Intentions of Factual/Non-Factual Statements and Pap Smears at Walgreens

The assault on Planned Parenthood during the government shutdown threat was pretty appalling. Senator Jon Kyl spoke on the Senate floor extolling the virtues of defunding Planned Parenthood as over 90% of their services are abortions. They are not, of course. The number is 3%. But what does an 87% difference matter when you're trying to make a point? What difference does it make that the Hyde Amendment prevents federal funding to be used for abortions when you're trying to demonize yet another institution that provides sorely needed services for the poor and lower income among us?

When asked about his statement, the Kyl office offered this response:

CNN, to its credit, sought an explanation from the senator about the glaring error. CNN anchor TJ Holmes told viewers:

"We did call [Kyl's] office trying to ask what he was talking about there. And I just want to give it you verbatim here. It says, 'his remark was not intended to be a factual statement, but rather to illustrate that Planned Parenthood, a organization that receives millions of dollars in taxpayer funding, does subsidize abortions.'"

Oh, well in that case, say whatever you want on the floor of the Senate from now on, Mr. Kyl. We'll just assume that any noise coming from your cake hole from now on is a blatant lie.

Here's Stephen Colbert having fun at the expense of Kyl as well as Fox & Friends who think, why should you get health care screenings at Planned Parenthood when you can get pap smears and breast examinations at you local Walgreens? No. You can't make this shit up.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Pap Smears at Walgreens
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UPDATE (7:30pm): Jon Stewart's take:

The Daily Show - Countdown to the Next Countdown - Jon Kyl's Planned Parenthood Statistics
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Dumbass Quote of the Day

"I stand here very disappointed in the fact that our lead negotiator on the Republican side ... basically is going to have his work product ignored and the treaty jammed through in the lame duck. How as Republicans we justify that I do not know. To Senator Kyl, I want to apologize to you for the way you've been treated by your colleagues."

~Senator Lindsey Graham on the hubris of the Democratic leaders in the Senate for... doing their job and legislating.

Actual Work = War On Christmas

"It is impossible to do all of the things that the majority leader laid out without doing -- frankly, without disrespecting the institution and without disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians and the families of all of the Senate, not just the senators themselves but all of the staff."

~ Republican Arizona Senator Jon Kyl on the possibility of working between Christmas and New Year's Day... like most Americans do.

Well, Senator Kyl, if you had been working all year long instead of sitting on your hands, holding your breath and saying no to every piece of legislation that has come down the pike (over 400 House bills already passed await the Senate), maybe you wouldn't find yourself in this predicament. Suck it up, jackass, and try doing the work you were elected to do. I don't remember you campaigning on your "do nothing" strategy.

Completely Out of Touch

If there is a prime example of politicians, namely Republicans, that have absolutely no idea of how the real world works and whose mindset is completely out of touch with reality, it has to be Senator Jon Kyl's (R-Az) asinine comment on unemployment benefits.

Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Republican whip, argued that unemployment benefits dissuade people from job-hunting "because people are being paid even though they're not working."

Unemployment insurance "doesn't create new jobs. In fact, if anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work," Kyl said during debate over whether unemployment insurance and other benefits that expired amid GOP objections Sunday should be extended.

"I'm sure most of them would like work and probably have tried to seek it, but you can't argue that it's a job enhancer. If anything, as I said, it's a disincentive. And the same thing with the COBRA extension and the other extensions here," said Kyl.

I'm going to go out on a limb and take a wild guess in assuming Senator Jon Kyl has never been on unemployment. I'm sure he's pulled himself up by his own bootstraps considering his family didn't have enough money to afford the 'H' in his name. But it's examples like these that show how members mostly if not definitively in the Republican Party have no clue what is goes on in the real world.

It's not about job creation, you fucking moron.  It's about bridging the gap between employment opportunities for citizens who have most likely paid into unemployment insurance their entire working lives until the next job so they don't lose their house, their health care and can feed their families in the meantime. And in nearly all cases, the payments you receive are a fraction of what your actual salary actually was when you got the boot.

To Kyl, anyone who has lost their job, and therefore are in danger of or have already lost their health care benefits are nothing but welfare queens who are sucking on the government teat. How dare they collect on the unemployment insurance that they are legally entitled to and that they've paid into over the years? You goddamn lazy fuckers should be out pounding the pavement looking for a job if you've lost yours despite the fact that there are no jobs to be had. I suppose the current 9.8% unemployment rate is just voluntary. These people could find work if they really wanted to work, right, Jo-n?

Compound this idiocy with Senator Jim Bunning's filibuster of a $10 billion bill extending unemployment benefits and standing in the way of transportation projects that will put 2,000 more out of work because... well, who the hell knows why Bunning does what he does, and this is a microcosm of the GOP perspective.

Adding... Chris Matthews doesn't help his cause in his tacit support of Bunning not for any other reason than he's a Hall of Fame pitcher who played for his beloved Phillies in the 60's. Way to go, Tweety.

John Kyl Is A Scumbag

What. The. Fuck?! I wonder if Kyl was against the Family and Medical Leave Act for expectant fathers because they don't have a uterus? What a narrow minded, little bastard he is. So he doesn't want maternity care covered, but I'm sure Viagra and Cialis are okay with this First Class Asshole.

Good for Senator Stabenow to call him out on it with a kick to the nads. And look as his face as he is interrupted yet again. He can't stand it! They should take turns and do it to him every time he speaks just to drive him mad.

I always had a feeling Kyl was a jerk, but man, he's really shown himself to be a real dick these last couple of days.

Kyl Threatens Filibuster

It's been eight days since Senator Barack Obama officially became President-elect Obama and already the freakazoid Republicans in the Senate are threatening filibusters on possible Supreme Court appointments that haven't happened yet.

Jon Kyl, the second-ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate, warned president-elect Barack Obama that he would filibuster U.S. Supreme Court appointments if those nominees were too liberal.

..."He believes in justices that have empathy," said Kyl, speaking at a Federalist Society meeting in Phoenix. The attorneys group promotes conservative legal principles.

Kyl said if Obama goes with empathetic judges who do not base their decisions on the rule of law and legal precedents but instead the factors in each case, he would try to block those picks via filibuster.

Give me a fucking break. Obama is 10 weeks away from taking over and already these obstructionist motherfuckers are threatening to block confirmation of an appointment to a position that doesn't exist. This from the same fuck-o who threatened the nuclear option when it was Bush's stellar appointments that were in danger of rejection.

You know what? Give it your best shot, Kyl. But you'd better get your orthopedic shoes on because it ain't gonna be a bullshit, pansy ass filibuster. You're going to have to - how does Sarah Palin put it? - "walk the walk" and stand up there as long as your feeble ass can take it. We'll wait until you kick the bucket from exhaustion and then confirm the appointment anyway, whenever that should take place.

So in short, go fuck yourself, Kyl. This is a new ballgame. Game on, brohim.

(H/T Crooks and Liars)