.

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I now extend my request for Levi Johnston to these guys.

The Christian side hug, for the unaware, is the Christian version of the standard “full frontal hug,” which is a sinful abonimation and should be avoided until marriage (I am not actually making this up). The side-hug is preferable because it avoids crotch-touching, which Jesus hated. Apparently the standard hug is now mostly for Jews, Muslims, Socialists and probably Unitarians.

Also, did I hear that right? Do they say “You ain’t no Rabbi, you ain’t no Priest, so rise up off me like the [something] with no yeast”? And does that mean that if you were a Rabbi or Priest you could, uh, not rise up off me? I’m uncomfortable and confused.

I also remain unclear on why “Democratic shift in Congress!” is thrown in and why there’s a shout-out to buying babies, but I haven’t read my True Images Bible for Girls in a while so maybe I’m just forgetting that part of the New Testament.

And this guy.

Yet another right wing rapper has shown up on the scene at the tea parties. His name is Hi Caliber and he sucks as bad as all the previous ones.

“Patriotic people throw your hands in the air, and wave them around like you just don’t care.”

Seriously, is that the best he can do? I imagine it is.

Just stop. Please.

Unfortunately, ain’t no rap like right-wing rap ’cause right-wing rap don’t stop.

I’m gonna give ‘em this much. I think the free market will take of this trend. Soon, I hope.

(Full disclosure: The group that organized the protest is one I work with on my job.)

This is something I wish I’d been a part of, and I hope they call me if they need an extra baritone next time. (It’s rare that my vocal training and my politics intersect.) Plus, the guy who got “punk’d” was none other than Bill McInturff, the guy who gave us Harry and Louise. (Not to mention killing health care reform and giving us another decade of pre-existing conditions, recissions, etc.)

Republican pollster Bill McInturff was the keynote speaker on the final day of the America’s Health Insurance Plans’s state issues conference on Friday morning.

But his speech on how the health care reform debate was playing among the public was interrupted before it even began. A group of protesters began aggressively cheering McInturff for the work he has done for AHIP (he’s a hired pollster for the private insurance lobby and, most infamously, was the force behind the ‘Harry and Louise’ ads in 1994)

McInturff, initially thinking that the cheering was legitimate, thanked the “AHIP officials” in the back of the room for giving him mental encouragement for his speech. He was not being paid for his appearance, he noted.

And then, the protesters — dressed in business attire to fit into the crowd — began singing. A relatively lengthy and harmonious rendition of “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie ensued, only with the chorus focused on government-run insurance. “The option, the option, we must have, the option… ” went the rendition, in reference to the public plan.

The lyrics are available after the jump, if you want to sing along.

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I swear, if I could find an app like this, I’d buy it.

But, then again, if you read blogs on your iPhone — particularly progressive blogs — you kind of have this app already.

[From Now This is a Republican iPhone App : Dispatches from the Culture Wars]

Dylan has a case of the “scoots”. So I’m home with him, and not likely to post much today. I’ve got a couple in the works for later.

In the meantime, I thought this captioning contest from McClatchy Newspapers looked like fun.

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[Source.]

OK. In the 80s, Gwen Guthrie made it clear, “Ain’t Nothin’ Going On But The Rent.”

Well, times have changed. Now, it’s all about the benefits.

I thought for a minute, it’d be funny to have a gay version, but if you’re gay you wouldn’t necessarily benefit from having a “Boyfriend with Health Benefits.” Since you can’t marry him, and all…

[Source.]