barackobama:

In which President Obama does a Reddit AMA.

motherjones:

And Adam Serwer has some big thoughts about it.

I suspect many Republicans who continue to subscribe to the birther lunacy do so because it bothers liberals and because it’s an act of symbolic defiance of a president they dislike. The problem with birtherism, however, is that the underlying assumptions driving it have always been broader than the president. Birtherism is more than just a conspiracy theory about the president’s birth. Its underlying principle is a rejection of American racial pluralism. The refusal to believe—in the face of all evidence to the contrary—that Obama is an American reads to many as a rejection of the idea that black people really count as American, unless they talk like Herman Cain or Allen West…

Read the whole thing here.

election:

aheram:

Code Pink protesting at the RNC

Antiwar activists Code Pink march in Tampa to protest what they claim as the Republican Party’s “War on Women.”

Photographs from the Code Pink account on Twitter.

Can’t say it?? Don’t legislate it!! @codepink headed to protest the Faith & Freedom Coalition #RNC #tampa2012 twitter.com/codepink/statu…

— CODEPINK (@codepink) August 26, 2012

Pic: @raeabileah talks to the media about the #WaronWomen in a vagina costume @codepink #RNC #marchonthernc twitter.com/codepink/statu…

— CODEPINK (@codepink) August 26, 2012

Are you participating in protests in Tampa? Send tips and photographs to jayel@aheram.com.

election:

coketalk:

Dear Justin Theroux and Paul Ryan,

Congratulations are in order, gentlemen! It appears that Jennifer Aniston and Mitt Romney have both finally chosen running mates, and you two are the lucky C-list celebrities who’ve been carefully selected from a small group of thoroughly vetted candidates.

The next few months are going to be a flurry of activity as America gets to know each of you, and I have no doubt you will prove to be better than some of the choices made in the past. You’re both relatively good looking, physically fit and have had your own respectable careers outside of the spotlight. Still, you’re in the A-list crowd now, and nothing you’ve done up to this point can prepare you for the ridiculousness to come.

Get used to being photographed wherever you go, and prepare yourself for a lot of stupid questions. People are suddenly going to care what you think, but try not to let it go to your head. Sure, you play a valuable role in the life of a VIP, but you’d be surprised how little your opinions matter. This is show business and/or politics (really, what’s the difference?) so get comfortable in your roles as highly styled arm-candy and never forget who brought you to the party.

Your partners are both very famous, very wealthy and very bland. It’s not that they don’t have broad appeal, but let’s be honest. They’re vanilla flavored members of the super-rich elite who’ve spent their lives skating by on generic good looks while making outrageous fortunes pretending to be regular middle-class folks.

That’s fine. Good for them, but that kind of life tends to make people lose touch with reality a bit, and you need to take that into account as your relationships enter this new phase. Remember, you are part of a couple, but you are not the star. Whatever you do, don’t outshine your partner. That will lead to a public relations nightmare, and things could end in a matter of months instead of a matter of years.

Keep your eyes on the prize, fellas. Don’t get caught up in any scandals, only speak when spoken to, and do your best not to screw this up. If you’re both incredibly lucky, then sometime next year you’ll be saying your wedding vows or swearing an oath of office.

Either way, good luck playing second fiddle.

Yours in subservience,

The Coquette

(Read my Unsolicited Advice column weekends in The Daily.)

Irreverent and highly relevant.

- Meg

motherjones:

arilevine:

Ryan claims that he likes Rage’s sound, but not the lyrics. Well, I don’t care for Paul Ryan’s soundorhis lyrics. He can like whatever bands he wants, but his guiding vision of shifting revenue more radically to the one percent is antithetical to the message of Rage.

I wonder what Ryan’s favorite Rage song is? Is it the one where we condemn the genocide of Native Americans? The one lambasting American imperialism? Our cover of “Fuck the Police”? Or is it the one where we call on the people to seize the means of production? So many excellent choices to jam out to at Young Republican meetings!

Don’t mistake me, I clearly see that Ryan has a whole lotta “rage” in him: A rage against women, a rage against immigrants, a rage against workers, a rage against gays, a rage against the poor, a rage against the environment. Basically the only thing he’snotraging against is the privileged elite he’s groveling in front of for campaign contributions.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tom-morello-paul-ryan-is-the-embodiment-of-the-machine-our-music-rages-against-20120816#ixzz23oWeSaO8

Tom Morello takes Paul Ryan to school for claiming Rage Against the Machine is his favorite band.

[makes mental note to not cross Tom Morello]

GAH SO GOOD. I hate the song American Pie because my uncle forced me to listen to it after taking my CD player with RATM’s album away from me on a road trip. So much teen angst and anger as a result.

barackobama:

In case you missed all the excitement this weekend: Meet Paul Ryan, who is actually the worst.

ilovecharts:

howstuffworks:

huffingtonpost:

discoverynews:

This is a disturbing graphic…

everlane:

An alarming visualization of when the Earth’s non-renewable resources will run out from the BBC. 

Horrifying.

Ugh.

Ruh-Roh.

So scary.

Testing