Cry Me A Puddle

One thing you may be seeing, if you look at conservative talking points these days, is a recurring theme about how the mean ol' Environmental Protection Agency wants to "regulate puddles". They're puffing out their chest and talking about how ridiculous it is, how badly the government is overreaching and can't wait to point out a roadside puddle that they're afraid the EPA is going to set up shop next to to "regulate". And here's a meme you might see (from Representative Marsha Blackburn's Twitter feed):

HR1732 will allow us to craft a sensible solution to protect our waters w/o a vast expansion of the fed gov’s reach. pic.twitter.com/Y6cUTgPUdZ

— Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) May 12, 2015

Gosh dangit! Is there anything the EPA won't do?!?!? I mean, look at the picture! That must be some family farm about to get "governed"! Hands off, Obama!!!!

As you can imagine... congressional Republicans don't give a shit about puddles. The main reason they hate the EPA... is that the EPA stands in the way of the very, very wealthy campaign donors they (and plenty of their friends across the aisle) get money from. Take the coal industry, for instance.

Have you heard of coal ash? Coal ash, as you can imagine, is a by-product of the coal & power industries. It's a toxic & carcinogenic mess mess full of heavy metals, often stored in lagoons. These lagoons aren't very well regulated. And sometimes, they leach heavy metals into the groundwater. Sometimes, the lagoons burst and contaminate rivers. Click here for a map of coal ash contaminated sites. So... these are the "spilt milk and mud puddles" Rep. Blackburn are talking about.

If you want to let Rep. Blacklburn know that she's being a disingenuous liar, here's a link to her Twitter account. I can assure you, I've made a stop by there.

.@MarshaBlackburn I have a suspicion this is more likely about coal ash ponds that threaten our actual health than "mud puddles".

— Randy (@kaffehammer) May 12, 2015

And while you're at it, take a look at her campaign funding. I find that's helpful. By the way, for your reading pleasure, here's more conservative outrage over "puddles":

The Blaze
Fox News
Cato Institute


~Randy

Heartless

Have you ever met a person so vile, that it just defies logic and reason? Republican Texas House Representative Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler) proposed an amendment that just makes you shake your head that such a heartless and despicable human exists. He wants to force pregnant women with non-viable fetuses to carry their pregnancies to term. Think about that...

Imagine that you are a young couple who has a planned pregnancy. You are truly excited to have a new addition to your family. Eager to see how your new child is progressing, you go to the obstetrician for an ultrasound... and find out some of the most earth-shattering news. Development isn't going well, or has stopped. The doctor gives you this news. I can only imagine the grief that people endure when this happens.

Enter Matt Schaefer. If the above situation happens in Texas with his amendment passing, that young couple would not only have to endure the horror of that happening, but the woman would have to carry the (possibly deceased) fetus to full term, and then birth it. What should have been one of the happiest days in our couple's life has potentially become the most tragic. This is what Matt Schaefer wants.

Matt Schaefer, I am having difficulty plumbing the depths of the English language to find words harsh enough to call you. Nothing I have come up with so far has been adequate to portray the level of monstrosity you have shown. So I will stop looking. You are a monster, plain and simple.

.@RepMattSchaefer You want to force women to carry nonviable fetuses? Perhaps you should be shackled to a dead relative for a few weeks?

— SJW Randy (@kaffehammer) May 6, 2015

Please consider popping over to Rep. Matt Schaefer's Twitter and sending him a message. Here are other ways of contacting him:

Rep. Matt Schaefer's website contact form

Mailing Address:
PO Box 7191
Tyler, TX 75711

District Address:
200 E Ferguson, Ste. 506
Tyler, TX 75702 - (903) 592-0900

Austin Address:
Capitol Office E1.406
PO Box 2910
Austin, Texas 78768-2910
(512) 463-0584

Email:
info@mattfortexas.org

Paul Ryan Vs. Lunch

Whenever I hear the name Paul Ryan, I vomit a little. He's a smug ideologue who spews out stuff like this:

Paul Ryan Says Free School Lunches Give Kids ‘An Empty Soul’

Let's back up. Paul Ryan was a kid who was able to attend college due to Social Security survivor benefits. You would think that would endear him to programs that form a social safety net... but no. He has basically declared war on any kind of government assistance to anyone whose net worth is under a few million.

Here's my message to him:

.@PRyan says that free school lunch programs give kids "a full stomach — and an empty soul". Mr. Ryan... YOU are the soulless monster here.
— SJW Randy (@kaffehammer) April 27, 2015

Harsh? I don't think so. He demonstrates a basic lack of empathy for the most vulnerable members of our society: children living in poverty. Our empathy is what makes us human, Mr. Ryan. Your willingness to put your crosshairs on hungry children is nothing less than monstrous.

If you were really concerned about fiscal responsibility, which you claim to be, you might consider something different in regards to school nutrition programs. The Dallas Independent School District found that it would save them money to offer all children free lunches, regardless of income. The overhead for billing for student meals, when eliminated, actually frees up the program to do what it was intended to do... feed kids. Research has demonstrated that hungry kids cannot learn as effectively, and nutritional services are necessary to invest in the education of our next generation.

While offering free lunches to all isn't nearly as ideologically tasty to an Ayn Rand-worshipping sociopath, it's what we need to do to put our schools on the right track.

I encourage you to visit Mr. Ryan on Twitter at @PRyan to share your thoughts on the matter!

Welcome to Tweeting With Assholes!

Hello, and Welcome!

This is the inaugural post of Tweeting With Assholes, a blog dedicated to fostering participatory democratic action through direct interaction with those in positions of power. In a nutshell, I speak truth to power... with attitude. And I encourage you to do the same. You have the power to change the world through dialogue.

Social media has given us unparalleled access to publicly engage people. Rare is the elected official or brand who doesn't have a Facebook page or a Twitter account; cultural relevance practically demands it these days. It offers a fast, free way to engage with constituents and allies, it allows presentation of a persona and it gives a platform to share timely snippets of info and opinions.

And it is also a very public target in a very public game of Whack-A-Mole.

A person or brand's "public face" is important. If it wasn't, they wouldn't hire people to manage these accounts and the public relations business wouldn't exist.

What you can expect from me is a record of my dialogues. I will share my Tweets, as well as the context needed to figure out what the heck I'm trying to say. I'll also provide contact info where necessary, links to relevant articles, and some commentary. In the spirit of full disclosure, I'll note that I am a proud and unapologetic liberal, living somewhere to the left of the Democratic party.

An example? Here goes. Take Ted Cruz, for instance. Here's what he has to say... and my retort:

.@tedcruz Only a sociopath would be so gleeful about millions of people losing basic healthcare. People will die of preventable illnesses.
— SJW Randy (@kaffehammer) April 22, 2015

And some context:

Dying from Lack of Insurance

I'm just providing a link this time, but expect actual commentary in future posts.


So... some ground rules. They're for me, but  hope you will follow these as well. Here they are:

1. No threats. Threats are not dialogue. They have no place in reasonable discussion.

2. No private info, aka "doxxing". I will gladly provide public contact info for people I engage with, including office numbers. But people's home lives are their home lives.

3. No racism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, poor-shaming. These are tools of the enemy, and they themselves are my enemies. I will call them out.

4. Honesty. This speaks for itself.

5. No partisanship. I don't belong to a political party. Yes, I'm a liberal... but do not assume that means Democrat. You will see people on both sides of the political divide engaged.

Who I Am

I'm just a guy who cares about stuff. I'm a father, husband, gamer and activist. My name is Randy, and I live in Oregon in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. That's me.

Ready for this? Good! I'll leave you with a quote:

“The earth is not dying, it is being killed, and those who are killing it have names and addresses.”

-Utah Phillips


Randy
@kaffehammer