Did these guys not read the elction results? After watching the GOP debacle with women over the past couple years, whether it be abortion, birth control or fair pay, it's pretty clear: The GOP does not view women as capable of making their own decisions, but now what's even more clear, is they've taken steps to ensure women have no rights if they find themselves in a violent relationship.
The John Boehner led Republicans have let expire, the Violence Against Women Act, first introduced in 1994 and reinstated without fanfare until the teabagger coalition got to town. What were their major complaints? It actually covered gays, immigrants, and Native Americans. Can you believe it? Those sneaky Democrats actually think that those women need protection too. Commie bastards! In case you're curious as to what it did, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), increased federal penalties for domestic violence and provided funding for groups and services that aid victims of domestic abuse. The bill was once a bipartisan sweet spot of being both tough on crime and oriented toward women's rights. But that was then.
In case the election blunders about legitimate rape and rape pregnancies being a gift from God, binders full of women, etc... didn’t clue you in to the GOP’s gender issues, this should. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the Democratic point person on VAWA, called the move “inexcusable” in a statement. “But this seems to be how House Republican leadership operates.”
Read more at MaddowBlog
Showing posts with label democrats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label democrats. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
No Cliff Hanger Afterall
I have to say, I'm not sure how to feel about the so-called "fiscal cliff" agreement. As someone pretty far to the left, I have to drag my pragmatic side out of the moth balls once in a while. Here's what's been rolling through my brain:
I'm not particularly concerned that the agreement went from income above $250K to $400K on individuals. Would I have preferred the $250K?. Sure. However, we got personal exemptions knocked back to those making above $250K. The estate tax was a joke. Republicans won. Their top rate went from 35% to 40%, after the first $5M. Big whoop. Capital gains and dividends went from 15% to 20%. Another GOP win. They were set to go back to 39.6% The alternative minimum tax was a Democratic win. The middle class is protected from getting jacked on it moving forward. It was originally designed to ensure that the wealthy did not avoid owing taxes by using loopholes. We do have a five year extension on expansions of the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit, and an up-to-$2,500 tax credit for college tuition. Also extended for one year is the accelerated "bonus" depreciation of business investments in new property and equipment, a tax credit for research and development costs and a tax credit for renewable energy such as wind-generated electricity. Long term unemployed got a one year extension, which was one I was concerned about. I guess it's a win for Democrats, but not a strong one as we'll still have a GOP led House a year from now. I'm not unemployed, however if you can't find a job, you end up on the street. The GOP thinks someone who lost a $75K per year job should just pick up a couple shifts at Walmart or McDonalds and all their problems will be solved. Well, not if you have a mortgage. The Social Security payroll tax cut is a short term loss for workers, but at the same time, if we're not paying in now, it won't be there when we retire. And no, I don't believe for a minite Social Security is in trouble. It's biggest problem is that's where most of our borrowing has come from and the DC politicians do not want to pay it back...excluding Bernie Sanders.
Here's what I really don't like. Democrats did not get the debt ceiling raised in this deal...for at least two years. We are going to be going through all this baloney again in 2 or 3 months. President Obama says he will not negotiate with the hostage takers again, but his track record says otherwise. We'll see soon enough. I was actually ok with going over the cliff as it was the only way to cut the damn over-bloated military budget. Now we're going to have to listen to Republicans, led by John McCain and Lindsay Graham insist that the military can not be touched , but we need to decimate Social security and Medicare. I'm worried about wobbly kneed Democrats buying into it.
I'm not particularly concerned that the agreement went from income above $250K to $400K on individuals. Would I have preferred the $250K?. Sure. However, we got personal exemptions knocked back to those making above $250K. The estate tax was a joke. Republicans won. Their top rate went from 35% to 40%, after the first $5M. Big whoop. Capital gains and dividends went from 15% to 20%. Another GOP win. They were set to go back to 39.6% The alternative minimum tax was a Democratic win. The middle class is protected from getting jacked on it moving forward. It was originally designed to ensure that the wealthy did not avoid owing taxes by using loopholes. We do have a five year extension on expansions of the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit, and an up-to-$2,500 tax credit for college tuition. Also extended for one year is the accelerated "bonus" depreciation of business investments in new property and equipment, a tax credit for research and development costs and a tax credit for renewable energy such as wind-generated electricity. Long term unemployed got a one year extension, which was one I was concerned about. I guess it's a win for Democrats, but not a strong one as we'll still have a GOP led House a year from now. I'm not unemployed, however if you can't find a job, you end up on the street. The GOP thinks someone who lost a $75K per year job should just pick up a couple shifts at Walmart or McDonalds and all their problems will be solved. Well, not if you have a mortgage. The Social Security payroll tax cut is a short term loss for workers, but at the same time, if we're not paying in now, it won't be there when we retire. And no, I don't believe for a minite Social Security is in trouble. It's biggest problem is that's where most of our borrowing has come from and the DC politicians do not want to pay it back...excluding Bernie Sanders.
Here's what I really don't like. Democrats did not get the debt ceiling raised in this deal...for at least two years. We are going to be going through all this baloney again in 2 or 3 months. President Obama says he will not negotiate with the hostage takers again, but his track record says otherwise. We'll see soon enough. I was actually ok with going over the cliff as it was the only way to cut the damn over-bloated military budget. Now we're going to have to listen to Republicans, led by John McCain and Lindsay Graham insist that the military can not be touched , but we need to decimate Social security and Medicare. I'm worried about wobbly kneed Democrats buying into it.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Limbaugh: Democrats Are Not "Just Simple Opponents; They're Also The Enemy"
Rush Limbaugh continues to do his part to pit neighbor against neighbor so his tax rate doesn't go up 4%. The false equivalency that the left does it too is baloney. Maybe there's a marginal lefty talker out there talking smack, but none of our main stream liberal voices are preaching to their audience that the "opponent is more than that, they're the enemy." I say this on Media Matters Facebook page earlier today, but what actually flabbergasted me are the ignorant, hateful posts by Rush's fans. They really think we, on the left are more dangerous than the Koch Brothers or the DeVos family who are leading us towards fascism. This man, along with Glenn Beck are truly dangerous. These guys make it scary for someone with Massachusetts tags to drive through South Carolina. They don't care, they're making millions spreading fear and hate. A thirty year boon to the wealthy in this country on our backs isn't enough for these greedy gasbags. Republicon, Teabagger, Con voters are a scared little bunch of crybabies who are afraid of their own shadow and actually believe that they're going to hit the big one and live on easy street. They're willing to allow Republicons to strip away social safety nets because they listen to asshats like this guy who make them believe anyone can be a millionaire. Right wing media has wrecked the country's psyche and I think it's beyond repair. The public seams sufficiently dumbed down.
Check out this photo which was taken at a Nascar race. You know this fool listens to Limbaugh. He's got his bigotry on the tailgate, his racism on the rear window, and his ignorance on his parking spot. The only thing missing is a God Hates Fags bumper sticker.
Check out this photo which was taken at a Nascar race. You know this fool listens to Limbaugh. He's got his bigotry on the tailgate, his racism on the rear window, and his ignorance on his parking spot. The only thing missing is a God Hates Fags bumper sticker.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
No Jobs Bills, But Anti-Women Legislation Continues To Dominate House Teapublican Policy
Obviously it's been quite a week for national security so this was probably missed by most Americans since it was buried on the news. However, on Tuesday, 251 Members of Congress voted to "redefine rape." Extremists in House of Representatives voted to approve an anti-choice bill that would significantly restrict women's access to abortion services and "redefine rape." The final vote was 251 - 175.
Before the vote, Mother Jones reported that even though Republicans removed controversial language from the bill which would have "redefined rape," the House executed a backdoor maneuver that would allow them to deny federal funding for abortion even in a case involving incest and statutory rape. Extremists were able to pass this bill in the House, but it is unlikely even to make it to the floor in the Senate. What's more, President Obama has indicated he would veto the bill should it get to his desk.
House Passes "Redefining Rape" Bill, H.R.3
H.R. 3 would sharply reduce access to safe, legal abortions for women in this country by virtually eliminating insurance coverage for abortions. The redefinition of rape could be used to block women who were victims of incest involving statutory rape from using Medicaid to pay for an abortion. And in some cases, the bill would force women who were sexually assaulted into the hellish scenario of proving to IRS agents that they were victims of "forcible rape" or incest.
Let's be clear about what the anti-choice supporters of H.R. 3 want. They want to "redefine rape." They want to make it impossible for low-income women to have access to abortion services. They want to force women whose pregnancy is causing major health risks short of death (such as blindness) to go through with the pregnancy. And they want to eliminate insurance coverage for abortion in order to make reproductive care unaffordable for women.
The Republican bill -- which was supported by 16 anti-choice Democrats -- represents a vicious assault on women's rights. "The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" or H.R. 3 goes far beyond any other anti-choice measure that has been proposed in the House, including the Stupak Amendment that passed the House last year. If you're a Democrat and anti-choice, you're not really a Democrat. We know Republicans want to repeal womens right to vote, but here are the 16 so-called Democrats who supported this regressive bill.
Altmire, Boren, Costello, Critz, Cuellar, Donnelly, Holden, Kaptur, Kildee, Lipinski, Matheson, McIntyre, Peterson, Rahall, Ross, Shuler.
So, where are all the so-called independent voters who put these asshats in office? Not one jobs bill has been introduced by the Republicans, but they've blocked jobs bills by Democrats. No surprise, they want Obama to look like a failure, country be damned. However, if you want to see what they've been up to, look no further than their relentless attack on womens rights since they took over the House majority in January. While I have absolutely no idea how anyone can vote Republican (unless you're a white male millionaire), I am baffled by any woman who would vote for politicians who see them as nothing more than an incubator or a vessel for mens needs. It's actually nauseating.
Before the vote, Mother Jones reported that even though Republicans removed controversial language from the bill which would have "redefined rape," the House executed a backdoor maneuver that would allow them to deny federal funding for abortion even in a case involving incest and statutory rape. Extremists were able to pass this bill in the House, but it is unlikely even to make it to the floor in the Senate. What's more, President Obama has indicated he would veto the bill should it get to his desk.
House Passes "Redefining Rape" Bill, H.R.3
H.R. 3 would sharply reduce access to safe, legal abortions for women in this country by virtually eliminating insurance coverage for abortions. The redefinition of rape could be used to block women who were victims of incest involving statutory rape from using Medicaid to pay for an abortion. And in some cases, the bill would force women who were sexually assaulted into the hellish scenario of proving to IRS agents that they were victims of "forcible rape" or incest.
Let's be clear about what the anti-choice supporters of H.R. 3 want. They want to "redefine rape." They want to make it impossible for low-income women to have access to abortion services. They want to force women whose pregnancy is causing major health risks short of death (such as blindness) to go through with the pregnancy. And they want to eliminate insurance coverage for abortion in order to make reproductive care unaffordable for women.
The Republican bill -- which was supported by 16 anti-choice Democrats -- represents a vicious assault on women's rights. "The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" or H.R. 3 goes far beyond any other anti-choice measure that has been proposed in the House, including the Stupak Amendment that passed the House last year. If you're a Democrat and anti-choice, you're not really a Democrat. We know Republicans want to repeal womens right to vote, but here are the 16 so-called Democrats who supported this regressive bill.
Altmire, Boren, Costello, Critz, Cuellar, Donnelly, Holden, Kaptur, Kildee, Lipinski, Matheson, McIntyre, Peterson, Rahall, Ross, Shuler.
So, where are all the so-called independent voters who put these asshats in office? Not one jobs bill has been introduced by the Republicans, but they've blocked jobs bills by Democrats. No surprise, they want Obama to look like a failure, country be damned. However, if you want to see what they've been up to, look no further than their relentless attack on womens rights since they took over the House majority in January. While I have absolutely no idea how anyone can vote Republican (unless you're a white male millionaire), I am baffled by any woman who would vote for politicians who see them as nothing more than an incubator or a vessel for mens needs. It's actually nauseating.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Eight Years Later, Mission Really Accomplished
Saturday night, our cooler-than-cool President laughed and joked at the White House Correspondents Dinner all while knowing exactly what he had activated, a mission to kill Osama bin Laden. He's restoring confidence in many of us. I surely hope he can maintain this ascension. I'm starting to believe the chess/checkers analogy again.
On May 1, 2003, GWB stood on an aircraft carrier wearing a flight suit and pronounced, "Mission Accomplished." Of course, that was a lie. Yesterday, on the eighth anniversary of that proclamation, under the guidance of President Barack Obama, "mission accomplished" was realized to a certain extent. There was no arrogant swagger, no tough talk, no bravado, just a president who understood this is not theatre, this is real.
He had directed CIA Director Leon Panetta to find Osama bin Laden in June 2009. By August of 2010, they were reasonably sure they knew where he was. The Navy SEALS began training. Once their plan was practiced non-stop to perfection for months and they were confident this mission would succeed, they announced they were ready. On Friday, April 29, 2011, the green light was given, on Sunday, May 1, 2011, the mission was accomplished to perfection. Osama bin laden was killed by Navy SEALS...textbook.
Today it's time for America to see who the real National Security party is...it's the Democrats. GWB was a miserable failure. His leadership allowed OBL to escape from Tora Bora, and the foolish invasion of Iraq for oil is still aggravating. Thousands of people died as a result. And still, beltway media claimed Democrats are soft on terror, we must trust Republicans for our safety. WRONG! Democrats have a very strong tradition of being the party that gets things done on national security. Look at history instead of listening to what our corporate media is spewing. Bin Laden is dead. He is dead as a result of the hard work of Special Forces. He is dead because the commander-in-chief, Barack Hussein Obama – a member and the current leader of the Democratic party – made the final order. Donkey's having been cleaning up Elephant crap for decades. When will our ill-informed voters figure that out?
Well done, Mr. President.
On May 1, 2003, GWB stood on an aircraft carrier wearing a flight suit and pronounced, "Mission Accomplished." Of course, that was a lie. Yesterday, on the eighth anniversary of that proclamation, under the guidance of President Barack Obama, "mission accomplished" was realized to a certain extent. There was no arrogant swagger, no tough talk, no bravado, just a president who understood this is not theatre, this is real.
He had directed CIA Director Leon Panetta to find Osama bin Laden in June 2009. By August of 2010, they were reasonably sure they knew where he was. The Navy SEALS began training. Once their plan was practiced non-stop to perfection for months and they were confident this mission would succeed, they announced they were ready. On Friday, April 29, 2011, the green light was given, on Sunday, May 1, 2011, the mission was accomplished to perfection. Osama bin laden was killed by Navy SEALS...textbook.
Today it's time for America to see who the real National Security party is...it's the Democrats. GWB was a miserable failure. His leadership allowed OBL to escape from Tora Bora, and the foolish invasion of Iraq for oil is still aggravating. Thousands of people died as a result. And still, beltway media claimed Democrats are soft on terror, we must trust Republicans for our safety. WRONG! Democrats have a very strong tradition of being the party that gets things done on national security. Look at history instead of listening to what our corporate media is spewing. Bin Laden is dead. He is dead as a result of the hard work of Special Forces. He is dead because the commander-in-chief, Barack Hussein Obama – a member and the current leader of the Democratic party – made the final order. Donkey's having been cleaning up Elephant crap for decades. When will our ill-informed voters figure that out?
Well done, Mr. President.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Death Panels, Republican Style
*BUDGET MUNSTER borrowed from the Stephanie Miller Show. They have noticed that Ryan not only looks like Eddie Munster, but acted like an 8-year-old after Obama gave him the smack down last week. They hilariously mock him daily with his "serious plan."
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Obama To Play Kissy Face With Republicans Again
"We need to come together, Democrats and Republicans, around a long-term budget that sacrifices wasteful spending without sacrificing the job-creating investments in our future. My administration has already put forward specific cuts that meet congressional Republicans halfway. And I'm prepared to do more." said Obama.
Seriously Barack, grow a set! I'm really tired of this. Bill Clinton called these b*stards bluff 17 years ago...and won. WTF is wrong with you? If you've already met them halfway, but are willing to do more, that means you will go at least three-quarters their way because they won't budge, they never do. I root for this guy, but he continues to do things that make me want to bang me head against a tree. Everytime Republicans set a goal, he moves towards it so they move the goal line further to the right...and he chases it. How many times does Charlie Brown allow Lucy to pull the football away before he kicks grass in her face? I hope to God he doesn't try to use, "Change We Can Believe In" again. Is the 2012 ballot going to look like this? Barack Obama (R), Mitt Romney (I), John Edwards (D),
Ron Paul (C).
The democratic base that put him in office has some basic ideas: Cut the damn military budget! Stop the war machine. That will save billions in a very short period of time. This man's biggest selling point was getting us out of Iraq and Afghanistan. 50,000 so-called peacekeepers are still in Iraq and he escalated Afghanistan by 40,000 troops. Legislatively, on many fronts, he's been magnificent, but damn it, he could've been a true game-changer. Yet he caved and continues to at nearly every turn. At one time I believed he was playing chess and everyone else was playing checkers. Now I don't even know if he's interested in the game. He seems to just go with the easiest flow. The folks on the right will never accept him, never. My concern about him in 2008 was he didn't have enough D.C. experience. I knew he was a smart guy and I loved his speech at the 2004 DNC. However, his lack of relationships in regard to the arm twisting needed to get anything done has become crystal clear. He should've served at least a full term as Senator before going for the big boy's chair.
I close with my own personal pet peeve: I'm sick and tired of hearing the "shared sacrifice" comments from him and other Democrats. The wealthy and the corporations haven't sacrificed a thing. Where exactly is the sharing? Please read this Reuters article. Every single cut is coming at the expense of the middle class and the poor. They've since added a $1.7 billion cut to the Social Security Administration.
I feel beat down, disillusioned and depressed about our future. If this guy couldn't deliver, who can?
Seriously Barack, grow a set! I'm really tired of this. Bill Clinton called these b*stards bluff 17 years ago...and won. WTF is wrong with you? If you've already met them halfway, but are willing to do more, that means you will go at least three-quarters their way because they won't budge, they never do. I root for this guy, but he continues to do things that make me want to bang me head against a tree. Everytime Republicans set a goal, he moves towards it so they move the goal line further to the right...and he chases it. How many times does Charlie Brown allow Lucy to pull the football away before he kicks grass in her face? I hope to God he doesn't try to use, "Change We Can Believe In" again. Is the 2012 ballot going to look like this? Barack Obama (R), Mitt Romney (I), John Edwards (D),
Ron Paul (C).
The democratic base that put him in office has some basic ideas: Cut the damn military budget! Stop the war machine. That will save billions in a very short period of time. This man's biggest selling point was getting us out of Iraq and Afghanistan. 50,000 so-called peacekeepers are still in Iraq and he escalated Afghanistan by 40,000 troops. Legislatively, on many fronts, he's been magnificent, but damn it, he could've been a true game-changer. Yet he caved and continues to at nearly every turn. At one time I believed he was playing chess and everyone else was playing checkers. Now I don't even know if he's interested in the game. He seems to just go with the easiest flow. The folks on the right will never accept him, never. My concern about him in 2008 was he didn't have enough D.C. experience. I knew he was a smart guy and I loved his speech at the 2004 DNC. However, his lack of relationships in regard to the arm twisting needed to get anything done has become crystal clear. He should've served at least a full term as Senator before going for the big boy's chair.
I close with my own personal pet peeve: I'm sick and tired of hearing the "shared sacrifice" comments from him and other Democrats. The wealthy and the corporations haven't sacrificed a thing. Where exactly is the sharing? Please read this Reuters article. Every single cut is coming at the expense of the middle class and the poor. They've since added a $1.7 billion cut to the Social Security Administration.
I feel beat down, disillusioned and depressed about our future. If this guy couldn't deliver, who can?
Sunday, November 7, 2010
It's Time To Stop Pretending There's A Liberal Media
Where to begin, where to begin... On October 30 Comedy Central comedians Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert hosted a rally: Restore Sanity/Keep Fear Alive. It was a three hour event with over 250,000 in attendance far eclipsing the 87,000 who attended Mormon Glenn Beck's Beckevangelist Event on August 28. The 30th was a beautiful day, an awesome line-up of musicians were assembled to entertain the excited crowd. Lots of smiling faces, a lot of good humor and like I said a lot of good music. All in all, a wonderful day. As the event was concluding, Stewart spoke for about 15 minutes on how we can restore sanity and here is where my issue begins. In my heart of hearts I believe Mr. Stewart who I have very high regard for went overboard in trying to prove he's a middle-of-the-road guy. Yes, he said some incredibly powerful things that are applicable to all, "But we live now in hard times, not end times. And we can have animus and not be enemies." Yet he also wanted to equate equal blame to both sides and this is where I take issue. FNC has spent nearly 15 years dividing this country with loud personalities telling us that liberals are Marxists, communists, anti-American, etc... A montage played in the background of Fox's most egregious personalities alternating with snippets of MSNBC hosts. What Stewart failed to mention was that the Fox hosts are "keeping fear alive" and the MSNBC hosts are trying to "restore sanity," by debunking the myths perpetrated by the likes of Fox. While Stewart himself has portrayed the Tea Party as racists, and I believe a large portion of them are as we've all seen their signs; he took aim at Ed Schultz for doing the same thing and then claimed that it's an insult for people to not see the difference in the tea party and actual racism. Sorry Mr. Stewart, that was a total BS comment and something that you're also guilty of. As a matter of fact, Jon has actually told Fox to "f#%k off" on a few occasions. Does the MSNBC gang ever go over the top? Sure they do, but they remain grounded in the world of reality. I know, I know some will claim it's because I view the world from their viewpoint and while that may be true, they're not constantly being dinged for making stuff up and when they do get something wrong, they own up to it and apologize. At the end of the day I found myself wondering what the reactions from those on the montage would be and it was pretty much as I expected. Here goes:
So along came Tuesday's mid-terms, the Democrats were crushed in the House. We're now looking at having an angry, orange, alcoholic named John Boehner third in line for the presidency. I hope President Obama on VP Biden have the good sense to not be going out for hamburgers anymore. The crazy teabaggers won 34 seats I believe. I am so discouraged by our electorate who continue to vote against their own best interests. The Republican Party has a lower favorability than the Dems by 8 points, but they put Republicans back in power because they're mad the Dems who couldn't fix an 8 year disaster in 21 months. If they'd been paying attention they'd know the gridlock was the Republican senate filibustering everything congress passed. I guess the guy we lost in the senate who will be missed by liberals is Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. The man is a straight shooter who was outspent 4 to 1 by billionaire Ron Johnson as Feingold does not take special interest money. He was painted as a rubber stamp for Obama and Pelosi and nothing could be further from the truth. He said no to many bills because they did not go far enough and he'll always have my personal thanks for having the good sense to vote against The Patriot Act all those years ago. Then there's reduce the deficit idea Reps ran on, but they're ready to immediately add $700B to it by extending the Bush tax cuts for not just the middle class, but those struggling Top 2%ers. I know it's been suggested that this country goes through cycles, but we've never had a black president and his election has sent many people totally over the edge. I have true fear in what Republicans can and are willing to do with an unjustly terrified electorate. Sidenote, at the end of Tuesday evening all MSNBC commentators were accounted for and doing well.
Then Friday came along and brought forth another stake through the heart news for liberals. MSNBC suspended Keith Olbermann for making contributions of $2400 each to three to Democratic candidates without obtaining prior approval from his superiors. Keith told his bosses he didn't know he was barred from making campaign contributions. Now he and Phil Griffin are playing the who's is bigger game. Griffin wants him to apologize on-air for his mea culpa and he's resisting. My guess is part of Keith's hesitance is that Joe Scarborough donated $5000 to a Republican congressional candidate in April as well as taking place in a fund raiser for that candidate. Can't really blame the guy, seems like a double standard. Even Bill Kristol thinks this suspension is absurd. Rachel Maddow seemed to be in an uncomfortable position Friday as he is her mentor and friend. She stated that it is NBC/MSNBC policy to get permission for donations first, but the point has been made, put Keith back on the air. She's getting slammed this weekend from Keith supporters for a milquetoast response, but she's really in a tight spot. I'm sure she would've liked to stand in solidarity and not do her show. I would've been proud of her for that as well, but folks need to understand she's still a "kid" in this arena. She doesn't have millions socked away where walking away is an actual option. This is her dream job. I get it when conservatives lack the empathy to put themselves in someone else's shoes, but it's one of the things I believed set us apart. When the dust settles, maybe Keith and Phil can go on the air together, issue a joint statement and donate a "fine" to a charity like the Free Health Clinics. I can't believe MSNBC really wants to lose it's biggest star unless this is a nod to Comcast in what the future holds after their acquisition, which I'm not at all happy about. Hopefully we'll see him reappear sooner than later. At around 3:30 today he tweeted, Greetings From Exile! A quick, overwhelmed, stunned THANK YOU for support that feels like a global hug & obviously left me tweetless XO
Also worth reading: MSNBC's Disgrace by Senator Bernie Sanders
And to wrap up my week of political downs, Friday night Bill Maher at least stood in agreement with my Restore Sanity Rally opinion. Here is the New Rule:
- Keith Olbermann tweeted respectfully, what he does is not the same, but in a gesture toward “lowering the volume" in news coverage, suspended his "Worst Person in the World" segment.
- On Monday Bill O'Reilly claimed that after Tuesday nights election, all the MSNBC hosts were going to commit suicide.
- Rachel Maddow said well done to Jon Stewart (she was noticeably absent from the montage).
- Glenn Beck said it was the equivalent of a high-school play; it was not good and referring to much of the rally as nonsense.
So along came Tuesday's mid-terms, the Democrats were crushed in the House. We're now looking at having an angry, orange, alcoholic named John Boehner third in line for the presidency. I hope President Obama on VP Biden have the good sense to not be going out for hamburgers anymore. The crazy teabaggers won 34 seats I believe. I am so discouraged by our electorate who continue to vote against their own best interests. The Republican Party has a lower favorability than the Dems by 8 points, but they put Republicans back in power because they're mad the Dems who couldn't fix an 8 year disaster in 21 months. If they'd been paying attention they'd know the gridlock was the Republican senate filibustering everything congress passed. I guess the guy we lost in the senate who will be missed by liberals is Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. The man is a straight shooter who was outspent 4 to 1 by billionaire Ron Johnson as Feingold does not take special interest money. He was painted as a rubber stamp for Obama and Pelosi and nothing could be further from the truth. He said no to many bills because they did not go far enough and he'll always have my personal thanks for having the good sense to vote against The Patriot Act all those years ago. Then there's reduce the deficit idea Reps ran on, but they're ready to immediately add $700B to it by extending the Bush tax cuts for not just the middle class, but those struggling Top 2%ers. I know it's been suggested that this country goes through cycles, but we've never had a black president and his election has sent many people totally over the edge. I have true fear in what Republicans can and are willing to do with an unjustly terrified electorate. Sidenote, at the end of Tuesday evening all MSNBC commentators were accounted for and doing well.
Then Friday came along and brought forth another stake through the heart news for liberals. MSNBC suspended Keith Olbermann for making contributions of $2400 each to three to Democratic candidates without obtaining prior approval from his superiors. Keith told his bosses he didn't know he was barred from making campaign contributions. Now he and Phil Griffin are playing the who's is bigger game. Griffin wants him to apologize on-air for his mea culpa and he's resisting. My guess is part of Keith's hesitance is that Joe Scarborough donated $5000 to a Republican congressional candidate in April as well as taking place in a fund raiser for that candidate. Can't really blame the guy, seems like a double standard. Even Bill Kristol thinks this suspension is absurd. Rachel Maddow seemed to be in an uncomfortable position Friday as he is her mentor and friend. She stated that it is NBC/MSNBC policy to get permission for donations first, but the point has been made, put Keith back on the air. She's getting slammed this weekend from Keith supporters for a milquetoast response, but she's really in a tight spot. I'm sure she would've liked to stand in solidarity and not do her show. I would've been proud of her for that as well, but folks need to understand she's still a "kid" in this arena. She doesn't have millions socked away where walking away is an actual option. This is her dream job. I get it when conservatives lack the empathy to put themselves in someone else's shoes, but it's one of the things I believed set us apart. When the dust settles, maybe Keith and Phil can go on the air together, issue a joint statement and donate a "fine" to a charity like the Free Health Clinics. I can't believe MSNBC really wants to lose it's biggest star unless this is a nod to Comcast in what the future holds after their acquisition, which I'm not at all happy about. Hopefully we'll see him reappear sooner than later. At around 3:30 today he tweeted, Greetings From Exile! A quick, overwhelmed, stunned THANK YOU for support that feels like a global hug & obviously left me tweetless XO
Also worth reading: MSNBC's Disgrace by Senator Bernie Sanders
And to wrap up my week of political downs, Friday night Bill Maher at least stood in agreement with my Restore Sanity Rally opinion. Here is the New Rule:
Monday, July 12, 2010
The GOP Says Deficits Don't Matter if Helping the Wealthy
Senate Republican Jon Kyl (R-AZ) says that Congress should extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans regardless of their impact on the deficit. Meanwhile, he and other Republicans are blocking unemployment insurance extensions over deficit concerns! We've been at this rodeo before. The unpaid for tax cuts for the rich at the expense of working people is the same backwards policy Republicans used to put the nation in this hole, and it's the same policy they promise to return to if put in a position of power again. As exasperating as the Democrats can be, we can not let Republicans back into power.
In an election year, you'd think the framing of this argument couldn't be more advantageous for Democrats. However are Democrats going to act like Democrats always have and cut a deal in which getting unemployment benefits extended will come at the cost of extending the Bush tax cuts as well or will they finally show some backbone and say not this time?!
Rachel Maddow made several great points yesterday on Meet the Press while debating both former chairman of the Republican National Committee, Ed Gillespie and former Democratic Congressman Harold Ford Jr. (who seemed shocked she took on the other "Dem" at the table) when they sang the praises of tax cuts.
In an election year, you'd think the framing of this argument couldn't be more advantageous for Democrats. However are Democrats going to act like Democrats always have and cut a deal in which getting unemployment benefits extended will come at the cost of extending the Bush tax cuts as well or will they finally show some backbone and say not this time?!
Rachel Maddow made several great points yesterday on Meet the Press while debating both former chairman of the Republican National Committee, Ed Gillespie and former Democratic Congressman Harold Ford Jr. (who seemed shocked she took on the other "Dem" at the table) when they sang the praises of tax cuts.
"When Republicans have had the reins, this is what they've done: two wars not paid for, prescription drug benefit not paid for, two tax cuts that mostly benefited the rich not paid for." They put all that stuff on the deficit, $1.3 trillion sitting there as--in a deficit when Obama took over, after the previous Democratic president had handed him a surplus. If you talk about--if Republicans want to run as this fiscally responsible party, it's neat, but it's novel. It's not how they've actually governed."Several moments of back and forth with Gillespie and New York Times columnist David Brooks beating their chests on how conservative policies are awesome and drooling over new New Jersey, Governor Christie (R) and how he is taking on the government employee unions there. Funny how they didn't mention how Christie handed out $1 billion in tax cuts to families who earn more than $400,000, the richest two percent and cut that same amount from education spending ($800+M) and other social programs which help the middle class and the poor. I wish Rachel had brought it up because David "Bushy" Gregory sure wouldn't. Then she continued...
"I think that most Americans also, though, understand the basic arithmetic that when you're talking about pushing tax cuts that do mostly benefit the wealthy and you're simultaneously talking about getting tough on the deficit, you're talking about a world in which math doesn't work the way most people think it works. If you're going to talk about tax cuts--I mean, Harold, you, as a Democrat, proposed some very significant tax cuts when you were thinking about running for Senate in, in New York, a huge corporate tax cut, a big payroll tax holiday, and then said simultaneously, And we got to get serious about the deficit."
"Tax cuts hurt the deficit."
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Scott Brown Showing His True Color - Yellow
Seven week Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) has apparently taken an anonymous "tweet" and run amok with fear. The false rumor is that the Democrats are trying to lure Rachel Maddow into opposing him for the Massachusetts Senate in November of 2012. Way to be different and get things done Scotty; cast one vote and start running for a new term...against someone not even running who you clearly view as a legitimate threat. Maddow made it clear that she is not running against him in 2012, but he hasn't let that little fact get in his way for fundraising. Rachel used humor on Tuesday evening to dispute his endeavor, but by Wednesday she seemed aggitated by the ongoing lie that Brown won't let die!. In typical Republican cowardice, he won‘t come on her show to talk about this situation and his Senate office is refusing to even return TRMS phone calls. And they are apparently not going to retract the letter that they‘ve sent out all over the country that says saying Rachel would be bad for the country (which I obviously don't think is true) even though it is not factually true. Who wouldn't be genuinely aggitated by someone trying to make money off your name, especially from other states?! Here's the fundraising letter he sent to supporters yesterday:
Friends,
It’s only been a couple of months since I’ve been in office, and before I’ve even settled into my new job, the political machine in Massachusetts is looking for someone to run against me. And you’re not going to believe who they are supposedly trying to recruit — liberal MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow.
Rachel lives in western Massachusetts, and recently it was reported that the chairman of the state Democratic Party had apparently tried to reach out to her in an attempt to coax her into a race against me. You can read about it here.
The political season never ends, which is why I need your continued support. While my opponents strategize on how to defeat me in 2012, I’m going to continue to speak out against higher taxes, more spending and greater government control in our lives.
I relish being an independent voice in Washington, one that doesn’t march in lockstep with the rest of the Washington crowd. The Democratic Party bosses in Massachusetts disagree. They want a rubberstamp who will vote for their plans to expand government, increase debt and raise taxes. Someone like Rachel Maddow. I’m sure she’s a nice person — I just don’t think America can afford her liberal politics.
Rachel Maddow has a nightly platform to push her far-left agenda. What about you? I’d like to encourage ordinary American citizens concerned about the future of their country to get more involved in our government. I hope you were encouraged by my victory to become more politically active, maybe even become a candidate for office yourself. We can continue to push our movement forward by running for office, joining in rallies and petitions that challenge President Obama and Nancy Pelosi’s healthcare legislation, supporting campaigns against the tax-and-spenders or by donating time and money to office-holders and candidates who will restore the principles of our founders.
I’m grateful you are with me. Thanks again for whatever support you can provide me, and I look forward to joining in further victories with you down the line.
Sincerely,
Scott Brown
United States Senator
UPDATE: MARCH 26, 2010
MSNBC took out a full-page ad in the Boston Globe for a letter from Rachel Maddow to her fellow Massachusetts citizens in response to Scott Brown's unfounded claims while trying to raise out-of-state money for his 2012 re-election bid.
UPDATE: MARCH 27, 2010
Friends,
It’s only been a couple of months since I’ve been in office, and before I’ve even settled into my new job, the political machine in Massachusetts is looking for someone to run against me. And you’re not going to believe who they are supposedly trying to recruit — liberal MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow.
Rachel lives in western Massachusetts, and recently it was reported that the chairman of the state Democratic Party had apparently tried to reach out to her in an attempt to coax her into a race against me. You can read about it here.
The political season never ends, which is why I need your continued support. While my opponents strategize on how to defeat me in 2012, I’m going to continue to speak out against higher taxes, more spending and greater government control in our lives.
I relish being an independent voice in Washington, one that doesn’t march in lockstep with the rest of the Washington crowd. The Democratic Party bosses in Massachusetts disagree. They want a rubberstamp who will vote for their plans to expand government, increase debt and raise taxes. Someone like Rachel Maddow. I’m sure she’s a nice person — I just don’t think America can afford her liberal politics.
Rachel Maddow has a nightly platform to push her far-left agenda. What about you? I’d like to encourage ordinary American citizens concerned about the future of their country to get more involved in our government. I hope you were encouraged by my victory to become more politically active, maybe even become a candidate for office yourself. We can continue to push our movement forward by running for office, joining in rallies and petitions that challenge President Obama and Nancy Pelosi’s healthcare legislation, supporting campaigns against the tax-and-spenders or by donating time and money to office-holders and candidates who will restore the principles of our founders.
I’m grateful you are with me. Thanks again for whatever support you can provide me, and I look forward to joining in further victories with you down the line.
Sincerely,
Scott Brown
United States Senator
UPDATE: MARCH 26, 2010
MSNBC took out a full-page ad in the Boston Globe for a letter from Rachel Maddow to her fellow Massachusetts citizens in response to Scott Brown's unfounded claims while trying to raise out-of-state money for his 2012 re-election bid.
UPDATE: MARCH 27, 2010
It didn't take long for Scotty's little independent streak to go away, did it?
Monday, March 22, 2010
If all Americans can get health insurance, life as we know it will never be the same...oh, wait
A funny thing happened this morning...the sun rose like it always has, there was no armegeddon overnight and since the religious zealots haven't mentioned anything, I guess it's pretty safe to say that hell didn't freeze over. Why is this so shocking? Because the Health Care Reform bill passed in the Congress last night with a gavel strike by *gasp* Speaker Nancy Pelosi! I've been mostly quiet about this because it's a very complex issue with complicated language, daily changes and with all the posturing from both sides, I wasn't comfortable putting my thoughts on the blog without complete confidence that all my facts were lined up. One thing I am sure about, when private insurance companies start randomly raising rates by as much as 40%, it was clear that the situation needed to be addressed. Today, a list of the top 18 immediate changes were listed on Huffington Post and I think it's important to point them out since Republicans are already promising to repeal this law once they regain power. After reading these new laws, I hope the GOP really is dumb enough to run on that platform. I think it's a bit misleading for them to keep pointing out that 52% of the country is against this bill. Statistically, that might be true, but at least half of those don't think the bill went far enough, not that we didn't want to see changes to the status quo. And because I've listened with interest to Wendell Potter, the former Cigna executive-turned-whistleblower and Dr. Howard Dean who managed to get universal coverage for children in Vermont under his Governorship, that this at least gets our foot in the door I would say our 26% + the already established support from 48% gives the Dems a 74% to 26% advantage!
- Health Insurers cannot deny children health insurance because of pre-existing conditions. A ban on the discrimination in adults will take effect in 2014.
- Businesses with fewer than 50 employees will get tax credits covering up to 50% of employee premiums.
- Seniors will get a rebate to fill the so-called "donut hole" in Medicare drug coverage, which severely limits prescription medication coverage expenditures over $2,700. As of next year, 50 percent of the donut hole will be filled.
- The cut-off age for young adults to continue to be covered by their parents' health insurance rises to the age 26.
- Lifetime caps on the amount of insurance an individual can have will be banned. Annual caps will be limited, and banned in 2014.
- A temporary high-risk pool will be set up to cover adults with pre-existing conditions. Health care exchanges will eliminate the program in 2014.
- New plans must cover checkups and other preventative care without co-pays. All plans will be affected by 2018.
- Insurance companies can no longer cut someone when he or she gets sick.
- Insurers must now reveal how much money is spent on overhead.
- Any new plan must now implement an appeals process for coverage determinations and claims.
- New screening procedures will be implemented to help eliminate health insurance fraud and waste.
- Medicare payment protections will be extended to small rural hospitals and other health care facilities that have a small number of Medicare patients.
- Non-profit Blue Cross organizations will be required to maintain a medical loss ratio -- money spent on procedures over money incoming -- of 85 percent or higher to take advantage of IRS tax benefits.
- Chain restaurants will be required to provide a "nutrient content disclosure statement" alongside their items. Expect to see calories listed both on in-store and drive-through menus of fast-food restaurants sometime soon.
- The bill establishes a temporary program for companies that provide early retiree health benefits for those ages 55‐64 in order to help reduce the often-expensive cost of that coverage.
- A two‐year temporary credit (up to a maximum of $1 billion) is in the bill to encourage investment in new therapies for the prevention and treatement of diseases.
- The Secretary of Health and Human Services will set up a new Web site to make it easy for Americans in any state to seek out affordable health insurance options The site will also include helpful information for small businesses.
- A ten percent tax will be imposed on indoor tanning services. This tax, which replaced the proposed tax on cosmetic surgery, would be effective for services on or after July 1, 2010.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Quick Thoughts on a February Friday
President Barack Obama has concluded after the Health Care Summit yesterday, accord between Democrats and Republicans may not be possible. In other news, the sun will rise in the east, Lassie was a collie, Neil Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the moon and Michael Jackson is dead.
Paulding County, Georgia lost its State House representative, Glenn Richardson, to a familiar political demon last year -- the extramarital affair. On Tuesday voters chose his replacement, Daniel Stout, a 29-year old banker from Dallas, someone who boldly touts himself as a "Christian, a Conservative, and a Republican," and a man who has had to overcome the fact that had an extra-marital affair with his then-mother-in-law 10 years ago. Stout had an affair with his first wife's mother while his first wife was pregnant with their daughter. Stout and his first wife subsequently divorced. Stout later claimed that "the relationship was stopped short of sex." Seriously? This guy's a bigger scumbag than the guy he's replacing. But hey, at least he's not {gasp} gay!
Last night, the Canadian women's hockey team accepted their gold medals and waved to the excited home crowd. And then the real celebration began. The players came back from the locker room after all the fans had left and staged a party on ice – swigging from bottles of champagne, drinking beer and smoking cigars. The IOC is going to investigate the "behavior." Give me a break. These kids just won the gold medal in their home country -- something that's never happened in hockey and they decided to celebrate. That whole role models argument (they're trying to use) is moot, because the fans had left. If not for the photographer, no one would've even known. Furthermore, no one was complaining about the Yankees champagne, beer and cigar celebration last November. Why do we sweat the small stuff when there's such bigger issues to concern ourselves with?
Bill O'Reilly appeared on "Good Morning America" Thursday with George Stephanopoulos and said, "Sarah Palin needs to go to college. Political college, world affairs college, and she is. She's hired a bunch of advisers and they're giving her a whole bunch of tracks to learn, because it is a sophisticated deal." OK, call me crazy, but at age 46 after already being a governor and after already running for Vice President (thisclose to the red button with old man McCain) she has just now decided she should hire 'tutors'? I still want proof she went to high school. I wonder if Canada would be ready for the influx of new Canadians if this wingnut ever got elected?
Speaking of the Wasilla Hillbilly, she will headline the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina this May. Will Saracuda arrive in a helicopter and kill some endangered wolves? Or maybe she will give a demonstration on how to field dress a moose, then cook a big batch of Sarah Moose Stew for the adoring crowd.
On a serious and sad note. On Wednesday, an Orca whale attacked and killed veteran trainer Dawn Brancheau in front of a horrified audience at the Orlando SeaWorld show "Believe". SeaWorld spokesman Fred Jacobs confirmed the whale was Tilikum, one of three orcas blamed for killing a trainer who lost her balance and fell in the pool with them in 1991 at Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia (which later closed). Tilikum was also involved in a 1999 death, when the body of a man who had sneaked by Orlando SeaWorld security was found draped over him. The man either jumped, fell or was pulled into the frigid water and died of hypothermia, though he was also bruised and scratched by Tilikum. Talk-radio callers, bloggers and animal activists said Tilikum should be released into the ocean or put to death like a dangerous dog. Brancheau's older sister, Diane Gross, said the trainer would not have wanted anything done to the whale. "She loved the whales like her children. She loved all of them," said Gross, of Schererville, Ind. "They all had personalities, good days and bad days." Chuck Tompkins, chief of animal training at SeaWorld parks, said that Tilikum would not survive in the wild because he has been captive for so long, and that destroying the animal is not an option either, because he is an important part of the breeding program at SeaWorld and a companion to the seven other whales there. I went to the "Believe" show in Seaworld a few years back and it was spectacular...there's no other way to describe it. This tragedy is a reminder that no matter how well these animals are trained, they're still wild animals. I guess my question is, why was Tilikum still being allowed to perform and be within close human contact? He obviously has an agressive nature. Apparently he's the biggest whale in captivity. That's fine, put him in a giant aquarium where he can be admired from a distance. Here's some pictures I took at the show on June 6, 2006 (I don't know if any are of him, but Orca's are quite impressive):
Paulding County, Georgia lost its State House representative, Glenn Richardson, to a familiar political demon last year -- the extramarital affair. On Tuesday voters chose his replacement, Daniel Stout, a 29-year old banker from Dallas, someone who boldly touts himself as a "Christian, a Conservative, and a Republican," and a man who has had to overcome the fact that had an extra-marital affair with his then-mother-in-law 10 years ago. Stout had an affair with his first wife's mother while his first wife was pregnant with their daughter. Stout and his first wife subsequently divorced. Stout later claimed that "the relationship was stopped short of sex." Seriously? This guy's a bigger scumbag than the guy he's replacing. But hey, at least he's not {gasp} gay!
Last night, the Canadian women's hockey team accepted their gold medals and waved to the excited home crowd. And then the real celebration began. The players came back from the locker room after all the fans had left and staged a party on ice – swigging from bottles of champagne, drinking beer and smoking cigars. The IOC is going to investigate the "behavior." Give me a break. These kids just won the gold medal in their home country -- something that's never happened in hockey and they decided to celebrate. That whole role models argument (they're trying to use) is moot, because the fans had left. If not for the photographer, no one would've even known. Furthermore, no one was complaining about the Yankees champagne, beer and cigar celebration last November. Why do we sweat the small stuff when there's such bigger issues to concern ourselves with?
Bill O'Reilly appeared on "Good Morning America" Thursday with George Stephanopoulos and said, "Sarah Palin needs to go to college. Political college, world affairs college, and she is. She's hired a bunch of advisers and they're giving her a whole bunch of tracks to learn, because it is a sophisticated deal." OK, call me crazy, but at age 46 after already being a governor and after already running for Vice President (thisclose to the red button with old man McCain) she has just now decided she should hire 'tutors'? I still want proof she went to high school. I wonder if Canada would be ready for the influx of new Canadians if this wingnut ever got elected?
Speaking of the Wasilla Hillbilly, she will headline the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina this May. Will Saracuda arrive in a helicopter and kill some endangered wolves? Or maybe she will give a demonstration on how to field dress a moose, then cook a big batch of Sarah Moose Stew for the adoring crowd.
On a serious and sad note. On Wednesday, an Orca whale attacked and killed veteran trainer Dawn Brancheau in front of a horrified audience at the Orlando SeaWorld show "Believe". SeaWorld spokesman Fred Jacobs confirmed the whale was Tilikum, one of three orcas blamed for killing a trainer who lost her balance and fell in the pool with them in 1991 at Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia (which later closed). Tilikum was also involved in a 1999 death, when the body of a man who had sneaked by Orlando SeaWorld security was found draped over him. The man either jumped, fell or was pulled into the frigid water and died of hypothermia, though he was also bruised and scratched by Tilikum. Talk-radio callers, bloggers and animal activists said Tilikum should be released into the ocean or put to death like a dangerous dog. Brancheau's older sister, Diane Gross, said the trainer would not have wanted anything done to the whale. "She loved the whales like her children. She loved all of them," said Gross, of Schererville, Ind. "They all had personalities, good days and bad days." Chuck Tompkins, chief of animal training at SeaWorld parks, said that Tilikum would not survive in the wild because he has been captive for so long, and that destroying the animal is not an option either, because he is an important part of the breeding program at SeaWorld and a companion to the seven other whales there. I went to the "Believe" show in Seaworld a few years back and it was spectacular...there's no other way to describe it. This tragedy is a reminder that no matter how well these animals are trained, they're still wild animals. I guess my question is, why was Tilikum still being allowed to perform and be within close human contact? He obviously has an agressive nature. Apparently he's the biggest whale in captivity. That's fine, put him in a giant aquarium where he can be admired from a distance. Here's some pictures I took at the show on June 6, 2006 (I don't know if any are of him, but Orca's are quite impressive):
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Anthony Weiner Tells the Truth and Republicans Demand Retraction!
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY): “Make no mistake about it, every single Republican I have ever met in my entire life is a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry!” When Weiner took them on today on the House floor, Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) objected. Bravo! We need more Democrats like this guy and Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL). They are fed up and are not sitting by quietly anymore. Elected Democrats by and large need to understand that we approve of them fighting back! The fact that these men are targets from the right tells me, they're doing something right! This was a very satisfying video to watch!
At the end of the debate, the House voted 406-19 the House to strip health insurance firms from an antitrust exemption Congress granted them 65 years ago. Well done, Mr. Weiner.
All nay votes came from Republicans: Reps. John Boehner (R-OH), Steve Buyer (R-IN), Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Paul Ryan (R-WI), Tom Price (R-GA), Ron Paul (R-TX), Jerry Moran (R-KS), John Linder (R-GA), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Steve King (R-IA), Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Paul Broun (R-GA), Kevin Brady (R-TX), Todd Akin (R-MO), and Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA).
At the end of the debate, the House voted 406-19 the House to strip health insurance firms from an antitrust exemption Congress granted them 65 years ago. Well done, Mr. Weiner.
All nay votes came from Republicans: Reps. John Boehner (R-OH), Steve Buyer (R-IN), Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Paul Ryan (R-WI), Tom Price (R-GA), Ron Paul (R-TX), Jerry Moran (R-KS), John Linder (R-GA), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Steve King (R-IA), Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Paul Broun (R-GA), Kevin Brady (R-TX), Todd Akin (R-MO), and Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA).
Friday, February 12, 2010
A Dysfunctional Institution: The U.S. Senate
"In the 71 years since Hollywood filmed 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington', the aim of the filibuster has been turned completely upside down." - Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
The haggling over possible Senate rules changes has begun and understandably so. I'm as annoyed as any other observer, but let's not shoot ourselves in the foot either. The rules of the filibuster certainly need to be amended, but I don’t think it should be abolished. Can you imagine what would happen the next time Republicans have all three branches of government if they couldn't be kept in check? Unquestionably, the stall in the senate over the past year by the Republicans is unprecedented and it needs to stop. They have filibustered 139 bills to date! There are over 200 bills that have passed "the House" that are residing in senate-no-man's-land because Republicans want the public to interpret that Democrats can not govern. 14 months ago, voters wanted change. Now, those same voters are disenchanted with Democrats for not fulfilling promises when in fairness, they really haven’t been given full opportunity. Don't worry, I'm not forgetting the Blue Dogs who are just Republicans in disguise. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has authored a bill that would change the rules of the filibuster. The Harkin bill would require a series of staged votes to cut off a filibuster: the first motion known as cloture would take sixty votes, then fifty-seven, then fifty-four and finally a simple majority--so if a bill survives debate, it can become law. According to Harkin, "At issue is a fundamental principle basic to our democracy -- rule of the majority as a legislative body, [] "Elections should have consequences. Yet the Senate's current rules allow for a minority as small as one to make elections meaningless." He’s right and something must be done. In my opinion and as I’ve written before, they should also bring back the rules in which the party/senators blocking a bill has to stand on the floor and actually explain their position. That'll be another step in putting a stop to this nonsense. Just the threat of the filibuster is where it ends currently. This system is irrevocably broken!
I don’t know all the inner workings or possibilities in D.C., but if Harkin’s idea’s are upsetting to some on “The Hill”, why not try something like this: Only allow "x" amount of filibuster uses in each congressional session. That way regardless of which party is in power, the minority will have to think about which battles are really worth fighting and not just obstruct every single bill for sport. It's ridiculous to watch this process and listen to Republicans say Democrats can't get anything done. They've already more than doubled the amount of 'threatened' filibusters ever used in any one given session, it's ridiculous.
"The Senate is just a pain in the ass to everybody in the world as far as I can tell." - Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)
I rarely disagree with Rachel Maddow, but in this segment, she and Howard Dean discuss the possibility of terminating the filibuster. As I wrote previously, I completely understand why. However, just this week Republicans once again announced they want to privatize social security and end Medicare, replacing it with vouchers so seniors will have to shop for their coverage through private insurance companies. If not for the filibuster, George W. Bush would've privatized social security in 2005 just before the crash. Imagine where we'd be now? Good ol' Republicans, make sure people get less than they deserve at a higher cost so their stock portfolios can keep rising. As for the Democrats? Like Howard Dean says in this video, "We're not tough enough. [] We need a spinal transplant in the Democratic party to play hardball." I like this guy more and more, he tells it like it is. I wonder if he'll give running for President another shot at some point. Sadly, Rachel actually needs to update her chart. The 112 is now 139...and counting.
For anyone who thinks my only point is that Republicans suck, it isn’t…although they do. Just to prove a point that 41 is the real majority, Republicans have filibustered legislation to provide low-income energy assistance; efforts to strengthen the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ensure children are not exposed to unsafe toys; and efforts to ensure that women are guaranteed equal pay for equal work. Last year Republicans forced cloture votes on a bill to extend unemployment benefits, then ultimately agreed to approve the bill on a 98-0 vote. Really? 98-0 vote after a filibuster. No, no political gamesmanship there. Gee, maybe the fact that Republicans suck was my only point!
The haggling over possible Senate rules changes has begun and understandably so. I'm as annoyed as any other observer, but let's not shoot ourselves in the foot either. The rules of the filibuster certainly need to be amended, but I don’t think it should be abolished. Can you imagine what would happen the next time Republicans have all three branches of government if they couldn't be kept in check? Unquestionably, the stall in the senate over the past year by the Republicans is unprecedented and it needs to stop. They have filibustered 139 bills to date! There are over 200 bills that have passed "the House" that are residing in senate-no-man's-land because Republicans want the public to interpret that Democrats can not govern. 14 months ago, voters wanted change. Now, those same voters are disenchanted with Democrats for not fulfilling promises when in fairness, they really haven’t been given full opportunity. Don't worry, I'm not forgetting the Blue Dogs who are just Republicans in disguise. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has authored a bill that would change the rules of the filibuster. The Harkin bill would require a series of staged votes to cut off a filibuster: the first motion known as cloture would take sixty votes, then fifty-seven, then fifty-four and finally a simple majority--so if a bill survives debate, it can become law. According to Harkin, "At issue is a fundamental principle basic to our democracy -- rule of the majority as a legislative body, [] "Elections should have consequences. Yet the Senate's current rules allow for a minority as small as one to make elections meaningless." He’s right and something must be done. In my opinion and as I’ve written before, they should also bring back the rules in which the party/senators blocking a bill has to stand on the floor and actually explain their position. That'll be another step in putting a stop to this nonsense. Just the threat of the filibuster is where it ends currently. This system is irrevocably broken!
I don’t know all the inner workings or possibilities in D.C., but if Harkin’s idea’s are upsetting to some on “The Hill”, why not try something like this: Only allow "x" amount of filibuster uses in each congressional session. That way regardless of which party is in power, the minority will have to think about which battles are really worth fighting and not just obstruct every single bill for sport. It's ridiculous to watch this process and listen to Republicans say Democrats can't get anything done. They've already more than doubled the amount of 'threatened' filibusters ever used in any one given session, it's ridiculous.
"The Senate is just a pain in the ass to everybody in the world as far as I can tell." - Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)
I rarely disagree with Rachel Maddow, but in this segment, she and Howard Dean discuss the possibility of terminating the filibuster. As I wrote previously, I completely understand why. However, just this week Republicans once again announced they want to privatize social security and end Medicare, replacing it with vouchers so seniors will have to shop for their coverage through private insurance companies. If not for the filibuster, George W. Bush would've privatized social security in 2005 just before the crash. Imagine where we'd be now? Good ol' Republicans, make sure people get less than they deserve at a higher cost so their stock portfolios can keep rising. As for the Democrats? Like Howard Dean says in this video, "We're not tough enough. [] We need a spinal transplant in the Democratic party to play hardball." I like this guy more and more, he tells it like it is. I wonder if he'll give running for President another shot at some point. Sadly, Rachel actually needs to update her chart. The 112 is now 139...and counting.
For anyone who thinks my only point is that Republicans suck, it isn’t…although they do. Just to prove a point that 41 is the real majority, Republicans have filibustered legislation to provide low-income energy assistance; efforts to strengthen the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ensure children are not exposed to unsafe toys; and efforts to ensure that women are guaranteed equal pay for equal work. Last year Republicans forced cloture votes on a bill to extend unemployment benefits, then ultimately agreed to approve the bill on a 98-0 vote. Really? 98-0 vote after a filibuster. No, no political gamesmanship there. Gee, maybe the fact that Republicans suck was my only point!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Maddow Tells The Democrats To Grow Up, Reminds Them They're the Majority
Last night Rachel Maddow showed some frustration with the Democrats over their continued insistence of getting bipartisan support with Republican ideas and votes! Rachel used the stimulus bill as an example of Republicans opposing and criticizing a policy designed and proven to help Americans only to praise and take credit for its effects at home, demonstrating that Republicans are not interested in productive policy but only in sabotaging President Obama's agenda. I think it's important that someone like Rachel is giving this hypocrisy the attention it deserves because average Americans who don't follow politics daily just think Obama isn't fulfilling promises. They have no idea that the minority party has managed to stall his entire agenda, with help from some DINO's like Ben Nelson, Evan Bayh, and a few others. I think the White House is finally starting to push back, but I hope it's not too late. They should've started last August when the Republicans started defining this administrations entire agenda and the WH just sat back taking the high road. That does not work in this day and age of 24/7 cable news with one station in particular trying to bring his administration down. I even think there is a possibility that Obama might be setting up the Republicans and their "Just Say No" philosophy for all the world to see - finally, but what took him so long?
I enjoyed this segment because it's clear how sick of the political games Rachel has become. Those of us who have been feeling the same way can appreciate her distress. I particularly enjoyed the last minute plus of this segment. After pointing out several hypocritical Republicans, Rachel tore into the Democrats...and I agree with her 100%
I'm a couple days late, but Congratulations to the 2010 Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints! It was a great game and the city now has something to really celebrate. This writer loved watching Peyton Manning borrow Brett Favre's "goat horns!" Tracy Porter's game clinching interception reminded me of former Patriot Ty Law's uncanny ability to always know where Manning was going to throw. Who Dat, indeed!
I enjoyed this segment because it's clear how sick of the political games Rachel has become. Those of us who have been feeling the same way can appreciate her distress. I particularly enjoyed the last minute plus of this segment. After pointing out several hypocritical Republicans, Rachel tore into the Democrats...and I agree with her 100%
I'm a couple days late, but Congratulations to the 2010 Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints! It was a great game and the city now has something to really celebrate. This writer loved watching Peyton Manning borrow Brett Favre's "goat horns!" Tracy Porter's game clinching interception reminded me of former Patriot Ty Law's uncanny ability to always know where Manning was going to throw. Who Dat, indeed!
Monday, February 1, 2010
You Can't Fix Stupid
ABC News is reporting Sarah Palin has been using her Political Action Committee to buy up thousands of copies of her book, "Going Rogue," in order to mail copies of the memoir to her donors, according to newly filed campaign records. Let's see...her donors donate their money, she uses their money to purchase a book to 'give' them as a reward for donating! Brilliant! The PAC bought the books from HarperCollins, Palin's publisher so we can be sure she got a lot of bang for her $63,000. It's not like anyone is aware that bulk buying is a secret, it's just that her fans have placed this crazy woman on such a pedestal, they actually believe all of her sales were from people who were interested in her, were actually going to read it and truly want her to become President. It would take the shine off the "Best Seller" euphoria for normal people, but these are not normal people. I'm willing to bet her fan base is already making excuses even though it's their money. Think about it. When her book first came out, I seem to remember her offering a free book with a $100 donation to SarahPAC. So if she spent somewhere between $4 and $9...do the math! Don't forget about all those $4.95 bulk copies that NewsMax gave away either. In addition, her committee paid her publisher $20,000 for the cost of sending her personal photographer and another aide along on her book tour. Those expenses are listed by the PAC as travel repayment to Harper Collins. SarahPAC also paid $13,000 for that Going Rogue bus wrap for her book tour and more than $27,000 for private jets during the "bus" book tour. Palin also pays 6 people for fundraising or communications consulting, 2 administrative workers -- one in Arlington, VA, where the PAC is based, and one in her home town of Wasilla, AK. I wonder how much her hairdresser made...*wink*.
Here are some other rumored expenses from http://palingates.blogspot.com/. If nothing else, just check out the blog for a general idea of what Palin wants to keep under wrap.
On the web site of her PAC, Palin posted a special letter to supporters upon the release of her book. "My book, 'Going Rogue,' is dedicated to you -- to Patriots -- who fight for freedom!"
Personally I'd like the Patriots to find someone who can pass rush...Oh, not 'those' Patriots!
See, she's a regular person just like you!
Here are some other rumored expenses from http://palingates.blogspot.com/. If nothing else, just check out the blog for a general idea of what Palin wants to keep under wrap.
- Paid $ 30,000 to Orion Strategies in Washington DC, owned by neocon Randy Scheunemann
- Paid $ 65,000 to Sarah Palin's lawyer Van Flein despite having no legal issues - Then what was the money for?
- Secretly employed the founders of "Conservatives4Palin", Rebecca Mansour and Joseph Russo - their task: Ghostwriting Sarah Palin's Facebook to make her look like she has intellectual political capacity.
- Paid more than $ 50,000 for the development of a website to a person in AK who has a shoddy track record of developing websites. Although the payments were made several months ago, no website has been presented yet.
On the web site of her PAC, Palin posted a special letter to supporters upon the release of her book. "My book, 'Going Rogue,' is dedicated to you -- to Patriots -- who fight for freedom!"
Personally I'd like the Patriots to find someone who can pass rush...Oh, not 'those' Patriots!
See, she's a regular person just like you!
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:
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?
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 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;
On Thursday Rush told his empty headed sheep not to donate to any Haitian relief charities. You’ll love this reasoning:
Wait, we’re not done, Friday came…
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.
"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.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Why Doesn't This Dick Just Go Away To An Undisclosed Location?
I just want to say that while I’m disgusted, I’m not surprised that Republicans are trying to use this terrorist bombing attempt for political gain. Good ol’ Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) has even used this event to try and raise money for his bid to become Michigan Governor. He Sent out an email to supporters Tuesday repeatedly asking for contributions. However, one man that totally makes my skin crawl is Dick Cheney. I loathe that man. He represents everything bad about politics and he’s got supporters. He was named “Conservative of the Year" at some right wing publication called Human Events. In his latest anti-Obama attack, he’s telling the Fox Newz loyalists that Obama “is trying to pretend we are not at war.” He’s upset at the administrations low-key approach, which I actually applauded recently. How smart is it to telegraph your response to the world? Does this fool not understand that it’s not only U.S. citizens who will be seeing it? Just because Obama’s not standing on an aircraft carrier beating his chest, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have counter-measures in action. Oh, by the way, how did that work out? What scares the hell out of me is I think this lunatic is actually running for President 2012 right now! Seriously. We didn’t see him for eight years, now you can’t turn on your tv without seeing that evil bastard. I’m worried that he’s getting traction. He went on to say that, “It doesn't fit with what seems to be the goal of his presidency: social transformation, the restructuring of American society.” Really? What has changed? There's no evidence to support that claim. However, repeat it enough and the sheep will follow. I'm not sure exactly why he felt the need to slip that in there, except...2012.
As for terror attempts, why the double standard? Bush was not subjected to criticisms from either Democrats or the media when he waited six days to respond to Richard Reid's attempted shoe-bombing of an airplane on December 22, 2001. Like Obama now, Bush was also on vacation when that botched terrorist attack occurred. Here’s my worry. While I applaud the Democrats for trying to take the high road, it always bites them in the ass in the end. The Republicans have no shame and will continuously drive their propaganda across no matter how ludicrous it is. It has been a winning formula for them. Democrats need to get tough with their political rivals. Nobody’s talking about the fact that the Bush White House set the guys free who master-minded this attempt, because Dems aren’t pushing it. Also, very few news sources are reporting the similarities to the ‘Shoe Bomber’ and Bush's response – which was nearly identical to Obama's. Karl Rove also chimed in complaining that it took Obama 72 to address the public, yet never mentioned it took Bush twice as long. By the way, did you hear Mr. Sanctity of Marriage is getting divorced for the second time. Another hypocritical piece of trash.
For all the hopes and dreams of Republicans who think this is going to destroy Obama, I think they’re underestimating him. For some reason, something within me is telling me that Obama has a plan. He has proven that he thinks things out. Conservatives are still of the "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality. If Obama finds “it”, and "it's" successful, the Republicans will be done for a long time since the only thing they've got left to run on is the notion they're tougher on national security. He knows that. I hope he successfully takes that silly notion away as well. Many of us like low-key. Give ‘em hell, Prez!
Update: I just want to add this clip from tonight's MSNBC Hardball with Chris Matthews that I just viewed. On a quick glance, I noticed that Salon.com's Joan Walsh was on so I stopped to watch. I always appreciate her take on things. Tonight, I especially enjoyed the part where she blasts former Cheney aide Ron Christie for continuous Republican attempts to delegitimize this President at every opportunity. I even thought Matthews was correct!
As for terror attempts, why the double standard? Bush was not subjected to criticisms from either Democrats or the media when he waited six days to respond to Richard Reid's attempted shoe-bombing of an airplane on December 22, 2001. Like Obama now, Bush was also on vacation when that botched terrorist attack occurred. Here’s my worry. While I applaud the Democrats for trying to take the high road, it always bites them in the ass in the end. The Republicans have no shame and will continuously drive their propaganda across no matter how ludicrous it is. It has been a winning formula for them. Democrats need to get tough with their political rivals. Nobody’s talking about the fact that the Bush White House set the guys free who master-minded this attempt, because Dems aren’t pushing it. Also, very few news sources are reporting the similarities to the ‘Shoe Bomber’ and Bush's response – which was nearly identical to Obama's. Karl Rove also chimed in complaining that it took Obama 72 to address the public, yet never mentioned it took Bush twice as long. By the way, did you hear Mr. Sanctity of Marriage is getting divorced for the second time. Another hypocritical piece of trash.
For all the hopes and dreams of Republicans who think this is going to destroy Obama, I think they’re underestimating him. For some reason, something within me is telling me that Obama has a plan. He has proven that he thinks things out. Conservatives are still of the "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality. If Obama finds “it”, and "it's" successful, the Republicans will be done for a long time since the only thing they've got left to run on is the notion they're tougher on national security. He knows that. I hope he successfully takes that silly notion away as well. Many of us like low-key. Give ‘em hell, Prez!
Update: I just want to add this clip from tonight's MSNBC Hardball with Chris Matthews that I just viewed. On a quick glance, I noticed that Salon.com's Joan Walsh was on so I stopped to watch. I always appreciate her take on things. Tonight, I especially enjoyed the part where she blasts former Cheney aide Ron Christie for continuous Republican attempts to delegitimize this President at every opportunity. I even thought Matthews was correct!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Tea Bags, Candy Canes and Hypocrisy
I get so sick of the religious zealots in this country forcing their beliefs down everyone’s throats that I’m going to devote some time to it today. I’m going to begin with the smaller story of the two I read about this week. This year in Bill O’Reilly’s annual "War on Christmas" rhetoric, he sent one of his goons, Jesse Watters to harass the superintendent of an elementary school in Chelsford, Massachusetts because they do not have Christmas decorations set up! The best part is, the school had asked for volunteers to plan the party, but the same people who always do it were the only respondents. The committee decided to continue with how the event has been run for the past 19 years. After all the work had been done, flyers sent and crafts made, the families who strongly opposed the secular party came forward demanding they change the event. Don’t you just love the people who don’t want to lift a finger to help, but have no problem bitching about how it’s done. I’m posting a link to an article the school felt it had to post in the Lowell Sun because of all the bad press they received from newspapers and conservative radio: Byam PTO welcomes suggestions, volunteers
Now for the story that inspired me. Merry Hyatt, a four month resident of Redding, CA who is a substitute teacher and member of the Redding Tea Party Patriots, has found support in her desire to put an initiative on the ballot next year requiring public schools to play Christmas carols. She claims her motivation for the initiative was to help restore children’s moral compasses by inviting Jesus to school Christmas parties. Currently schools currently are allowed to offer Christmas music as long as it is used for academic purposes rather than devotional purposes and isn't used to promote a particular religious belief. Hyatt believes it is a First Amendment right to worship which I don’t disagree with, but what she is trying to accomplish is clearly a violation of the U.S. Constitution which also prohibits making laws respecting an establishment of religion, it’s the very first line of the amendment and she is on that slippery slope. Since the 1st Amendment and the 2nd Amendment were their rallying cries all year, you’d think they’d know these things – it’s not really that long to read! Or does she just not understand that the entire amendment that teabaggers used all year at their anti-Obama rallies are enforceable? I don't care if they sing Christmas carols, but you can not make it mandatory. I'll wager that Merry doesn't include Deck The Halls on her required carols list either (Don we now our gay apparel, Fa la la la la, la la la la.)! The truth is we did them when I was in school, but I also grew up in a small town with about 40 kids in my class -- we all looked alike had the same background and while I don't remember it being required, it wasn't a bit deal because there wasn't any diversity amongst us. This situation strikes me as just one more example of conservatives being unhappy with the changes resulting from our society becoming more diverse and it's really gotten over amplified with the election of our first black President who they will not except as a fellow Christian. They harken back to a mythological religious America that probably never existed. These people are very simple and are scared of anything not exactly like them. They live in a world of absolutes. Everything is black or white to them because that's what they've been told. Look, I have no problem with unquestioning believers as far as it applies to them as individuals. My issue is when they want every single person to adhere to their belief system. It's great that they can take comfort in His words when they need that, but don't threaten people with what's best for them. I have never read the Bible, but I know a few common things that it teaches: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", "Let He Who Is Without Sin Cast The First Stone." and perhaps my favorite is "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
I think further commentary requires a little background about myself. I don’t see anything in black and white, rather varying shades of gray. It’s what keeps me curious and engaged in the conversation. We live in a world of complexity and I don’t understand how people lack the curiosity or capacity to think for themselves. Does thinking really hurt that much? It’s very similar to what I said in my December 4th article about Fox News viewers; they’re given key words and topics so they don’t need to think for themselves. Religion does the very same thing on a much larger scale. I was raised in a very Catholic household and dragged to church each weekend. I made my first communion (oh, how I hated that little white fluffy dress) and had to go to catechism until I made my confirmation which was probably around junior high. I’m wired much differently than my family, immediate and distant. I really am a black sheep in the sense that everyone around me are conservative no questions asked believers. What’s pretty funny is my parents always vote Democrat because they’re old school “Republicans are for the rich, Democrats are for the people” voters. My political beliefs sprung from that theory, but I’ve far expanded on my thoughts about many other important policies. They’re stuck with that one thought. On social issues, they're clearly conservatives and probably should be voting Republican these days, but I’m not going to tell them, hell it’s two votes! Amazing that I turned out so well, isn’t it! As you can tell by my views, I’m not conservative by any stretch and I’m on the fence 50/50 in regards to religion. Is there a God? The weakest believe so, no questions asked. They need to somehow hold onto that hope that they’ll be reunited throughout eternity with loved ones in paradise. Do I think it’s possible? Sure I do. I’m somewhat “spiritual”, I think there’s a higher power, but I also ask “Is that power just my own mind”. The whole thing with people seeing ghosts and such, I believe is real. But, are they actual ghosts or are they products of the mind? I figure, if there is indeed a God and we meet when my time comes, if he's the loving, forgiving God we're taught about he's just going to say, "I understand why you were a bit skeptical. There was a lot of wacky stuff going on during your lifetime, with people using my name to justify violence and hatred towards others, but look around, none of them are here! What goes around comes around."
Getting back to our country’s religious zealots, and I'm talking about the radicals, not the devout people who go to worship quietly and privately. It really bothers me that they preach love, compassion and understanding yet are the most intolerant group of radicals in our midst. This evangelical movement in our country is truly frightening. Our country is being hijacked by radicals who want to teach Christianity in schools, but don't care if the little "fundies" can read or write and no one is doing anything about it! Recently, they've designed and sold bumper stickers and other memorabilia with the Psalm 109.8 verse "May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership." That leads into Psalm 109:9, "May his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow." When the Bible was written there weren’t politicians, this isn’t about Obama leaving office at the end of his term people! Thanks once again to Rachel Maddow's coverage, CafePress and Zazzle have stopped carrying this wretched propaganda. The zealots are also against a woman's right to chose a safe legal medical procedure, yet don't acknowledge the bible giving the thumbs up to stone disobedient children. And keeping with their own hypocrisy, after the unwanted child is born, they will be the first to scream they don’t want their tax dollars going to care for that teenage slut and her bastard baby. The bible also encorages slavery and that girls can be sold. Of course that makes sense since they’re still smarting over Constitutional Amendments 13 and 19. The guy living in the White House should be tending to the grounds of the White House where he belongs. And if women were never given the right to vote, white men would rule forever! The fact that they cherry pick their hatred really pisses me off. I have a huge problem with the majority being allowed to vote on the rights of a minority invoking God into the conversation when we’re supposed to be a country that seperates church and state. In addition, a large part of our electorate has become so blind and hateful with their Bible teachings guiding them instead of history, science and knowledge of current events that I think people should be required to pass a 12th grade HS test before they're allowed to register to vote. It's not just poor minorities that will suffer, the good ol' boys will have a big problem too. These idiots voting for a ticket because they think the VP candidate is attractive or because they want to further dimish civil rights are going to turn us into a third world country. You know what the most amazing thing about this is to me? Most of these same people celebrating the birth of Jesus would've been applauding and assisting nailing the queer, sandal wearing, long haired, hippie dude to the cross.
“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.”
- Sinclair Lewis, It Can’t Happen Here (1935)
Quick Thoughts: As I was sitting at the drive thru of McDonalds one morning this week waiting for my coffee and listening to Bill Press, I was behind a Honda CRV whose back window was cluttered with decals, but initially I wasn't paying attention to them. Of course, this older lady that I could see in her side view mirror must’ve ordered a lot of stuff because we sat for an unusually long period so I looked up at the decals. The largest one was a “Mary Kay Cosmetics” one running across the top, flanked by a “NRA” decal on the right and a “Terrorist Hunting permit no. 91101” on the other side. I was thinking, “Oh this is awesome, I’ve got to take a picture and post this on my blog”, but I couldn’t get the damn phone out of my pocket quick enough before she started pulling away. I thought about skipping my coffee for the picture! I don’t buy cosmetics, but if I did, I wouldn’t be showing up at her house for them! I will be on the lookout for that CRV though!... Last weekend the 32-13 Alabama Crimson Tide victory over the Florida Gators in the SEC Championship game was emotional for (literally) "wear it on your face" Christian, Tim Tebow, who was seen crying on the sidelines as the clock ticked down. Well, Timmy it looks like God prefers the thumpers to the fundies. How does that make you feel? Is God still great? Didn't hear you say it after the game. I'm not a college football fan, but ever since the first time I saw this talibangelical go into his praise of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, during his freshman year, I've rooted against Florida. He's not projecting well as a pro QB, but I would love him to be drafted by the San Francisco 49ers!... Last week, Britain shut down their UFO Investigation Service citing lack of activity. For over fifty years, sightings of alien sightings across the British Isles have been reported to the service by concerned citizens. Here's my theory, the aliens were here, but while trying to study our species, they turned on Fox because they'd heard that "fair and balanced" mantra as well. What they saw was a rabid Glenn Beck go crazy with a chalkboard, they saw thousands of people who had been given a small tax decrease show up in various cities to protest the new rate while wearing teabags on their heads, they saw people stand out in the cold rain to get a glimpse of an unemployed Alaskan, they heard a sitting U.S. Congresswoman encourage people to slit their wrists over health care reform, they watched thousands of white, possibly diabetic, mostly older people needing dental work holding signs and screaming that they didn't want no stinkin' government healthcare while demanding the government keep their hands off their Medicare. They had seen enough, they looked at each other and unanimously concluded that there was no need to stay as there isn't any intelligent life on earth....
I'm going to do a follow-up this weekend to the Uganda story as there have been some developments, due to the extensive coverage a certain newswoman has devoted to this criminal bill.
Until then...
Now for the story that inspired me. Merry Hyatt, a four month resident of Redding, CA who is a substitute teacher and member of the Redding Tea Party Patriots, has found support in her desire to put an initiative on the ballot next year requiring public schools to play Christmas carols. She claims her motivation for the initiative was to help restore children’s moral compasses by inviting Jesus to school Christmas parties. Currently schools currently are allowed to offer Christmas music as long as it is used for academic purposes rather than devotional purposes and isn't used to promote a particular religious belief. Hyatt believes it is a First Amendment right to worship which I don’t disagree with, but what she is trying to accomplish is clearly a violation of the U.S. Constitution which also prohibits making laws respecting an establishment of religion, it’s the very first line of the amendment and she is on that slippery slope. Since the 1st Amendment and the 2nd Amendment were their rallying cries all year, you’d think they’d know these things – it’s not really that long to read! Or does she just not understand that the entire amendment that teabaggers used all year at their anti-Obama rallies are enforceable? I don't care if they sing Christmas carols, but you can not make it mandatory. I'll wager that Merry doesn't include Deck The Halls on her required carols list either (Don we now our gay apparel, Fa la la la la, la la la la.)! The truth is we did them when I was in school, but I also grew up in a small town with about 40 kids in my class -- we all looked alike had the same background and while I don't remember it being required, it wasn't a bit deal because there wasn't any diversity amongst us. This situation strikes me as just one more example of conservatives being unhappy with the changes resulting from our society becoming more diverse and it's really gotten over amplified with the election of our first black President who they will not except as a fellow Christian. They harken back to a mythological religious America that probably never existed. These people are very simple and are scared of anything not exactly like them. They live in a world of absolutes. Everything is black or white to them because that's what they've been told. Look, I have no problem with unquestioning believers as far as it applies to them as individuals. My issue is when they want every single person to adhere to their belief system. It's great that they can take comfort in His words when they need that, but don't threaten people with what's best for them. I have never read the Bible, but I know a few common things that it teaches: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", "Let He Who Is Without Sin Cast The First Stone." and perhaps my favorite is "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
I think further commentary requires a little background about myself. I don’t see anything in black and white, rather varying shades of gray. It’s what keeps me curious and engaged in the conversation. We live in a world of complexity and I don’t understand how people lack the curiosity or capacity to think for themselves. Does thinking really hurt that much? It’s very similar to what I said in my December 4th article about Fox News viewers; they’re given key words and topics so they don’t need to think for themselves. Religion does the very same thing on a much larger scale. I was raised in a very Catholic household and dragged to church each weekend. I made my first communion (oh, how I hated that little white fluffy dress) and had to go to catechism until I made my confirmation which was probably around junior high. I’m wired much differently than my family, immediate and distant. I really am a black sheep in the sense that everyone around me are conservative no questions asked believers. What’s pretty funny is my parents always vote Democrat because they’re old school “Republicans are for the rich, Democrats are for the people” voters. My political beliefs sprung from that theory, but I’ve far expanded on my thoughts about many other important policies. They’re stuck with that one thought. On social issues, they're clearly conservatives and probably should be voting Republican these days, but I’m not going to tell them, hell it’s two votes! Amazing that I turned out so well, isn’t it! As you can tell by my views, I’m not conservative by any stretch and I’m on the fence 50/50 in regards to religion. Is there a God? The weakest believe so, no questions asked. They need to somehow hold onto that hope that they’ll be reunited throughout eternity with loved ones in paradise. Do I think it’s possible? Sure I do. I’m somewhat “spiritual”, I think there’s a higher power, but I also ask “Is that power just my own mind”. The whole thing with people seeing ghosts and such, I believe is real. But, are they actual ghosts or are they products of the mind? I figure, if there is indeed a God and we meet when my time comes, if he's the loving, forgiving God we're taught about he's just going to say, "I understand why you were a bit skeptical. There was a lot of wacky stuff going on during your lifetime, with people using my name to justify violence and hatred towards others, but look around, none of them are here! What goes around comes around."
Getting back to our country’s religious zealots, and I'm talking about the radicals, not the devout people who go to worship quietly and privately. It really bothers me that they preach love, compassion and understanding yet are the most intolerant group of radicals in our midst. This evangelical movement in our country is truly frightening. Our country is being hijacked by radicals who want to teach Christianity in schools, but don't care if the little "fundies" can read or write and no one is doing anything about it! Recently, they've designed and sold bumper stickers and other memorabilia with the Psalm 109.8 verse "May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership." That leads into Psalm 109:9, "May his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow." When the Bible was written there weren’t politicians, this isn’t about Obama leaving office at the end of his term people! Thanks once again to Rachel Maddow's coverage, CafePress and Zazzle have stopped carrying this wretched propaganda. The zealots are also against a woman's right to chose a safe legal medical procedure, yet don't acknowledge the bible giving the thumbs up to stone disobedient children. And keeping with their own hypocrisy, after the unwanted child is born, they will be the first to scream they don’t want their tax dollars going to care for that teenage slut and her bastard baby. The bible also encorages slavery and that girls can be sold. Of course that makes sense since they’re still smarting over Constitutional Amendments 13 and 19. The guy living in the White House should be tending to the grounds of the White House where he belongs. And if women were never given the right to vote, white men would rule forever! The fact that they cherry pick their hatred really pisses me off. I have a huge problem with the majority being allowed to vote on the rights of a minority invoking God into the conversation when we’re supposed to be a country that seperates church and state. In addition, a large part of our electorate has become so blind and hateful with their Bible teachings guiding them instead of history, science and knowledge of current events that I think people should be required to pass a 12th grade HS test before they're allowed to register to vote. It's not just poor minorities that will suffer, the good ol' boys will have a big problem too. These idiots voting for a ticket because they think the VP candidate is attractive or because they want to further dimish civil rights are going to turn us into a third world country. You know what the most amazing thing about this is to me? Most of these same people celebrating the birth of Jesus would've been applauding and assisting nailing the queer, sandal wearing, long haired, hippie dude to the cross.
“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.”
- Sinclair Lewis, It Can’t Happen Here (1935)
Quick Thoughts: As I was sitting at the drive thru of McDonalds one morning this week waiting for my coffee and listening to Bill Press, I was behind a Honda CRV whose back window was cluttered with decals, but initially I wasn't paying attention to them. Of course, this older lady that I could see in her side view mirror must’ve ordered a lot of stuff because we sat for an unusually long period so I looked up at the decals. The largest one was a “Mary Kay Cosmetics” one running across the top, flanked by a “NRA” decal on the right and a “Terrorist Hunting permit no. 91101” on the other side. I was thinking, “Oh this is awesome, I’ve got to take a picture and post this on my blog”, but I couldn’t get the damn phone out of my pocket quick enough before she started pulling away. I thought about skipping my coffee for the picture! I don’t buy cosmetics, but if I did, I wouldn’t be showing up at her house for them! I will be on the lookout for that CRV though!... Last weekend the 32-13 Alabama Crimson Tide victory over the Florida Gators in the SEC Championship game was emotional for (literally) "wear it on your face" Christian, Tim Tebow, who was seen crying on the sidelines as the clock ticked down. Well, Timmy it looks like God prefers the thumpers to the fundies. How does that make you feel? Is God still great? Didn't hear you say it after the game. I'm not a college football fan, but ever since the first time I saw this talibangelical go into his praise of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, during his freshman year, I've rooted against Florida. He's not projecting well as a pro QB, but I would love him to be drafted by the San Francisco 49ers!... Last week, Britain shut down their UFO Investigation Service citing lack of activity. For over fifty years, sightings of alien sightings across the British Isles have been reported to the service by concerned citizens. Here's my theory, the aliens were here, but while trying to study our species, they turned on Fox because they'd heard that "fair and balanced" mantra as well. What they saw was a rabid Glenn Beck go crazy with a chalkboard, they saw thousands of people who had been given a small tax decrease show up in various cities to protest the new rate while wearing teabags on their heads, they saw people stand out in the cold rain to get a glimpse of an unemployed Alaskan, they heard a sitting U.S. Congresswoman encourage people to slit their wrists over health care reform, they watched thousands of white, possibly diabetic, mostly older people needing dental work holding signs and screaming that they didn't want no stinkin' government healthcare while demanding the government keep their hands off their Medicare. They had seen enough, they looked at each other and unanimously concluded that there was no need to stay as there isn't any intelligent life on earth....
I'm going to do a follow-up this weekend to the Uganda story as there have been some developments, due to the extensive coverage a certain newswoman has devoted to this criminal bill.
Until then...
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