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This is Debate?

Here is the esteemed Governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, repeatedly failing to use the English language in her Gubernatorial Debate opening statement. Arizona seems to be well on its way to surpassing California in the stupefyingly incompetent elected official category.

On the other hand, I am somewhat mollified by her assurance that she has done the best possible job of any conceivable theoretical candidate.

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Contemporary Slavery: The US Penal System

Fantastic round table lead by Stephen Fry on the out of control incarceration rate in this country. We imprison more people, per capita, than any nation in the history of the world. Fortunately for the Prison Industrial Complex, the coming double-dip recession will surely provide ample opportunity to sweep thousands more into our penal/human chattel holding cells, that we may create more wards of the state and more productive slave labor. Huzzah for free societies.

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The Tea Baggers Riseth (Mep Report #121)

The Greatest American Five Fingers, The Teabag Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree for Rand Paul, We Like Ice Cream Because It’s ICE CREAM!, What if We Just Lightly Sear Them?, Lakers Fail at Immigration, Invading Arizona for Fun, Profit, and Golf Courses, Greg Roots For the Insurance Company to Win the Bet, and the BuddhaFather.

Download Mep Report #121

 
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You know, there’s this cool gadget they’ve got called a video camera…

In case you’re not as into sports as we here at The Mep Report are, you might have missed this little gem from last night: the worst call in the history of professional baseball.  Not that we ever engage in hyperbole anyway, but just in case you’re tempted to think that’s what I’m engaging in here, I give you umpire Jim Joyce and one hard luck pitcher called Armando Galarraga.

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New York Still Doesn’t Want Outsiders

If anyone’s wondering why I once compared New York City to Darfur, maybe a bit of it has to do with the fact that both are absurdly inhospitable to outsiders. And the “art installation” depicted above and discussed here provides good insight into said inhospitability.

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“You could get on a conference call and maybe do some work.”

Seldom do we ex-debaters at The Mep Report get the chance to watch our political leaders, who tend to be woeful both in constructing arguments and refuting them, lay the smackdown on people who desperately deserve it. So it’s a breath of fresh air on the rare occasions when it happens.

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Can We Persuade Congress to Bite the Hand that Feeds It?

The thought that Congress serves not the interests of its constituents, but those of its corporate benefactors, used to be reserved for cynics and conspiracy theorists. Now this line of thinking is so banal, so obvious, that it goes without saying. A huge majority (roughly 4 out of 5 Americans) now believes that the game is rigged, and there is virtually no real institutional reform possible without the complete overhaul of our campaign finance system.

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Obama Offers Freedom Killings to Enemy Combatants

All Hail President Obama, King of Freedom, Protector of Citizens from Ex-Patriot Clerics who happen to worship the wrong Invisible Man in the Sky. In His great wisdom, our Handsome Genius Progressive Champion has finally figured out a solution to the Bush era problem of excessive Enemy Combatant detention. Why, asks our Beloved Mocha-Skinned Sultan, detain these dangerous individuals for years on end? Why deny these freedom fighters their right to a quick and unexpected death?

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The Final Word on Star Wars Critiques

If you’ve got a free hour and a half, check out redlettermedia’s series of Star Wars Episodes I + II critiques. They fully expose the prequels as the worthless schlock that everyone suspects them to be.

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Counterpoint: Why PleaseRobMe is Flawed Paranoia

I was going to post this as a comment on Russ’ post, but I have enough to say that it warrants one of these ranty point-counterpoint things we love so much on TMR.

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