Goldman Sachs was busted this week by the SEC for fraud. So you'd think financial reform legislation would fly through the senate in a quick nearly unanimous matter, right? With the current environment of outrage from the voters against big banks and bailouts, this moment would be the push for regulation that we've all been clamouring for! If you thought that, you'd be wrong. All 41 Republican senators have signed a letter and sent it to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) opposing the legislation. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is spreading the false claim (prepared by Frank Luntz: it's not what you say, it's what people here) that this bill entitles Wall St. to never ending bailouts. I think it's great news for Democrats, seriously. If Republicans are going to "bank" on fooling the voters in November with false claims about what is in this bill, any momentum they may have gathered over the misinformation spread during the HCR battle is going to be lost because the Democrats seemed to have learned a lesson and are fighting back. This bill in fact does the oppostite, it requires liquidation of the failed institution...something many wanted from the start. By taking the stance they are with opposing regulation, they've sided with the big banks. Good luck with winning over the true independents with that position.
Here's another good one. New Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown was asked by a Boston Globe reporter why he's opposed to the bill, and doesn't really seem to know why as he responded with; "Well, what areas do you think should be fixed? I mean, you know, tell me. And then I'll go get a team and go fix it." Holy chit! He asked the reporter what to do! Congratulations Massachusetts, we have the male version of Sarah Palin representing us in the senate. Ted Kennedy must be rolling in his grave. Read more here.
Earlier this week President Obama discussed why the U.S. must do it's best to resolve conflicts before they become too serious, but Sarah Palin doesn't think he made sense when he said, "It is a vital national security interest of the United States to reduce these conflicts because whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower, and when conflicts break out, one way or another we get pulled into them." Snowbilly grifter said, "I would hope that our leaders in Washington, D.C., understand we like to be a dominant superpower." Yes, let's listen to the woman that didn't know North Korea and South Korea were two seperate countries thinking the relationship was akin to North Dakota and South Dakota. OK, she enjoys the U.S. being pulled into conflict and having our tax dollars spent overseas, but doesn't want all Americans to have access to affordable health care. Gotta love those compassionate conservatives. I guess she also doesn't understand, or more likely doesn't care that sending our military into harms way to fight someone else's battle's is offensive to some of us. Apparently she also doesn't understand that our meddling in other countries affairs is why we're hated by many countries. Admittedly, strong national defense is important, pursuing world domination at any cost is wrong.
Didn't she quit her job as governor to spend more time with her family and get out of the limelight? Why is her voice still being heard? She's a danger with her nonsensical proclamations.
In what must be applauded as a positive step, President Obama ordered that nearly all hospitals allow patients to say who has visitation rights and who can help make medical decisions, including gay and lesbian partners. He instructed his Health and Human Services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius to draft rules requiring hospitals that receive Medicare and Medicaid payments to grant all patients the right to designate people who can visit and consult with them at crucial moments. Sounded like a great day for equal rights and then something a little weird happened...
The very same day this was announced, the White House ripped CBS for suggesting Solicitor General Elena Kagan, widely viewed as a leading candidate for the Supreme Court is gay. Um, is our White House playing it both ways? Such a strong denial and assertion seems like a pretty homophobic reaction that they've blown waaay out of proportion at the mere suggestion of Kagan's sexuality. I might not have even heard about it had they not behaved as such asshats. Personally, I don't care what her sexual orientation is, she's a conservative and I do not want her selected as the next Justice of the Supreme Court. This is one of those "elections have consequences" thingies that are of major importance. He needs to put someone in there who will not continue the trend of moving the court to the right. It is worth the fight, sir! I've said it before, this administration has me all over the place with what they're doing. One thing I haven't wavered on, fire closet conservative Rahm Emanual.
Showing posts with label palin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label palin. Show all posts
Sunday, April 18, 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):
Saturday, February 20, 2010
2010 CPAC - A Celebration of Hate and Intolerance
At last year's CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) event, the keynote speaker was Rush "I hope Obama fails" Limbaugh. This year's is Glenn "Obama is a racist" Beck. Who are the real leaders of the conservative movement? Clearly not any of their politicians. This party is turning to hate tv/radio hosts while their fired up listeners and viewers have turned into rabid dogs who no longer fear showing bigotry and hatred. In fact, they seem to be "out and proud." What is in our future when the most angry are the anti-intellectual crowd who are enthused enough to show up and vote? I hope Democrats are paying attention and Independents don't allow themselves to be lulled into a false sense of responsible policy. Don't for one minute buy into Republicans are for smaller government. That is a myth that the Democrats need to start literally proving to the people. Taking the high road in politics will never again be a possibility. Just ask John Kerry.
We got some interesting little tidbits this week from CPAC. I'm going to run down a list of some of the more interesting one's. Former Massachusetts short term governor Mitt Romney claimed among other thing's that the Bush record wasn't all that bad compared to the current president's. "I am convinced that history will judge President Bush far more kindly -- he pulled us from a deepening recession following the attack of 9-11, he overcame teachers unions to test school children and evaluate schools, he took down the Taliban, waged a war against the jihadists and was not afraid to call it what it is -- a war. And he kept us safe." Let's see where I disagree...oh yeah, all of it. I would like some kind of evidence where he pulled us out of a recession after 9/11. Anyone got anything? All "No Child Left Behind" did was force schools to push kids through that weren't necessarily ready. The schools became more concerned with their own evaluations rather than the students. He took down the Taliban? Really? Why hasn't this bombshell been on the news? What does Willard know that the rest of us don't? More nonsense being suggested that Obama doesn't call our military occupations -- war (totally proven to be false) and my very favorite...Bush kept us safe...except for that one really, really big time and a few smaller one's that no one really remembers...at least no one who get's all their information from Fox News.
Tim Pawlenty didn't want to go unnoticed, so on the day Tiger Woods spoke at his apologetic press conference, TimmyPaw remarked, "I think we should take a page out of her [Elin Wood] playbook and take a nine iron and smash a window out of big government in this country." Do these guys ever outgrow junior high humor? They probably fart in public and insinuate it was someone else just for laughs.
Florida wannabe senator Marco Rubio (R)said, "The president couldn’t find anywhere to set up a teleprompter to announce new taxes,” while he was reading off of a teleprompter. This "Obama uses a teleprompter" thing is so friggin' old already. Name the last president or politician who didn't use one. I think the thing that drives me crazy is the dummies who actually think that both Bush's, Reagan, Palin, Bachmann and the rest of their hero's speak off the cuff...well, I guess in Palin's case, it's true.
Erick Erickson, editor-in-chief of the conservative RedState.com blog, offered up some honesty while discussing the right wing's infrastructure when he noted, "We've got Fox News." It's not like it's a secret, but they're now getting brazen enough to admit it.
As Human Events editor Jed Babbin introduced Grover Norquist, he quipped, "And let me just say, I'm really happy to see Grover today. He was getting a little testy in the past couple of weeks. And I was just really, really glad that it was not him identified as flying that airplane into the IRS building." Seriously? They couldn't even wait until the IRS building in Austin stopped smoking? How do you joke about a terrible event sparked by an unstable man which caused several injuries and two fatalities, including the pilot...just one day later to boot? Don't forget, these people call themselves compassionate conservatives. Way to stay classy, conservative movement.
One surprising thing happened at CPAC. When California Young Americans for Freedom’s Ryan Sorba launched into a denunciation of the conference for inviting GOProud, he was roundly booed off the stage. In response to jeers following his initial screed, Sorba said, "the lesbians at Smith College protest better than you do." Way to go Smith College, you've been in the limelight twice this week! This one positive reaction by the crowd does not for a second make me think of amending the title to this blog entry.
The crowd chanted, "Run, Dick Run" when Dick Cheney was introduced by daughter Liz. The pair took turns with their usual anti-Obama rhetoric. You know the one's, he doesn't keep us safe, he's a socialist, he's a one term president, yadda, yadda, yadda. Were these people seriously hibernating from January 2001-January 2009? I have no other explanation as to their rational for wanting to return to the good ol' days of the Bush-Cheney Dictatorship. I'm not on board with everything Obama has done, it's the difference with our side, we don't march lock step. However, to think the current state of affairs is in any way Obama's fault is just plain ridiculous. In my opinion, if Obama would put Elizabeth Warren in charge of everything financially culpable to our government and let her make the decisions without getting in the way, we'd be on our way to a solid long-lasting recovery! She has been the only one consistently making sense out of this whole financial debacle.
Rachel Maddow who was in D.C. for a Library of Congress event decided to take in CPAC while she was in town. She was accosted from a guy who literally got into her face, got somewhat physically threatening and threw literature at her (To Keep Our Honor Clean: We Must Oppose the Homosexual Agenda for the Military). She said, Thank you. Who are you? and he yelled in her face, "We're normal people, what about you?" As Rachel stated on her show, "He did not in fact seem like normal people, but more specifically he was from an organization called Tradition, Family and Property whose booth I sought out later. They say that it would be unclean to have gay people in the military - and they have this neato gold Welsh looking crest." Except for that one creepy individual, Rachel said everyone was very nice to her. I still find it amazing that these people don't understand that gay people are already serving. Removing DADT isn't about allowing gay people to join the military, it's about letting them continue to serve even if someone finds out they're gay! I don't understand how they're missing that fact!
Mr. Everyman, Glenn Beck with trusty chalkboard along side, gave his keynote speech Saturday evening. Among his claims: He said, "The progressives are a cancer to our society." He used some pretty deceptive "historical" information to back up his misinformation. Did you know Herbert Hoover was really a progressive? How can you even spin that claim? He had percentages of various claims all over his trusty chalkboard. This is another case of taking one of the worst president's in history and trying to chain him to our side. The Beckerheads in the audience don't know any better and certainly aren't going to do a fact check. Did you know you have the right to "pursue" happiness, but you do not have a right to health care or housing? In Glenn's world, his pursuit of happiness is complete. He lies for a living and is very well paid for it. The health care opinion didn't surprise me, but the housing one sure did! Funny how he didn't tie any crime statistics to his uneven rhetoric about homelessness on his chalkboard. Did you also know the progressive tax rate is a bad thing? He got a standing ovation and a huge roar from the crowd for that one. He's making $23M per year and they're making a bit less than that! What is wrong with people? They not only vote against their own best interest, they're cheering an entertainer for telling them they're stupid! I guess having a modern infrastructure isn't important to a group of people who look back wistfully on the 50's. Speaking of going back in time, he compared the 20's to now, saying that it was a great time because that's when the middle class was made, failing to mention how they were exploited by their employers. He also failed to mention that in the 20's, African Americans, recent immigrants, farmers and a large part of the working class population lived below the poverty line of $2,000 per year per family. He was correct saying it was the decade of radios, motion pictures and cars becoming more affordable with mass production. However, to combat the exploitation of those same workers, the UAW for example, was eventually founded in May 1935. Manufacturing and "gasp" unions are what actually made the middle class. Conservative Republicans have been methodically destroying them ever since. Furthermore the comparison is void, we still made stuff then, we don't now. We now have unfavorable trade policies and a global economy. He also got a huge cheer for saying he took one class in college before dropping out. After telling everyone he didn't care about their personal story, he told his. We know he was a drunken, drug addict whose first wife left him, blah, blah, blah. I'll give him one thing, the misinformation he hands out to support his point of view doesn't seem to wear on his conscience at all.
Finally, Ann Coulter called Keith Olbermann a girl (amongst several other anti-liberal, anti-Democrat remarks). That's fine, he's just as much a girl as Coulter used to be! Not that there's anything wrong with being a transgender Ann (or is it really Arthur?). I really don't care about that stuff, but this is arguably the most hateful, vile public personality at this time. You reap what you sow.
We got some interesting little tidbits this week from CPAC. I'm going to run down a list of some of the more interesting one's. Former Massachusetts short term governor Mitt Romney claimed among other thing's that the Bush record wasn't all that bad compared to the current president's. "I am convinced that history will judge President Bush far more kindly -- he pulled us from a deepening recession following the attack of 9-11, he overcame teachers unions to test school children and evaluate schools, he took down the Taliban, waged a war against the jihadists and was not afraid to call it what it is -- a war. And he kept us safe." Let's see where I disagree...oh yeah, all of it. I would like some kind of evidence where he pulled us out of a recession after 9/11. Anyone got anything? All "No Child Left Behind" did was force schools to push kids through that weren't necessarily ready. The schools became more concerned with their own evaluations rather than the students. He took down the Taliban? Really? Why hasn't this bombshell been on the news? What does Willard know that the rest of us don't? More nonsense being suggested that Obama doesn't call our military occupations -- war (totally proven to be false) and my very favorite...Bush kept us safe...except for that one really, really big time and a few smaller one's that no one really remembers...at least no one who get's all their information from Fox News.
Tim Pawlenty didn't want to go unnoticed, so on the day Tiger Woods spoke at his apologetic press conference, TimmyPaw remarked, "I think we should take a page out of her [Elin Wood] playbook and take a nine iron and smash a window out of big government in this country." Do these guys ever outgrow junior high humor? They probably fart in public and insinuate it was someone else just for laughs.
Florida wannabe senator Marco Rubio (R)said, "The president couldn’t find anywhere to set up a teleprompter to announce new taxes,” while he was reading off of a teleprompter. This "Obama uses a teleprompter" thing is so friggin' old already. Name the last president or politician who didn't use one. I think the thing that drives me crazy is the dummies who actually think that both Bush's, Reagan, Palin, Bachmann and the rest of their hero's speak off the cuff...well, I guess in Palin's case, it's true.
Erick Erickson, editor-in-chief of the conservative RedState.com blog, offered up some honesty while discussing the right wing's infrastructure when he noted, "We've got Fox News." It's not like it's a secret, but they're now getting brazen enough to admit it.
As Human Events editor Jed Babbin introduced Grover Norquist, he quipped, "And let me just say, I'm really happy to see Grover today. He was getting a little testy in the past couple of weeks. And I was just really, really glad that it was not him identified as flying that airplane into the IRS building." Seriously? They couldn't even wait until the IRS building in Austin stopped smoking? How do you joke about a terrible event sparked by an unstable man which caused several injuries and two fatalities, including the pilot...just one day later to boot? Don't forget, these people call themselves compassionate conservatives. Way to stay classy, conservative movement.
One surprising thing happened at CPAC. When California Young Americans for Freedom’s Ryan Sorba launched into a denunciation of the conference for inviting GOProud, he was roundly booed off the stage. In response to jeers following his initial screed, Sorba said, "the lesbians at Smith College protest better than you do." Way to go Smith College, you've been in the limelight twice this week! This one positive reaction by the crowd does not for a second make me think of amending the title to this blog entry.
The crowd chanted, "Run, Dick Run" when Dick Cheney was introduced by daughter Liz. The pair took turns with their usual anti-Obama rhetoric. You know the one's, he doesn't keep us safe, he's a socialist, he's a one term president, yadda, yadda, yadda. Were these people seriously hibernating from January 2001-January 2009? I have no other explanation as to their rational for wanting to return to the good ol' days of the Bush-Cheney Dictatorship. I'm not on board with everything Obama has done, it's the difference with our side, we don't march lock step. However, to think the current state of affairs is in any way Obama's fault is just plain ridiculous. In my opinion, if Obama would put Elizabeth Warren in charge of everything financially culpable to our government and let her make the decisions without getting in the way, we'd be on our way to a solid long-lasting recovery! She has been the only one consistently making sense out of this whole financial debacle.
Rachel Maddow who was in D.C. for a Library of Congress event decided to take in CPAC while she was in town. She was accosted from a guy who literally got into her face, got somewhat physically threatening and threw literature at her (To Keep Our Honor Clean: We Must Oppose the Homosexual Agenda for the Military). She said, Thank you. Who are you? and he yelled in her face, "We're normal people, what about you?" As Rachel stated on her show, "He did not in fact seem like normal people, but more specifically he was from an organization called Tradition, Family and Property whose booth I sought out later. They say that it would be unclean to have gay people in the military - and they have this neato gold Welsh looking crest." Except for that one creepy individual, Rachel said everyone was very nice to her. I still find it amazing that these people don't understand that gay people are already serving. Removing DADT isn't about allowing gay people to join the military, it's about letting them continue to serve even if someone finds out they're gay! I don't understand how they're missing that fact!
Mr. Everyman, Glenn Beck with trusty chalkboard along side, gave his keynote speech Saturday evening. Among his claims: He said, "The progressives are a cancer to our society." He used some pretty deceptive "historical" information to back up his misinformation. Did you know Herbert Hoover was really a progressive? How can you even spin that claim? He had percentages of various claims all over his trusty chalkboard. This is another case of taking one of the worst president's in history and trying to chain him to our side. The Beckerheads in the audience don't know any better and certainly aren't going to do a fact check. Did you know you have the right to "pursue" happiness, but you do not have a right to health care or housing? In Glenn's world, his pursuit of happiness is complete. He lies for a living and is very well paid for it. The health care opinion didn't surprise me, but the housing one sure did! Funny how he didn't tie any crime statistics to his uneven rhetoric about homelessness on his chalkboard. Did you also know the progressive tax rate is a bad thing? He got a standing ovation and a huge roar from the crowd for that one. He's making $23M per year and they're making a bit less than that! What is wrong with people? They not only vote against their own best interest, they're cheering an entertainer for telling them they're stupid! I guess having a modern infrastructure isn't important to a group of people who look back wistfully on the 50's. Speaking of going back in time, he compared the 20's to now, saying that it was a great time because that's when the middle class was made, failing to mention how they were exploited by their employers. He also failed to mention that in the 20's, African Americans, recent immigrants, farmers and a large part of the working class population lived below the poverty line of $2,000 per year per family. He was correct saying it was the decade of radios, motion pictures and cars becoming more affordable with mass production. However, to combat the exploitation of those same workers, the UAW for example, was eventually founded in May 1935. Manufacturing and "gasp" unions are what actually made the middle class. Conservative Republicans have been methodically destroying them ever since. Furthermore the comparison is void, we still made stuff then, we don't now. We now have unfavorable trade policies and a global economy. He also got a huge cheer for saying he took one class in college before dropping out. After telling everyone he didn't care about their personal story, he told his. We know he was a drunken, drug addict whose first wife left him, blah, blah, blah. I'll give him one thing, the misinformation he hands out to support his point of view doesn't seem to wear on his conscience at all.
Finally, Ann Coulter called Keith Olbermann a girl (amongst several other anti-liberal, anti-Democrat remarks). That's fine, he's just as much a girl as Coulter used to be! Not that there's anything wrong with being a transgender Ann (or is it really Arthur?). I really don't care about that stuff, but this is arguably the most hateful, vile public personality at this time. You reap what you sow.
Monday, January 18, 2010
When Fox Squawker Meets Days of Thunder
Sarah Palin didn't waste anytime getting started with her latest job. She sat down with Bill O'Reilly for her first interview as a paid Fox contributor on The O'Reilly Factor Tuesday. Bill-O's softball sit-down was a waste of time for anyone not enamored with this fool, but her fans think she really laid out policy! Palin also said she was looking forward "to providing the fair and the balanced reporting and analysis that voters in this country deserve." Riiight, that’s why she’s on Faux Newz. Then there was a full hour with Glenn Beck. Beck started the show by reading to Palin from his personal diary in which he called her "one of the only people that can possibly lead us out of where we are." As Jon Stewart explained, she had a “moose in the headlights look.” On his radio show the next day, Beck explained their initial meeting as they had not actually met before. He said he walked in on Palin furiously googling on her Blackberry. When Beck enquired what she was doing, she claimed she was preparing (nothing like waiting until the last minute). She noticed (that’s amazing in itself) how he chose to interview her with the Statue of Liberty in the background and thought he was going to quiz her on the 25 windows and seven points on the crown! He assured her that wasn’t the case. Beck did manage to ask Palin a tough question, by Palin standards at least. He asked her to name her favorite founding father; Palin took a page from her infamous campaign interview with CBS' Katie Couric and told Beck, "all of them" without any hint of the irony. Seems to me that he is now part of that Couric/Gibson gotcha media. It did seem to appear that even Beck now realizes what the majority of the country figured out a long time ago about her. She is a moron. Speaking of Palin's founding fathers answer, MSNBC's Chris Matthews later asked, "how come she can't answer the most simple questions?" If you thought Palin's verbal befuddlement couldn't get any more bizarre, you'd be wrong. Appearing on Hannity on Thursday, the Facebook politician claimed that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is, "driving a bus that is headed towards a train wreck." WTF! People, remember how close she was to the red button!
The week wasn't over for Saracuda though!. As a part-time Nascar watcher, former big fan who still loves Daytona, I have to comment on this one. Saturday it was reported that Sarah Palin will be a VIP guest at next month’s Daytona 500. Daytona International Speedway president Robin Braig said that they will “showcase her just as much as we would our mayor, our governor or our senators.” Um, don’t they think that’s a bit much? Unless the mayor, governor or any of their senators are habitual quitters, that seems a bit over the top. For anyone unfamiliar with how the Daytona 500 is treated, I’ll make it simple. The Daytona 500 is Nascar’s Super Bowl even though it’s the first race of the new season. It is unquestionably the most prestigious race on the schedule. And as someone who actually went to the Coke Zero 400 last July, I can verify that it’s the most exciting track (that I’ve been to) to view a race. The pre-race activities for “The 500” are virtually the halftime show at the Super Bowl. In the very recent past and off the top of my head, Jon Bon Jovi and Kelly Clarkson have provided entertainment. I’ll be skipping the pre-race festivities this year even though I’m sure headliner Tim McGraw will be a big lure for many. The former Alaska governor will be introduced at the pre-race drivers meeting along with other celebrities. Did I mention this telecast will be broadcast on Fox? I’m pretty sure she’ll get more than a little bit of screen time. That said, I have to say I’m kind of looking forward to her going in the booth. There’s not a doubt in my mind that right wing commentator Darrell Waltrip will get her up there after the start of the race, drool a little and ask, “Who is your favorite driver?” Is there any doubt she will say, “All of them!?"
The week wasn't over for Saracuda though!. As a part-time Nascar watcher, former big fan who still loves Daytona, I have to comment on this one. Saturday it was reported that Sarah Palin will be a VIP guest at next month’s Daytona 500. Daytona International Speedway president Robin Braig said that they will “showcase her just as much as we would our mayor, our governor or our senators.” Um, don’t they think that’s a bit much? Unless the mayor, governor or any of their senators are habitual quitters, that seems a bit over the top. For anyone unfamiliar with how the Daytona 500 is treated, I’ll make it simple. The Daytona 500 is Nascar’s Super Bowl even though it’s the first race of the new season. It is unquestionably the most prestigious race on the schedule. And as someone who actually went to the Coke Zero 400 last July, I can verify that it’s the most exciting track (that I’ve been to) to view a race. The pre-race activities for “The 500” are virtually the halftime show at the Super Bowl. In the very recent past and off the top of my head, Jon Bon Jovi and Kelly Clarkson have provided entertainment. I’ll be skipping the pre-race festivities this year even though I’m sure headliner Tim McGraw will be a big lure for many. The former Alaska governor will be introduced at the pre-race drivers meeting along with other celebrities. Did I mention this telecast will be broadcast on Fox? I’m pretty sure she’ll get more than a little bit of screen time. That said, I have to say I’m kind of looking forward to her going in the booth. There’s not a doubt in my mind that right wing commentator Darrell Waltrip will get her up there after the start of the race, drool a little and ask, “Who is your favorite driver?” Is there any doubt she will say, “All of them!?"
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Say It Ain't So, Massachusetts!
On Tuesday, the 19th of January, our little ol' state of Massachusetts will be holding a special election to replace the seat once held by Senator Ted Kennedy. Democrat Martha Coakley is in a tight battle with Republican Scott Brown. The thing is, this should've been an easy win for Coakley, but I honestly think someone was whispering in her ear that "it's in the bag" so she hadn't been doing much campaigning until the polls started tightening. Brown on the other hand has been pretty aggressive and has had money pumped into the state from outside sources. I will be shocked and dismayed if our state elects a Bush-clone to the seat once held by Kennedy.
To me, this is about so much more than the health care debate. Brown’s positions are actually lock-step with what Bush and Cheney did…tax cuts for the wealthy, protections for business, he’s against the fees Obama has proposed on big banks to get bailout money returned in entirety, health care for all as long as it’s done through private insurers, doesn’t care about the environment, etc… On gay marriage: "Marriage issues should be left up to the states, so long as they reflect the people’s will as expressed through them directly, or as expressed through their elected representatives.” In other words, keep letting the majority decide on the rights of a minority. He’s been endorsed by the hate group, MassResistance. I wonder what would’ve happened in 1967 if inter-racial marriage was put up for vote as a popularity contest? I’m a bit confused about his stance on abortion since it seems to change depending on his audience. At one point he stated: “While this decision should ultimately be made by the woman in consultation with her doctor, I believe we need to reduce the number of abortions in America. I believe government has the responsibility to regulate in this area and I support parental consent and notification requirements and I oppose partial birth abortion.” First, let me just say that I hate the term partial birth abortion, just as much as I resent being called pro-abortion. The anti-abortion crowd just keeps on coming out with terms to place fear in women. As a very pro-choice individual, I also recognize that late term abortions are no longer a clear cut decision between a woman and her doctor. At a certain point, you’ve taken on some responsibility whether you realize it or not. I’m not a believer that life starts at conception, rather at individual viability. That is when the decision becomes tricky since the woman has had several months to decide, life/health of the mother obviously excluded. However, Brown also sponsored an amendment to a 2005 bill on emergency contraception that would have let emergency room doctors or nurses turn away rape victims if they had religious objections to providing emergency contraception. Rape victims! They’ve already been violently victimized once and now they’re going to get victimized by the very people who are supposed to help them? My feeling has always been you need to leave your personal feelings at the door in any profession. If you can’t do your job every single day in every single way, you need to find another line of work. It’s as simple as that.
Here’s what I find somewhat interesting. In June of 1982, Scott Brown won Cosmopolitan’s “America’s Sexiest Man” contest and posed nude for the centerfold. Isn’t this the family values party? Didn’t fellow Tea-bagger Sarah Palin say her former, future son-in-law Levi Johnson was doing porn by posing in Playgirl? What’s the difference? Enquiring minds want to know. I’d also love to hear the roar if it was the Democrat who had done the nude layout. It would’ve been scandalous! What I think is mind-boggling is in their ongoing hypocrisy. Their defense is that it’s ok because he’s good looking! So what, Obama is too. The right wing went nuts over a photo just as old as this one, of Obama smoking a cigarette because of the message that it sends to the youth of America. Conservatives really are one dimensional cretins.
Today President Obama will arrive in Boston to help gin up the base to turn out on Tuesday. I’ve been getting robo-calls from Obama, Bill Clinton, Martha Coakley and sadly Scott Brown (I’d love a live call) who’s been endorsed and heavily funded by the Tea Party Express. I hope it’s not a question of too little, too late. Martha Coakley is not an exciting candidate by any stretch, but the alternative is not acceptable. What a sick twist in irony it will be when Houston, TX just elected a lesbian Mayor and liberal Massachusetts ends up with a Tea Bagger in the senate if this doesn’t go well. If that happens, I hope the Democrats find a strong candidate to run for the full term in 2012.
To me, this is about so much more than the health care debate. Brown’s positions are actually lock-step with what Bush and Cheney did…tax cuts for the wealthy, protections for business, he’s against the fees Obama has proposed on big banks to get bailout money returned in entirety, health care for all as long as it’s done through private insurers, doesn’t care about the environment, etc… On gay marriage: "Marriage issues should be left up to the states, so long as they reflect the people’s will as expressed through them directly, or as expressed through their elected representatives.” In other words, keep letting the majority decide on the rights of a minority. He’s been endorsed by the hate group, MassResistance. I wonder what would’ve happened in 1967 if inter-racial marriage was put up for vote as a popularity contest? I’m a bit confused about his stance on abortion since it seems to change depending on his audience. At one point he stated: “While this decision should ultimately be made by the woman in consultation with her doctor, I believe we need to reduce the number of abortions in America. I believe government has the responsibility to regulate in this area and I support parental consent and notification requirements and I oppose partial birth abortion.” First, let me just say that I hate the term partial birth abortion, just as much as I resent being called pro-abortion. The anti-abortion crowd just keeps on coming out with terms to place fear in women. As a very pro-choice individual, I also recognize that late term abortions are no longer a clear cut decision between a woman and her doctor. At a certain point, you’ve taken on some responsibility whether you realize it or not. I’m not a believer that life starts at conception, rather at individual viability. That is when the decision becomes tricky since the woman has had several months to decide, life/health of the mother obviously excluded. However, Brown also sponsored an amendment to a 2005 bill on emergency contraception that would have let emergency room doctors or nurses turn away rape victims if they had religious objections to providing emergency contraception. Rape victims! They’ve already been violently victimized once and now they’re going to get victimized by the very people who are supposed to help them? My feeling has always been you need to leave your personal feelings at the door in any profession. If you can’t do your job every single day in every single way, you need to find another line of work. It’s as simple as that.
Here’s what I find somewhat interesting. In June of 1982, Scott Brown won Cosmopolitan’s “America’s Sexiest Man” contest and posed nude for the centerfold. Isn’t this the family values party? Didn’t fellow Tea-bagger Sarah Palin say her former, future son-in-law Levi Johnson was doing porn by posing in Playgirl? What’s the difference? Enquiring minds want to know. I’d also love to hear the roar if it was the Democrat who had done the nude layout. It would’ve been scandalous! What I think is mind-boggling is in their ongoing hypocrisy. Their defense is that it’s ok because he’s good looking! So what, Obama is too. The right wing went nuts over a photo just as old as this one, of Obama smoking a cigarette because of the message that it sends to the youth of America. Conservatives really are one dimensional cretins.
Today President Obama will arrive in Boston to help gin up the base to turn out on Tuesday. I’ve been getting robo-calls from Obama, Bill Clinton, Martha Coakley and sadly Scott Brown (I’d love a live call) who’s been endorsed and heavily funded by the Tea Party Express. I hope it’s not a question of too little, too late. Martha Coakley is not an exciting candidate by any stretch, but the alternative is not acceptable. What a sick twist in irony it will be when Houston, TX just elected a lesbian Mayor and liberal Massachusetts ends up with a Tea Bagger in the senate if this doesn’t go well. If that happens, I hope the Democrats find a strong candidate to run for the full term in 2012.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Limbaugh's Take on Hate-e
While this man knows no limit to the depth he’ll dive, he may have reached a level this week that even Jacques Cousteau would be jealous of. After the 7.0 Earthquake annihilated Haiti on Tuesday, Rush Limbaugh decided to make political rhetoric out of thousands of deaths to his simple minded hate-filled listeners. On Wednesday Rush declared;
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.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Looking Back at 2009
Winners
Barack Obama: On January 20th, our 44th and first African-American President was sworn in at the age of 47. So much hope, so much energy. We'd never again have to hear nuclear pronounced nucular or wonder if our chi'dren was learnin'. He started quickly out of the box, but got bogged down by the health care reform kerfuffle. Then there were the unfortunate August town halls. Like many observers have noted, no one has ever made a dime betting against this guy. It's nice having a smart guy in the White House again. Let's hope 2010 gives him the bounceback we'd all like to see...well, most of us.
Rachel Maddow: She never shouts. She doesn't talk over guests or down to them. She doesn't ask questions to listen to herself talk. She examines, reports and exhibits a cool calmness while politely dissecting adversaries on both sides of the aisle, often to their faces...then thanks them for being on her show! Her preparation is unmatched. She covers stories no one else wants too. She goes out of her way to explain complex issues, often with humor so her viewers 'get it' without feeling inadequate. Her show has definitely found it's niche and hit it's stride.
Senator Al Franken (D-MN): Franken’s very first piece of legislation was an amendment to the FY2010 Defense Appropriations Bill, prohibiting defense contractors from restricting their employees’ abilities to take workplace discrimination, battery, and sexual assault cases to court. 30 male Republicans voted against it. Then they were shocked by the blowback they received. Apparently, they viewed Jamie Leigh Jones gang rape and the 24 hour lock up in a shipping container, which inspired this amendment as frivolous; "Just boys being boys." Protecting Halliburton/KBR against lawsuits must come first in their neo-con world. I honestly do not understand how any self-respecting woman can vote Republican. This was just another example of their ongoing dismissal of women as equal parts of society.
Chesley Sullenberger: How could you not be impressed on January 15th when Captain Sully landed US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River saving all 155 on board. The plane encountered a double bird strike which crippled both engines. Further adding to his legend was that he walked the aisle of the jet twice looking for passengers before exiting the plane himself. One part of his legend that was too much information was how it increased his "love" life.
Susan Boyle: Who can forget her rendition of "I Dreamed A Dream" on Britain's Got Talent. The sneers, jeers, eye rolls and chuckles the portly, frumpy woman received prior to her song, and the immediate reactions upon launching into it was one of the greatest moments ever on live TV. If ever anyone proved you can't judge a book by it's cover, she sure did.
Shaquille O'Neil: In a nice gesture towards a poor family, NBA star Shaquille O'Neal paid for the funeral of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis whose body was found November 16 in North Carolina on the side of the road. Her mother and another man were charged with multiple offenses. I'm not a basketball or O'Neil fan, but I'll give the guy credit for doing a very nice thing.
Losers
Glenn Beck & Rush Limbaugh: Conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory. Lie after lie. All nonsense, much of it dangerous. They give the teetering fringe the outlets they need to justify radical actions. I'm all for freedom of speech, however when you are able to spread outright lies without consequence, we have a problem.
Dick Cheney: He does everything the above do, but he says it as an ex-VP. That may give him a bit more credibility with a few more people. His constant attacks on Obama are meant to distract people of the true Bush-Cheney record. The 20%ers honestly believe they kept us safe and think Clinton was at fault for 9/11. They think the economy was strong under Bush. It does seem to have effectiveness with the same old segment. Of course Cheney won't appear anywhere but Fox Newz, the right wing propaganda channel. This is another case of repeating the message incessantly until it becomes a perceived truth to as many as possible.
Birthers: So is it that they don't realize Hawaii was a state in 1961? Do they really believe Obama's grandparents posted birth announcements in the Honolulu Advertiser & Star Bulletin in August of 1961 because they knew he'd be president one day? Do they just not care that Kenya didn't become a republic until 1964? Or is it as simple as trying to delegitimize the "exotic" guy for some predisposed opinions? Hmm...
Deathers: The same people as the birthers. They couldn't make that argument stick so they moved on. The new claim, kicked off by Sarah Palin was that Obama was going to have a panel of bureaucrats to decide who lives and who dies. Apparently, in addition to the elderly and down's syndrome babies, there was even an amendment that conservatives get offed first! You know, we could laugh about this, but there's a whole lot of people in this country that actually believe this crap. You know who they are as well as I do. They're the anti-education Christofascists. No surprise that my top pick(s) gave both groups credibility for their message(s).
Sarah Palin: There's not much more that I can add to what I've already written about her. I just find it terribly disturbing that 58,343,671 people willingly voted for a ticket that could've put this empty-headed nitwit one heartbeat from the presidency. In 2009 she proved that she's a liar, she's deceptive, she's manipulative, she's an anti-intellect, she's an opportunist ... and she's becoming a multi-millionaire because she has a huge fan base who thinks she's attractive - and waves the bible.
Peyton Manning: Because it's my blog. I can't stand this guy for a variety of reasons. It started while he was a college "star" and continued as his professional success grew. Somewhat recently, Huffington Post had an article about his commercials that eventually led to a discussion comparing him and Tom Brady. A lot of responses were calling Manning the all-American boy and disparaging Brady because he had a child out of wedlock. Even the fact that it had been a long-term relationship was irrelevant to these flag-waving, bible-thumping clowns. Manning likes to use the God word. Whenever I spoke of Manning's issue, I got scrubbed. Whenever I linked the article, I got scrubbed. Read this linked article if you want to see where my feelings about him begin. It's the story of a female trainer's treatment by not only him, but her employer because of him. I will root against the Indianapolis Colts until he retires. Brother Eli's stunt when the San Diego Chargers drafted him was just one more clue about how cocky these guys are, thanks to their father Archie who was a below average NFL quarterback in the 70's. I'll keep Tom Brady, thank you very much.
The WTF's
Joe Wilson (R-SC): He of the "You lie" fame. Can you imagine had a Democrat yelled "You lie" at Bush when he was making his WMD claims? He/she would've been censured, Republicans would've demanded an apology on the floor and the Republicans would've spent millions on a challenger. How did the Democrats handle it? As usual they did nothing. They once again let the R's have a "win". Is it an important win? Not by itself. Democrats still don't get that these little victories add up in the minds of our simple minded electorate. There's a group that thinks by not responding, it means any of their various nonsense is correct. When will Dems learn?
Michele Bachmann: "I have experience that throughout my political career, being labeled a kook." - "Michael Steele, you be the man. You be the man." - “What we have to do today is make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing." Ok, I just used a few of my favorites although there are dozens more. Gee Michele, given the comment about slitting wrists over HCR, I have no idea why you would be labeled a kook!
Tiger Woods: There's really nothing I can add that you haven't heard or thought yourself. I'm not sure if I've ever witnessed a faster fall from grace. He'll return to golf and he'll win, but he'll never have the marketability that he had before Thanksgiving. His brazenness probably even makes Bill Clinton jealous.
Balloon Boy: You now, the day I got home from work and saw this on tv, while we didn't know officially that it was a hoax, I knew that kid was going to be found hiding in the house. Glad mom and dad are going to jail for a little while. They should also be forced to pay the $42,000 bill they received to reimburse police, the National Guard, and the FAA who were all involved in the search.
Party Crashers: Michaele and Tareq Salahi, managed to slip into a state dinner at the White House even though they were not on the guest list. Reportedly, the Secret Service is looking into its own security procedures. Yeah, that makes sense, let them investigate themselves. Am I the only one who thinks that's ridiculous? Anyone?
Barack Obama: On January 20th, our 44th and first African-American President was sworn in at the age of 47. So much hope, so much energy. We'd never again have to hear nuclear pronounced nucular or wonder if our chi'dren was learnin'. He started quickly out of the box, but got bogged down by the health care reform kerfuffle. Then there were the unfortunate August town halls. Like many observers have noted, no one has ever made a dime betting against this guy. It's nice having a smart guy in the White House again. Let's hope 2010 gives him the bounceback we'd all like to see...well, most of us.
Rachel Maddow: She never shouts. She doesn't talk over guests or down to them. She doesn't ask questions to listen to herself talk. She examines, reports and exhibits a cool calmness while politely dissecting adversaries on both sides of the aisle, often to their faces...then thanks them for being on her show! Her preparation is unmatched. She covers stories no one else wants too. She goes out of her way to explain complex issues, often with humor so her viewers 'get it' without feeling inadequate. Her show has definitely found it's niche and hit it's stride.
Senator Al Franken (D-MN): Franken’s very first piece of legislation was an amendment to the FY2010 Defense Appropriations Bill, prohibiting defense contractors from restricting their employees’ abilities to take workplace discrimination, battery, and sexual assault cases to court. 30 male Republicans voted against it. Then they were shocked by the blowback they received. Apparently, they viewed Jamie Leigh Jones gang rape and the 24 hour lock up in a shipping container, which inspired this amendment as frivolous; "Just boys being boys." Protecting Halliburton/KBR against lawsuits must come first in their neo-con world. I honestly do not understand how any self-respecting woman can vote Republican. This was just another example of their ongoing dismissal of women as equal parts of society.
Chesley Sullenberger: How could you not be impressed on January 15th when Captain Sully landed US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River saving all 155 on board. The plane encountered a double bird strike which crippled both engines. Further adding to his legend was that he walked the aisle of the jet twice looking for passengers before exiting the plane himself. One part of his legend that was too much information was how it increased his "love" life.
Susan Boyle: Who can forget her rendition of "I Dreamed A Dream" on Britain's Got Talent. The sneers, jeers, eye rolls and chuckles the portly, frumpy woman received prior to her song, and the immediate reactions upon launching into it was one of the greatest moments ever on live TV. If ever anyone proved you can't judge a book by it's cover, she sure did.
Shaquille O'Neil: In a nice gesture towards a poor family, NBA star Shaquille O'Neal paid for the funeral of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis whose body was found November 16 in North Carolina on the side of the road. Her mother and another man were charged with multiple offenses. I'm not a basketball or O'Neil fan, but I'll give the guy credit for doing a very nice thing.
Losers
Glenn Beck & Rush Limbaugh: Conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory. Lie after lie. All nonsense, much of it dangerous. They give the teetering fringe the outlets they need to justify radical actions. I'm all for freedom of speech, however when you are able to spread outright lies without consequence, we have a problem.
Dick Cheney: He does everything the above do, but he says it as an ex-VP. That may give him a bit more credibility with a few more people. His constant attacks on Obama are meant to distract people of the true Bush-Cheney record. The 20%ers honestly believe they kept us safe and think Clinton was at fault for 9/11. They think the economy was strong under Bush. It does seem to have effectiveness with the same old segment. Of course Cheney won't appear anywhere but Fox Newz, the right wing propaganda channel. This is another case of repeating the message incessantly until it becomes a perceived truth to as many as possible.
Birthers: So is it that they don't realize Hawaii was a state in 1961? Do they really believe Obama's grandparents posted birth announcements in the Honolulu Advertiser & Star Bulletin in August of 1961 because they knew he'd be president one day? Do they just not care that Kenya didn't become a republic until 1964? Or is it as simple as trying to delegitimize the "exotic" guy for some predisposed opinions? Hmm...
Deathers: The same people as the birthers. They couldn't make that argument stick so they moved on. The new claim, kicked off by Sarah Palin was that Obama was going to have a panel of bureaucrats to decide who lives and who dies. Apparently, in addition to the elderly and down's syndrome babies, there was even an amendment that conservatives get offed first! You know, we could laugh about this, but there's a whole lot of people in this country that actually believe this crap. You know who they are as well as I do. They're the anti-education Christofascists. No surprise that my top pick(s) gave both groups credibility for their message(s).
Sarah Palin: There's not much more that I can add to what I've already written about her. I just find it terribly disturbing that 58,343,671 people willingly voted for a ticket that could've put this empty-headed nitwit one heartbeat from the presidency. In 2009 she proved that she's a liar, she's deceptive, she's manipulative, she's an anti-intellect, she's an opportunist ... and she's becoming a multi-millionaire because she has a huge fan base who thinks she's attractive - and waves the bible.
Peyton Manning: Because it's my blog. I can't stand this guy for a variety of reasons. It started while he was a college "star" and continued as his professional success grew. Somewhat recently, Huffington Post had an article about his commercials that eventually led to a discussion comparing him and Tom Brady. A lot of responses were calling Manning the all-American boy and disparaging Brady because he had a child out of wedlock. Even the fact that it had been a long-term relationship was irrelevant to these flag-waving, bible-thumping clowns. Manning likes to use the God word. Whenever I spoke of Manning's issue, I got scrubbed. Whenever I linked the article, I got scrubbed. Read this linked article if you want to see where my feelings about him begin. It's the story of a female trainer's treatment by not only him, but her employer because of him. I will root against the Indianapolis Colts until he retires. Brother Eli's stunt when the San Diego Chargers drafted him was just one more clue about how cocky these guys are, thanks to their father Archie who was a below average NFL quarterback in the 70's. I'll keep Tom Brady, thank you very much.
The WTF's
Joe Wilson (R-SC): He of the "You lie" fame. Can you imagine had a Democrat yelled "You lie" at Bush when he was making his WMD claims? He/she would've been censured, Republicans would've demanded an apology on the floor and the Republicans would've spent millions on a challenger. How did the Democrats handle it? As usual they did nothing. They once again let the R's have a "win". Is it an important win? Not by itself. Democrats still don't get that these little victories add up in the minds of our simple minded electorate. There's a group that thinks by not responding, it means any of their various nonsense is correct. When will Dems learn?
Michele Bachmann: "I have experience that throughout my political career, being labeled a kook." - "Michael Steele, you be the man. You be the man." - “What we have to do today is make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing." Ok, I just used a few of my favorites although there are dozens more. Gee Michele, given the comment about slitting wrists over HCR, I have no idea why you would be labeled a kook!
Tiger Woods: There's really nothing I can add that you haven't heard or thought yourself. I'm not sure if I've ever witnessed a faster fall from grace. He'll return to golf and he'll win, but he'll never have the marketability that he had before Thanksgiving. His brazenness probably even makes Bill Clinton jealous.
Balloon Boy: You now, the day I got home from work and saw this on tv, while we didn't know officially that it was a hoax, I knew that kid was going to be found hiding in the house. Glad mom and dad are going to jail for a little while. They should also be forced to pay the $42,000 bill they received to reimburse police, the National Guard, and the FAA who were all involved in the search.
Party Crashers: Michaele and Tareq Salahi, managed to slip into a state dinner at the White House even though they were not on the guest list. Reportedly, the Secret Service is looking into its own security procedures. Yeah, that makes sense, let them investigate themselves. Am I the only one who thinks that's ridiculous? Anyone?
Happy New Year!
Stay safe
Friday, December 18, 2009
Has Obama Become "Compromised" Trying to "Compromise" With His Opponents?
Wednesday night, Keith Olbermann kind of stole my thunder with his Special Comment on the latest version of HR-3590, the Senate Health Care Reform bill. It was essentially a big “eff you” to Obama. He was correct on every point. Obama has continuously thumbed his nose at those of us who supported him, preferring to woo the right and conservative Democrats. Everytime the left rises in any kind of opposition to any proposed bill, he sends attack dog Rahm Emanual to tell the "liberals" to shut up. In my opinion he thinks we’ll support him in the end anyways, so he doesn’t care about how we’re feeling about one disappointment after another. This so called “health care reform” has magnified what a weak leader our President is turning out to be. I guess it was kind of silly of me last November 4, 2008 thinking I was voting for Obama/Biden. It turns out I was actually voting for Lieberman/Snowe. It's become painfully obvious over the past several months who holds the real power. It has actually been sickening to watch the alternating coddling the two of them have received from Democrats. I believe this administration is underestimating the degree that we're paying attention. They seem genuinely surprised that we actually expected them to be different. They better start realizing the damage they're doing or they're heading for one and done.
What we are currently looking at is a bill with no cost control. The insurance companies can’t deny you coverage for a pre-existing conditions, but they can charge you what they want. Isn't that great? There's no cap on premiums, but there's a cap on benefits! To top it off, you have to have insurance bought from the "insurance cartel!" So this has turned into a big gift to private insurers by handing them at least 30 million new customers. Way to go Obama, that’s not exactly the “change” we were looking for. The current position is something Obama actually chastised Hillary Clinton for during their respective campaign's. In 2012, I will vote for Obama again if he’s still the Democratic nominee, but only because we can’t leave the chance that Republicans will fill any more Supreme Court vacancies as they become open. It won’t be with excitement next time, unless he works very hard to right the ship. So far, he's been disappointing. Please take time to watch Keith’s outstanding spot on Special Comment:
After all this, we still have to wait for House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to meld the two bills together. The bill in the House at least has a Public Option to compete with private insurance, but it also has the Stupak Amendment, further restricting/obstructing a woman’s right to chose a safe and legal medical procedure. But don’t worry guys, you can still get ED supplements in both bills. The good ol' boys in Washington need be able to perform at a moments’ notice. I can't tell you how angry I am that these guys don’t feel a woman has the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy (it's not accomplished without help), but we better damn well not infringe their rights to have a "drug induced" erection…so when she's ready, you're ready...lasting as long as four hours...if loss of hearing or vision occurs, call a doctor. I do have to ask; Is it really that important guys? The Senate version doesn’t contain anti-abortion language as I write this, but Nebraska Conservadem Ben Nelson is working on it. He claims he won't vote for a bill without it. I'm going to have to put some trust in Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) on this one. She has been adament and consistent with her position that this is supposed to be about affordable health care, not circumventing a woman's right to choose. This should be simple, if you don’t believe in abortion don’t get one. However, making it virtually impossible to obtain a legal procedure because you personally have a problem with it is crossing the lines to women's rights. This country is letting religious beliefs dictate everything we do and I’m sick of it. The Catholic Church meddled in on this debate as well by having secret meetings with members of congress. The Hyde amendment from 1976 already disallows public funding for the procedure, but nooo that wasn’t enough – they added Stupak. What these guys are aiming for, is any insurance company who gets any federal money (which is almost all of them) will not be allowed to offer that service, even if a woman has her own insurance that she paid for. Somewhere along the way, this country began regressing on basic rights and I’m really afraid of where we’re going with the zealots getting louder and wielding more power. Let's start getting seperation of church and state in order. The next time the Catholics or the Mormons get involved in policy, strip them of their tax exempt status, until they see the errors of their ways. Then make them re-apply for it with a very long drawn out process. Let them see what it's like to have something taken away from them. I know -- it's a pipe dream of mine that will never happen.
Quick Thoughts: Thumbs up to MSNBC...mostly. Outstanding coverage from Olbermann and Ed Schultz for attempting to hold Obama accountable to campaign promises on health care. Ed's radio and tv shows have both covered the debate extensively and he's become a strong voice for a strong public option. Schultz was appearing on Morning Joe Thursday morning when he heard both Mika Brezinski's and Joe Scarborough's Blackberry's start ringing. Apparently they were getting complaints from the White House due to Schultz and fellow guest Arianna Huffington's blistering commentary and wanted the hosts to tone it down. I guess this White House expected MSNBC to behave as Fox did through the Bush years, as lapdogs. Also, great news for The Rachel Maddow Show whose overall ratings for the year were up 15% over 2008. While Rachel uses a gentler approach than the guys, she has been hammering the administration on numerous campaign promises since April. Even though the three aforementioned like Obama, they're doing their jobs in a non-partisan way. Chris Matthews continues to be the weak link in the evening line-up. Ever since his "thrill down my leg" comment, he's gone way to the right and insults liberals on a nightly basis. I guess he feels that's the way to redeem himself. I was never a fan, but now he's completely unwatchable....
I'm liking Al Franken (D-Minn.), more and more. When Lieberman's 10 minutes of yammering were up Thursday, this is what happened next; "I'm sorry. The senator has spoken for ten minutes," Franken the chamber's presiding officer, told Lieberman. "I wonder if I could ask unanimous consent for just an additional moment," Lieberman said. "In my capacity as the senator from Minnesota, I object," said Franken. Good for Al. I've heard enough from Benedict Arnold for a lifetime. To actually state that he didn't want the Medicare buy-in for people 55-64 because "liberals like it too much" said all you needed to know about this prick....
As Sarah's World Turns: The Toronto Sun Reports that Sarah Palin has been booted from Canadian Hospital fundraiser. Apparently the Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation received many angry calls and emails from people saying they wouldn't donate to any event in which she has a role. She will come to town raise money for a local children’s charity instead. See what having educated citizens does!...A Salt Lake City Costco where Palin was to attend a book signing removed all tomatos from the shelves to lessen the chance of a copycat tomato throwing incident as happened a couple weeks ago in Minnesota. That was brilliant, really. I wonder if it occured to them to remove the eggs too... While in Salt Lake, the diva's legend grew. Palin's entourage requested local hairdresser Rhonda Halliday do an emergency hair session. Halliday arrived at the hotel and had her car valet parked. After being ushered to a room and given some instructions (don't talk to Palin unless she talks first) she did Palin's hair while the Wasilla quitter chatted with her family. Then, the Queen's party left to get to the book signing at Costco on time. Halliday was the last one out of the room because she had to put her equipment away, then watched as they all drove off without anyone mentioning payment or a tip. When the valet attendant got her car, he said that would be $10. She said she was with the Palin party and assumed they would take care of parking. That was news to him, so she had to fork over the $10. I guess she should've just been honored to be in her majestry's presence, that was payment enough... Palin also annoyed leaders of the Utah Republican Party when she didn't have time for them during her stop in Salt Lake City. I'm sure if they offered her a few bucks, she would've gladly found the time. She sure knows how to win friends and influence people. Yup, she's going to make a fine Presidential hopeful!
Keep the pressure on!
What we are currently looking at is a bill with no cost control. The insurance companies can’t deny you coverage for a pre-existing conditions, but they can charge you what they want. Isn't that great? There's no cap on premiums, but there's a cap on benefits! To top it off, you have to have insurance bought from the "insurance cartel!" So this has turned into a big gift to private insurers by handing them at least 30 million new customers. Way to go Obama, that’s not exactly the “change” we were looking for. The current position is something Obama actually chastised Hillary Clinton for during their respective campaign's. In 2012, I will vote for Obama again if he’s still the Democratic nominee, but only because we can’t leave the chance that Republicans will fill any more Supreme Court vacancies as they become open. It won’t be with excitement next time, unless he works very hard to right the ship. So far, he's been disappointing. Please take time to watch Keith’s outstanding spot on Special Comment:
After all this, we still have to wait for House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to meld the two bills together. The bill in the House at least has a Public Option to compete with private insurance, but it also has the Stupak Amendment, further restricting/obstructing a woman’s right to chose a safe and legal medical procedure. But don’t worry guys, you can still get ED supplements in both bills. The good ol' boys in Washington need be able to perform at a moments’ notice. I can't tell you how angry I am that these guys don’t feel a woman has the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy (it's not accomplished without help), but we better damn well not infringe their rights to have a "drug induced" erection…so when she's ready, you're ready...lasting as long as four hours...if loss of hearing or vision occurs, call a doctor. I do have to ask; Is it really that important guys? The Senate version doesn’t contain anti-abortion language as I write this, but Nebraska Conservadem Ben Nelson is working on it. He claims he won't vote for a bill without it. I'm going to have to put some trust in Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) on this one. She has been adament and consistent with her position that this is supposed to be about affordable health care, not circumventing a woman's right to choose. This should be simple, if you don’t believe in abortion don’t get one. However, making it virtually impossible to obtain a legal procedure because you personally have a problem with it is crossing the lines to women's rights. This country is letting religious beliefs dictate everything we do and I’m sick of it. The Catholic Church meddled in on this debate as well by having secret meetings with members of congress. The Hyde amendment from 1976 already disallows public funding for the procedure, but nooo that wasn’t enough – they added Stupak. What these guys are aiming for, is any insurance company who gets any federal money (which is almost all of them) will not be allowed to offer that service, even if a woman has her own insurance that she paid for. Somewhere along the way, this country began regressing on basic rights and I’m really afraid of where we’re going with the zealots getting louder and wielding more power. Let's start getting seperation of church and state in order. The next time the Catholics or the Mormons get involved in policy, strip them of their tax exempt status, until they see the errors of their ways. Then make them re-apply for it with a very long drawn out process. Let them see what it's like to have something taken away from them. I know -- it's a pipe dream of mine that will never happen.
Quick Thoughts: Thumbs up to MSNBC...mostly. Outstanding coverage from Olbermann and Ed Schultz for attempting to hold Obama accountable to campaign promises on health care. Ed's radio and tv shows have both covered the debate extensively and he's become a strong voice for a strong public option. Schultz was appearing on Morning Joe Thursday morning when he heard both Mika Brezinski's and Joe Scarborough's Blackberry's start ringing. Apparently they were getting complaints from the White House due to Schultz and fellow guest Arianna Huffington's blistering commentary and wanted the hosts to tone it down. I guess this White House expected MSNBC to behave as Fox did through the Bush years, as lapdogs. Also, great news for The Rachel Maddow Show whose overall ratings for the year were up 15% over 2008. While Rachel uses a gentler approach than the guys, she has been hammering the administration on numerous campaign promises since April. Even though the three aforementioned like Obama, they're doing their jobs in a non-partisan way. Chris Matthews continues to be the weak link in the evening line-up. Ever since his "thrill down my leg" comment, he's gone way to the right and insults liberals on a nightly basis. I guess he feels that's the way to redeem himself. I was never a fan, but now he's completely unwatchable....
I'm liking Al Franken (D-Minn.), more and more. When Lieberman's 10 minutes of yammering were up Thursday, this is what happened next; "I'm sorry. The senator has spoken for ten minutes," Franken the chamber's presiding officer, told Lieberman. "I wonder if I could ask unanimous consent for just an additional moment," Lieberman said. "In my capacity as the senator from Minnesota, I object," said Franken. Good for Al. I've heard enough from Benedict Arnold for a lifetime. To actually state that he didn't want the Medicare buy-in for people 55-64 because "liberals like it too much" said all you needed to know about this prick....
As Sarah's World Turns: The Toronto Sun Reports that Sarah Palin has been booted from Canadian Hospital fundraiser. Apparently the Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation received many angry calls and emails from people saying they wouldn't donate to any event in which she has a role. She will come to town raise money for a local children’s charity instead. See what having educated citizens does!...A Salt Lake City Costco where Palin was to attend a book signing removed all tomatos from the shelves to lessen the chance of a copycat tomato throwing incident as happened a couple weeks ago in Minnesota. That was brilliant, really. I wonder if it occured to them to remove the eggs too... While in Salt Lake, the diva's legend grew. Palin's entourage requested local hairdresser Rhonda Halliday do an emergency hair session. Halliday arrived at the hotel and had her car valet parked. After being ushered to a room and given some instructions (don't talk to Palin unless she talks first) she did Palin's hair while the Wasilla quitter chatted with her family. Then, the Queen's party left to get to the book signing at Costco on time. Halliday was the last one out of the room because she had to put her equipment away, then watched as they all drove off without anyone mentioning payment or a tip. When the valet attendant got her car, he said that would be $10. She said she was with the Palin party and assumed they would take care of parking. That was news to him, so she had to fork over the $10. I guess she should've just been honored to be in her majestry's presence, that was payment enough... Palin also annoyed leaders of the Utah Republican Party when she didn't have time for them during her stop in Salt Lake City. I'm sure if they offered her a few bucks, she would've gladly found the time. She sure knows how to win friends and influence people. Yup, she's going to make a fine Presidential hopeful!
Keep the pressure on!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Hypocrite for Cash!
As much as I dislike this Sarah Palin, she doesn't go away, but makes writing fun and easy! I will give her one thing; while she's an intellectual idiot, she has some street smarts that I'm now seeing more and more of and it's starting to scare me that she can fool a lot of people with a virtual shell game. The quitter first agreed to debate Al Gore on Climate Change, but had second thoughts. Her excuses became; he wouldn't want to debate someone with a reasonable voice or facts. He wouldn't lower himself "to debate little old Sarah Palin from Wasilla." Then adding that if it was a conventional debate she'd get clobbered. Do you see what she did here? She managed to lower expectations for herself. She managed to convince her fans that she's the reasonable voice (just like them) while painting him as an arrogant elitist. Frankly, she possesses brilliant street smarts abounding with deception. I am honestly trying to figure out her appeal to people as she has no depth of character and says nothing of substance. This woman could shoot Bambi and manage to convince her fans that he had chronic wasting disease anyways so she did what Jesus would've wanted and reunited him with his mom. She won't tell them the part about his head being mounted above her fireplace and the rest of him is actually in her freezer.
I love this too. She has agreed to appear at a Canadian Hospital Fundraiser. I'm not sure what kind of math they used or how they're going to make money because she will be paid $200,000 for one half hour. Organizers hope to sell 1,000 tickets at $200 a plate which is a break even point, but raise more via photos with Palin. Her fans are praising the hospital for seeing her talent, knowledge and perception. Clearly none of them watched Canadian comedian Mary Walsh make a mockery out of her last month when Palin said "Canada needs to dismantle its public health-care system and allow private enterprise to get involved and turn a profit." Just the fact that she's charging a rate like that for a fund raiser should set off some sort of red flag, but not with Paliniacs! It would be nice to see her have the good sense to donate her fee, but I can't imagine she has enough class for that. Something else I would like to mention, St. Peter's Hospital is public, performs abortions, and offers end-of-life decision support. Socialist, pro-choice and death panels!!! Hypocrite for cash! As far as I can see, she has a talent for easily misleading people with a wink and a smile. Rumor has it she was quite a fancy pageant walker and good high school basketball player back in the day. Her knowledge is somewhat limited to hoodwinking her fans out of their hard earned cash with catchy phrases. I'll give her credit, that ability is making her a very wealthy woman. Being the skilled prevaricator without conscience that she is, she doesn't lose any sleep over it. I literally laughed when I saw them citing her perception in a positive manner. The woman didn't know her teenage daughter and her live-in teenage boyfriend were screwing under her own roof! How is that for perception?
Maddow's Uganda Update: As promised, for anyone who care's to know the latest on this story. The people Rachel named throughout her coverage of this story are not too pleased to have been publicized, but she forced public statements from, Pastor Rick Warren who seemed to take particular aim at being exposed prompting an invite from Rachel to her show. Senator Chuck Grassley also made a statement essentially saying that his beliefs haven't changed, but a death sentence is too severe. Rachel pointed out that their statements were not relayed directly to Ugandan authorities, like Senator Feingold's were. She said "Don't tell me, tell someone who can actually do something about it." Still, her coverage has brought a lot of attention to this criminal legislation. Hopefully clear thinking individuals such as Feinstein will be able guide them to see the errors and inhumanity of this legislation. This is how to use a bully pulpit for good not evil, Mr. Beck and Mr. Limbaugh.
Warren finally speaks out against legislation he influenced:
Uganda Be Killing Me - 12/10/2009
American anti-gay activists telling Uganda to create anti-homosexuality laws while disavowing the legislation to Americans audiences:
Uganda Be Killing Me - 12/09/2009
Harper Magazine Editor Jeff Sharlet, author of "The Family" joins Rachel to discuss how The Family influenced Uganda in drafting the anti-homosexual legislation:
Uganda Be Kidding Me II - 12/09/2009
How to condemn a bill a mean it. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) forcefully condemns the proposed Ugandan legislation and reminded them who gives them lots of cash.
Quick Thought: With the Tiger Woods saga in it's 17th day, I wanted to make a couple points. I'm not going to defend Woods for his actions, he clearly has some serious issues he should address and deserves to be taken to the cleaners by his wife. His wreckless actions put her health in danger as well as his own. I understand the pre-nup is being re-written for her benefit. Then again, Elin Woods seems to have some issues of her own in dealing with anger. I understand how hurt and upset she had to have been after allegedly receiving a call from one mistress that he has recently broken up with. Still, reports are that she broke four of his teeth with a cell phone, did $10,000 damage to the inside of the house with a golf club and chased him down the driveway in a golf cart wielding a club smashing at least one window in an $85,000 Cadillac Escalade as he drove it into a fire hydrant and then a tree. To me, here's the really crazy part. After the first woman came forward, a second one who thought she was the only "other" woman got pissed and came forward, as did the next and the next, etc... Ok, so all these women were angry enough to take him down because they weren't the only "other" woman. Where did he find these idiots? Do any of them know how ridiculous they look? Every single one of them knew he was married with kids. How stupid do you have to be to be having an affair with a married person and think they're not also cheating on you or at least have those tendancies? What a world we live in.
Have a great week!
I love this too. She has agreed to appear at a Canadian Hospital Fundraiser. I'm not sure what kind of math they used or how they're going to make money because she will be paid $200,000 for one half hour. Organizers hope to sell 1,000 tickets at $200 a plate which is a break even point, but raise more via photos with Palin. Her fans are praising the hospital for seeing her talent, knowledge and perception. Clearly none of them watched Canadian comedian Mary Walsh make a mockery out of her last month when Palin said "Canada needs to dismantle its public health-care system and allow private enterprise to get involved and turn a profit." Just the fact that she's charging a rate like that for a fund raiser should set off some sort of red flag, but not with Paliniacs! It would be nice to see her have the good sense to donate her fee, but I can't imagine she has enough class for that. Something else I would like to mention, St. Peter's Hospital is public, performs abortions, and offers end-of-life decision support. Socialist, pro-choice and death panels!!! Hypocrite for cash! As far as I can see, she has a talent for easily misleading people with a wink and a smile. Rumor has it she was quite a fancy pageant walker and good high school basketball player back in the day. Her knowledge is somewhat limited to hoodwinking her fans out of their hard earned cash with catchy phrases. I'll give her credit, that ability is making her a very wealthy woman. Being the skilled prevaricator without conscience that she is, she doesn't lose any sleep over it. I literally laughed when I saw them citing her perception in a positive manner. The woman didn't know her teenage daughter and her live-in teenage boyfriend were screwing under her own roof! How is that for perception?
Maddow's Uganda Update: As promised, for anyone who care's to know the latest on this story. The people Rachel named throughout her coverage of this story are not too pleased to have been publicized, but she forced public statements from, Pastor Rick Warren who seemed to take particular aim at being exposed prompting an invite from Rachel to her show. Senator Chuck Grassley also made a statement essentially saying that his beliefs haven't changed, but a death sentence is too severe. Rachel pointed out that their statements were not relayed directly to Ugandan authorities, like Senator Feingold's were. She said "Don't tell me, tell someone who can actually do something about it." Still, her coverage has brought a lot of attention to this criminal legislation. Hopefully clear thinking individuals such as Feinstein will be able guide them to see the errors and inhumanity of this legislation. This is how to use a bully pulpit for good not evil, Mr. Beck and Mr. Limbaugh.
Warren finally speaks out against legislation he influenced:
Uganda Be Killing Me - 12/10/2009
American anti-gay activists telling Uganda to create anti-homosexuality laws while disavowing the legislation to Americans audiences:
Uganda Be Killing Me - 12/09/2009
Harper Magazine Editor Jeff Sharlet, author of "The Family" joins Rachel to discuss how The Family influenced Uganda in drafting the anti-homosexual legislation:
Uganda Be Kidding Me II - 12/09/2009
How to condemn a bill a mean it. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) forcefully condemns the proposed Ugandan legislation and reminded them who gives them lots of cash.
Quick Thought: With the Tiger Woods saga in it's 17th day, I wanted to make a couple points. I'm not going to defend Woods for his actions, he clearly has some serious issues he should address and deserves to be taken to the cleaners by his wife. His wreckless actions put her health in danger as well as his own. I understand the pre-nup is being re-written for her benefit. Then again, Elin Woods seems to have some issues of her own in dealing with anger. I understand how hurt and upset she had to have been after allegedly receiving a call from one mistress that he has recently broken up with. Still, reports are that she broke four of his teeth with a cell phone, did $10,000 damage to the inside of the house with a golf club and chased him down the driveway in a golf cart wielding a club smashing at least one window in an $85,000 Cadillac Escalade as he drove it into a fire hydrant and then a tree. To me, here's the really crazy part. After the first woman came forward, a second one who thought she was the only "other" woman got pissed and came forward, as did the next and the next, etc... Ok, so all these women were angry enough to take him down because they weren't the only "other" woman. Where did he find these idiots? Do any of them know how ridiculous they look? Every single one of them knew he was married with kids. How stupid do you have to be to be having an affair with a married person and think they're not also cheating on you or at least have those tendancies? What a world we live in.
Have a great week!
Friday, December 4, 2009
18 More Months...at least - Is It Officially The Obama Doctrine Now?
While I applaud Obama for deciding on a date to bring troops home from Afghanistan, I would have preferred there wasn’t an eighteen month escalation preceding it. Of course critics say that the only thing Obama’s 18 month plan does is create a month 19 plan for the terrorists. Well, maybe so, but realistically we can’t capture and kill them all so just how many more American lives need to be wasted as we stumble around looking for a clear path to a perceived victory? How many times in the last eight years has the mission been changed just to keep us there? Even though I never viewed Bush as a legitimate President, I supported his decision after 9/11 to go into Afghanistan with the mission to capture and/or kill Osama bin Laden. I wanted the man responsible for the attack on our country “dead or alive”. On March 13, 2002, the part-time resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue stated in regard to bin Laden, “I am truly not that concerned about him. I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." That was just six months after the worse attack ever on US soil. Clearly, W’s heart wasn’t in it as he discovered they had no oil, so he shifted his attention to Iraq where he forced unfounded ties to Al Qaeda and the Taliban and used them to sell to congress and the American public the need of a pre-emptive war. Of course for the Bush administration, it was a financial windfall to keep the war going and capturing bin Laden was never a priority because it would have destroyed any way of justifying going into Iraq. Cheney’s lifetime ties to Halliburton and the millions he's made from them are rarely included in this sad story either. When Keith Olbermann or Rachel Maddow bring it up, they're assailed as enemies of "real" America. Who is the real enemy? U.S. Marines allegedly had bin Laden trapped in Tora Bora in December of 2001 and asked for additional support. A decision to not deploy those requested American forces to go after him or block his escape was made by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his top commander, Gen. Tommy Franks. Why would they do that if not to prolong the war and start another one? How many American lives could have been saved.
Wednesday night on The Rachel Maddow Show, Rachel was joined by our U.N. ambassador, Susan Rice. The two had a very respectful back and forth as Rachel believes there’s an undeclared war in Pakistan while Rice denies that is the case and explains the differences in our Middle East involvements. It’s informative to watch two adults talk about U.S. policy. The two parts are about 23 minutes combined:
This interview should be enlightening for those of us truly trying to understand our mission and goals. Unfortunately, we have an electorate that, for the most part, has no real intellectual curiosity and in fact dislikes anyone who does. Surely, 23 minutes of two smart women (gasp) talking about military strategy can not be taken seriously by the "right". They see this type of discussion reserved for conservative white males only and it wouldn't have taken 23 minutes, just six words, "bomb the hell out of them." They much prefer the primal instinct of war over a well reasoned peaceful policy discussion and decision. In their eyes, "fight makes right" and anyone who disagrees is viewed as a traitor or weak. These people agreed with McCain and his 100 year war idea. Most of our low information voters rely on “key” words/topics like; liberal, socialist, fascist, czar, Marxist, Nazi, Hitler along with Kenyan, ACORN, abortion, same-sex marriage, etc…to get them fired up -- no thought needed. These words are delivered on a nightly basis from Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity on Fox and Rush Limbaugh on the radio. The fact that their listeners/viewers repeat these words after hearing them on these shows even though many of the terms are contradictory certainly doesn’t deter them, that’s for sure! They applaud the untrained, unsophisticated views of their hero's. The only one in that group who completed what he started is O'Reilly (Marist College). The people that hang on to their every word, despise Maddow (Stanford & Oxford), Olbermann (Cornell), Ed Schultz (Minnesota State) and Thom Hartmann (Michigan State). I'm not sure when having an education became a bad thing in this country. Except for the occasionally bombastic Schultz, have you also noticed that our commentators have a much calmer demeanor? I'm also not buying that being a "liberal" is the profanity that conservatives have turned it into. By definition, we favor progress and reform, the protection of civil liberties. Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded. Those aren't bad things!
Anyhow...
Obviously President Obama has more information about the situation than we do, but I’d love to see our service members come home. I'm just not sure that the goals that Susan Rice explained are realistic. These wars have done nothing positive for our country and there’s so much more we need to focus on. I did not vote for Obama to follow in Bush's footsteps in any manner, including Iraq and Afghanistan. We live in a world of microwave ovens and high-speed internet so we’ve grown accustomed to wanting everything now…if not sooner! Besides the war, President Obama is being criticized a lot for not accomplishing anything in his first year because we can’t see sure evidence. The stimulus appears to be working, yet because unemployment didn’t immediately fall to 5%, conservatives call it a failure. The health care impasse has been caused by "just say no" Republicans and conservative Democrats. Granted, Obama should take a more active role, but with the eight year mess he was handed, there remains only so many hours in a day. George W. Bush was most likely the worst leader (I won’t call him Prez) this country has ever had and his legacy is quite possibly going to destroy Obama’s as well unless giant steps are taken. I think one of the things that has caught him off guard is there is no longer a "no drama Obama." Everything he does is getting ridiculed and scrutinized by the right in ways that they weren't totally prepared for, so they've taken some heat. He came out of the gate strong with broadening stem cell research and passing the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. He appeared to be a strong, quiet, no frills Commander-in-chief when he ordered the Navy Seals to kill three Somali pirates who were holding an American cargo ship captain hostage. Then the health care debate began, Sarah Palin spoke of death panels, the crazed fringe took over informational town hall meetings and all the wonderful momentum and hope we had for this young President came to a screeching halt. I hope he can clean up most of the damage before the 2010 elections. While I don't think the Democrats will lose the majority in the House, it may no longer be a strong majority.
Sarah Palin Update: Since my last post was on Thanksgiving, I wasn't yet aware of The Turkey Trot To Nowhere. Evidently Sarah agreed to run the 5k Kennewick “Turkey Trot.” But she quit 40 minutes in! She wanted to avoid the adoring masses at the finish line. The article is linked above from "The Mudflats." It appears that the infamous Palin bus tour is a hoax. Joe McGinniss reports she's in fact flying around America on a private jet, specifically a luxurious "Gulfstream II 12-passenger jet rented from Universal Jet Aviation of Boca Raton, Florida, at a cost of more than $4,000 per hour." Yes indeed, her fans say she's "just like them!" In addition, camera's and recording devices are being banned from her book signing stops, BUT for a fee, you can get a photo taken of yourself with the former Alaska Governor for the following size/prices: 5x7 $15.99, 8x10 $20.99, 8x12 $23.99, 11x14 $35.99. Has any of her "fans" figured out yet that she's just in this for the money? Speaking of the former Governor, the Minnesota Mall of America announces she wants to be called Governor and wants only English speaking press when she appears there. Why should they call her Governor? Honestly, the way her gaffe filled book signing tour is going, you'd think she'd ban English speaking press so her never ending flow of ignorance wouldn't be reported daily!
Palin has also called on President Obama to boycott the Copenhagen climate conference since she feels the hacked emails from the the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England prove that man-made climate change is a hoax.
Quick Thoughts: On the Tiger Woods' ongoing saga: You know, the story seemed pretty conflicted right from the start, and has unfolded exactly as I expected it too, including my vision of the night in question and how the window of the Escalade was smashed. I am the last person who will condone any form of domestic violence, but as more and more information comes out, don’t you get the feeling that he probably wishes he just stayed in the house and took the beating?... On Thursday, Republican Senators David Vitter (R-La.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla) introduced the gimmick filled "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act". "The idea, broad-brush, is that whatever government option is in the bill, every senator and every representative should be enrolled in it," Vitter told 'The Hill'. "No other possibilities, no other choices." "It's called leadership," Coburn said. "If it's good enough for everybody else, we ought to be leading by example." Funny thing happened though, Democrats called their bluff. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) who tried to become a co-sponsor and was given the cold shouldar, was joined by Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), and Al Franken (D-Minn.) in support. These are the kind of Democrats we need -- one’s with a spine! I like Sherrod Brown a little more every time I see him. ... You will love this headline: "Arlington, Tennessee Mayor Russell Wiseman Assails 'Muslim President' For Pre-Empting 'Peanuts": Seriously, this guy believes that President Barack Obama's West Point address, in which he announced his intention to escalate the war in Afghanistan, was intentionally timed to prevent Christians from watching Charlie Brown, stating, “Ok, so, this is total crap, we sit the kids down to watch 'The Charlie Brown Christmas Special' and our muslim [sic] president is there, what a load.....try to convince me that wasn't done on purpose”: The Peanuts Christmas show? Really? Now I could see if it was Rudolph or Frosty, but...These conservative fools weren’t embarrassed by eight years of a court appointed corrupt Presidency with the Bush-Cheney Regime, but they still can’t get over the fact that the young, black Hawaiian (yes Republicans, it was a state in 1961) won. Southerners get upset that they're perceived as uneducated, but they keep electing people like this. In fact, they should be embarrassed that people like Wiseman (ironic, isn't it?) continue to pop up on television and other media and make every southern stereotype be proven true.
Snarky comment of the week from Huffington Post commentator MCISMetal: "I can't comment on the Kyoto Accord as I've only ever seen the Honda" - Sarah Palin
In case you missed it...
News of the "get a life -- and a new iron": Nov. 27 METHUEN, Mass. (AP) -- A Massachusetts woman who recently separated from her husband and had her hours cut at work says an image of Jesus Christ she sees on her iron has reassured her that "life is going to be good." Mary Jo Coady first noticed the image Sunday when she walked into her daughter's room. The brownish residue on the bottom of the iron looks like the face of a man with long hair. The 44-year-old Coady was raised Catholic. She and her two college-age daughters agree that the image looks like Jesus and is proof that "he's listening." Coady tells The Eagle-Tribune she hopes her story will inspire others during the holidays. She says she plans to keep the iron in a closet and buy a new one.
Wednesday night on The Rachel Maddow Show, Rachel was joined by our U.N. ambassador, Susan Rice. The two had a very respectful back and forth as Rachel believes there’s an undeclared war in Pakistan while Rice denies that is the case and explains the differences in our Middle East involvements. It’s informative to watch two adults talk about U.S. policy. The two parts are about 23 minutes combined:
This interview should be enlightening for those of us truly trying to understand our mission and goals. Unfortunately, we have an electorate that, for the most part, has no real intellectual curiosity and in fact dislikes anyone who does. Surely, 23 minutes of two smart women (gasp) talking about military strategy can not be taken seriously by the "right". They see this type of discussion reserved for conservative white males only and it wouldn't have taken 23 minutes, just six words, "bomb the hell out of them." They much prefer the primal instinct of war over a well reasoned peaceful policy discussion and decision. In their eyes, "fight makes right" and anyone who disagrees is viewed as a traitor or weak. These people agreed with McCain and his 100 year war idea. Most of our low information voters rely on “key” words/topics like; liberal, socialist, fascist, czar, Marxist, Nazi, Hitler along with Kenyan, ACORN, abortion, same-sex marriage, etc…to get them fired up -- no thought needed. These words are delivered on a nightly basis from Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity on Fox and Rush Limbaugh on the radio. The fact that their listeners/viewers repeat these words after hearing them on these shows even though many of the terms are contradictory certainly doesn’t deter them, that’s for sure! They applaud the untrained, unsophisticated views of their hero's. The only one in that group who completed what he started is O'Reilly (Marist College). The people that hang on to their every word, despise Maddow (Stanford & Oxford), Olbermann (Cornell), Ed Schultz (Minnesota State) and Thom Hartmann (Michigan State). I'm not sure when having an education became a bad thing in this country. Except for the occasionally bombastic Schultz, have you also noticed that our commentators have a much calmer demeanor? I'm also not buying that being a "liberal" is the profanity that conservatives have turned it into. By definition, we favor progress and reform, the protection of civil liberties. Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded. Those aren't bad things!
Anyhow...
Obviously President Obama has more information about the situation than we do, but I’d love to see our service members come home. I'm just not sure that the goals that Susan Rice explained are realistic. These wars have done nothing positive for our country and there’s so much more we need to focus on. I did not vote for Obama to follow in Bush's footsteps in any manner, including Iraq and Afghanistan. We live in a world of microwave ovens and high-speed internet so we’ve grown accustomed to wanting everything now…if not sooner! Besides the war, President Obama is being criticized a lot for not accomplishing anything in his first year because we can’t see sure evidence. The stimulus appears to be working, yet because unemployment didn’t immediately fall to 5%, conservatives call it a failure. The health care impasse has been caused by "just say no" Republicans and conservative Democrats. Granted, Obama should take a more active role, but with the eight year mess he was handed, there remains only so many hours in a day. George W. Bush was most likely the worst leader (I won’t call him Prez) this country has ever had and his legacy is quite possibly going to destroy Obama’s as well unless giant steps are taken. I think one of the things that has caught him off guard is there is no longer a "no drama Obama." Everything he does is getting ridiculed and scrutinized by the right in ways that they weren't totally prepared for, so they've taken some heat. He came out of the gate strong with broadening stem cell research and passing the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. He appeared to be a strong, quiet, no frills Commander-in-chief when he ordered the Navy Seals to kill three Somali pirates who were holding an American cargo ship captain hostage. Then the health care debate began, Sarah Palin spoke of death panels, the crazed fringe took over informational town hall meetings and all the wonderful momentum and hope we had for this young President came to a screeching halt. I hope he can clean up most of the damage before the 2010 elections. While I don't think the Democrats will lose the majority in the House, it may no longer be a strong majority.
Sarah Palin Update: Since my last post was on Thanksgiving, I wasn't yet aware of The Turkey Trot To Nowhere. Evidently Sarah agreed to run the 5k Kennewick “Turkey Trot.” But she quit 40 minutes in! She wanted to avoid the adoring masses at the finish line. The article is linked above from "The Mudflats." It appears that the infamous Palin bus tour is a hoax. Joe McGinniss reports she's in fact flying around America on a private jet, specifically a luxurious "Gulfstream II 12-passenger jet rented from Universal Jet Aviation of Boca Raton, Florida, at a cost of more than $4,000 per hour." Yes indeed, her fans say she's "just like them!" In addition, camera's and recording devices are being banned from her book signing stops, BUT for a fee, you can get a photo taken of yourself with the former Alaska Governor for the following size/prices: 5x7 $15.99, 8x10 $20.99, 8x12 $23.99, 11x14 $35.99. Has any of her "fans" figured out yet that she's just in this for the money? Speaking of the former Governor, the Minnesota Mall of America announces she wants to be called Governor and wants only English speaking press when she appears there. Why should they call her Governor? Honestly, the way her gaffe filled book signing tour is going, you'd think she'd ban English speaking press so her never ending flow of ignorance wouldn't be reported daily!
Palin has also called on President Obama to boycott the Copenhagen climate conference since she feels the hacked emails from the the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England prove that man-made climate change is a hoax.
"Policy decisions require real science and real solutions, not junk science and doomsday scare tactics pushed by an environmental priesthood that capitalizes on the public's worry and makes them feel that owning an SUV is a 'sin' against the planet."In some ways Palin's sudden enthusiasm for science comes as a surprise, since she has suggested evolution is not real and wants creationism taught in schools. Then again this gives her the chance to once again recite "Drill baby, drill."
Quick Thoughts: On the Tiger Woods' ongoing saga: You know, the story seemed pretty conflicted right from the start, and has unfolded exactly as I expected it too, including my vision of the night in question and how the window of the Escalade was smashed. I am the last person who will condone any form of domestic violence, but as more and more information comes out, don’t you get the feeling that he probably wishes he just stayed in the house and took the beating?... On Thursday, Republican Senators David Vitter (R-La.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla) introduced the gimmick filled "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act". "The idea, broad-brush, is that whatever government option is in the bill, every senator and every representative should be enrolled in it," Vitter told 'The Hill'. "No other possibilities, no other choices." "It's called leadership," Coburn said. "If it's good enough for everybody else, we ought to be leading by example." Funny thing happened though, Democrats called their bluff. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) who tried to become a co-sponsor and was given the cold shouldar, was joined by Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), and Al Franken (D-Minn.) in support. These are the kind of Democrats we need -- one’s with a spine! I like Sherrod Brown a little more every time I see him. ... You will love this headline: "Arlington, Tennessee Mayor Russell Wiseman Assails 'Muslim President' For Pre-Empting 'Peanuts": Seriously, this guy believes that President Barack Obama's West Point address, in which he announced his intention to escalate the war in Afghanistan, was intentionally timed to prevent Christians from watching Charlie Brown, stating, “Ok, so, this is total crap, we sit the kids down to watch 'The Charlie Brown Christmas Special' and our muslim [sic] president is there, what a load.....try to convince me that wasn't done on purpose”: The Peanuts Christmas show? Really? Now I could see if it was Rudolph or Frosty, but...These conservative fools weren’t embarrassed by eight years of a court appointed corrupt Presidency with the Bush-Cheney Regime, but they still can’t get over the fact that the young, black Hawaiian (yes Republicans, it was a state in 1961) won. Southerners get upset that they're perceived as uneducated, but they keep electing people like this. In fact, they should be embarrassed that people like Wiseman (ironic, isn't it?) continue to pop up on television and other media and make every southern stereotype be proven true.
Snarky comment of the week from Huffington Post commentator MCISMetal: "I can't comment on the Kyoto Accord as I've only ever seen the Honda" - Sarah Palin
In case you missed it...
News of the "get a life -- and a new iron": Nov. 27 METHUEN, Mass. (AP) -- A Massachusetts woman who recently separated from her husband and had her hours cut at work says an image of Jesus Christ she sees on her iron has reassured her that "life is going to be good." Mary Jo Coady first noticed the image Sunday when she walked into her daughter's room. The brownish residue on the bottom of the iron looks like the face of a man with long hair. The 44-year-old Coady was raised Catholic. She and her two college-age daughters agree that the image looks like Jesus and is proof that "he's listening." Coady tells The Eagle-Tribune she hopes her story will inspire others during the holidays. She says she plans to keep the iron in a closet and buy a new one.
The "image of Jesus" that she sees has only reassured me that what's going to be good in her life is not burning down her house. The good news is she's going to put it in the closet and buy a new one. Since it looks like it's very old and well used, this is a good call...although I'll be expecting it to be up for bid on Ebay!
UPDATE 12/6/09: Just did a quick search on Ebay and there already is an iron with Jesus alleged image listed! The reasonable seller zinsanemods (amazingly the same person also has an Ozzy Osbourne iron - what are the odds?!) has allowed a $3000 Buy It Now.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Fox: They Distort, They Decide (that viewers are too dumb to notice)
On Faux Newz, the fairly unbalanced channel, boot-licking, Sean Hannity had a big week ignoring major gaffes by his guests. First came Sarah Palin who was trying to show off her foreign policy knowledge, responding to a question by Hannity on how we should handle the nuclear threat posed by Iran. It didn't take long for it to become abuntantly clear that she doesn‘t know the difference between Iraq and Iran.
Can you believe that there are actually some Americans who think that she‘s qualified to be president? This woman clearly is not ready for national politics. What is clear is that she wants to make a ton of money on her book tour and clearly will on the backs of her lower middle class supporters who believe she's the real deal and will plunk down their hard earned money (please watch video at the end of this paragraph to watch an example of her supporters). The sad thing is, I'm willing to bet most of them won't read anything except the back cover, the inside of the dust jacket and probably look through the 16 pages of color photos. The thing about the video above is Hannity sitting there like the president of her fan club and not at least nudging her that she's got her countries mixed up. If she just misspoke once, I could see him giving her a pass, but after several times in 1:03, he ends up looking just as ignorant as she does. There's several things about her popularity that are disturbing. The fact that she doesn't know the difference between Iraq and Iran makes me think she has no understanding of world events. The fact that she doesn't know the difference between a continent and a country makes me think she flunked geography. Her word salad speaking ability makes me think she flunked english. The fact that she didn't know "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 makes me think she flunked history. The fact that it took her over a year to figure out what she reads makes me think fellow wingnut Dick Armey finally told her what to say. The fact that she had no clue what Charlie Gibson was talking about when he asked her, her opinion of the Bush Doctrine which makes me think McCain's handlers flunked vetting. Scariest of all, many of her supporters are willing to vote for her because they find her attractive or that she's an average person...just like them. On her attractiveness, that's subjective. While I don't find her offensive to look at, the minute she opens her mouth, the ugliness is impossible to ignore. As far as her being "just like them"...what the hell is wrong with these people?! I don't want my president to be average or just like me. We saw what eight years of having a guy who folks thought they could have a beer with got us. I want my president to be way above average, maybe even a Harvard Law School graduate. I don't want to be able to beat our president in a debate about policy!
Then came Hannity's interview with former Press Secretary Dana Perino who President Obama recently nominated to serve on the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent agency responsible for overseeing the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and other non-military broadcasts sponsored by the federal government. What the hell is he thinking? In a discussion on Hannity's show, Perino claimed that President Obama was playing politics by refusing to describe the massacre at Fort Hood as a terrorist attack. "We should call it what it is," she said. "We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term." Is she kidding?
One again, did you notice the lack of correction from Hannity or Stuart Varney? I know the Bush Administration tried to pin 9/11 on Former President Clinton for 7 years and 3 months, but do they actually believe that people don't remember who was sitting in a Florida kindergarten classroom being read "My Pet Goat" by 5 year olds on September 11, 2001? A few months later, five people were killed in the anthrax attacks. Clearly, conservatives want to call the Fort Hood murders, terrorism so that they can claim there was a terrorist attack on Obama's watch and use that for campaigning by saying he's weak on national security/defense. The thing is, by definition, terrorism is the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes. I don't think what Major Nidal Hasan did accomplished any of those things. Even though we know that Hasan had exchanged several emails with a radical Yemeni American cleric, there's also a paper trail of him not wanting to be deployed to kill Muslims. This is a disturbed man who should've been removed from the military two years ago, who snapped and belongs behind bars for the rest of his life. Yet, Perino went on to say "I hope they're not looking at this politically. I do think that we owe it to the American people to call it what it is." So who is actually playing politics with this tragic event? Do the right thing Mr. President, recind that nomination from this spin machine.
Is Fox so sure of it's complete mastering of brainwashing their loyal sheep that they get more brazen as time moves on? In 2004, they actually won a lawsuit by using the defense that they didn't need to use facts as they are an infotainment channel! The "fair and balanced" catch phrase they flash repeatedly has always represented a subliminal message to their weak minded viewers. As time has moved on, the lies have gotten more outrageous, which led to the White House calling them out for what they are. Former White House communications director Anita Dunn said, "Let's not pretend they're a news network, Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party. What I think is fair to say about Fox, and certainly the way we view it, is that it really is more a wing of the Republican Party." And White House senior adviser David Axelrod added that they're "not really a news station", their viewers were outraged, infiltrating left wing blogs while brandishing their ignorance about the fact that their favorite channel doesn't use facts! I saw countless copied Nielson ratings posts about how many viewers were watching them as if to prove that the estimated 3 million angry, undereducated fools determined the pulse of the country. My standard gas on the fire response is, "that's because the Faux sheep need to have their bigotry and ignorance justified on a daily basis. Liberals are confident enough in their beliefs that we don't need daily reassurance." Furthermore, none of them seem to realize that these are not "hard numbers", but an estimate based on 25,000 Nielson homes out of 114,000,000 U.S. homes. Who watches the most tv? Angry, white, middle-aged conservatives. As the saying goes, "You can have your own opinion, but you can't have your own facts." The next comparison is always "MSNBC does it too." Not exactly. MSNBC isn't promoting progressive rallies, like Fox did with several conservative "Teabagger" events. Fox sponsored and sent their nighttime anchors out to multiple locations to cover the "grass roots" events. The closest thing MSNBC has done via Olbermann's Countdown is assist the National Association of Free Clinics in getting donations for free health care clinics to underprivileged areas. Let's see, one station chose to support anti-Obama rallies (let's just be honest here), the other channel chose to help those less fortunate. Indeed, MSNBC has three hours of liberal commentators with Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz, who are increasingly focused on the dual task of holding President Obama to a progressive agenda and criticizing his detractors. MSNBC also has three hours of conservative talk with Joe Scarborough and daily guest, nazi Pat Buchanan, who are focused on criticizing the President and defending his assailants! Chris Matthews is a conservative Democrat, so I laugh when the right calls him liberal. They haven't figured out that not all Democrats are liberal just because all Republicans are conservative. The rest of the MSNBC news line-up is a mixed bag of hopefuls along with Andrea Mitchell (Mrs. Alan Greenspan). Fox counters with supposed liberal Alan Colmes who everyone knows is a joke, except their loyal viewers. Even Colmes is in on it which makes his sellout all the more disgusting. He makes the exact case that Fox wants to promote, that Democrats and/or liberals are weak and he's paid quite handsomely for it. The bottom line is that Fox is right wing propaganda 24/7.
Palin Punked By A Comedian...Again
Once again, I thought the body of my article was complete, but this is too good to not report. Canadian Comedian Mary Walsh is the co-creator and star of "This Hour Has 22 Minutes", a nightly news parody show in the same vein as "The Daily Show." She arrived in character, as conservative Marg Delahunty to the Borders in Columbus, Ohio where Palin was signing books. It's bad enough that Fox favorite pin-up doesn't want to see our health care system improved, now she's venturing into Canada's health care system telling Walsh that "Canada needs to dismantle its public health-care system and allow private enterprise to get involved and turn a profit!" In addition to those comments, Walsh said, she found it equally bizarre that no one was allowed to ask Palin any questions at the book-signing. "It was great fun, but also very strange," Walsh recalled. "We're in a bookstore, at a public event, in a place one would think was a bastion of free speech. And no one was allowed to ask questions. What are they afraid of?"
Quick Thoughts: The best line of the week from an unknown commentator on Huffington Post, “If Sarah Palin ever wins the presidency, Canada will have to build a wall on it’s southern border.”... “The Wrap’s” Dylan Stableford quotes a Fox News insider as saying Bill O'Reilly had a "hissyfit" over the fact that Hannity's interview with Palin would air first, so he released a teaser of his Palin interview on his YouTube channel, a move Stableford characterized as "going rogue" and a "pre-emptive strike. You know, with the Republicans eating their own, it really is fitting that the egomaniacs at Faux would follow suit. Get the popcorn, this could be fun!... Bat shit crazy Michele Bachmann and Palin will be speaking at the National Tea Party Convention in Tennessee in February. "Press will be allowed in a designated section of the lobby of the convention only and will not be allowed inside the convention, there will be no media allowed for the banquet with Sarah Palin." I don't know about you, but it makes me wonder what they're hiding... Howard Dean thinks that Joe Lieberman should give up his chairmanship of Senate Homeland Security Committee if he can't bring himself to oppose a Republican filibuster of health care reform legislation. Never mind letting him give it up, Harry Reid needs to issue an ultimatum and stick with it. "You caucus with the Democrats, you're with us or you're not. Here's the price"... Speaking of Joe, after ignoring several requests from Rachel Maddow to appear on her show after stating he'd welcome a serious policy debate, I love that blogger Mike Stark found him in person and asked him to debate Rachel and his response was, "No, no, she's got a point of view". Does he not understand that a debate is a discussion of opposing views? Sitting around with his like minded pals on Fox Sunday isn't a debate. Heck, she even offered him a shake and a cookie!... Rush Limbaugh and Glenn "he's a hoot" Beck (twice) called Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu a prostitute and hooker for allowing discussion of the health care reform bill. So Christian of them. This sexist attitude is one of the reasons why the GOP should continue to struggle to attract a majority of female voters. Imagine had Olbermann called Palin or Bachmann one of those things. The right would've organized a campaign to get him fired. While Keith has his fun with those two with their ineptness politically, he's never stepped over that line. The cons don't think their side has a line. So Sarah, Michele or Carrie Prejean, where's your outrage? Where's that double-standard?... Lou Dobbs is considering a Senate run in New Jersey. How big does your ego have to be to think being an opinion commentator makes you qualified for office? The police refuted his claims of gun shots at his house. They've determined that the gunshots were from hunters nearby and not an attack on he and his wife. Lou figured it was a great way to get publicity and maybe some sympathy. Right wingers never want to hear facts. They get in the way of a perfectly good lie... A funny thing happened as I was finishing this up on this Thanksgiving evening, Beck put to rest any rumors of one possible "dream team" ticket. On his radio show today, Beck said he was absolutely ruling out the possibility of running for office with Saracuda at the top of the ticket. It also appears that his true opinion of the former governor was expressed. BECK: I don't think things are hoots. I don't. I don't think it's a hoot. I would never use the word hoot, and I respectfully ask that every time my name is brought up she would stop using the word 'hoot.' No, no I'm just saying -- Beck-Palin, I'll consider. But Palin-Beck -- can you imagine, can you imagine what an administration with the two of us would be like? What? Come on! She'd be yapping or something, and I'd say, "I'm sorry, why am I hearing your voice? I'm not in the kitchen." ...ouch...
If you want to listen in entirety, here's the clip: Beck Turns Down Ticket With Palin, Makes Sexist Remark
Until the next time...
Can you believe that there are actually some Americans who think that she‘s qualified to be president? This woman clearly is not ready for national politics. What is clear is that she wants to make a ton of money on her book tour and clearly will on the backs of her lower middle class supporters who believe she's the real deal and will plunk down their hard earned money (please watch video at the end of this paragraph to watch an example of her supporters). The sad thing is, I'm willing to bet most of them won't read anything except the back cover, the inside of the dust jacket and probably look through the 16 pages of color photos. The thing about the video above is Hannity sitting there like the president of her fan club and not at least nudging her that she's got her countries mixed up. If she just misspoke once, I could see him giving her a pass, but after several times in 1:03, he ends up looking just as ignorant as she does. There's several things about her popularity that are disturbing. The fact that she doesn't know the difference between Iraq and Iran makes me think she has no understanding of world events. The fact that she doesn't know the difference between a continent and a country makes me think she flunked geography. Her word salad speaking ability makes me think she flunked english. The fact that she didn't know "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 makes me think she flunked history. The fact that it took her over a year to figure out what she reads makes me think fellow wingnut Dick Armey finally told her what to say. The fact that she had no clue what Charlie Gibson was talking about when he asked her, her opinion of the Bush Doctrine which makes me think McCain's handlers flunked vetting. Scariest of all, many of her supporters are willing to vote for her because they find her attractive or that she's an average person...just like them. On her attractiveness, that's subjective. While I don't find her offensive to look at, the minute she opens her mouth, the ugliness is impossible to ignore. As far as her being "just like them"...what the hell is wrong with these people?! I don't want my president to be average or just like me. We saw what eight years of having a guy who folks thought they could have a beer with got us. I want my president to be way above average, maybe even a Harvard Law School graduate. I don't want to be able to beat our president in a debate about policy!
Then came Hannity's interview with former Press Secretary Dana Perino who President Obama recently nominated to serve on the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent agency responsible for overseeing the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and other non-military broadcasts sponsored by the federal government. What the hell is he thinking? In a discussion on Hannity's show, Perino claimed that President Obama was playing politics by refusing to describe the massacre at Fort Hood as a terrorist attack. "We should call it what it is," she said. "We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term." Is she kidding?
One again, did you notice the lack of correction from Hannity or Stuart Varney? I know the Bush Administration tried to pin 9/11 on Former President Clinton for 7 years and 3 months, but do they actually believe that people don't remember who was sitting in a Florida kindergarten classroom being read "My Pet Goat" by 5 year olds on September 11, 2001? A few months later, five people were killed in the anthrax attacks. Clearly, conservatives want to call the Fort Hood murders, terrorism so that they can claim there was a terrorist attack on Obama's watch and use that for campaigning by saying he's weak on national security/defense. The thing is, by definition, terrorism is the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes. I don't think what Major Nidal Hasan did accomplished any of those things. Even though we know that Hasan had exchanged several emails with a radical Yemeni American cleric, there's also a paper trail of him not wanting to be deployed to kill Muslims. This is a disturbed man who should've been removed from the military two years ago, who snapped and belongs behind bars for the rest of his life. Yet, Perino went on to say "I hope they're not looking at this politically. I do think that we owe it to the American people to call it what it is." So who is actually playing politics with this tragic event? Do the right thing Mr. President, recind that nomination from this spin machine.
Is Fox so sure of it's complete mastering of brainwashing their loyal sheep that they get more brazen as time moves on? In 2004, they actually won a lawsuit by using the defense that they didn't need to use facts as they are an infotainment channel! The "fair and balanced" catch phrase they flash repeatedly has always represented a subliminal message to their weak minded viewers. As time has moved on, the lies have gotten more outrageous, which led to the White House calling them out for what they are. Former White House communications director Anita Dunn said, "Let's not pretend they're a news network, Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party. What I think is fair to say about Fox, and certainly the way we view it, is that it really is more a wing of the Republican Party." And White House senior adviser David Axelrod added that they're "not really a news station", their viewers were outraged, infiltrating left wing blogs while brandishing their ignorance about the fact that their favorite channel doesn't use facts! I saw countless copied Nielson ratings posts about how many viewers were watching them as if to prove that the estimated 3 million angry, undereducated fools determined the pulse of the country. My standard gas on the fire response is, "that's because the Faux sheep need to have their bigotry and ignorance justified on a daily basis. Liberals are confident enough in their beliefs that we don't need daily reassurance." Furthermore, none of them seem to realize that these are not "hard numbers", but an estimate based on 25,000 Nielson homes out of 114,000,000 U.S. homes. Who watches the most tv? Angry, white, middle-aged conservatives. As the saying goes, "You can have your own opinion, but you can't have your own facts." The next comparison is always "MSNBC does it too." Not exactly. MSNBC isn't promoting progressive rallies, like Fox did with several conservative "Teabagger" events. Fox sponsored and sent their nighttime anchors out to multiple locations to cover the "grass roots" events. The closest thing MSNBC has done via Olbermann's Countdown is assist the National Association of Free Clinics in getting donations for free health care clinics to underprivileged areas. Let's see, one station chose to support anti-Obama rallies (let's just be honest here), the other channel chose to help those less fortunate. Indeed, MSNBC has three hours of liberal commentators with Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz, who are increasingly focused on the dual task of holding President Obama to a progressive agenda and criticizing his detractors. MSNBC also has three hours of conservative talk with Joe Scarborough and daily guest, nazi Pat Buchanan, who are focused on criticizing the President and defending his assailants! Chris Matthews is a conservative Democrat, so I laugh when the right calls him liberal. They haven't figured out that not all Democrats are liberal just because all Republicans are conservative. The rest of the MSNBC news line-up is a mixed bag of hopefuls along with Andrea Mitchell (Mrs. Alan Greenspan). Fox counters with supposed liberal Alan Colmes who everyone knows is a joke, except their loyal viewers. Even Colmes is in on it which makes his sellout all the more disgusting. He makes the exact case that Fox wants to promote, that Democrats and/or liberals are weak and he's paid quite handsomely for it. The bottom line is that Fox is right wing propaganda 24/7.
Palin Punked By A Comedian...Again
Once again, I thought the body of my article was complete, but this is too good to not report. Canadian Comedian Mary Walsh is the co-creator and star of "This Hour Has 22 Minutes", a nightly news parody show in the same vein as "The Daily Show." She arrived in character, as conservative Marg Delahunty to the Borders in Columbus, Ohio where Palin was signing books. It's bad enough that Fox favorite pin-up doesn't want to see our health care system improved, now she's venturing into Canada's health care system telling Walsh that "Canada needs to dismantle its public health-care system and allow private enterprise to get involved and turn a profit!" In addition to those comments, Walsh said, she found it equally bizarre that no one was allowed to ask Palin any questions at the book-signing. "It was great fun, but also very strange," Walsh recalled. "We're in a bookstore, at a public event, in a place one would think was a bastion of free speech. And no one was allowed to ask questions. What are they afraid of?"
Quick Thoughts: The best line of the week from an unknown commentator on Huffington Post, “If Sarah Palin ever wins the presidency, Canada will have to build a wall on it’s southern border.”... “The Wrap’s” Dylan Stableford quotes a Fox News insider as saying Bill O'Reilly had a "hissyfit" over the fact that Hannity's interview with Palin would air first, so he released a teaser of his Palin interview on his YouTube channel, a move Stableford characterized as "going rogue" and a "pre-emptive strike. You know, with the Republicans eating their own, it really is fitting that the egomaniacs at Faux would follow suit. Get the popcorn, this could be fun!... Bat shit crazy Michele Bachmann and Palin will be speaking at the National Tea Party Convention in Tennessee in February. "Press will be allowed in a designated section of the lobby of the convention only and will not be allowed inside the convention, there will be no media allowed for the banquet with Sarah Palin." I don't know about you, but it makes me wonder what they're hiding... Howard Dean thinks that Joe Lieberman should give up his chairmanship of Senate Homeland Security Committee if he can't bring himself to oppose a Republican filibuster of health care reform legislation. Never mind letting him give it up, Harry Reid needs to issue an ultimatum and stick with it. "You caucus with the Democrats, you're with us or you're not. Here's the price"... Speaking of Joe, after ignoring several requests from Rachel Maddow to appear on her show after stating he'd welcome a serious policy debate, I love that blogger Mike Stark found him in person and asked him to debate Rachel and his response was, "No, no, she's got a point of view". Does he not understand that a debate is a discussion of opposing views? Sitting around with his like minded pals on Fox Sunday isn't a debate. Heck, she even offered him a shake and a cookie!... Rush Limbaugh and Glenn "he's a hoot" Beck (twice) called Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu a prostitute and hooker for allowing discussion of the health care reform bill. So Christian of them. This sexist attitude is one of the reasons why the GOP should continue to struggle to attract a majority of female voters. Imagine had Olbermann called Palin or Bachmann one of those things. The right would've organized a campaign to get him fired. While Keith has his fun with those two with their ineptness politically, he's never stepped over that line. The cons don't think their side has a line. So Sarah, Michele or Carrie Prejean, where's your outrage? Where's that double-standard?... Lou Dobbs is considering a Senate run in New Jersey. How big does your ego have to be to think being an opinion commentator makes you qualified for office? The police refuted his claims of gun shots at his house. They've determined that the gunshots were from hunters nearby and not an attack on he and his wife. Lou figured it was a great way to get publicity and maybe some sympathy. Right wingers never want to hear facts. They get in the way of a perfectly good lie... A funny thing happened as I was finishing this up on this Thanksgiving evening, Beck put to rest any rumors of one possible "dream team" ticket. On his radio show today, Beck said he was absolutely ruling out the possibility of running for office with Saracuda at the top of the ticket. It also appears that his true opinion of the former governor was expressed. BECK: I don't think things are hoots. I don't. I don't think it's a hoot. I would never use the word hoot, and I respectfully ask that every time my name is brought up she would stop using the word 'hoot.' No, no I'm just saying -- Beck-Palin, I'll consider. But Palin-Beck -- can you imagine, can you imagine what an administration with the two of us would be like? What? Come on! She'd be yapping or something, and I'd say, "I'm sorry, why am I hearing your voice? I'm not in the kitchen." ...ouch...
If you want to listen in entirety, here's the clip: Beck Turns Down Ticket With Palin, Makes Sexist Remark
Until the next time...
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