Is that a pocket pistol in your bathrobe, or...? Oh, it is. Never mind.

To preserve one’s sanity, it’s best to side-step the right-wing media. However, today I made an exception for The Daily Caller (run by the less-than-charming Tucker Carlson and the always-vile Betsy Rothstein). It ran a piece yesterday titled"Concealed Carry Tactics to Neutralize a Home Invasion."

How does one avoid such a nightmare? By having a gun on one’s person AT ALL TIMES:

This very realistic photo ran with the article.

Small, lightweight and extremely convenient, pocket pistols can be carried in many different ways and adapted to practically any style of dress, from your normal street clothes to a bathrobe. For maximum comfort and speed of access, they can be openly carried in a belt holster. If family “sensitivities” don’t allow that, the holstered pistol can be covered with a sweater.

Also, consider these factors when looking at your home:

“Wargame” your [house]. Take a hard look at the angles of fire available to you and identify areas where your rounds might endanger family members or neighbors. Look for solid backstops that will contain rounds that might miss or over-penetrate. At the same time, look for shooting positions that offer you the advantage of cover or concealment, or look for obstacles that would restrict an invader’s access to you. When you identify these prime defensive locations, consider stashing an extra magazine or speedloader there so, if practical, you can have extra reloads available if you need them.

And THAT, boys and girls, is why I have an arsenal in my pantry. (Right next to the Triscuits.)

What makes Oregon unique?

Oregon has reliably rejected a Republican governor and senators for some time now, including during the last round of elections. Is it because the state is reliably liberal?

Not really. Oregon's almost equally split between urban liberals and rural conservatives. But it seems that people here can see the GOP for what it is—vile.

Take Art Robinson, the Oregon Republican Party chairman. He who tried for a seat in Congress last month and failed. Why? The Portland Tribune explains:

• Robinson circulated a petition that claimed reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would harm the environment.
• He suggested we could get rid of nuclear waste by sprinkling it over the ocean.
• Robinson stated that the residents of one of Oregon's most impoverished counties be tested with urine samples.
• And he called public schools the most devastating form of child abuse in the U.S.

In short, the leader of the state's GOP party is bonkers. And folks here just sort of picked up on it.

Is Michele Bachmann batshit crazy? Or something deeper?

“This happened and as of today the United States is willingly, knowingly, intentionally sending arms to terrorists. Now what this says to me, I'm a believer in Jesus Christ, as I look at the End Times scripture, this says to me that the leaf is on the fig tree and we are to understand the signs of the times, which is your ministry, we are to understand where we are in God's end times history.”

—Representative Michele Bachmann (Republican, Minnesota)

Conservatives aren't so different from everyone else.

Sometimes I do a reality check and ask myself, "Are Republicans really so different? Surely they're not just gun-crazed, paranoid, racist survivalists, right?"

Then I voyage across a place like the Patriot Survival Guide, and I realize, "No. They're also venal fear-mongering scum!"

Y'all are some crazy motherfuckers.

From Public Policy Polling, "Republicans More Likely To Subscribe to Government Conspiracy Theories":

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to believe various government-related conspiracy theories.  Overall, 62% of Republicans believe that the Obama Administration is secretly trying to take everyone’s guns away; just 14% of Democrats believe the same. One in four Americans say that President Obama is secretly trying to figure out a way to stay in office beyond 2017 – including almost half of Republicans (44%). And 42% of Republicans think that Muslims are covertly implementing Sharia Law in American court systems.

Was there ANY good news? Kind of!

And only 3% of those polled believe that the US has been conspiring with aliens for technology advancements.

Steve Schmidt has the Word Choice of the Day

I’ve heard John McCain’s former presidential campaign advisor before, and found him a bit much. But in an interview with Chris Matthews, Steve Schmidt earned some points back by using the word "asininity."

 

“For the last couple of years, we’ve had this wing of the party running roughshod over the rest of the party. Tossing out terms like RINO saying we’re going to purge, you know, the moderates out of the party ... we need Republicans, whether they’re running for president, whether they’re in the leadership of the Congress, to stand up against a lot of this asininity."

Wait, there's more!

“You finally you saw it with Ted Cruz. Maybe he was the one that who’s got a bridge too far. Maybe we’ll start seeing our elected leaders stop being intimidated by this nonsense, have the nerve, have the guts to stand up and … to fight to take conservatism’s good name back from the freak show that’s been running wild for four years and that I have deep regret in my part, certainly, in initiating.”