FunctionalAmbivalent

Decisions, Decisions

John Cole contemplates which movie to see:

Star Trek because I’m dying to see it, or Angels and Demons, which I really don’t care much about, but it might make that insufferable prick William Donohue cry?

Question mark added. Grammar: it's my life.

Soon To Be Greeted With Horror and Outrage

Conservative policy wonk Max Borders posits a libertarian conservative agenda not rooted in either the past or the culture wars.

Add yet another “R” to the things Republicans need to do to pull their party from the abyss: Risk. What sorts of risks can the GOP take? Let's start with policy. Consider some platform changes that may seem crazy at first, but if you’re prepared to embrace them, own them and see them through you could a) change the national conversation, b) restore your credibility on all this recent “freedom” talk, and c) win younger voters.

I'm having a hard time imagining the party of social conservatism buying into ideas like civil unions for gays and legalized drugs, but at least Borders is trying.

Simplicity Itself

Do I need an umbrella? Here.

What I'm Here For: Got That One Wrong Edition

One link, 15 bad predictions. Here.

We All Have Our Regrets

Prom photos.

The Old One-Two

As if it weren't hard enough to be a Republican:

Blogger Chris Bowers has previously pointed out that lots of things are more popular than the Republican Party, including China and the legalization of marijuana. Now this:

New polling from CNN indicates that anti-American, oil-cartel, socialist-block-forming Venezuela is now viewed more favorably than the Republican Party.

Yep: 42% of Americans approve of Venezuela, while only 39% approve of the Republican Party. It was better, politically, for President Obama to shake hands with Hugo Chavez than it would be for him to shake hands with Newt Gingrich. Perhaps Democrats should shun Republicans wherever we meet them.

Mark Ambinder piles on:

My Republican friends keep asking me when I'll take the GOP seriously again and why I've stopped writing about ticky-tak political gamesmanship and GOP consultant tricks. When they're a serious party with serious ideas, then we can talk.

Boy, is that a mentally healthy attitude.

I'm Imagining Myself With a Bruise On My Forehead, Snoring Softly On the Couch

The bottomless wine glass from Kyouei Design, not yet available for purchase. When you tilt the glass to drink, wine automatically bubbles down into the glass, keeping the wine at a constant level.

It's the same Japanese design studio that created the ultra-cool waterclock.

Navy Honors the Honorable

The Navy has commissioned the USS James Stockdale, a guided missile destroyer that will be based a few hundred yards from Stockdale's home in San Diego.

I met Stockdale a few times many years ago. My memoir of him is here.

This Blog Knows No Limits

Functional Ambivalent even covers award-winning museum design.

Funny

Steve Benen on Glen Beck's stunt of pouring fake gasoline on someone and pretending to set him on fire:

This was so completely insane, it was probably the first time I genuinely started to wonder if Beck's derangement is an elaborate act. A guy this crazy, in real life, might try to eat his shoes while arguing with mailboxes. Getting dressed and making it to a television studio every day would be difficult.

I, personally, believe that Glen Beck exists to make Rush Limbaugh look reasonable.