Boehner Reads Polls, Caves on Payroll Tax Break Extension

Faced with criticism from across the political spectrum and abandoned by Senate allies, House Republicans bowed to political reality Thursday and agreed to a two-month extension of a payroll tax cut for 160 million Americans. After promising to hold their breath, hoping to die and sticking a needle in their eye until they got further cuts to programs benefitting those in need, their bluff was called. The tax break is backed by President Barack Obama, and was initially brought up as part of his job stimulation program. The break involves keeping payroll taxes down by 4.2 percent until February, continuing extended unemployment benefits and maintaining the present Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors. A similar deal was rejected by the Republican-dominated House of Representatives on Tuesday after being approved by the Senate. This time House Republicans supported the bill since their political suicide was pointed out to them by their wingnut collegues in the Senate. When Mitch McConnell becomes a voice of reason, you know you've really lost control of the conversation.

Why Do Republicans Hate Americans?

On the very day President Obama met with leaders of the business world to figure out how to put Americans back to work and all agreed that infrastructure is the key to our economic revival, exactly the key to Obama’s job plan, last night, the jobs bill was defeated because of yet another Republican filibuster. Every single Republican voted no. The 50 page report submitted to the president by this jobs council said there’s no market for anything they’re selling so they’d like to modernize our tunnels, railways, ports, dams, schools, airports, electric grids, water and waste water systems, and expanding our broadband networks.

The filibuster came as no surprise, that’s been the standard practice for the Republicans since this man was sworn in, but what I find upsetting is two Democrats joining them, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Jon Tester of Montana. From what I’ve read, Harry Reid had to do some serious arm twisting to get Claire McCaskill and Jim Webb to vote yes. What has happened to the Democratic Party? This was the party of the people. And while they’re not as egregiously obvious that they’re in the back pockets of the rich and the powerful, it’s clear that some of them are. As Bill Maher said on Rachel Maddow’s show last night, (not this clip) there are probably 40 good Democrats, but 13 who can’t be trusted to act as Democrats.

If the thousands of Americans protesting the corporate greed from coast-to-coast aren’t making a difference, I’m not sure anything can. I have to say, my stress level and depression are increasing as time moves on. I still have very high hopes for Occupy Wall Street and Occupy wherever, but I’m saddened that there are some Democrats who are more interested in their own jobs than 24 million unemployed Americans. All the 99% want is fairness. Basic fairness has been missing from our system for 30 years. This movement has more in common with the original Boston Tea Party than the racists with tri-cornered hats, carrying guns, screaming about the Muslim Marxist, Nazi from Kenya.

John Stanton of Roll Call discusses the vote with Rachel Maddow.

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*Rachel made the correction after the break to Stanton’s report where he misnamed Webb as a no vote instead of Tester.

You Can't Bring Them Back

What I’m about to write has been in my brain for many years. Frankly, my family has supplied enough drama to write a book; but this one, this one has never left me. Ten days ago, after Troy Davis was executed even though there was ample evidence suggesting he was not the man who killed police officer Mark MacPhail, my brain went back to 1975 after a pro-death penalty friend texted, “what if it was a member of your family that was killed” and I retorted that “it has been a member of my family.” I haven’t been able to shake it. I want to write a short story of an incident in my youth so people understand that this stuff happens in so many families. You can’t ever think, “no, not me, not us, it’s the others.” An eye-for-an-eye can never undo the damage.

In August of 1975, not too long after my 13th birthday, we got word that my aunt Vicki was dead. I believe she was 42 at the time. My uncle Sonny who was an alcoholic had thrown her down some stairs in a drunken fit. I now know he had always been physically abusive towards her and everyone looked the other way. Yet he had always been so nice to me. As a kid, I was a big baseball fan and loved the Red Sox. He gave me my first baseball glove. It was used and worn, but man I loved that thing. Carl Yastrzemski was my favorite player and he gave me this awesome picture of Yaz in his batting stance. Then after he went to a Sox game, came back with a glossy team photo of the Red Sox for me. He even gave me my first driving lesson on a tractor. He was my favorite uncle. I was totally unaware of the darkness.

Unlike most of my aunts, my aunt Vicki always said girls can do anything boys can do and I should do what makes me happy. She knew I wasn’t a girly girl from the start and she was totally cool with that, and never tried to encourage me to be someone I wasn’t. In fact, she encouraged my passions. I liked sports, I played with trucks and while I loved teddy bears, I hated dolls. And I liked to write. She used to read my lame little Red Sox game caps, she was the only one. Even my parents couldn’t be bothered. My funniest memory was her tying my socks together when I was little and me crying because I was not smart enough to just take them off!

I vaguely remember parts of a day so many, many years ago, so long before that dark August day. My aunt Vicki had showed up in her Ford Falcon at our house because Uncle Sonny had beaten her up again. I remember the black eye. I remember her crying and holding herself up against our refrigerator before I was scooted away. Next thing I knew, she was gone. My father didn’t want to let her stay, didn’t want to get involved. My mother has always been subservient of his demands, even though I know now that she regrets not taking a stand, it’s too late. Just so you know, my father has never been physically abusive, but emotionally, well that’s another story. The thing that changed for my mother was that as I hit my teens, I fought back to his sexist, subservient tone and while it didn’t really help me as I was who I was, I think it helped her. Yet, to this day, she somehow remembers the days of her youth when women stood with their men no matter what as a positive. But, I digress…

I’m not sure how often I saw Aunt Vicki after that incident as I’m sure she didn’t feel welcome or supported. As an adult, I can only wonder how my parents support might have helped her. I also wonder, with her encouragement if I would’ve pursued my dreams of journalism, as she was the only one who believed in me and encouraged me to swim upstream when needed. I wanted to be a writer, a sports writer at the time. Who knows, with encouragement, maybe I’d be Jackie McMullen today. My parents didn’t believe in college. I went back to school when I was in my 30’s, but by then felt journalism had passed me by so I jumped on the computer technology train where I serve today.

So here I am many years later putting pieces of my life together and thinking about the “Butterfly Effect.” My Uncle Sonny did not deserve the death penalty. He was ill. There were at least two sides to him as I’ve stated. He wasn't always an abusive drunk. Back then, especially in a small farming community, getting help was still a sign of weakness. That said, he killed my aunt. He was only sentenced to seven years, served six and was let out on good behavior. His pattern repeated. But since I don’t have all the details, I won’t bother with speculation. However, I can say first hand that anyone who wants to cut spending for addiction is foolish.

I guess in the end, capital punishment is playing God. I personally would not be comfortable sending someone to death. Yet, I can also understand certain cases, like the Petit case in Connecticut where the perpetrators couldn’t possibly be more evil, and if the state executes them, no one will care. This is such a complex issue, but it’s becoming more and more clear that innocents are being executed with shoddy evidence or in Troy Davis’ case, no evidence; we must decide what kind of society we want to be. No matter what they’ve said publicly, officer MacPhail’s family will now be living with, “what if he wasn’t the one.” This stuff stays with you forever, it will never make more sense tomorrow than it did yesterday. Meanwhile, you’ve taken another life. Will you feel better about your loss? I doubt it.

Who writes this stuff, indeed!

As usual, my writing fell off throughout summer so hopefully with the change in season comes a rebirth of writing out my thoughts. Today a friend and co-worker brought in a column from the local paper that was written by a Northampton, MA M.D., a right winger. She was incensed at the contemptuous tone and narcissim he displayed. First of all, I want to share the link so you can read what this fella had to say: Jay Fleitman: Who writes this stuff? While I share Sandra's passion, I thought, "what the heck, this deserves a response." I think it's important to disclose I've never responded to a newspaper column before, but living in the Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts, I haven't had much cause for rebuttal. Below, is what I will be submitting to the Daily Hampshire Gazette this evening.

I always find it entertaining when a so-called “conservative” such as Jay Fleitman accuses the left of the very things the right has been up to for years. He writes an entire article without any facts to back up his statements. Let’s look at his “points” one at a time.

1) I’m going to start with his “left wing think tanks” comment. While I know the right wing loves to point at George Soros, he is not organizing retreats like the ones the multi-billionaire Koch Brothers are. Every few months, the Koch’s arrange a little getaway where Republican governors convene to discuss how to crush the working class and further enrich the affluent. Do you think all the anti-union, anti-woman, anti-voting rights policies flooding out of the far right are coincidence? Really, do you? Never mind Rove’s groups, the Chamber of Commerce and any other easily searchable extremely organized "right wing think tank." Try the Google if you doubt this.

2) Then he denies the Tea Party and Republicans want to protect the rich and uses the U.S. corporate tax rates as an example of how tough it is for companies operating within our borders. What difference does it make what the tax rates are when the corporate loopholes in the tax codes allow companies like BOA and GE to pay no taxes at all? Meanwhile the current crop of GOP politicians are on record saying “entitlements” must be cut while Bush’s tax cuts that mainly benefit the top 2% must be sustained. Let me add that, using the word “entitlements” as a dirty word is a word play by the right to make it sound like these are freebies going out to the undeserving. All of us have paid into them our entire working lives so yes, we are entitled to them. Privatizing Social Security, turning Medicare into a voucher program and cutting funding to Medicaid does indeed end these programs, it does not “reform” them, another word play. Kind of like “job creators” has now replaced “the wealthy” in right wing lingo.

3) Much of our ills are Bush’s fault, at least those that aren’t Reagan’s. Reagan’s slashing of taxes in the 80’s coupled with massive deregulation was the beginning of the end of a balanced society where everyone could live the American Dream. His policies began the wealth disparity that we suffer from today. Not since the 20’s have we had such a wealth disparity, which led to the Great Depression. Check your local library where you’ll find some fascinating history books. Those who don’t learn by history are doomed to repeat it. GWB inherited a budget surplus that would have allowed us to be debt free in approximately 10 years, but instead decided a budget surplus meant we were paying too much in taxes, so in June of 2001, he signed his first tax cut. Then September 11 happened. Instead of rescinding the already signed tax cut, he started not one, but two wars, one which was started on the idiotic premise of non-existent WMD— “a web of misinformation designed to distract the minds of America with implausible silliness.” Then in 2003 at a time of war, signed another tax cut! Never in our history have we been at war and authorized tax cuts, it has been quite the opposite actually, including Republican presidents. Now the debt and deficit has exploded, but instead of undoing as much of Bush’s policies as possible, the right runs around screaming the sky is falling and tries convincing Americans through their corporate mouthpiece Fox News, that it’s their unemployed neighbors fault.

As far as Obama, I’m a supporter, but not a cheerleader. His reach across the aisle philosophy is a failure. It made sense early on, but after a few months, it should’ve been evident their game plan was to follow Rush Limbaugh’s playbook. How he ever thought reasoning with people who publicly declared their number one goal was to make him a one term president is beyond me. (By the way, those are Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s words, not mine.) And anyone who watched unemployment benefits held hostage last winter in exchange for an extension of the Bush era tax cuts, or the debt ceiling debacle a couple months ago, with the Republicans demanding cut after cut without any revenue or the very fact that they ran on jobs and have not produced one single bill to address that dire need in this country, knows which party supports which group of constituents. (By the way, I am fine with all Bush era tax cuts going away if that’s what it takes to grow our economy.)

4) The size of the financial stimulus has been a matter of debate since its inception, not since last week. However, since Fox News doesn’t report anything factual, perhaps the writer was unaware of the fact that many economists questioned the size of the stimulus from the very start, as well as the wisdom of making 40% of it…tax cuts! Maybe the stimulus failed to keep unemployment under 8% (which was Paulson’s prediction, not Obama’s by the way), but it softened what would have undoubtly been a bigger blow to a sluggish economy. Ask people holding the three million jobs it saved if it was worth it.

5) Nobody thinks the Republican candidates are “political dwarfs”; however several of them are insane. Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, for example believe in Christian Dominionism, which is frightening in a country which was founded by people fleeing another country who was mandating a state run religion. Gingrich and Santorum? Ok I’ll give it up and call them political dwarfs. Romney and Huntsman are legitimate contenders being overshadowed by the lunatic fringe. They could win a general, but will not get the nomination because the tea party wants state run religion, they do not believe in science and applaud austerity.

6) And to say there is no racism in the tea party would be comical if you didn’t so hardily believe it. Which isn’t to say that every tea partier is a racist. Sorry none of us are saying that, no matter how badly you and right wing talking heads want to believe it. I’m glad your experiences have been positive, but again, use Google, or Bing if you prefer, if you don’t believe racism does exist within the group, and no, they are NOT liberal plants to make the tp’ers look bad, so don’t even use that tired argument. You’re living in a progressive state, where even though we may have disagreements, people are generally respectful of others. Not every part of the country behaves as such.

What your writing displayed was “intellectual and political bankruptcy” by also asserting that this movement was “spontaneously” started by a bunch of concerned Americans. To actually believe that and peddle it as truth is laughable. Who’s paying for the fancy tour buses with the $13K wraps? Who’s reserving the fancy hotels? Finally, the petty little liberal/progressive swipe doesn’t hold any water either. Conservatives have tried to redefine what a liberal/progressive is by calling us every negative incantation that Fox viewers can easily remember. Trust me; it IS cool to be a liberal. Read JFK’s eloquent quote and tell me what he got wrong. “Yes indeed the right needs some new material.”

Most Unpopular Group in America Dictating Republican Policy

Rachel Maddow talks about how Americans dislike the tea party more than gay people, Muslims, atheists, and liberals by looking at data from a recent poll. The poll found that the Tea Party is easily the single most unpopular group in America. This is something you'd think the Republican Party would take to heart. As Maddow noted, "If you were the Republican Party, and you were going to give one of these groups of Americans veto power over who was going to be your presidential nominee...which of these groups would you choose? I mean, really? You'd give that power to the one at the very, very bottom, underneath the atheists? Really?"

Yet looking at the 2012 Republican presidential field to date, the only guy who has solidly distanced himself from the Tea Party and is actually making any sense is Jon Huntsman, who is polling at a 1% and at bottom of the pack.

Nicole Wallace, former White House communications director and senior advisor to the McCain-Palin campaign joined Rachel to discuss why Republicans are so deferential to the tea party and why they're so unpopular.

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Maddow Appears on Letterman - August 23, 2011

Last night, the smart, talented, attractive, and funny Rachel Maddow was a guest on The Late Show with David Letterman and as usual, she did not disappoint. I'm not generally a Letterman fan, but I have to give him credit, when he has her on his show, he seems genuinely interested in what she has to say and does not interrupt her. And as usual, the quick witted MSNBC host supplies a few zingers. Enjoy!

Had Enough Yet?

Just wondering if Democrats or people left of center in general are finally getting it, that the right wing plays for keeps. They will stop at nothing to get total power. They lie, they cheat, they steal. There is no equivalency in what their side does and what our side does. They are organized in deceiving people to an alternate reality. They own the airwaves. It's why we can't stay in power, they fight dirty while our side tries to take the high road (ex. Dukakis, Gore, Kerry, Obama). There is no equivalency that Fox and MSNBC are opposite sides of the same coin. Fox IS the Republican Party and they created the tea party with the Koch roaches. Their one "liberal" Alan Colmes is nothing more than a punching bag for their right wing thugs, which include the Stepfaux Blondes. On the other hand, MSNBC allows Scarborough three hours every day to bash the administration. It gives Mrs. Greenspan (Andrea Mitchell) an hour to question the administrations decisions. And it employs racist, bigot Pat Buchanan is a contributor. These right wing lunatics only believe in the first amendment when it's them doing the talking. They love the Constitution so much they want to change it. If they're waving a flag and carrying a Bible, be afraid, be very afraid.

Please read: Revealed: Fake Facebook Identity Used By Military Contractors Plotting To Hack Progressive Organizations

Thanks Once Again Jon Stewart

Warren Buffett's op-ed is a thoughtful commentary on the advantages the super-wealthy currently enjoy at the hands of the tax code, or to put it another way, "class warfare."
Stop Coddling the Super-Rich  from the New York Times.

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The Daily Show - World of Class Warfare - The Poor's Free Ride Is Over
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Maddow and Steele Don't Agree - On Pretty Much Anything

I have to admit, I think Michael Steele is pretty much a clown politically, but he seems like a decent guy so I generally enjoy his exchanges with Rachel Maddow. I couldn't believe that he actually said that the Tea Party (I prefer teabaggers) are not just Republicans. Rachel quickly pointed out that the religious right is a major part of the group. Steele was trying to sell it that the the fundies jumped in later. I totally disagree. Those people are the birthers, those people cried they wanted their country back, presumably from the black man, those people doubt his Christianity; and they've been there from the start. President Obama could cure cancer, solve world piece, allow everyone a ride on Air Force One or kill Osama bin Laden and they'd still hate him. Oh wait, we have proof of that. The Republicans want to credit George W. Bush for the death of bin Laden, even though he disbanded the group "searching" for him in 2006, but blame Obama for Bush's economy. Rewrite history! That's the ticket. Teabagger Heaven. C'mon Mr. Steele, don't be part of the problem. Classy, good-natured exit though.

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Hartmann: Can Republicans get elected without fraud & treason?

Someone sent me this video.  It's definitely worth the watch. And there's nothing I can add, except to say no, no they can't.

Since Dwight Eisenhower left the presidency in 1961 - 5 different Republicans have been President of the United States. And every single one of them - from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush - have been illegitimate - ascending to the highest office in the land NOT through small-D democratic elections - but instead through fraud and treason. Don't believe me? Watch!

Thom Hartmann: Can Republican get elected without fraud & treason?

Yee Haw! It's Official, Rick Perry is In!

Because eight years of another clueless Texas governor wasn't quite enough, here comes Rick! He thinks it's time to get Americans working again...at slave wages, but still, he thinks he's a job creator. The man who implied that Texas has a right to secede the union actually wants to lead the union. Seems a bit awkward to me, but there's no shame coming from Texas. This seems to make him an immediate favorite, but we haven't seen him on the national stage so time will tell. He is an immediate threat to Michele Bachmann's Evangelical voters though. He is among the top political fund-raisers in the country, with a vast network of wealthy supporters eager to bankroll his presidential ambitions. Only Mitt Romney is in his league. It's on folks!

Radical Rick Makes the Evangelical Hearts Go Pitter Patter

Damn that Oprah Winfrey!  There's one big reason to be concerned about the entrance of Rick Perry into the presidential race, and Rachel Maddow, as usual, is all over it. She begins the segment by playing yet another round of clips of crazy pastors attending Perry's "Response" (with all their offensive rhetoric towards Jews, gay people, the Statue of Liberty and Oprah), and wonders whether this fool's potential success is being viewed by these extremists as a chance to take over the ruling class. Rachel concludes and shares, that "There are some patterns among these folks." She describes them as being part of the "New Apostolic Reformation," a specific political and religious movement, which is outlined in in this frightening Texas Observer article.

They believe they are modern-day prophets and apostles, who, unlike rapture-ready evangelicals believe the only way the world can end is if they clear the way for it by taking over politics and infiltrating and controlling the following "seven mountains" of society: media, government, the family, religion, business, education, and arts and entertainment.

Food for thought: Are we really ready for another dumb ass from Texas? I think this one is worse than the last one. This guy will take us to theocracy if given the chance. The hard right has taken over the Republican Party and they're not fighting back. What's scaring me is that the Democrats aren't either.

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President Santorum? I Think Not

I had to share this video. Can you imagine this guy as President? This was more painful to watch than Palin's interview with Katie Couric as she tried to figure out what she read. As far as I can tell, he was trying to explain that he opposes gay marriage because paper towels are not napkins. Given Santorum's comments, I thought O'Donnell's analogies were brilliant; essentially stating that napkins and paper towels are interchangeable. Last week, Santorum made a similar argument: “It's like saying this glass of water is a glass of beer. Well, you can call it a glass of beer, but it's not a glass of beer. It's a glass of water. And water is what water is. Marriage is what marriage is.” Alrighty then...

By the way, have you googled Santorum yet? Just don't do it from work!

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Colbert Takes On GOP's Latest Scare

You got to hand it to Stephen Colbert. He has an amazing ability to turn actual GOP beliefs into hilarious fodder for his show. I will admit that a few years ago, I wasn't much of a fan. He did segments now and then that I thought were really funny, but I wasn't really "feeling it." However, I've changed my mind. I will tip my hat to a good friend of mine for cluing me in on the man's comic genius. This was my favorite segment since Palin rewrote Revere's famous ride and Colbert mounted his steed!

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Attention Starved Head Banger Must Be Sad

As Rachel Maddow returned from a well deserved vacation, she thanked her guest hosts, congratulated Chris Hayes for his new weekend gig at MSNBC and gave the news all her fans rejoiced upon hearing; that Rachel's contract has been extended. No details are available, but internet rumors say it keeps her at MSNBC through 2014. I guess a frivolous lawsuit from a homophobic nobody wasn't enough to keep her off the air. Keith Olbermann had been openly commenting that he's like to poach her away from NBC while CNN was mulling offering her a contract to replace Piers Morgan (who is probably tied into Murdoch's phone hacking scandal). Best new thing in the world, indeed.

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Head Banger Suing Maddow For Airing Video of His Hatespeech

By now it's obvious that I hold Rachel Maddow in the very highest regard so here's the real deal. Attention starved Michele Bachmann supporter Bradlee Dean is attempting to sue Rachel and MSNBC for $50 million in connection with a segment she did on him on her show last year. Today right wing blogs were aglow thinking this "Christian" heavy metal, brain dead rocker, homophobe is going to take her down. Here's the rub, they're all just posting the story and conveniently not linking the video so I will below. They've also done some pretty damn creative editing of the segment to paint the thin-skinned wingnut as a victim. He's suing her for defamation because she reported on his "You Can Run But You Cannot Hide" group and reported that he has called for the incarceration of gay people and seemingly supported the part of Muslim Sharia law that calls for the execution of homosexuals. Here's the beauty of it. She didn't just say it baselessly, she played a video and in fairness even read his lame little disclaimer.

Rachel is on vacation this week, but here's the statement from MSNBC: "This suit is baseless and we stand by our reporting." Isn't America awesome! You can attempt to sue someone for defamation because you don't like that there's audio/video of your hatespeech and a cable news host actually played it! Watch the video. This will get dismissed in a heartbeat. Personally I don't even think he'll pursue it. I believe this is entirely a publicity stunt to lead him to be booked on Faux Newz and right wing radio. Look at him, he's a talentless Axl Rose wannabee who's music career failed so he's decided on a frivolous lawsuit career. When will conservatives ever learn that video and audio are forever! One more thing, I wonder if he's ever read Leviticus 19.28 from his glass house?

The Last American Hero

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is a true statesman. Not beholden to special interests as he doesn't take their money, but a true American hero fighting the good fight. When I read derogatory comments about this man on various blogs, it's not just upsetting, it's frightening. This man is fighting for us in the 98%. How folks that are in the same income range as myself (middle class), can still support supply side economics based solely on our corporate media teaching them that greed is good and "they're gonna be rich some day" is mind boggling. This isn't about punishing the rich, this is about getting them to pay their fair share.  We haven't seen taxes this low since the 50's yet right wing media complain Washington has a spending problem. Here's the problem, enough Democrats have bought into this plutocratic idea that we're now stuck, and Americans are intellectually lazy so they won't read The Guardian or BBC or even Al Jazeera English. It's easier to be told what to think. They rely on a corporate owned American media. The oligrarchs make sure we have enough money for an Xbox or an iPod to keep us entertained while they totally screw us as we play Angry Birds. I wonder if Bernie can awaken anyone?

Will Republicans Regret Blocking Warren's Appointment to the CFPB?

Since President Obama decided to look in another direction for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, speculation is that Elizabeth Warren has an eye on Scott Brown's (R-MA) senate seat. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee has already launched a "Draft Warren for Senate" campaign and is raising money in case she decides to run.

It could get really, really awkward in the Senate dining room come 2013. RepublicOns in both chambers think it's OK to berate Elizabeth Warren, once the leading contender to run the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The bureau was Warren's idea and is part of a sweeping reform package passed in the wake of the Wall Street screw-ups that caused the recession. Warren has been running the operation without the title, and now she won't get that, since Republicans vowed to stop her nomination if President Obama appointed her to the job.

Wall Street doesn't like Warren, which under the circumstances, should hardly be a barrier. Then there are the Republicans who don't like the consumer protection board at all. Why would they want anything to protect consumers when the cash flows directly from Wall St. to their coffers. Holding up any nomination to force changes in a law already passed by officials elected to office by voters is nothing other than extortion and a brazen effort to rewrite history.

In the end, Obama decided to nominate former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to head the bureau. Maybe he will be confirmed or more likely, the GOP will hold up any nomination to thwart the enforcement of a law they don't like. Warren is being encouraged by Democrats to run for Brown's U.S. Senate seat. While Brown has a strong war chest thanks to the Koch Brothers, any Democrat in deep-blue Massachusetts would present a strong challenge to Brown, particularly in a presidential election year. If Warren runs and wins, Senate RepublicOns should hope she has a short memory or a very forgiving nature. Dealing with Warren as a colleague is much more delicate than dealing with her as head of a consumer protection board. Somehow I don't get the feeling she has a short memory!

Elizabeth Warren joins Rachel Maddow to discuss the nomination of Cordray and the ongoing RepublicOn obstruction leading to her not being able to lead the agency she assembled.

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Opening a Door to a Closet Full of Skeletons

As gaydar all across the country is blowing off the charts since we all got a glimpse of Marcus Bachmann, then even better, heard him speak, comedians and even some evening hosts have had some fun. Here's an amusing youtube video from The Second City Network taking advantage of this gift from the comedy Gods!

Marcus and Michele Bachmann Explain Marriage



Thank you to The Second City Network

Pray the Gay Away? Oops!

Truth Wins Out founder Wayne Besen explains to Lawrence O'Donnell why they launched an undercover investigation into Marcus Bachmann's so-called clinic. Linked is the story John M. Becker writes of his experience.Read about it here.

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Rhode Island Governor Signs Civil Union Law, But...

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, an independent who supports gay marriage, said this does not go far enough toward legalizing gay marriage, nonetheless signed the Civil Union measure with the promise that it would move Rhode Island closer to the ultimate goal of legalizing gay marriage. Chafee had urged the General Assembly to consider same-sex marriage this legislative session. But some legislators felt it would be doomed in a state populated by many elderly and Catholic voters, and a civil unions bill was passed instead.

Chafee said he signed the civil unions bill with "reservations" because it "brings tangible rights and benefits to thousands of Rhode Islanders. He had two major criticisms of the civil union bill: that it failed to provide full marriage equality to same-sex couples and that it allowed religious entities to choose to not recognize civil unions. Describing the proposal that passed the tiny New England state's Senate this week as "a step forward," he said it did not fully achieve its goals of giving same gender pairs the same rights, benefits, protections and responsibilities as married couples.

The new law includes a section that says no religious organization -- including some hospitals, cemeteries, schools and community centers -- or its employees may be required to treat as valid any civil union, providing a religious exemption "of unparalleled and alarming scope," Chafee said in a statement. As a result, a civil union spouse could be denied the right to make medical decisions for his or her partner, access to health insurance benefits, property rights in adjoining burial plots or family memberships at some community centers. That could cause partners significant harm at critical moments in their lives, the governor said. "This extraordinary exemption eviscerates the important rights that enacting a civil union law was meant to guarantee for same sex couples in the first place," Chafee said.

Rhode Island and Maine have not joined their four New England neighbors - Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut -- in legalizing same-sex nuptials. Same sex marriage is also now legal in Iowa, the District of Columbia and, most recently, New York. Civil unions are also approved in Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois and New Jersey.

But as Think Progress reports, this could be a loaded weapon against marriage equality:

Yesterday, the Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee approved a civil unions bill that marriage equality advocates oppose, but not before making a subtle revision. In regards to reciprocity (recognizing unions from other states and countries), the language that allowed for recognizing “substantially similar legal relationships” was removed. It now reads:

15-3.1-8. Reciprocity. — A civil union legally entered into in another jurisdiction, shall be recognized in Rhode Island as a civil union; provided, that the relationship meets the eligibility requirements of this chapter.

This means that the bill would only recognize “civil unions” from other states, leaving the question of same-sex marriages and domestic partnerships up in the air, and possibly severely at risk.

Currently, the status of imported same-sex marriages in Rhode Island is considered inconsistently on a case-by-case basis. In 2007, Attorney General Patrick Lynch released a legal opinion stating that the state did not explicitly prohibit same-sex marriage and so should recognize such marriages performed elsewhere. That same year, however, the Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled that a same-sex couple could not get a divorce in the state. Until the legislature or courts specifically weigh in on the matter, same-sex couples married elsewhere face some uncertainty, but certainly some potential in Rhode Island.

Both the civil union bill itself and the change made to it yesterday could seriously jeopardize that potential. Should the civil unions bill become law and then be challenged by a married couple, the courts could look to the bill and this change as evidence of the legislature’s intentions. In other words, if it looks like the legislature specifically did not want to recognize marriages, the courts may be inclined to follow suit.

While civil unions seemingly afford the same protections as marriage on paper, they do not live up to “separate but equal” in reality, as a review commission in New Jersey found. In the case of Rhode Island, not only would they not live up to the marriage equality a significant majority support, they could very well endanger the expansion of marriage equality in the future.

Pro-Choice Cause Finally Scores A Few Victories

This has been a rough year for reproductive rights in this country, and anti-choice legislators around the country won't be letting up anytime soon. But there have been at least a few pro-choice victories lately, as Rachel Maddow noted last night on MSNBC. A jury has found a North Carolina anti-choice leader guilty of stalking abortion providers in the state, and the man is now forbidden from, among other things, publishing any more "Wanted" signs. Also, in Topeka, Kansas, a federal judge blocked Sam Brownback from instituting new regulations that nearly shut down every abortion provider in the state. Also struck down was South Dakota's law that would've required a woman seeking an abortion to wait three days and be forced to sit through a lecture by an anti-abortion activist. This brought scorn from the judge who said forcing a woman to divulge to a stranger that's she's chosen to undergo an abortion humiliates and degrades her as it suggests she hasn't thought it through, but has made the wrong decision.

Where are all the anti-abortion activists after the child is born? Oh, that's right, once they've forced a woman to go through with the unwanted pregnancy, they move from the anti-choice demonstrations to the teabagger rallies where they bitch about their taxes helping pay for unwanted kids and single parents. These people are the worst representation of Christianity ever, and they should be ashamed of themselves.

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The Strange Affairs of Uncle Bruce*

Potential first couple...a crazed woman who hates gays, yet married one?!

Listen to the audio below and tell me your gaydar isn't going off the charts complete with bells and whistles, and what the heck, let's throw in gun shots just to appease Sarah Palin fans. Go ahead, tell me!!!



This audio of him speaking out against gays in a high, lisping voice has lead to a whole lot of speculation on the interwebs. The Stephanie Miller Show this week was hilarious as they played this audio and did their own impressions. Wonder where he goes to "dithipline hith barbarianths." I'm sorry, I'm cleary a gay rights supporter, but I have zero tolerance for any gay person speaking out against gay people while hiding deeply in the closet, and while picking out his wife's clothes. Seriously, I'm not making that up, he picks out her clothes. This guy is as gay as the sun is hot. Looks like some serious, internalized self-loathing by Marcus, not Mark, Marcus. Bachmann supporters are calling out other bloggers who've questioned his sexuality and effiminant mannerisms as being homophobic. I've explained the difference above. The motivation behind the animus is the Bachmann’s own hateful statements about gay people. A so-called “Christian” psychotherapist (by the way, ex-gay reparative therapy, a practice found to be fraudulent and dangerous by every single medical, psychiatric and psychological organization in the country) who uses the Bible to treat his patients, Bachmann’s attitude toward LGBT people stands in sharp contrast to what many would consider his stereotypically gay behavior. In an interview Bachmann gave last year to a syndicated Christian radio program, he compared gays to barbarians and said they need to be disciplined:

“We have to understand: Barbarians need to be educated. They need to be disciplined. Just because someone feels it or thinks it doesn’t mean that we are supposed to go down that road. That’s what is called the sinful nature. We have a responsibility as parents and as authority figures not to encourage such thoughts and feelings from moving into the action steps. And let’s face it: what is our culture, what is our public education system doing today? They are giving full, wide-open doors to children, not only giving encouragement to think it but to encourage action steps. That’s why when we understand what truly is the percentage of homosexuals in this country, it is small. But by these open doors, I can see and we are experiencing, that it is starting to increase.”

Truth Wins Out Looking For Victims of Quackmann

It's now apparent why Michele Bachmann nearly sucked George W. Bush's teeth out of his mouth after a State of the Union. I guess it's been a while!

Marcus Bachmann’s public statements are consistent with those of his wife, who represents a right-wing district of Minnesota in Congress and recently announced that she’s seeking the GOP presidential nomination. Michele Bachmann has made her opposition to equality a cornerstone of her political career. She has said that homosexuality is “from Satan” and that encouraging young people to be tolerant of gays amounts to “child abuse.” She is also estranged from her lesbian step-sister because, well, she's a lesbian. Although you have to know that she's curious about "the gay" as she was caught hiding in some bushes spying on a a pro-gay-rights rally. You can see some of her memorable moments here although it needs updating from 10/21/08. She's the founder of the congressional Tea Party caucus (or as I call them, Teabaggers). It's amazing how a bunch of crazy, rich, white politicians can convince average working people that giving more to the well-to-do while slashing programs that benefit them is salubrious. Bachmann has also made her opposition to government spending a key issue in her public life. However, she’s come under fire in recently for hypocrisy on that front amid revelations that she and Marcuth accepted money from both the federal and state government for a farm subsidy ($260,000) and that Quackmann's "clinic" accepted $30,000 from Medicaid. Hypocrisy?

We’ve watched one married fundamentalist Christian "family values" man after another caught up in a same-sex extramarital scandal. There seems to be a pattern, a right-winger's level of animus toward gay people has become an indicator of how much he's trying to hide about his private life. I've got the popcorn ready. I have no doubt this is going to explode. Somewhere, Anthony Weiner is smiling.

*Uncle Bruce definition from Urban Dictionary - a closeted gay man who betrays his own people.

Mama Turtles Force Closure of Runway at JFK Airport

Flights crawled to a stop at one of the world's busiest airports this morning when it was invaded by turtles! One runway was closed at New York's JFK Airport when about 150 Diamondback Terrapin turtles were spotted crossing the tarmac. The mama turtles were trying to get to the other side to lay eggs on the shores of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, which borders the airport. Ron Marsico, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York said pilots from Jet Blue and other airlines halted their flights to let the expectant turtles pass. But he brushed off the turtle invasion saying: "Flight delays attributed to turtles were minor, about 15 minutes or so." People began tweeting about the turtles soon after the news broke. Within 8 hours, @JFKTurtles had almost 3,000 followers on Twitter. It's nice hearing these stories. Think of the alternative had the pilots been jerks.

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Look for Oligarchs Attack on Workers to Continue

During the 2010 midterms, several far-right U.S. Senate candidates said they either wanted to slash the minimum wage or eliminate it altogether. Each of these candidates, incidentally, lost. The Republicans’ hostility towards the minimum wage hasn’t gone away. Michele Bachmann, for example, has argued that eliminating the minimum wage would eliminate unemployment entirely. Bachmann conceded she’d consider eliminating the policy as president as part of her efforts to crush “expansion of government.”

Their cockamamy theory is that instead of a company paying 4 workers $10 per hour, it would be better to pay 8 workers $5 per hour or even better in the regressive party's mind, 16 workers making $2.50 per hour. I've been saying this for months. Their plan to lower unemployment is to abolish minimum wage. Then they can bring back the jobs they've farmed out to third world countres while making the United States one. If their goal is accomplished, non-union companies can start slashing wages of current employees who are making a fair wage and/or threaten their job security if they fight back with the ability of cheap labor. Do you think maybe this is the long term goal of all the union busting? Anyone who thinks it can't happen here isn't watching what this SCOTUS is doing.

Such a radical change would be unpopular, and the idea is so far from the American mainstream, there aren't any polls even asking the question. The problem is the current Teapublican Party doesn't care about what the American people want. They don't care if their position is unpopular. Look no further than Ayn Rand fan boy Paul Ryan's "bold and couragious" budget proposal. It screws future Medicare recipients and further slashes taxes for the wealthy while raising the debt! Teapublicans only care about their strict ideology

I wonder if others in the GOP field will go on the record supporting this as well? Or they'll just pull a Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI). Run on balancing the budget and then spend every waking moment destroying unions with the help of the billionaire Koch Brothers, or as I prefer, Koch-roaches. Meanwhile, the idiotic voters who elect these fascists because
"the gays are out to get them," are chanting, "U.S.A., U.S.A." like a bunch of indoctrinated zombies.

People need to put down their iPods and stop playing Warcraft and start paying attention to what the plutocrats are up too, damn it.

New York Becomes 6th State to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

MSNBC actually allowed "The Rachel Maddow Show" to run fourty minutes over it's normal 10PM conclusion last night to cover the New York state senate vote which legalized same-sex marriage in that state at approximately 10:30PM. It must also be noted that the NY state senate currently has a Republican majority. New York joins Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia where same-sex marriage is permitted. New Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) had made it clear that this legislation granting full and equal rights was a priority of his administration. He signed the measure at 11:55 p.m., less than an hour and a half after the vote. The law will go into effect in 30 days, meaning that same-sex couples could begin marrying in New York by late July. Evidently he's already evolved enough to understand that equality is equality. C'mon President Obama, you see how easy that was?

The powers that be at MSNBC must've had a tough call, cover a historical vote or switch to Lock-Up, their normal weekend programming which starts at 10PM on Fridays. I shouldn't pick on MSNBC too much, Faux Newz is still pretending it didn't happen. There was absolutely no live coverage from the "fair and balanced" network.

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Very nicely done New York and congratulations!

Clarence Clemons Dead at 69

Clarence Clemons — the Big Man with the big horn of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band — died yesterday of complications from a stroke he suffered a week ago. He was 69.

Clemons, the group’s saxophonist was probably the most charismatic figure in The E Street Band's history, since even those of us who weren't devout fans knew who he was. Even Springsteen seemed to acknowledge this by always introducing Clemons last at concerts.

Statement from Bruce Springsteen:

“Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them love him. He created a wondrous and extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage.”

Best New Thing ... Since 2008 Anyway

I'm a bit burned out by the craziness, but I thought this was a very nice gesture by the only consistantly competent commentator on the tv machine. I found it enjoyable to watch this "star" ridicule herself, while showing the artwork from some youngsters who called her out on her Sponge Bob error. I'm sure it was a huge deal for these kids. Very cool!

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Weiner Succumbs to Media Circus Because, IOKIYAR

Rachel Maddow delivers a big F U to the Democrats in the nicest possible way:

"Congratulations, Democrats. In an era of unhinged, ideological, big money conservative media that is wholly and admittedly divorced from the precepts of journalism, in hounding Anthony Weiner into resigning ... you have just fed and unleashed this beast onto yourselves, probably for a generation."

I know, I know, but she's the best thing that has happened to our news media in at least 30 years. Democrats never learn. Because of this "let's take the high road" bs, we ended up with a dumb ass, selected by the SCOTUS to wreak havoc on us from 2001-2009. An era we may never recover from.

Meanwhile, Republicons operate under different rules. David Vitter, a Republican senator from Louisiana who was caught in the same sex scandal as Eliot Spitzer (Democratic NY governor forced to resign)in 2006 is still serving in the Senate even though he was making dates with hookers from the Senate floor. Oh, by the way, did I mention that this "family values" jackass liked to wear diapers and get spanked, presumably for being a bad boy? Meanwhile, he rails against same-sex marriage for couples who actually love each other and want to be in a committed relationship because in his mind, it's creepy. Freakin' douche bag.

I'm not condoning Anthony Weiner's actions, in fact it pisses me off because this guy was the best fighter for liberals/progressives and middle-class in the congress. He's a bigger disappointment than Clinton for liberals. Clinton ran to the right and gave us NAFTA, DOMA, and DADT.  What did Weiner actually do? He sent some pics via twitter which as lame as it is, isn't illegal. If Teapublican Eric Canter had done this (although I'm guessing he's got nothing to show), the Republicans would've rallied around him, blamed the non-existent "liberal media" and the story would've disappeared within three days. However, self-righteous Democrats shoot our wounded, give an asinine story legs and allow, as Rachel basically said, feed and unleash a conservative media juggernaut that we'll be dealing with for years.

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Will the Democrats ever learn to stand up to the GOP attack machine? I'm not hopeful.

*For non-Twitter folks, IOKIYAR is a hash tag which means "It's ok if you're a Republican."

Olbermann Comments On Embarrassing Weiner Roasting

Keith Olbermann explains how Republicans and Democrats alike have embarrassed themselves over Anthony Weiner’s Twitter-revelations, and what Weiner should do next. This is a tough one. I love Weiner's fire, and I initially thought he shouldn't resign. The problem now is, the Democratic leadership has turned against him so this passionate voice of the people will not have the same affect. It's a shame.

Republican Dirty Tricks With Fake Primary Challengers in Wisconsin

You see, Republicans can't win on their ideas. They got voted into office promising jobs, but instead went full throttle into far right wing ideology. Once voters caught on and realized they were bamboozled they fought back in the only way they could, recalls. First stop, Wisconsin.

Republicans in Wisconsin got caught planning to recruit fake Democrats to run primary races against the Democrats in the upcoming recall elections. In order to delay recall elections, the GOP has planned to run fake Democratic primary candidates against the GOP challengers, which would push the elections back another month. That would give Republicans an extra month’s worth of distance from the collective-bargaining debacle that got them in this situation, and would allow more time to campaign. It certainly appears like an admission that Republicans are struggling. And while it can be argued that the recall elections in themselves are merely dirty tricks, enough of a double standard exists that this ploy could backfire. They don't even care who knows that they're willing to win an election by any means necessary. As Rachel points out, even the National Review is saying this could backfire on them.

The key here is that recalls are now tentatively scheduled for July 12, under the state election officials' proposed timelines, targeting six Republicans. If there were only one Democrat against each one Republican, then the July 12 date would immediately be held as the general election. But if there were additional Democrats, the July 12 date would then become the primary, giving the incumbents more time to campaign for a general election in August. Also, thanks to Wisconsin's open primary system in which anybody can vote in a party primary, it would force the Democrats to spend time, money and resources campaigning for their own nominations. The strategy is being officially coordinated by state Republican leaders, and has been endorsed by state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald. Evidently the extra expense to taxpayers doesn't concern these "fiscal conservatives."

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Fetus Personhood Supercedes Human Personhood in Right-Wing World

Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, joins Rachel Maddow to mark the anniversary of the legal right to birth control in the U.S. and to discuss the rash of anti-abortion "personhood" legislation across the U.S. that would effectively ban the birth control pill.

As we continue to watch the far, far right dismantle womens reproductive rights, we find that making abortion criminal isn't enough for them. They also strive to make birth control unavailable. Don't forget, today's unwanted fetus is tomorrow's soldier. We need more pawns for our appetite of world domination. If you follow their logic, every sperm is also sacred. Hey boys, you know what that means, right? Oh wait, this only applies to women as the male "plants" the seed. And you know, seeds have a way of "blowing in the wind." Afterall, not every "seed" sown in the Kingdom of Heaven would take root and produce a harvest.

I would once again like to post an actual piece of the Bible on this subject; the book that they all say is what guides them, a book none of them has even bothered to open. King James version: Genesis: 2.7. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

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Louisiana Bill Will Criminalize Abortion Even In Cases Of Rape

I saw this on the Political Correction website. Evidently, Louisiana has a bill that would criminalize abortion even in cases of rape. The Republicons must think we're running short on future soldiers

As I've been writing about the Teapublicans attack on womens reproductive rights, it has managed to get worse. A Louisiana bill currently under consideration by the state legislature is the most extreme yet. The bill would not only criminalize most abortions, threatening to punish doctors for performing a medical procedure whose legality has been upheld by the Supreme Court, but it would also force poor women whose lives are endangered by their pregnancies to pay for a life-saving abortion out-of-pocket. Victims of rape or incest aren't even afforded that exception.

In addition to banning abortions, the proposed bill would actually violate the federal Hyde Amendment, which states that while federal money cannot be used to pay for abortions except in the cases of rape, incest, and life endangerment, in those cases Medicaid and other government funds must be provided. Rep. John LaBruzzo's abortion ban would not include such exemptions.  Will the fed push back?

Attempting to criminalize in Louisiana what is nationally a legal redress available to victims of a violent crime is part of a larger conversation on abortion rights that is given to trivializing rape and its consequences. It's the same callous, paternalistic attitude towards women and their bodies seen in the idiotic Kansas lawmaker who last month suggested that women ought to plan ahead for rape because after all, he carries a spare tire.

That Roe v Wade challenge is on the horizon. I just hope we can get to 2012, an Obama re-election, hopefully an Anthony Kennedy retirement to sway the SCOTUS back to a less politically ideological group. Bush II was all about far right ideologues, and as a lefty I wasn't thrilled with Obama's play it safe choices although I don't have major issues with his selections. My issue was with his exemptions from consideration.

Palin's Version of Revere's Ride Re-Enacted by Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert proves that Paul Revere could have ridden a horse while ringing a bell and firing multiple warning shots from a front-loading musket. I was laughing so hard I started to cry. A brilliant, hilarious skit that I recommend to all!

The Colbert Report
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Palin Fans Spent Weekend Trying To Rewrite Revere's Ride on Wikipedia

A few days ago, Sarah Palin told a news station in Boston that Paul Revere "warned the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms." As the media pointed out that Revere was actually warning the American colonists (which also isn't totally accurate, because as I pointed out Friday, he was to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were coming to arrest them), not the British, Palin's supporters instead attempted to update the Wikipedia entry on Revere in order to make the facts conform to Palin's version of history. According to the revision history on the Wikipedia page, Palin supporters attempted to add this line (among others): "also, most colonial residents at the time considered themselves British as they were all legally British subjects." By the way, Revere did not shout the phrase later attributed to him ("The British are coming!"), largely because the mission depended on secrecy. I'll at least give the reporters credit for reporting what we were taught back in the day...her, not so much.

That revision was deleted with the explanation "content not backed by a reliable sources (it was sarah palin interview videos)." On Sunday, Palin, a paid Faux Newz employee, insisted on "Faux Newz Sunday" that she was correct, with no dissent from the enamored host, who I also spoke of yesterday. She says there were British soldiers in the area for years before Revere's legendary ride, and that he was warning them, as well as his fellow colonists. "Part of his ride was to warn the British that were already there that 'hey, you're not going to take American arms, you are not going to beat our own well-armed persons individual private militia that we have.'" Here's a big surprise ---She blamed her previous answer on the media, saying it was a "gotcha question."

Thank you to Little Green Footballs for once again exposing this crackpot for what she is. A clueless, narcissistic, sociopath and media w***e. It is actually frightening to watch the levels her followers will go to to make her look like she's correct. What does that say about us? What does that say about our future? Look at Texas rewriting history in text books. They've removed Thomas Jefferson because he backed church-state separation! They've dropped references to slave trade! Laugh if you will, but as Joe Biden would say, "This is a big f*****g deal." People need to understand that based on sheer numbers, Texas and California purchase the largest amount of textbooks, so they get what they want. These revisionist text books will make their way to the northeast and to the west coast. What will our history look like in 50 years? The fact that our "history" teaching is up for grabs should scare people. People like Palin emphasize how dangerous this is. This is not a good thing, not good at all.

Wallace and Palin Sittin in a tree...

Sunday is always a great day for a game of softball! Thanks for pitching Chris. This morning on Faux Newz, Chris Wallace couldn't stop gushing about Palin's "Boffo" interview. Honestly, why doesn't he just ask Palin to (insert thought here) him get it over with? You know he wants to. There is no depth to this woman yet they keep building her up to be something she's not. And you also know that his father, Mike Wallace is rolling over in his grave watching what his son has become. Watch Chrissy allow the abominable snowbitch to double down on her stupidity.



In the midst of her supposedly non-campaign bus tour of America (where she trampled on Mitt Romney's presidential bid announcement in New Hampshire, driving through the western Massachusetts tornado to get there in time), Faux Newz Sunday host Chris Wallace let Sarah Palin continue to babble through the network, with an "exclusive" half-hour long interview. Not sure why Faux declares it as exclusive since she won't talk to any other network. However, Wallace wasn't content to promote Palin simply by handing her Sunday program, he began an all-day Palin-cheerleading session by declaring in the second half of his show that her performance was "boffo." He went on to add that she was "sharp on the issues" and that she has "a serious possibility to be president." If indeed he's correct and she has a serious chance of becoming president, be afraid, be very afraid.

After his show, Wallace appeared on Faux Newz and said that in that interview, "I think you see Sarah Palin the way people never quite have before. She talks in great depth and I think with a good deal of expertise about the economy, about the debt, about Paul Ryan's Medicare plan, about our involvement in Afghanistan." What the hell is he smoking? This woman couldn't make change at McDonald's with the cash register showing her the exact change due to the customer. The debt? Ask Alaskans about her expertise. Oh, and how she managed to slide materials for her new house into the budget of the new arena that was built. A taxpayer funded house! Ayn Rand Ryan's Medicare Plan? Ask those of us under 55 who were basically told, "go to hell." Not only have we paid into it our whole lives, if this draconian bill passes, we'll still get to pay into it without any benefit! Isn't Republicanism ****ing awesome?! Apparently Republicans are banking on the fact that many voters are over 55, and are hoping they don't care about their younger family members so they can pull this off. Oops. Afghanistan? Yes, I want words of wisdom on military intervention form a woman who thought North Korea was an ally.

Later Wallace again appeared on Faux Newz America's Newz HQ and told host Shannon Bream: "I have never seen her as impressive and specific on the issues as she was, whether it was the debt or the state of the economy or what the situation is on the ground in Afghanistan" Of course, Wallace's praise for his Faux Newz colleague, while creepy, isn't surprising. Faux is, after all, the friendliest place in the universe for her. But his assessment of her as a serious contender for president in 2012 only strengthens the case that Faux is an unethical network by continuing to employ her as a contributor. Not that ethics mean a whole heck of a lot to the television media wing of the Teapublican propaganda machine.



Still, let's be fair, Palin's interview was even more impressive than the time that Paul Revere rang the bells of Westminster Abbey to warn the British that the Minutemen were coming.

For more laughs, check the link below out:
Palin Fans Trying To Edit Wikipedia Paul Revere Page