Sunday, January 31, 2010

Brownie, You're Doing a Heck of a Job!

President Elect Scott Brown…What? He’s not President Elect? Ok, Senate Majority Leader Elect Sco…wha…he’s not that either? He’s not even sworn into office?! Then why the hell is the whole country watching his every move? Brown appeared on ABC’s “This Week” with Barbara Walters Sunday. She actually asked him if he was considering running for President in 2012 and although his first response was, “I don’t even have a business card yet”, he didn’t reject the idea either. When asked about Sarah Palin, he said he did believe she had the capacity to hold the office of the president. "I mean she's been a mayor and a governor and has a national following." And everything! Is he out of his freakin mind?! Why didn’t you talk about that when you were running for Senator instead of the GD truck?! He continued by saying, “I know she's very popular and has a new book out. I haven't read it and hope to someday." Oh my God Massachusetts, what have 52% of you done?

Brown claims he wants to hear from the generals before weighing in on repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Yeah right. I’m sure he’ll be an independent, thoughtful voice in regards to gay military personel. He has spoken out forcefully against same-sex marriage, supporting a Constitutional amendment to ban such unions. He continued by saying “it's settled here in Massachusetts, but I believe that states should have the ability to determine their own destiny and the government should not be interfering with individual states' rights on issues that they deal with on a daily basis." That’s right, keep allowing majorities to restrict rights of minorities because you don’t “get it.” As a white playboy, he's never been discriminated against. In fact, he's probably been applauded for his "scores." There is no way he’s going to support the repeal of DADT. One of the things that does make me chuckle though, is one fact that these guys don’t seem to grasp; there are gay soldiers already serving and have since the start of time. This isn't a new millenium thing! It’s not like they’re all of a sudden going to start painting their rifles hot pink. Would they really rather not know? In fact, I would think that they’d prefer to know. On top of all that, he is also opposed the repeal of another Clinton gem, the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Did anybody who voted for this guy actually check his voting record and stances? Who is continuing to fall for his lines?

On abortion, he said he still was a supporter of Roe v. Wade, though he wanted to make it more difficult for abortions to take place. In other words, keep it legal, but make sure only women who have the money to pay for the procedure out of pocket have access. That way, when the unwanted child is born to a poor teenager, it'll be one more kid without a chance, two actually, but a Bible thumper somewhere will sleep better. Their job is done. That's my biggest problem with the "pro-life" movement. Why are they only concerned with the unborn? Once these kids are out of the womb, the next thing that happens is these "good" Christians start bitching that their tax money shouldn't go to support that teenage slut and her bastard child. Here’s what the smartest tactic would be. Make birth control easily accessible, teach people, especially teenagers the dangers of unprotected sex, but for Christ sakes, give up on this abstinence only nonsense. For the first time in ten years, teen pregnancy is up. Can’t these idiots see the correlation of time when sex education was forbidden in favor of abstinence only?

Here’s my fear people. First, the fact that Brown's arrogant enough to be considering running for President when he's only actually been to D.C. once in an official capacity. Secondly, thinking Sarah Palin has the capacity to hold the office of the president shows his lack of depth is equal to hers. Are the Republicans considering running two pretty faces for the highest office in the land while Rove, Gingrich and Cheney secretly run things in the background? We have such an easily impressed electorate, I really fear that’s where they’re heading. Many men (no offense to evolved males) would still probably have an issue with a woman running the show, but a pretty boy and a beauty queen, no problem!
For the record, beauty is subjective so these two have no appeal to this writer.

Let's close with these nuggets. He's against fees on the big banks that received bailout money. He wants no new regulation of the financial markets. And he wants to maintain Bush tax cuts after 2010. In essence, he wants to follow the failed policies that got us here. Once again I ask, did anybody who voted for this guy actually check his voting record and stances? Well, at least he said he was for term limits! So I agree with him on something.
Click on  Scott Brown to see what we really got and please notice all the activity that seemed to begin with his race to the Senate. Where was he between July 2004 and September 2009? Just as important, why couldn't Martha Coakley and her team do this simple research?

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Obama Finally Has His Mojo Working ... I Hope It's Not Too Late

It’s been quite a week! I have to say, as much as it still bothers me that Tea Party Express candidate Scott Brown won the Massachusetts special election to fill the remainder of Senator Ted Kennedy’s term, maybe something good will come out of it. Maybe it was the dose of reality that President Obama needed to see instead of relying on Rahm Emanual’s continuous poor advice. Massachusetts wasn’t lost because residents were against a national health care policy like conservative media is playing it. It was lost because the public option was removed, but the mandate remained. Massachusetts already has RomneyCare so it would’ve been a double-dip. When the public option was still in, so were 70% of Mass residents. On January 19th, 52% of our voters were fed up with the deal making encouraged by Emanual and they supported the guy with the truck…and five homes. Since the election, much has been written as to “what happened?” As bad of a campaign as Martha Coakley ran, the disgust with the numerous sellouts is what really happened.

One more thing about the Brown election. The loss of the super majority never bothered me because Democrats never really had it. Yeah, it looked good on paper and even on paper you were counting Joe Liebermann. He can’t be counted on for anything except serving his own ego. The reality is, those 60 votes included a bunch of conservative senators who really had no interest in voting with the majority of the Democrats on much of anything. Their little myth of 60 reliable votes led the Democrats to draft policies in a way that they thought maybe could get all of those 60 votes. Just look at the health care reform debacle. Maybe now, with that nonsense out of the way, they can actually craft bills that make sense. If senators want to filibuster, let them. Make them stand on the floor and explain why they’re against any number of policies that might come forward including a strong health insurance reform bill. Let them explain their positioning with the health insurance industry instead of tax paying Americans...who vote. The good Democrats need to stop worrying about the "threat" of the filibuster. Call their bluff and let them do it, damn it!

Now, the good part! This week, for the first time since he took office, I'm seeing the fire in Obama that most of us had hoped for initially. On Wednesday night, he took charge of the room during the State of the Union address. Granted, he said a few cringe worthy things, but I guess he felt he needed toss some bones to the conservatives. Just to jog your memory, he mentioned off-shore drilling, capital gains cuts, business tax cuts, the spending freeze, so-called “clean coal --- all Republican talking points that will do very little besides antagonize progressives. He dinged the Senate on several occasions for holding up progress. However, when he called out the senate Republicans for being obstructionists by demanding a filibuster-proof majority for every single bill, I just hoped America was listening. By the way, before someone suggests that it’s always been like this, no it hasn’t. According to the Senate historical office, the number of Senate cloture votes, which require a supermajority of 60, more than doubled — from 54 to 112 — from the 109th Congress (2005-2006) to the 110th (2007-2008). I also enjoyed him looking at the Democrats and telling them they still have a huge majority and “not run for the hills.” Of course many of the Republicans just sat there chuckling throughout because saying no and distorting facts has been working for them. I think it was very telling that the only time Republicans rose to their feet in applause was when pro-business related ideas were mentioned. Anything domestic was scoffed at. Many of the domestic ideas Obama laid out are things that working Americans want to see. On the top of my list was the fees he wants to impose on the big banks that got bailout money, but decided to give mega bonuses to their executives instead of paying taxpayers back. That's a very populist idea. The look on Republican faces said it all. Then there was his shot at the Supreme Court's disasterous decision that I wrote about last week. "With all due deference to the separation of powers, the court last week reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests - including foreign corporations - to spend without limit in our elections." The statement prompted Justice Samuel Alito to mutter, "simply not true." Right on Barack! How sad and broken are our politics when the President of the United States has to scold everyone in the room.

Then on Friday, Obama headed to the Republicans turf. He appeared at their retreat in Baltimore to take questions and give answers. He kicked ass! He did so well, Fox News discontinued coverage part way through as he destroyed talking points and their lies. By the way, since he's often mocked for his use of a teleprompter, I want to point out that there was none. The man showed them all who the smart guy in the room was. Republican aides later admitted that they shouldn't have agreed to let the cameras roll throughout. One of the senators I dislike most based on various interviews I've seen with him is Mike Pence of Indiana. He asked the first question, actually several all rolled into a statement which Obama handled masterfully. Pence said Obama was trying to defend "a so-called stimulus that was a piecemeal list of projects and boutique tax cuts." In part, Obama replied, "When you say they were boutique tax cuts, Mike, 95 percent of working Americans got tax cuts. This notion that this was a radical package is just not true." I did see a replay of the event last night and while not all the Republicans looked like complete fools, none of them had command of the very subject they asked about the way Obama did. Here's a good one: When it was over, orange House Republican leader tan-in-a-can John Boehner of Ohio issued a statement saying Obama "acknowledged the fact that House Republicans have offered better solutions over the last year." Oh my God, can these guys get any more delusional?

If you missed the Q & A, find 66 minutes of your time. It is well worth it:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy


Quick Thoughts: North Carolina Representative Virginia Foxx (R) said "Obama lectured us, but I got his autograph." Wowee! She got the autograph of a man she thinks is a Kenyan. In addition, for anyone who doesn't know what else this witch stands against, here you go: Last year she vehemently argued against the The Matthew Shepard Act, which expanded the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. She claimed those who say Matthew Shepard was murdered in Wyoming for being gay are perpetrating a "hoax" on the American people. She claimed he was accidentally killed in a robbery gone wrong. She ended up apologizing to Shepard's mother who was at the hearings. Typical homophobic imbecile in denial who can't or won't read. The New York Times reported in 1998: "According to the local police and prosecutors, the two men lured Mr. Shepard out of a bar by saying they were gay. Then, the Laramie police say, the pair kidnapped Mr. Shepard, pistol-whipped him with a .357 Magnum, and left him tied to a ranch fence for 18 hours until a passing bicyclist spotted Mr. Shepard, who was unconscious." He later died from the injuries.
The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009

Way to go North Carolina. Is this really the best you can do?

Saturday, January 23, 2010

A Stark Reminder of How the Bush-Cheney Legacy Will Haunt Us For Decades

To say I was freaked out by Thursday’s Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission would be a gross understatement. I have literally lost sleep over it. Even President Obama said that he could not "think of anything more devastating to the public interest." Essentially the victors argued that corporations should be treated the same as "natural persons" thereby granting them first amendment rights. The conservative leaning Court, led by neo-con GWB appointee Chief Justice John Roberts joined together to invalidate a longtime ban on corporate money in federal elections by a margin of 5-4. I don’t see how this was a first amendment battle. Nobody has ever stopped corporations from voicing their opinions. This was about financially tilting the playing field to political hopefuls that are willing to do the corporations bidding. This court has made what is quite possibly the most radical “activist” decision ever by the Court. They ripped away 107 years of laws and previously upheld challenges. There is now no limit on how much any corporation can spend to support, or worse, to destroy a political opponent. I’m really truly afraid that this will eventually lead to one party rule and fascism. Think about this in the broadest sense of all; not just Democrats vs. Republicans although we know which party always puts big business ahead of the citizens. How many of these corporations here are wholly U.S. owned? How much foreign money will be coming in to influence our elections? Apparently Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg questioned opening the door to "mega-corporations" owned by foreign governments. Olson stated that Congress might be able to prohibit foreign corporations from making donations, but he thought any such restriction a bad idea! Now this is something the teabaggers should be upset about if they want their government to work for the people. Guess what? The night-time stars at Fox have not even mentioned it even though you know they're excited about the prospect of conservative fascism. Clearly they're not sure how their little teabagging flock will respond since the teabaggers "want their country back." Theoretically, this should unite progressives and teabaggers with a common interest towards untold corporate influence and abject greed. However, it won't because the teabag movements are just fake "grassroots" efforts led by far right organizers Dick Armey and David Koch. They aren't smart enough to realize the Democrats and the black guy aren't their biggest problem. Want a little bit of in your face irony? I recently lauded attorney Ted Olson for partnering with David Boies to challenge the Proposition 8 decision in California. He was the man who successfully argued the case for Citizens United. Talk about a slap in the face. Tara Malloy, attorney with the Campaign Legal Center of Washington D.C. says corporations will now have more rights than people. Only United States citizens may donate or influence campaigns, but a foreign government can, veiled behind a corporate treasury, dump money into ballot battles. Malloy also noted that under the law today, human-people, as opposed to corporate-people, may only give $2,300 to a presidential campaign. But hedge fund billionaires, for example, who typically operate through dozens of corporate vessels, may now give unlimited sums through each of these "unnatural" creatures. I would like to give a thumbs up to the four sane and just Justices: Justice John Paul Stevens, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice Stephen G. Breyer and Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Next I'll name the dark side of the Court, who appointed them and their age: John G. Roberts (GWB age 55), Samuel A. Alito, Jr. (GWB age 59), Clarence Thomas (GHWB age 61), Anthony Kennedy (Reagan age 73) and Antonin Scalia (Reagan age 73). Given that these are lifetime appointments, we're screwed.

I’m not generally a huge Ralph Nader fan, but I’d like to share his OpEd with anyone who hasn’t seen it. He obviously knows more than me and did give me a glimmer of hope that we might be able to at least contain this disaster. I’ll provide the first paragraph with a link to continue…
Yesterday's 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission shreds the fabric of our already weakened democracy by allowing corporations to more completely dominate our corrupted electoral process. It is outrageous that corporations already attempt to influence or bribe our political candidates through their political action committees (PACs), which solicit employees and shareholders for donations.
Read the entire article here: The Supreme Court decision further weakens our democracy

President Blasts Supreme Court Over Citizens United Decision with Weekly Radio Address

Monday, January 18, 2010

When Fox Squawker Meets Days of Thunder

Sarah Palin didn't waste anytime getting started with her latest job. She sat down with Bill O'Reilly for her first interview as a paid Fox contributor on The O'Reilly Factor Tuesday. Bill-O's softball sit-down was a waste of time for anyone not enamored with this fool, but her fans think she really laid out policy! Palin also said she was looking forward "to providing the fair and the balanced reporting and analysis that voters in this country deserve." Riiight, that’s why she’s on Faux Newz. Then there was a full hour with Glenn Beck. Beck started the show by reading to Palin from his personal diary in which he called her "one of the only people that can possibly lead us out of where we are." As Jon Stewart explained, she had a “moose in the headlights look.” On his radio show the next day, Beck explained their initial meeting as they had not actually met before. He said he walked in on Palin furiously googling on her Blackberry. When Beck enquired what she was doing, she claimed she was preparing (nothing like waiting until the last minute). She noticed (that’s amazing in itself) how he chose to interview her with the Statue of Liberty in the background and thought he was going to quiz her on the 25 windows and seven points on the crown! He assured her that wasn’t the case. Beck did manage to ask Palin a tough question, by Palin standards at least. He asked her to name her favorite founding father; Palin took a page from her infamous campaign interview with CBS' Katie Couric and told Beck, "all of them" without any hint of the irony. Seems to me that he is now part of that Couric/Gibson gotcha media. It did seem to appear that even Beck now realizes what the majority of the country figured out a long time ago about her. She is a moron. Speaking of Palin's founding fathers answer, MSNBC's Chris Matthews later asked, "how come she can't answer the most simple questions?" If you thought Palin's verbal befuddlement couldn't get any more bizarre, you'd be wrong. Appearing on Hannity on Thursday, the Facebook politician claimed that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is, "driving a bus that is headed towards a train wreck." WTF! People, remember how close she was to the red button!

The week wasn't over for Saracuda though!. As a part-time Nascar watcher, former big fan who still loves Daytona, I have to comment on this one. Saturday it was reported that Sarah Palin will be a VIP guest at next month’s Daytona 500. Daytona International Speedway president Robin Braig said that they will “showcase her just as much as we would our mayor, our governor or our senators.” Um, don’t they think that’s a bit much? Unless the mayor, governor or any of their senators are habitual quitters, that seems a bit over the top. For anyone unfamiliar with how the Daytona 500 is treated, I’ll make it simple. The Daytona 500 is Nascar’s Super Bowl even though it’s the first race of the new season. It is unquestionably the most prestigious race on the schedule. And as someone who actually went to the Coke Zero 400 last July, I can verify that it’s the most exciting track (that I’ve been to) to view a race. The pre-race activities for “The 500” are virtually the halftime show at the Super Bowl. In the very recent past and off the top of my head, Jon Bon Jovi and Kelly Clarkson have provided entertainment. I’ll be skipping the pre-race festivities this year even though I’m sure headliner Tim McGraw will be a big lure for many. The former Alaska governor will be introduced at the pre-race drivers meeting along with other celebrities. Did I mention this telecast will be broadcast on Fox? I’m pretty sure she’ll get more than a little bit of screen time. That said, I have to say I’m kind of looking forward to her going in the booth. There’s not a doubt in my mind that right wing commentator Darrell Waltrip will get her up there after the start of the race, drool a little and ask, “Who is your favorite driver?” Is there any doubt she will say, “All of them!?"

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Say It Ain't So, Massachusetts!

On Tuesday, the 19th of January, our little ol' state of Massachusetts will be holding a special election to replace the seat once held by Senator Ted Kennedy. Democrat Martha Coakley is in a tight battle with Republican Scott Brown. The thing is, this should've been an easy win for Coakley, but I honestly think someone was whispering in her ear that "it's in the bag" so she hadn't been doing much campaigning until the polls started tightening. Brown on the other hand has been pretty aggressive and has had money pumped into the state from outside sources. I will be shocked and dismayed if our state elects a Bush-clone to the seat once held by Kennedy.

To me, this is about so much more than the health care debate. Brown’s positions are actually lock-step with what Bush and Cheney did…tax cuts for the wealthy, protections for business, he’s against the fees Obama has proposed on big banks to get bailout money returned in entirety, health care for all as long as it’s done through private insurers, doesn’t care about the environment, etc… On gay marriage: "Marriage issues should be left up to the states, so long as they reflect the people’s will as expressed through them directly, or as expressed through their elected representatives.” In other words, keep letting the majority decide on the rights of a minority. He’s been endorsed by the hate group, MassResistance. I wonder what would’ve happened in 1967 if inter-racial marriage was put up for vote as a popularity contest? I’m a bit confused about his stance on abortion since it seems to change depending on his audience. At one point he stated: “While this decision should ultimately be made by the woman in consultation with her doctor, I believe we need to reduce the number of abortions in America. I believe government has the responsibility to regulate in this area and I support parental consent and notification requirements and I oppose partial birth abortion.” First, let me just say that I hate the term partial birth abortion, just as much as I resent being called pro-abortion. The anti-abortion crowd just keeps on coming out with terms to place fear in women. As a very pro-choice individual, I also recognize that late term abortions are no longer a clear cut decision between a woman and her doctor. At a certain point, you’ve taken on some responsibility whether you realize it or not. I’m not a believer that life starts at conception, rather at individual viability. That is when the decision becomes tricky since the woman has had several months to decide, life/health of the mother obviously excluded. However, Brown also sponsored an amendment to a 2005 bill on emergency contraception that would have let emergency room doctors or nurses turn away rape victims if they had religious objections to providing emergency contraception. Rape victims! They’ve already been violently victimized once and now they’re going to get victimized by the very people who are supposed to help them? My feeling has always been you need to leave your personal feelings at the door in any profession. If you can’t do your job every single day in every single way, you need to find another line of work. It’s as simple as that.

Here’s what I find somewhat interesting. In June of 1982, Scott Brown won Cosmopolitan’s “America’s Sexiest Man” contest and posed nude for the centerfold. Isn’t this the family values party? Didn’t fellow Tea-bagger Sarah Palin say her former, future son-in-law Levi Johnson was doing porn by posing in Playgirl? What’s the difference? Enquiring minds want to know. I’d also love to hear the roar if it was the Democrat who had done the nude layout. It would’ve been scandalous! What I think is mind-boggling is in their ongoing hypocrisy. Their defense is that it’s ok because he’s good looking! So what, Obama is too. The right wing went nuts over a photo just as old as this one, of Obama smoking a cigarette because of the message that it sends to the youth of America. Conservatives really are one dimensional cretins.

Today President Obama will arrive in Boston to help gin up the base to turn out on Tuesday. I’ve been getting robo-calls from Obama, Bill Clinton, Martha Coakley and sadly Scott Brown (I’d love a live call) who’s been endorsed and heavily funded by the Tea Party Express. I hope it’s not a question of too little, too late. Martha Coakley is not an exciting candidate by any stretch, but the alternative is not acceptable. What a sick twist in irony it will be when Houston, TX just elected a lesbian Mayor and liberal Massachusetts ends up with a Tea Bagger in the senate if this doesn’t go well. If that happens, I hope the Democrats find a strong candidate to run for the full term in 2012.


Saturday, January 16, 2010

Limbaugh's Take on Hate-e

While this man knows no limit to the depth he’ll dive, he may have reached a level this week that even Jacques Cousteau would be jealous of. After the 7.0 Earthquake annihilated Haiti on Tuesday, Rush Limbaugh decided to make political rhetoric out of thousands of deaths to his simple minded hate-filled listeners. On Wednesday Rush declared;
"This will play right into Obama's hands. He's humanitarian, compassionate. They'll use this to burnish their, shall we say, "credibility" with the black community -- in the both light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country. It's made-to-order for them. That's why he couldn't wait to get out there, could not wait to get out there." "Now, I want you to remember, it took him three days to respond to the Christmas Day Fruit of Kaboom Bomber, three days. And when he came out after those three days, he was clearly irritated that he had to do it. He didn't want to do it. He comes out here in less than 24 hours to speak about Haiti."
Where do you even begin? Is he suggesting that Obama has some kind of connection upstairs to coincide this tragedy with his falling approval numbers? And that humanitarian, compassion stuff is for sissy’s, not for real Americans. Burnishing his credibility with the black community? That one actually made me start laughing. I’m pretty sure he’s already got them sewed up. No offense to anyone meant, but really? I’m certain the black community aren’t closet McCain fans. The Christmas Day bomber? Um, thousands didn’t die. Luckily the would-be bomber was incompetent. Obama waited until he had his facts straight before speaking publicly about it. Funny how they always forget Bush waited six days after the Shoe Bomber, a virtually identical attack. Ah, but that was just the day after the quake…
On Thursday Rush told his empty headed sheep not to donate to any Haitian relief charities. You’ll love this reasoning:

“We’ve already donated to Haiti! It’s called the US income tax! There are people who do charitable work every day in Haiti. It’s not as though… it’s our fault. There are people that have been trying to save Haiti, just as we’re trying to save Africa. You just can’t keep throwing money at it, because the dictatorships there just take it all. Besides, even if the people did get the money, that would just stop them from bothering to support themselves. It’s a simple matter of self-reliance.”
There’s nothing I can say about such a mean, ignorant statement. The last two sentences are all you really need to read. Even Joe Scarborough was shocked and horrified by Limbaugh’s lack of compassion. This man is one of the most vicious hateful people ever to be given a platform. The fact that his followers actually think he is a “real American hero” is nauseating. Those are the same people who call Keith Olbermann evil and hateful because he was the first MSM personality to start reporting on Bush’s Evil Empire. These are the same people who just weeks ago attacked non-Rush fan bloggers that hoped for a poor outcome with Limpballs health scare. While I would never go there (that Karma thing), I found it amazing that the same people dancing on Ted Kennedy’s grave while cheering were appalled and downright angry at some of the non-Rush fans’ reactions. All I will say is, I wouldn’t miss him. It would actually be more satisfying if he got fired, but he brings in too much money with all these ignorant idiots tuning in.
Wait, we’re not done, Friday came…
“This is about domestic U.S. politics. Haiti is about domestic U.S. politics, in addition to the humanitarian effort that is behind this. By the -- of course, we are not suggesting that we shouldn't send soldiers to Haiti. Do not misunderstand. But why is there no concern about the cost from the White House, when there was so much concern about Afghanistan? After all, isn't the job of the U.S. military, first and foremost, to protect the national security and interests of the United States? No, it's not. The U.S. military is now Meals on Wheels. It always is with Democrat presidents.”
Those bastard Democrats. Always trying to help out the less fortunate. Especially in a time of dire need. Rush says “f**k ‘em.” He honestly thinks our soldiers should just be killing people, not helping them! Again, he’s speaking to people who can’t even spell Afghanistan or Haiti. Hell, some of them probably can’t spell America. Notice how he never mentions that it’s always the Republicans that start the wars and tension. Notice how he doesn’t mention the economic disasters are always started by Republicans and the next poor Democratic President ends up with a big hot turd in every corner to try and clean up. And when the Democrat can’t get it cleaned up within one year after an eight year (or twelve 1980-1992) reign, they’re labeled a failure.  What's worse is many dumb voters buy it!

Given their general lack of empathy, let’s be grateful Fox News isn’t even covering the event. With a tragedy so horrific just 700 miles off Florida’s coast, Fox has decided to just continue doing what they do best; their relentless journey of doing their part to destroy President Obama. They featured national security experts Liz Cheney and Sarah Palin this week. The only thing I have witnessed on Fox so far was earlier today when they were bemoaning the fact that illegal Haitians currently in the U.S. have been granted an eighteen month stay. I'm sure as this "rescue and recovery" moves forward, Fox will find stories more in line with what Limbaugh would find acceptable. The human crisis will not be witnessed by their minions. Given the mentality of an average Fox viewer, I'm betting their compassionate Christian disciples find Haitians to be sub-human anyways.

And for all the knocks MSNBC has gotten through the years for their poor weekend news coverage (which has been deserved), they have shined throughout this tragedy.  Not only did Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews and Ed Schultz do two live shows per night during the week dedicated to this event, MSNBC has kept teams on it all day today as well.  They're outshining CNN in my opinion.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement of U.S. commitment was carried live. I've watched live video of some of the planes landing at Edwards Air Force Base in Homestead, Florida with passengers. I've watched interviews with evacuees. Those have been some extremely grateful people!  Only those who are U.S. residents, have green cards or some type of legal claim here, have been transported here so far. Fox will probably wait until some severely injured "aliens" are transported to a Miami hospital before they decide to cover the story.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Prop H8te on Trial...finally

On Monday, those opposed to gay marriage won a temporary halt of the planned video coverage of the San Francisco trial of California's Proposition 8. The trial is over the constitutionality of the proposition, which banned same-sex marriage in California during the November 4, 2008 elections. Are they all of a sudden afraid of having their hateful ignorant faces all over You Tube? Are they also afraid that many people will look at the gay couples testifying sympathetically, and realize they’re just like them? Evidently the justices became concerned that witnesses opposed to gay marriage could face harassment if they were shown on YouTube. I guess harassment of bigots is something the court takes seriously, harassment of gay folks? Not so much.
Ted Olson who is leading the challenge to Proposition 8, urged the justices to stay clear of the dispute. He noted that Charles Cooper (who is leading the defense of Proposition 8) and his paid witnesses had stepped forward on their own to appear at the trial. In the end, the high court issued a brief order overruling U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker's (a Republican, believe it or not) order and barring, at least for now, any outside video coverage of the trial. It's a sad day when judges have concerns of harrassment for the bigots who have probably done some harrassing at times, when the people on the other side, who have been harassed their entire lives in some cases were willing to put their face with their stories for all to see. I dare the defense to present a legitimate argument, not based in religious beliefs that same-sex marriage will destroy hetero-marriages. The proposition was placed on the ballot with millions of dollars in funding from the Morman Church and put up for vote by CA citizens. So much for seperation of church and state. It’s also ridiculous to let the majority vote on the rights of a minority. If that was the case, you’d still have slavery; you wouldn’t have inter-racial marriages; in essence no one except white males would have any rights, just the way Pat Buchanan wants it.
Same-sex marriage has legal recognition in 7 countries, all but one of them have a very peaceful nature: Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain and Sweden. Twenty others have civil unions and registered partnerships, and five others are performed in some jurisdictions. In the U.S., we have a few evolved states: Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. Recently the territory known as the District of Columbia joined the group. Funny, God’s supposed wrath hasn’t struck any of those areas. He seems to be taking out his anger in the "Bible Belt" if you believe in that kind of stuff.  If your soul is so weak, your ignorance so strong, your education so poor, your hatred so deep, that you feel the need to deny a minority their equal rights to propel your own self-worth, you deserve pity not praise.  Let’s hope when this trial ends, there will be true equality for all Americans in California and beyond.  Get religion out of government as it has never belonged there, and do it now!

UPDATE: A little more than an hour after I posted my article, Rachel Maddow had guest attorneys, David Boies and Ted Olson on her program.  They are best known as adversaries from the Bush v Gore debacle, but have now joined forces to oppose the constitutionality of the ban on same-sex marriage.




Since Sarah Palin is making her debut tonight on Bill O'Reilly's Fear Factor, I thought I'd share the following "interview" with "the Quitter" from my friend DallasDon over at HuffingtonPost. Posting someone else's work is not something I will normally do, but I found it amusing and I hope you will as well...and also, too!
(Reprinted with permission and encouragement)

DD:  How long does it take you to watch "60 Minutes"?
SP:  An hour and a half?
DD:  Have you seen "20/20"?
SP:  Oh no Honey. I wear glasses. See? Alrighty then. And also too!
DD:  What are your thoughts on euthanasia?
SP:  I like kids everywhere, youth in Asia are our future.
DD:  What about the controversy with the Mexican border?
SP:  Just like renters everywhere, the Mexican boarder has to pay rent also. And too.
DD:  What are your thoughts on abstinence programs?
SP:  They work. Abstinence makes the church grow fondlers.
DD:  Your feelings toward Barrack Obama?
SP:  I wish him and all Kenyans a happy and safe New Year.
DD:  And for the American people?
SP:  It's baby Jesus's birthday you know. Malaki 2:3 says, "Behold I will corrupt your seed and spread dung upon your faces." You betcha!”
DD:  Okay. I think we're done here. Come on fellas, let's get outta here.
SP:  Hey! Merry New Year to all y'all "NOT" "REAL" Americans! I'm a maverick goin' rogue here! Buy my book, y'all hear now! Alrighty then.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Isn’t It A Bit Soon To Rewrite History?

Ok, back to business as I was a bit under the weather recently. Ever since the Christmas Day attempt at bringing down an airliner, Republicans have been salivating that there was a terrorist attempt under Obama’s watch. They figure this was just what they needed to begin a new string of attacks on Obama and Democrats and how they’re weak on “the war on terror”. Never mind that the policies in place were left over from the Bush-Cheney Regime; they count on the fact that most Americans don’t pay attention to politics so they can say virtually anything and get away with it. Like Obama, Bush was on vaction at the time of the shoe bomber attack. He didn't speak publicly for 6 days compared to Obama's 3. The perception that Republicans are asserting is that Obama wasn't doing anything after he learned of the attack. It would be laughable, but when I view other blogs, the conservative base actually believes that he just shrugged and continued to play golf. Conservatives are now attempting to rewrite history in the mindset of America. They are counting on the fact that most Americans are too lazy to fact check. Eventually this may work for them, as America gets dumber collectively with every passing year, but I think it's still a bit too soon!

First we watched Dana Perino in November claim on Sean Hannity’s show that there were no terrorist attacks during Bush’s administration. Ok, it’s Fox and Hannity, it would’ve been way too much to expect some journalistic integrity or credibility. Then there was Mary Matalin on CNN with conservative John King in December claiming the Bush administration “inherited the most tragic attack on our own soil in our nation's history.” Obviously soul mate King gave her a pass too. However, what former Clinton advisor George Stephanopoulos let Rudy Giuliani get away with Friday on Good Morning America was unforgivable. Giuliani claimed “We had no domestic attacks under Bush."  First it just appeared that he didn’t seem to remember he was the mayor of New York City on 9/11/01. Then he told yet another blatant lie which again went unchallenged, saying that it took Obama “10 days to respond.” In fact, anyone who has been paying attention knows that is untrue. After a firestorm mostly from the left was created by these lies going unchallenged, Rudy claimed he meant "post 9/11." Well, not so fast dude. GWB was in office from 1/20/01-1/20/09. What else happened on Bush’s watch you might ask? The Anthrax Attacks were from October-November 2001, the Shoe Bomber on 12/22/01, LA Airport shootings by Hesham Mohamed Hadayet on July 4, 2002, D.C. Sniper John Allen Muhammad in the fall of 2002, Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar of Iran who claimed he was following in the footsteps of his idol, 9/11 hijacker Muhammad Atta when he ran down 9 North Carolina college students in March of 2006. Later in the day after being heavily criticized, even from some of ABC’s own correspondents for his failure to correct Giulini, Stephanopoulos posted an expression of regret on a blog post. A blog post?! Really? How about making your apology on GMA on Monday morning in the same time segment that the interview aired so the likelihood that you’ll be apologizing to the same mislead viewers is heightened.  When writing about Giuliani's misspoken words, the Washington Independent's Spencer Ackerman wrote: "You actually need to give President George W. Bush credit for this. The Bush people did a wonderfully effective job of making it verboten in mainstream political discourse to consider the deaths of 3000 Americans on 9/11 in any sense Bush’s failing."
Vice President Biden was right in 2007 when he said of Giuliani; “…I mean, think about it! Rudy Giuliani. There's only three things he mentions in a sentence -- a noun, a verb, and 9/11. There's nothing else! There's nothing else!...”

As far as the attempted attack on Christmas Day, it’s sickening that Republicans are happy that an attempt was made, but appear somewhat saddened that it failed. When you have Faux Newz resident talibangelical Brit Hume along with Bill Kristol claiming that the attack was a success even though the only thing Abdulmuttalab managed to set on fire was his own junk, you’re showing your hand. You’ve got Dick Cheney running to every single microphone or camera he can find to say that Obama’s too low key, doesn’t want to admit we’re at war and promises more attacks because of this alleged weakness and all the ditto heads (elected officials as well as the conservative electorate) follow his lead. Do they actually think if he says the word “terror” more often, that’s some sort of tool against terror? It's been one of their claims. How do they think they don't sound ridiculous? Maybe if the Bush-Cheney Regime hadn’t actually taken their eye off the real terrorists instead of trying to steal the “black gold” in Iraq, we wouldn’t be in this mess now. The sad truth about this fool who got 5 seperate deferments to keep him from serving in Vietnam is that the very people we're trying to defeat are listening to this idiot tell them that the current administration in inept.  He is inviting them to attack. Are the Republicans so hungry for power that they have total disregard for the safety of Americans not just here, but abroad?  Why can't the majority of Americans see this game being played?  Why isn't the majority of the media calling him or other conservatives out?  MSNBC is the exception.  They get called a liberal channel (3 hours with Olbermann, Maddow, Schultz) which is balony (3 hours of Scarborough and daily guest nazi Buchanan) because they seem to be the only one's that haven't yet fallen victim to the "conservative media bias" that now inhabits our airwaves.  It's crystal clear for anyone paying attention,that the current administration has stepped up the search and destroy missions of terrorist pockets. Isn't it likely that the current administration, by using the "speak softly and carry a big stick" approach is probably leading to more success because we're not tipping our hand to the enemy?  By the way, I think Obama's address on Thursday when he said, "The buck stops with me." was one of the most honest presentations any modern President has given.  If Obama and the Democrats do this right, the Republicans will never again be able to paint them as weak and defenseless. Maybe that's what neocons like Cheney are really afraid of, that it's working.

Liz Cheney’s neoconservative political attack organization, Keep America Safe, is out with a new ad titled “100 hours.” It is complete with images of the President golfing on his Hawaiian vacation. Stephanopoulos actually did his job today on ABC’s “This Week”, confronting Cheney about her hypocritical attack. “As many Democrats and others have pointed out, President Bush waited six days before doing much about Richard Reid, the shoe bomber.” Cheney evaded the question entirely, pretending not to hear it. “The point of that ad,” she said, “was this notion that you cannot win a war if you’re treating it as sort of an inconvenient sidelight.” My question is why anyone gives a rat’s behind what this neocon nobody has to say. Her father's crooked administration didn't give a damn about defeating terrorists, they lied to get into a war with a country who's oil they wanted to control. They never even attempted to capture bin Laden. If they had, they wouldn't have been able to occupy Iraq.  Her father is an evil bastard and it’s clear the apple didn’t roll far from the tree.

It’s really disheartening what we’ve become as a nation. All those right wingers claiming that Obama is the most polarizing President ever (they still can’t believe the black guy won) don’t seem to remember that George W. Bush who was never rightfully elected to his position actually said in November of 2001, “You're either with us or against us in the fight against terror”, when anyone dared question his policies on his new found purpose. You can’t really get any more polarizing than that. I believe that was a crucial turning point that pitted conservatives against liberals in a very hardened way and I don’t see it getting better any time soon, especially since the right wing religious zealots are having success in determining public policy. I have a genuine fear that this country at some point is going to become a theocracy, not a democracy.

Quick Thoughts: Not all Republicans are clueless political gamers afterall. Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN) said on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt” about the criticism of Obama's handling of the terrorist situation: “It’s unfair, I think the president is focused…To the contrary, Obama has demonstrated firmness” and “decisiveness… That’s been the antidote to the criticism.” Good for him to have the guts to say so! I'm sure he's not the only one who feels this way, but the larger portion prefer to play partisan politics or are afraid of getting in Cheney's crosshairs...or crossbow! ...

On Thursday, Tea Party Nation claimed that "liberal troll" Rachel Maddow tried to join the group and "we banned her 7 minutes after she joined. I have little doubt she will mention this on her show." The teabaggers must've been disappointed that Rachel did not mention it, although Keith Olbermann and Richard Wolfe discussed the falsehood on Countdown. Did a bunch of 8th grade level racists actually think they were going to outsmart her? The funny thing is, as soon as I received the forwarded "tweet" from TPM, my first thought was "riiight, she joined using her own name." My next thought was, "typical conservatives not looking at the big picture." I guess it never occured to the teabaggers that by publicizing this lie, liberals and Maddow fans in general would actually join the site to "disrupt the flow of constructive dialogue against liberalism." Check it out. Did I mention the site ended up going down? The always polite Ms. Maddow responded with: "Of course, this idea of me trying to join their listserv is completely made up, but still -- I'm flattered the Tea Party folks think I'm well known enough to help their cause, I wish them all best luck with their conference."

Finally, Brit Hume who seems jealous of the attention all the other crackpots on Faux get decided to jump on board. The born again evangelical now believes he has the credentials to lecture others' religious choices. He said Tiger Woods should convert to Christianity for forgiveness and redemption.[].make a total recovery and be a great example to the world. Yeah, you know how wild and crazy those Buddhists are. I guess that in Brit's world, Vitter's penchant for prostitutes and diapers, Sanford and Ensign's mistresses are all ok now because they're Republicans and they've allegedly asked for forgiveness from the Lord. Never mind the path of destruction they created for those around them. As far as Buddhists, since I knew nothing I looked it up, unlike Hume. Their basic belief is that suffering ceases when desire ceases, that enlightenment obtained through right conduct, wisdom, and meditation releases one from desire, suffering, and rebirth. Seems like those will apply to Tiger's "transgressions" just fine.

Friday, January 1, 2010

2010 Begins With Obama vs. A Real American Hero

Apparently, Rush Limbaugh was rushed to a hospital in Hawaii with chest pains on Wednesday.  I don't think the cause has been determined as of yet, but as far as I know he's in satisfactory condition with more tests planned.  I thought I'd have some fun with what could be Glenn Beck's latest conspiracy theory, because there's nothing too over the top for the doughboy's evil twin!

Glenn Beck: Do you actually believe that President Barack Obama would abruptly end his golf outing and speed in his motorcade after he learned a child of a friend was injured while playing on the beach? That's absurd.  You can't get hurt with sand.  No...I, I believe this is what really happened.  Rush was vacationing, probably just went to dinner, was enjoying a hula show, when all of a sudden he started feeling chest pain.  Do you really think it's a coincidence that this happened while the President and Rush were in the same foreign land?  Obviously Rush ingested something over dinner or something was placed in a drink where he would be forced to go to the hospital, some kind of drug...it's so obvious! Now ask yourself,...where did Obama really go when he left that golf outing? Natives used pineapple juice and Elvis movies to keep him comfortable until the ambulance arrived.  Folks, do you see what's happening here?  This was just a ploy to get Rush into the hospital, sedate him and place mind control devices in his brain to control the message he's sending out to his listeners.  It's as clear as day people!  Obama is trying to indoctrinate not only children, but the entire country to his socialist mission!  What better tool to use than the man with one billion radio listeners?! This could never happen in the United States, which is why Obama chose Hawaii to make his move.  *tears*  People, we've got to get serious.  Our President is trying to change the message of truth from one of the last true great American hero's.  We must stop him.

Obama + Limbaugh + Hawaii = OBAUGHWAII, which means INDOCTRINATE in Hawaiian.

By the way, if you've been watching me for any length of time, and you still haven't looked into buying gold, what's wrong with you?  I recommend Goldline.  When you call them, mention my name, I get a bigger cut!  Gold is at an all-time high and you, my loyal viewers know that's the best time to buy!  You know you can trust me as I've got America's best interest at heart.  *tears* I love my country so much and I want what's best for you, my fellow patriots. Call the toll free number at the bottom of the screen.  The only thing of real value is gold. There's no time to waste.