The Week in Right Wing Lunacy & Corporate “Rationality”

One could spend 24/7 covering the right wing penchant for creating a theatre of the absurd out of American politics and culture, but a fear would be the strong possibility overexposure would lead you toward insanity – or at least believing in the veracity of the circus. But it is fun to delve into the madness once in a while. So here’s the latest …

• A conservative lobbyist, Jack Burkman, claimed he was preparing legislation to ban gay athletes from joining the NFL. Burkman explained, “We are losing our decency as a nation. Imagine your son being forced to shower with a gay man. That’s a horrifying prospect for every mom in the country. What in the world has this  nation come to?” (NESN)
• Morgan Stanley put out a report that autonomous cars will lead to a utopian society around 2026. Not sure why, but they did survive the financial crisis they helped create, so maybe we should listen. (Slate).
• As the Michigan Supreme Court hears arguments regarding their same sex marriage ban, conservatives will be using a study by University of Texas sociologiest Mark Regnerus, entitled “How Different are the Adult Children of Parents Who Have Same-Sex Relationships?” The study found that young adults with at least one parent who had engaged in a same-sex relationship showed consistently lower psychological and behavioral well-being (based on a sample of 3,000 with 248 meeting the criteria). The study has been largely discredited across academia, but why let the facts get in the way of a useful argument? (The New Republic). Actually maybe that should be the Republican motto.  
• Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal today claimed that Obama has created a “minimum wage economy.” (TNR) This is, of course, not true, as the number of minimum wage workers in the economy (in both number and percentage form) has declined since the height of the financial crisis ended in 2010 – but it sure sounds good.
• Virginia State Senator Steven Martin, apparently upset over a Valentine’s Card he received from pro-choice groups, decided to clarify his position on a pregnant women’s body as “bearer of the child (some refer to them as mothers).” He further stated, “What they want is access to ‘safe, legal abortions,’ any time one might be desired. Okay, then why did you write all the rest of that bologna about raising health children (by killing the unhealthy ones), having access to healthcare (which you do), and preventing unwanted pregnancies (don’t have unprotected sex)?” (C&L)
• Media Rights Capital, the company behind the Netflix megahit House of Cars, has apparently decided to take inspiration from its fictional protagonist/antagonist Frank Underwood and demand that Maryland increase the already $26.6 million it has received in tax credits. Otherwise they will “break down our stage, sets and offices and set up in another state.” (Washington Post)

On a positive note, unrelated to conservatism, Piers Morgan Live has been canceled providing additional evidence that a British accent attached to a human form does not guarantee intelligent life inhabits that space.