Worst Person of the Year for 2011_ Rick Perry

Like most bloggers, I have probably committed over 2,000 copyright infringements, if one wants to be extreme and petty about such matters, but I do kind of wish I had enough loot to copyright the term: Execution Happy Evangelists.

The term not only applies to Rick Perry, the current governor of Texas and Republican presidential candidate, but also Gov. Bob McDonnell, the GOP governor of Virginia. Both have risen to prominence in state politics by exploiting their perceived righteous view of the world by proclaiming themselves to be good Christians. Yet, neither sees the contradiction, not only with their theological views, but also with their limited government ideals as executions are, in addition to being a human rights violation, quite expensive (estimates range, but it is widely believed that each execution costs $2 million).

So far Perry has overseen the executions of 234 Texas inmates. There are several that have been cited as wrongful executions, meaning the person sentenced to death may not have killed the person they were found guilty of murdering. The one that clearly stands out the most is the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham in 2004. Willingham was executed for killing three of his daughters by arson, but many fire experts both within the Lonestar State and from the outside found the initial investigations to be faulty.

The Willingham case was the subject of a "New Yorker" article by David Grann entitled "Trial by Fire," which was also the title of a PBS/Frontline documentary of the same name about the execution.

Perry has also been scrutinized for his shady political wranglings and dubious business deals from several magazines, including "The Atlantic," "The New Republic" and "Rolling Stone."

Though Matt Taibbi, one of America's most liberal and outspoken journalists, is not known for objectivity in his pieces for "Rolling Stone," he made a valid point when he said that Perry's highly controversial deal with Merck to have sixth grade girls in Texas get STD vaccines was a definitive breech with the Texans who elected and re-elected him (amazingly enough, Perry is now in his third term).

In a more sanguine piece by Alec MacGillis in "The New Republic," the author cited just how contradictory Perry is in his anti-government crusade and his own record in Austin. Among Perry's shady dealings was one in which he signed a deal for a nuclear landfill, and allowed damaging deregulation for col-fire power plants. In addition, Perry worked with UBS Bank to raise revenues from the deaths of retired Texas teachers.

Perry has also allied himself with radical evangelists in The New Apolistic Reformers who think abortion is murder and that the Democratic Party is possessed by Satan. He has also called social security an illegal Ponzi scheme.

And, at a Republican debate at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif., Perry made a bold declaration that the death penalty was effectively the only way to reduce homicides in America.

So, for the second year in a row, we are choosing an Execution Happy Evangelist as our Worst Person of the Year.

Last year, our choice was current Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, who is an advocate for allowing guns on campus even though Virginia Tech has seen two horrific school shootings in recent years.

With the Iowa Caucuses happening tomorrow, we certainly hope Perry performs dismally so that we don't have to fear the possibility of another inept, immoral Texas politician in the White House.

Things We Learned on Twitter Today: Michele Bachmann Headline-Maker

I've been a fan of Suzy Khimm, a great liberal reporter, since she wrote an excellent profile of Virginia's crazed right-wing maniac attorney Ken Cuccinelli, who looks like a grown-up Pinocchio doll, in the December 2010 issue of "Mother Jones."

This afternoon, Khimm tweeted the following:

"Daily Beast's most popular articles today: 1) Is Michele Bachmann submissive? 2)Queen of the Cougars."

We didn't want to put a photo of Bachmann up, since she does look like a professional female wrestler. And, ironically, her state of Minnesota elected a pro wrestler, Jesse Ventura, for governor.

(These headlines are in reference to Bachmann's 'performance' during the Republican debate in Ames, Iowa, last night. I didn't watch, but I gather her heated exchanges with Tim Pawlenty were very amusing. Pawlenty took over after Ventrua's term expired as governor of Minnesota.)

So, instead, we went with this image of a gorgreous Wyoming chainsaw cougar. We tried to find a cougar from Colorado, but I guess we will have to find one somewhere on the net some other time.

And, we thought that since Bachmann apparently wants to turn back the clock on social progress, we'd include an image of a Tupperware party. Perhaps, if elected president (of course, that will mean many of us on the center-left will get one-way plane tickets from Expedia to Costa Rica), she will also segregate schools again.

SIDEBAR: I saw a bumper sticker in Roanoke, Va., which I'm surprised even an ardent Republican would put on his or her vehicle: it is an image of George W. Bush with the line- "Do You Miss Me Yet?," well let me just give you the short answer, NO!

Government Shutdown Update_ We Aren't Sure...

If anyone thinks showing a toilet is in bad taste, then they should know that our original intention was to have a Paul Gaugin painting for this entry. But, since many of those paintings feature necade native women from and Tahiti and they might offend the delicate sensibilities of Virginia's Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, we thought this might be more 'appropriate.' Incidentally, Cuccinelli was named our "Worst Person of the Year" for 2010. Actually, we did not spell his name right one, but since he is a Republican we refuse to apologize for that!

But, ironically, Cuccinelli, a far-right winger, himself is not responsible for the possibility of a federal government shutdown in Washington, DC. His 'brothers in arms,' like House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) are.

According to the "Huffington Post," Boehner told reporters that his side was close to a resolution, but as noon eastern time that appeared not to be the case, according to what we gathered from articles in "The Hill" and "The Washington Post."

But, if there is no government shutdown, and we are not exactly sure how it will affect the National Gallery in Washington, DC, one can freely go to the current Paul Gaugin (1848-1903) exhibit which runs through June 5.

According to the NGA's web site, 120 of Gaugin's works will be on display and they will presumably cover all the periods of the artist's relatively short life. Gaugin, at one time or another, lived in Peru, France, Martinique and Tahiti. We could not conclude one way or another if he ever made it to Istanbul, Turkey.

However, if there is a federal govenment shutdown, it will not affect the status of the Topkapi Palace, The Blue Mosque and Saint Sophia, all of which are major tourist attractions in Istanbul, my late father's hometown.

For more info on the National Gallery, one can go to www.nga.gov or call their main info line at 202-737-4215.

And, if you are heading to Turkey, three web sites I recommend are turkey.org, tourismturkey.com and goturkey.com; we would comment on the fact that Miss Turkey is promoting the new 'turkey burger' at Hardee's (an American fast food chain that originated in Rocky Mount, NC), but truthfully we aren't sure what to make of the promotion!

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- Hoorary for Tacos

A short while ago, we learned on Twitter that the Border Grill Truck, a mobile vendor that provides gourmet tacos and Too Hot Tamales in the Los Angeles area now has 10,000 followers on Twitter as of today.

On Thursday, the Border Grill Truck will be set up at the Pointe in Burbank, a Planned Parenthood Food Fare in Santa Monica (I imagine many Mormons and Southern Baptists will be in attendance- nudge, nudge, wink, wink) and at the Downtown Artwalk at 541 South Spring Street from 5-11 p.m.

Today, I watched three episodes of the new show on Current TV called "Kill It, Cook It, Eat It," which probably won't change my eating habits as I will still probably eat hamburgers (cattle was the focus of one episode) but still refrain from eating rabbits and ducks. Somehow, it's hard for me to eat animals associated with Looney Tunes characters, though I think Foghorn Leghorn might be the notable exception (oh I forgot about Porky Pig, but my later father was Turkish and we don't want to lose readers in Bursa, Turkey or Karachi, Pakistan, as we might well get a lot of hits in those places).

But, for those of you can't eat any animal, irregardless if it resembles Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck, and you live in Richmond, Va., you can head over to the Ipanema Cafe on West Grace Street.

The establishment is open from 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. for lunch from Monday to Friday. And, they serve dinner seven nights a week from 5:30-11:00 p.m.

Among their menu items are a vegan caesar salad with grilled tofu for $8.50.

Somehow, I doubt that Virginia's attorney general Ken Cuccinelli will treat me to that or a hummus with overdried tomatoes, cucumbers and sprouts sandwich ($7.95) because we did after all 'rightfully' name him as our Worst Person of the Year for 2010.

Sunday Leftovers

Yes, it is a lazy Sunday afternoon here in Stuart, Va., in rural Patrick County where one has nothing to do except stare at the bambis and thumpers in the backwoods and shot them (ok, not really where I'm at, and I don't hunt!).

But, we have made some mistakes with this blog, and our sister 'Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" in recent weeks and we wanted to set the record straight even though no one is whining to us personally.

For starters, I am not a fan of arch right-wing Republican nuts, teenage heartthrob singers or radical North African dictators. But, we have at times incorrectly spelled the names of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, our Worst Person of the Year for 2010, singing sensation Justin Bieber and trickiest of all Libyan el presidente Muammar Gaddafi.

In addition, I noticed that a label for Cong. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va) was posted as Bon Goodlatte, so even though I would gives millions of dollars to his Democratic opponent if I were as rich as George Soros, I do regret that error as well.

Cuccinelli was the subject of a great article in the Dec. 2010 issue of "Mother Jones" where Suzy Khimm 'rightfully' illustrated him as a lunatic who cares more about satisfying political wonks, affluent conservative lobbyists (ie. the NRA) and media wackos like Glenn Beck than the folks back in Patrick County (as well as the rest of Virginia).

James Parker of "The Atlantic" (March 2011) wrote an excellent piece about how Justin Bieber, 16, used the Internet and social media to woo his (we presume mostly female) fans in ways that "The Partridge Family" could have never dreamed of.

And, lastly Dirk Vandewelle, an expert on Libya, wrote a disturbing article in the March 7, 2011, issue of "Newsweek" about how the country will have a hard with or without Gaddafi for reasons that are way too complicated to explain here.

That same issue of "Newsweek" also features a great cover story by Sharon Begley on how the Twitter-age is essentially making us all idiots or zombies incapable of making good decisions (idiots and zombies are my words, not Ms. Begley's-- we can't afford to be sued by "Newsweek!").

All of this reminds me of how I was going to try to spend my Spring Break, which is this very week, going to either Honduras or Costa Rica, but instead I am doing this.

Well, it does beat shooting poor, defenseless animals with an uzi!

Special Silly Image to Fill Space- Horror Film Poster

Since we feel like screaming at the very top of our lungs today, and such behavior is not allowed publicly (well, we haven't checked the Virginia state laws to be sure about that, but since we named the state attorney general as our worst person we are not going to ask him and we also can't spell his last name- it's either Cucinelli or or Cuccinelli---but, in all honesty, we really don't care!), we are going to post an entry about screaming.

We are very close to the state line with North Carolina, and Roy Cooper, that state's attorney general, is probably too tied up to help us know if screaming is allowed in the Tarheel State, outside Chapel Hill and Durham during UNC-Duke basketball games.

So, anyway, here we go:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!........"

Yes, that feels much, much better.

The movie in the image we are using is "Death Screams" (1982) directed by David Nelson, who was the son of Ozzie and Harriet. He died earlier this year at age 74. The horror film also featured lots of B-list actors and actresses, including Jennifer Chase. "Death Scream" was also filmed in Lake Lure, NC, where "Dirty Dancing" and "Firestarter" were both partially filmed.

Of course, in the early 1980s the main scream queen of the day was Jamie Lee Curtis who starred in the original "Halloween" (1978) as well as horror or thriller films like "The Fog," "Prom Night" (the original) and "Terror Train."

Interestingly enough, Curtis's mom Janet Leigh made the famous shower scene scream in "Psycho" (1960).

There is an urban legend that Curtis was born a Hermaphrodite, which is a person with gender traits of both males and females, but according to the urban legend web site snopes. com it has never been proven true.

But, we did learn from the same web site that one of the (James) Bond girls in "For Your Eyes Only" (1981), one of the Roger Moore films, was once a man!

Our Worst Person of the Year for 2010 Is....

.........Ken Cuccinelli, the arch conservative far-right Republican attorney general of Virginia.

Perhaps, Suzy Khimm in a December 2010 article from "Mother Jones" (a magazine that is more to the left than I am) summed it up best when she said:

"Cuccinelli has relished his role as a political lightning rod who has used elected office for ideological warfare.

Jeff Goodell, an environmental writer for "Rolling Stone" said in the magazine's current issue that Cuccinelli has been using his office to deliberately rattle state institutions, such as The University of Virginia, from performing scientific research projects he personally and politically opposes.

Cuccinelli handily defeated a moderate, well-qualified candidate in Steve Shannon (both men are ironically from Fairfax County) by a shocking 58-42 margin in the state election that gave him the attorney general's office.

In a mere two years, Cuccinelli, who is only 42, has used his elected office in Richmond to cater to a variety of right wing and even extreme conservative causes: the death penalty, guns, pro-life, anti-gay, immigration, taxes, spending and property rights.

He was supported by the NRA and far right figures like Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson and Ron Paul during his run against Shannon.

Many gunsGodncountry folks in places like Boones Mill, Tazewell, New Market and Farmville saw Cuccinelli as their kind of anti-government extremist. But, not everyone was fooled by his traveling medicine man show, which was also how Gov. Bob McDonnell won his race that same year over state Creigh Deeds.

"The Washington Post" in an editorial for Shannon said that Cuccinelli would be 'an embarrassment to Virginia.' Alas, they were right.

Cuccinelli's main cause celebre has been using his far right 'fishing buddies' in federal courts like Judge Henry Hudson to block President Barack Obama's federal health care iniatives and he defends himself by saying that 'this is his Constitutional duty.'

As Goodell indicated in his article on global warming's main political culprits, Cuccinelli did indeed waste considerable state funds fighting former UVA professor Michael Mann's efforts to research global climate change (Mann is now at Penn State).

Cuccinelli also supported the dubious exectuion of Teresa Lewis, a rural woman who resided near Danville, who was found to be barely mentally eligible for capital punishment. The execution, which took place last September, drew protests from across America and around the world.

In short, Cuccinelli is everything that the far right (and the Tea Party of course loves this guy) represents: genuine hypocricy. Alas, Cuccinelli is up for reelection at the end of his term. But, perhaps his selfish ego will convince him to run for a more prestigious office like the Governor's mansion where he might run against a qualified Democrat who give him a good ole fashion quarterback sack. There are very few people who deserve it more.

PS- Apparently, when I mentioned him in an earlier entry, I didn't spell Ken Cuccinelli's name correctly. But, if we've learned one thing from the GOP it is to never apologize if you have erred!