Ann Coulter drives me bonkers

Right wing quotes ahoy.

Sometimes I think I'm being overly hard on the administration, or on the media, or on pundits. I mean, I know a whole bunch of wonderful people who are Republicans. I know people who voted for AH-nold, and I think they're insane, but otherwise they're lovely people. So maybe I'm being too hard on the public figures, on Republicans who write and who speak on TV, I think to myself.

And then... no. Sure, there's John McCain and Chuck Hagel and Arlen Spector. There are editorial writers who avoid vitriol and accusations. There are Republicans calling for the resignation of Rumsfield and decrying the abuses in Iraq. But for every moderate or well-spoken public figure, there are tens of these:

"I think the other point that no one is making about the abuse photos is just the disproportionate number of women involved, including a girl general running the entire operation. ( Ann Coulter, continued )

Then there's George Neumayr, attempting the "it's all the feminists' fault" approach:

The image of that female guard, smoking away as she joins gleefully in the disgraceful melee like one of the guys, is a cultural outgrowth of a feminist culture which encourages female barbarians. ( George Neumayr, continued )

Deborah Simmons also thinks it's all the fault of women. Well, and Clinton, of course:

What were Congress and the Clinton White House thinking when they began, in earnest, legislative moves that essentially led to the feminization of America's armed forces? Did they think that there would be no cultural implications (pregnancies, rape and sexual assault, etc.?) ( Deborah Simmons, continued )

Rush Limbaugh on Abu Ghraib:

This is no different than what happens at the Skull and Bones initiation and we're going to ruin people's lives over it and we're going to hamper our military effort, and then we are going to really hammer them because they had a good time. ( Rush Limbaugh, continued )

And then there's Tony Robinson, a former Army seargeant and interrogation instructor.

Well, one thing that needs to be understood, is that there's also an impact on the torturer. ... Now, I use the word torture, but that's not what's happening in these pictures. ... I've seen -- I've seen worse than this at -- frat hazing is worse than this. ... Well, it's not torture. If it was, they'd be accused of torture. They're accused of maltreatment. -- Tony Robinson in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News.

And my personal favorite, or least favorite, depending on how you look at it:

Some Arab commentators are repeating the myth that the West has, once again, humiliated Muslims. If there has been humiliation, it isn't the fault of the West. It is Muslims' fault. -- Cal Thomas, of Fox News, in an editorial.

Tempted as I am to comment on these -- and believe me, it's almost impossible not to comment on the Rush porn and sex quotes and the Cal Thomas -- I think that standing alone they're quite outrageous enough. People actually said these things. Major figures on the right said these things. Good heavens.

Most quotes are from Media Matters for America. (Incidentally, to those of you who don't read Media Matters, it's a fabulous resource, and I'm so pleased that David Brock is doing what he's doing.) Some are from salon.com's War Room 2004 and Right Hook.

*is nostalgic*

Look! Look! Cunha's County Store is reopening!

See, when we would drive down to SC, we'd usually drive down highway one. It's like this: taking highway 17 can be 30 minutes faster than highway one, or it can be an hour slower. Plus, the view from route one is gorgeous and you can picnic.

And we'd always stop in Half Moon Bay halfway there and pick up something at Cunha's County Store, which had the cheapest ataulfo mangoes ever seen. They were in a barrel by the door, and you had to dig through them carefully. Other fruit was still in cardboard boxes from local farmers. And Cunha's itself was this little, tiny, 70-year-old grocery store with aisles so narrow you couldn't pass other people. The floor was hardwood and creaked in places. The sign painted on the side of the store had been the same for fifty years. They had samples all over the place, making the aisles ever narrower, and they carried hand-made local jams and all that.

And yet they carried all of this fabulous, fabulous food! I mean, it's the first place mis padres and I tried Casa de Sanchez chips and salsa, the thick, crunchy kind of chip and a really good salsa. They were there for tasting. And they carried twenty-seven kinds of fancy chocolate bars. They had unsweetened iced tea, and imported fizzy lemonade, in addition to the sprite and all that. So wonderful food AND good atmosphere AND memories.

And then last year, at the end of May, just before I graduated, Cunha's burnt down to the ground. Completely wiped out the entire building.

And now, not even a year later, they're ready to open again, which is really a tribute to the importance of Cunha's to the community of Half Moon Bay. It's wonderful to think that they're really going to be open again, that you could pick up a picnic and go sit out on one of the beaches of route one, and that the neighbors will be chatting with the woman behind the counter, and that the fellow who works in the deli will give you advice on bread, and that you'll find someone putting up jams who will give you advice on preserves. The building won't be the same -- new floors don't creak, and disability laws mean that there needs to be an elevator and wider aisles now that it's not a historical building -- but how wonderful all the same.