several days ago, i started a regular "feature" on twitter called WTF of the Day (#WTFOTD). it's not limited to one a day, and i initially planned to post news items or bits of info found around the blogosphere at large that makes me laugh out loud and groan at the same time. over the course of this very short time, having spent some time on the newest entry into social media Google+, i started posting these WTFOTDs with a bit more than the twitter-limited 140 characters. and that simple expansion from 140 characters to free-form comments has led me back to musings.


[quick note: our current president has embarked on a re-election campaign, seeking to serve another 4 years as a nominal Democrat. this is noteworthy in this context because his campaign has come up with the most unfortunate campaign slogan i've seen in more than 40 years of political awareness: Win The Future. notice anything? yep, that's right. most of us see the initials WTF and we go immediately to "what the fuck" -- that's certainly what it means in my series title. has the once-vaunted Obama campaign showed a big out-of-touch cultural weakness in the 2012 campaign already? could be an interesting 15 months ahead.]


Not all the WTFOTDs have been laughable, despite my original intent. I just couldn't find anything funny, ironic or even groan-worthy about the Norway bombing/shootings, but I did find myself saying over and over again: what the fuck? What the fuck. What The Fuck! But I'll try to stick with where I started.

[note #2: random thought. if my "original intent" was morphing so quickly, and i did give the idea of the series more than a passing thought before i started, given a new platform--g+ and creative release leading back to this blog, i wonder what the Founding Fathers would say about those conservatives who insist on "original intent" interpretations of the Constitution?]

so, without further ado, here's the latest addition to the WTF of the Day series, in the g+ version (here's the shorter twitter version) :

WTF of the Day: As Congress plays around with their latest dysfunctional exercise in the manufactured "debt ceiling crisis," the FAA is experiencing a partial shutdown that is costing the U.S. government about $200 million a week in uncollected federal airline taxes. http://huff.to/WTFOTD11 

As Amanda Terkel reports at Huffington Post, the House TeaPartiers/Republicans want to make it harder for air and rail employees to elect to be represented by a union (a measure pushed by Delta Airlines btw, in case you're planning your next ticket purchase). John Mica (R-FL) also inserted language to eliminate subsidies to a small number of rural airports, coincidentally (?) these airports are all in states of prominent Senators like Nevada/Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. these provisions have already been declared dead in the Senate and the White House has already announced a veto intent. 

nonetheless, the brave men and women of the House Republican Caucus are standing firm on their latest extortion message: 

pass and sign our version or we'll furlough more FAA employees, force those not on furlough to work through illness even at the risk of aviation safety, hold up more safety-related projects costing private sector jobs, and hold our breath until we turn blue like the temper-tantrum-throwing arrogant jerks we've proven to be.  (wait, what? they'll turn Democratic?).