Which one?

What sounds better to describe this week's SCOTUS brand of Highpocrisy?  Two of the most far-reaching and meaningful decisions in our history, certainly in our lifetime: the DOMA and VRA cases, each cutting in opposite directions.  Have we been Scalia'd?  Scotusized?  Can we add a new term to the glossay below, and if so, should we go with either of those or do you have another suggestion?  It's still early, so let us know.

Swing and a miss

Hey since we're in the middle of the amateur baseball draft, how's about a nice wholesome slice of HIGHpocrisy, going down as easy as apple pie and our national past-time.

Man-crush

Not sure what else to call it.  Yes, the writing and style are phenomenal, but look at the core of that post: the greatest, most obvious example of HIGHpocrisy this country has ever known, maybe ever.  If we can't get KO to join us in what we still refer to as a 'silly little venture', then maybe the estimable Mr. Pierce can do so?  "You think big, you be big, my friend".

For F**k's Sake

Sometimes, far more frequently these days than we care to remember, a four-letter word is the only word that comes to mind when trying to process days like yesterday. 
Four months have passed since our 'year-ending' last entry on the god-awful tragedy in Newtown.  Time does not heal all wounds.  Now we have fresh, new ones.  So just as we inched closer to getting back into standard HIGHpocrisy fare, like dealing with the President's latest middle finger to the people and party that re-elected him, some insane A-hole (or plural, a-holes) decides to ruin a perfectly boring marathon and plunge us back into the 'pit of despair'. 
In the process, s/he or they -- let's go with 'they' for now, it writes better -- also messed with the wrong icon, like they care.  It was not just Patriots Day in Boston, but the anniversary of when Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier.  All major leaguers wear his number '42' on Jackie Robinson day.  Jackie is one of my personal idols, though he played before my time.  His initials 'JR' are 1 of the reasons I post as J Rollah; a picture of him adorns my faux Facebook page as my profile.  He represents to me all that is good about human nature, and yesterday's perps represent all that is bad.
Maybe someday, if the grief and anger subside, we can get back to our silly little venture here, infinitesimally small compared to the stuff we should be writing about.  We can honor Jackie properly then.  We can strive to live up to the ideals for which we think he stood.  But not this day.  In public, back in his time, Jackie may have taken the high road in the face of such vitriol, but to whoever did this in Boston, all I can say at this moment is, "F**k you!"  For tearing up lives & families, for forcing average citizens to become something they didn't want or ask to become, even for not letting us enjoy a single day, "F**k you!" 
No, I don't feel better yet, it doesn't go away.  Here's to praying that the four-letter word doesn't rear its ugly head so much in the future.  Here's to hoping for that better tomorrow.  Yes, to answer Craig Ferguson's question from last night, I am sick of this sh**! 

Nothing vs. Grief

There is a line in John Hughes' Ferris Bueller's Day Off, when high school principal Ed Rooney tries to comfort Sloane Peterson outside the school, because he thinks her grandmother had passed away.  Rooney says, 'between grief and nothing, I choose grief'. Hughes made syrupy teen comedies that spoke to a certain generation, including mine. He might be speechless after last week.
J and Rollah are both parents; we can cry (and have); we can hug our kids (and have); maybe we can have some conversation with them on some level even though we cannot make any sense of the senseless.  We know there is some evil that can never be explained. Otherwise, there is only silence, and heartache. No HIGHpocrisy, no moral indignation. Just numbness. I don't know that I could choose this type of grief, because who knows what the nothing would look like. I pray I never have to make that choice. 

We're so very fortunate, and yet I just want to say good riddance to 2012.  Of all I have seen, heard, and read about these past few days, the closest to my own state of mind -- whatever that is worth -- is this.  God bless us, everyone.  See you next year.

Post-geography

Gotta say, I was not as nervous last week as I might have been, since I was tracking 538.com and Sam Wang long enough to know better.  What a relief not to have to rely on the batshade bubble.  But let's also give ourselves an 'A' for what can best be labeled a post-geography lesson:

In Romney's 2 'home' states, Michigan and Massachusetts, Obama won.  In Paul Ryan's Wisconsin, Obama won.  In Florida, Obama won, eventually (we would have preferred a bit more dominance via Ryan's Medicare-killing budget in the land of the senior).  The electoral map still shows the red & blue states, but let's do something Rs cannot: be honest with ourselves.  Romney could not have won the popular vote if you were looking solely at where the majority of people live!  Leave aside that his only saving grace was a 90-minute side-show in Denver in early October.  Leave aside the fact that he had 0 foreign policy experience for a job that requires a lot more than 0.  Romney beat himself (!), because he was never able to be himself in front of enough voters who lived where he needed them to live. 

Sure, last Tuesday was a great victory for those who believe in social justice and the fairness of the system.  Not just because of Obama.  Lots of other good people won, too.  The estimable Maureen Dowd wrote a longer version of this over the weekend.  It wasn't just 'pass/fail', but we passed with flying colors after all:  mostly blue, with some purple in there for effect.  Welcome to America! 

Time's up

We really tried to capture the essence of the crazy in our prior post, but along comes The Rude Pundit, with his "A Filthy End to the Filthy Campaign of a Filthy Liar".  And that pretty much says it too. 

For the higher-browed (is that even a term?), we also give you the masterful eloquence of one Charles Pierce.  Well worth the reading time.  Money quotes (2):

When you see a lunatic wandering down the sidewalk, howling at the moon and waving a machete, it is not fear that makes you step inside your house and lock the door. It is the simple logic of survival. Fear is what keeps you from trying to tackle the guy and wrestle the machete away from him. And, as much as it may pain some people to admit it, the president is the only one stepping up to do that at the moment. 
... Obama owes the disgruntled. Romney owes the crazy. And that makes all the difference.

We could not resist adding this last number from today's Rude Pundit, one more money quote but read the entry, it's short enough.

Romney has nothing, offers nothing, is nothing, other than white and rich, which is, sadly, to our great disgrace, enough for nearly half the nation. He never had a chance.