Rep. Alan Grayson: GOP Nothing But "Knuckle Dragging Neanderthals"

I never thought I could run for elected office because, as evidenced by my blog, I can be crass, foul-mouthed and generally tend to cast any sense of decorum out the window. (I'm not smart enough either, but judging by the current crop of GOP elected officials, I don't think that's much of a hurdle anymore.)

Now I have new found hope! Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Florida) is my new hero. Not only did he turn the tables on the Republican party's use of "death panels" and "health care reform equals dead people" rhetoric, but he refused to apologize for saying that the GOP Health Care Plan is to "die quickly" if you get sick on the floor of the House. And to top it off, while being interviewed by Rachel Maddow, Grayson added that the Republican party is "utterly unscrupulous. These are foot dragging, knuckle dragging Neanderthals."

Crack open a beer, sit back and watch what I can only dream of doing.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Our Priorities Are Fucked

I am pissed off. I guess I have been for a little while now but have been trying to organize my thoughts instead of shooting from the hip, hence the lack of posting these last few days.

I've come to the conclusion that our priorities as a country are totally fucked. I know that's been the case for a while now, but it really hasn't been as transparent as it has in the last few weeks where the pushback from the yokels at town hall meetings defending the very insurance companies that are fucking them in the ass on a regular basis and the inane neocon talking points and conspiracy theories have taken root with the so-called leaders of the Republican party boggle the mind.

I say this because I can't begin to comprehend the mindset that doesn't blink at the amount of money we spend as a country on certain things but blow a gasket on the spending proposed for something worthwhile and beneficial to all Americans, like health care.

The Department of Defense budget for Fiscal 2009 is $651 BILLION. $136 Billion of that is used for emergency discretionary spending and supplemental spending. That's extra money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This number doesn't include funds for Homeland Security, Energy Department, FBI counter-terrorism, NASA, Veterans Affairs, interest on debt incurred in past wars or the black budget. That brings the total to somewhere between $859 Billion and $1.16 TRILLION.

We will spend a minimum of $859 billion this year on the defense budget alone but the powers that be in the beltway are in a panic over $90 billion a year to make sure Americans don't die for lack of health care. They are screeching and howling and flinging their poo over spending one tenth of what they spend on the defense budget yearly. Do you see something wrong with that?

Our presence in the Middle East is costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $11 billion a month. Health care reform would cost $7.5 billion a month.

We will spend over $36 billion this year on Homeland Security to insure that there isn't a repeat of the terrorist attacks on 9/11 when 3,000 were killed, but hesitate on spending money to insure people who are uninsured or under insured don't die from lack of health insurance. According to a Harvard medical study released just two weeks ago, approximately 45,000 Americans die yearly due to lack of health insurance. Figure out the math. That's one 9/11 every 3½ weeks.

Congress takes precious time passing resolutions to prevent funding to organizations like ACORN for the approximate $3.5 million it receives yearly for such things as census work or fighting for a higher minimum wage, but doesn't bat an eyelash at the multi-billion dollar contracts held by Lockheed-Martin and Northrop-Grumman even though there are 20 fraud cases pending bewteen them.

So what kind of country do you want to live in? One that takes care of its citizens' health even if we have to pay a little more for it? Or one that spends multiple times the projected health care reform cost to continue being the cock of the walk militarily while losing tens of thousands of citizens to illness in its "protection" of us against "the terrorists." Remind me again how many people were killed by terrorists in the US this year? Just to clarify, I'm not saying we shouldn't spend any money in defense of our country, but you have to wonder when that figure is currently 29% of our budget and rising.

So now you know why I'm pissed after a couple of hours of monkey watching on C-Span.

The Truth vs. Fiction About The Public Option

Rachel Maddow did an outstanding job explaining what's going on in the Senate Finance Committee and the rejection of the public option amendments during yesterday's markup.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Rockefeller Public Option Amendment Fails

TPM: The final vote was 8-15 with 5 Democrats--Sens. Kent Conrad (D-ND), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Tom Carper (D-DE), Bill Nelson (D-FL), and Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT)--voting with all Republicans to kill the proposal.

Keep these fuckers in your mind and your wallet for anyone running against them in their respective primaries.

Update (5:15pm):

Schumer's Amendment Fails.

Bob Cesca: Why Baucus Is Full of Shit

Schoolchildren Singing Songs to President...Nixon

Posted by Fraulein

As a follow-up to Carl's post about this week's Douchebag, Michelle Malkin, and her efforts to alert the nation to the dangers of children singing songs about elected officials, I refer you to Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog, where you can view video of kids singing the following to then-President Richard Nixon:

We love you president
Oh yes we do
We love you president
And we'll be true

I'm sure we can expect Malkin's apology any time now. Right?

Douchebag of the Week: Michelle Malkin

This week brought us another non story of children in a school singing a song during President's Week and Black History Month, (yes, back in February) as more wingnut proof of children getting "indoctrinated" to all things Obama. The faux outrage was palpable, but leave it to Michelle "WWII Japanese Internment Was a Good Thing" Malkin to go over the top once again.

It seems that this is becoming a forte for Malkin, who I suppose is not afraid of one certain demographic to malign and attack. Those most vulnerable among us: children. First she posted some college students' phone numbers who were protesting military recruitment at their campus causing them to get death threats. Then she was quick to hunt down Graeme Frost, the 12-year old boy who's struggling family was used as an example in favor of S-CHIP. Yeah, Malkin stalked them at their house and gave us distorted, detailed information of their "lavish" lifestyle, causing wingnuts across the land to fling their poo.

And now Malkin is in a lather over the evil indoctrination of second graders and their brainwashing, sing songs hailing President Obama. She went so far as to do some handy dandy investigative work and name the principal and the school responsible for the brain melting, and guess what? Yep. Death threats. Looks like Malkin's audience actually has a skill.

"The tension at B. Bernice Young Elementary School escalated to such a degree Thursday that the school was placed temporarily on lockdown after its principal received death threats over a YouTube video that showed nearly 20 children being taught songs lauding the president, though back-to-school night events continuing as planned Thursday night at the school."

That would never happen if kids were singing the praises of President Bush, right? And if that were the case, Michelle Malkin would be all over it like stink on shit, right? ...Right?

Actually, no.

"...back in 2006 children from Gulf Coast states serenaded First Lady Laura Bush with a song praising the President, Congress, and Federal Emergency Management Agency for their response to -- of all things -- Hurricane Katrina. The lyrics were as follow:

Our country's stood beside us
People have sent us aid.
Katrina could not stop us,
our hopes will never fade.
Congress, Bush and FEMA
People across our land
Together have come to rebuild us
and we join them hand-in-hand!"

A song about FEMA and Hurricane Fucking Katrina?! That's pretty ballsy. I guess Michelle missed that one. After all, it's not like it was widespread like some movie.

(Via Cesca)


Great job, Malkin. Once again you display your idiocy with such expertise.

Oh, one other thing. About that internment thing? Does Malkin not look in the mirror and realize that she probably would have been swept up in the racial profiling that she defends during World War II? Sure, she's of Filipino descent, but they all look the same, right Michelle?

Michelle "The Child Hunter" Malkin: Douchebag of the Week.


Here's a more impartial take on the story. You form your own opinion.

Must Reads

Bob Cesca: The Impeachment of President Obama

Naomi Klein: America's Teacher

Laura Flanders: Oops! ACORN Ban could snag Lockheed Martin & Christian Charities

Bill Maher: New Rule: If America Can't Get it Together, We Lose the Bald Eagle

John Amato: Will the media ever report about how low in the polling Republicans have sunk?

Rude Pundit: A Note on an Absence of Hysteria Regarding a Possible Terrorism Plot

Steven D, Booman Tribune: Michelle Malkin - Ace Reporter

President Obama's Weekly Address - September 26, 2009

Progress with the G-20 in Pittsburgh

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.

Big C-Span Day on Health Care - Liveblogging

I don't know if I'll be able to sit through the entirety of the mind numbing experiment that is the Republican opposition to any health care bill, even one that favors what the GOP wants, but today is a big day for the Senate Finance Committee Health Care Bill Markup, or as I like to call it, The "How Many More Pages Can I Use To Wipe My Ass?" Baucus Bill.

Senators Chuck Schumer and Jay Rockefeller are introducing amendments to include a public option in the Baucus bill today. So I'm hoping that whatever induced coma I fall into while watching the debate, I'll be startled awake to some fireworks similar yesterday's little tiff between Baucus and Senator John "I'll Crap My Cage If You Don't Let Me Repeat Things Ad Nauseum As A Delay Tactic" Kyl.

Although I'm not holding my breath, when some of these morons speak, I sometimes hope to see something like this.


The Caning of Senator Charles Sumner

You can stream the proceedings here.

UPDATE: Since I've neglected my blog over the last couple of days, and since this session is only supposed to last until 12:30pm, I thought I'd do a little live blogging.

Liveblogging:

10am - Senator Ensign explaining his "Transparency in Czars" amendment. What that has to do with health care, I don't know. Awaiting for the bitchslap forthwith.

10:04am - Baucus: "The problem I have is that the job title of 'Czar' does not exist." BOOM!

Ensign: "This is about a balance of power. These Czars have broad powers." No, they don't, Senator. They are advisors, just like Karl Rove was an advisor. He had no actual "power" to do anything. Maybe Ensign's just wondering if he can be Extramarital Affairs Czar?

10:11am - Rockefeller: "If you want to create that 'Czar' that's in your mind, and put them through a Senate confirmation process, then you will in effect give them power. Currently, they are facilitators available to all of us. I don't think you want to do that."

10:16am - Baucus: Paraphrasing "Currently, there are holds on every health care nominee. The administration complains that they can't get work done with all the holds on these confirmations. How are they going to get anything done if we have to confirm everyone?"

10:22am - Roll call vote on Transparency in Czars Amendment: 13 - 11 against. Down the line party vote. ...Surprise.

10:24am - John Kerry speaking against higher health care premiums on customers based on age by a 4 to 1 margin. Yep, if you are older and therefore maybe need more medical attention, you get to pay four times as much than a healthy young person. Kerry's trying to get it down to no more than double the premiums and states true health reform wouldn't discriminate based on age.

10:37am - "The Young Immortals" and "The Young Invincibles" are how they describe young Americans to whom they'd like to make health care affordable. I now have a superhero group in my head. Would they be required to wear costumes as proof of coverage?

10:49am - Now they are comparing what insurance companies would charge if older customers weren't charged more than double than younger people. Isn't this a moot point if a public option were in place?

10:51am - John Kyl is appalled at the amount of regulation we are shoving down the poor insurance companies' throats when it comes to the prices they are dictating. That's the point, moron! Where's that cane?

10:58am - Kyl is still up in arms about a possible doubling of premiums for those who are mandated to get health care. Guess he doesn't realize that 2 to 1 is better than the current 8 to 1 or in some cases 28 to 1 ratio.

11am - John Kerry wants to meld this into the HELP bill later on and therefore withdraws the amendment.

11:03am - Baucus: "I'm committed to get a CBO score after all amendments have been adopted." I wonder if they'll get done before they have to go on the campaign trail?

11:06am - Baucus is afraid that John Cornyn's amendment to require every amendment to have a CBO score during the process will cause incredible delay. Is Cornyn on crack? He's saying since we have until 2013 before this gets in place anyway, why not use that time? Jebus, John! Let the process work itself out and then get a final score at the end. If we have to wait 2 or 3 days per amendment on 564 amendments for the CBO to score, let alone the redundacy that I'm sure will occur on multiple amendments, it would take about 4½ years without a day off. GET THE CANE!

11:17am - DINO Kent Conrad backs up Baucus as he calls Cornyn's amendment ridiculous.

11:20am - Roll Call vote on Cornyn Amendment C-23: 12-11 against. DINO Blanche Lincoln voted aye.

11:24am - At this point, I don't know how they'll get to the public option amendments. Did they get pushed off until Tuesday? I do need to take a break to walk the dog. That's not a euphemism. Be back later.

60

Paul Kirk was just named interim Senator from Massachusetts to fill the late Senator Kennedy's seat.

[Paul] Kirk, backed for the post by Kennedy's wife Victoria and his two sons, will fill the seat until voters in Massachusetts elect a permanent replacement in January. His appointment will restore a 60-seat Senate majority for the Democrats that could help President Barack Obama's push to overhaul healthcare.

Lawmakers in heavily Democratic Massachusetts passed legislation in the past few days allowing Governor Deval Patrick to name an interim senator, something Kennedy pushed for before he died in August from cancer so his party would not lose a key vote during the healthcare debate.

"The issues before the Congress and the nation are too important for us to be one voice short," [Massachusetts Governor Deval] Patrick told reporters as he appointed Kirk after signing the legislation.

Music Break! John Coltrane

Happy Birthday, Trane.

On Green Dolphin Street

The Comic Stylings of Barney Frank

Well, Limbaugh Should Know from Fat Asses

Posted by Fraulein

This week we read that known hard-body and fitness expert Rush Limbaugh has apparently been making insulting comments about the size of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's behind.

Yeah, I know, I've got nothing. Please add your own Limbaugh fat ass joke in the comments.

Pot, Meet Hypocritical Douchebag.

Raw Story:After years of angling to be the GOP's favorite broadcast outlet, one Fox News executive now thinks that it is "useful" to remind staff to avoid bias.

"At news events, we’re supposed to function as dispassionate observers, not active participants," writes Bill Sammon, Fox News Vice President of News and the network's Washington editor. "We are there to chronicle the news, not create it."

The letter, obtained by Mediaite, appears to be in response to a recent incident in which a Fox News producer was caught on video coaching a crowd of "tea party" protesters in D.C., signaling them to cheer when the cameras were rolling.

"We do not cheerlead for one cause or another," Sammon claimed. "We do not rile up a crowd. If a crowd happens to be boisterous when we show it on TV, so be it. If it happens to be quiet, that’s fine, too."

Really? Then what do you call this ad in the Washington Post?



Not only is this ad inaccurate (other news outlets did cover this rally) but it's just further promotion in a newspaper that most Fox viewers probably don't read to push the astroturf tea parties. So when a Fox News vice president reprimands a Fox producer for riling up the crowd, it stinks of hypocrisy. My guess is that according to Fox, it's okay until you get caught.

What The Right Was Waiting For?

Sorry to be so cynical.

Ambulances and fire trucks were dispatched to the Northern Virginia home of Sen. Robert Byrd Tuesday morning.

A neighbor of the 91-year-old West Virginia Democrat said several ambulances were outside his residence in McLean, Va., and a Byrd spokesman said the senator suffered a fall in his home.

Protect Insurance Companies

A public service announcement.

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Cartoon of the Day

Scarborough Weighs In On Beck

I think it may be that Glenn Beck has jumped the shark with this Katie Couric interview. He rails on Barack Obama for months, incites an astroturf tea party with his 9/12 Project when he was initially in favor of the $700 billion Bush bailout, and now says that John McCain would have been worse for the country because he's a "weird progressive like Theodore Roosevelt"?!

Wow, that's some special kind of crazy there.

Adding... What's up with Mika at the very beginning of the clip? She mumbles that perhaps they shouldn't air the Beck/Couric tape and then rolls her eyes just before they start. Is she a Beck fan too?

Music Break! Beethoven

Symphony No. 9, Second Movement

Behold! The Stupidity!

As If Being An Hispanic Republican Wasn't Embarrassing Enough

Ivan Marte, "the chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Hispanic Assembly and member of the Republican Central Committee says he has quit the GOP because he was embarrassed by South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's address to Congress on Sept. 9."

It took Joe Wilson to embarrass Marte? Michele Bachmann and Steve King are okay, but it was Wilson that put him over the edge?

Now He's Just Saying Shit To Freak People Out

Self destruction in 5... 4... 3...


Watch CBS Videos Online

So, Douchey McNutball said he "thinks John McCain would have been worse for the country than Barack Obama." Who do you suppose he voted for?

Steele: Obama Hates Black People!

Shorter Steele: "I'm not saying they're pressuring him because he's black, I'm saying it's strange that they're pressuring him because he's a black man."

Steele is sooooo fucking stupid. Keep it up, RNC!

The Rude Pundit Gets It

Last week I wrote briefly on the attacks coming Jimmy Carter's way because he dared mention the possibility that some might be opposed to President Obama because of racism. GASP!

The Rude One is on the same track and puts it better than I ever could.

...The election of a black president, who embraced the word "liberal," both confirms their suspicions and undermines them in a way that they can't deal with. Indeed, right now they can't even allow Obama to accomplish what he wants to do because, if he's right and he succeeds, their entire worldview crumbles. Conservatives in power, who watched George W. Bush get nearly everything he wanted and it turned to shit, have staked their last chance at regaining power on making Obama into that nigger who wants to hurt the white people. Fuck him and his nigger-loving accomplices.

What Carter was reacting to, among other things, was the yell of "You lie" from Representative Joe Wilson at President Obama. That yell was the barbaric scream of impotence from an exiled warrior; implicit with it was that no black man was going to tell him how the world runs, especially when it comes to Hispanics. Jimmy Carter knows what he's seeing. He listened to it for most of his life. He knows stupid fucking rednecks wearing their suit jacket collars high when he sees 'em.

Read his whole post.

Quote of the Day

"We figured Fox would rather show 'So You Think You Can Dance' than broadcast an honest discussion about health insurance reform," - White House spokesman Josh Earnest on the omission of Fox during the current Presidential media blitz

Of course, imbeciles like Chris Wallace don't get it. They don't understand why President Obama wouldn't use his time to go on their network to promote health care reform after the network decided not to air his joint session of Congress on the very same topic.

"They are the biggest bunch of crybabies I have dealt with in my 30 years in Washington," Wallace said on the Fox News program "The O'Reilly Factor."

Well, somebody's crying, but it sounds like Chris Wallace.

Douchebag of the Week: Rush Limbaugh

When choosing the weekly douchebag, I try to make it a point to avoid the normal douchebags, otherwise it would be way too easy. I stay away from the Three Stooges: Rush, Glenn and Sean, because if I paid attention to even one tenth of the horseshit that comes out of their mouths I would never have the need to pick anyone else. But I couldn't bypass this week's little nugget of wisdom from the leader of the Republican party; or should I say, dingleberry of wisdom?

Referring to an incident in which a white student was beaten by black students on a bus, Limbaugh said: “I think the guy’s wrong. I think not only it was racism, it was justifiable racism. I mean, that’s the lesson we’re being taught here today. Kid shouldn’t have been on the bus anyway. We need segregated buses — it was invading space and stuff. This is Obama’s America.”

This comment was made after local police said the attack was probably not racially motivated. But that didn't stop Limbaugh from pushing the meme. For anyone who still believes that racism isn't alive and well in America because we elected a black President, just think of this statement and the 20 million listeners who sit through this incredibly vile crap for three hours a day.

But he doesn't stop there. Why stop when you're on a roll? To top it off, Limbaugh decides to compare racism to homosexuality.

“If homosexuality being inborn is what makes it acceptable, why does racism being inborn not make racism acceptable?” the talk show host asked. “I’m sorry — I mean, this is the way my mind works. But apparently now we don’t choose racism, we just are racists. We are born that way. We don’t choose it. So shouldn’t it be acceptable, excuse — this is according to the way the left thinks about things.”

Just because your Oxycontin riddled mind works that way doesn't make it true, Rush. We are not inherently racist. We are taught to hate. We are taught to fear the "other." We are taught that the "other" is lesser.

The left doesn't assume that opposition to Obama automatically labels one a racist. When the perpetrators of racism decide to leave their Obama as witch doctor signs at home, when they decide to stop viewing him as a non-citizen and therefore an illegitimate Commander in Chief because of his "otherness," when they start arguing the policy points they disagree with instead of calling him a "lyin' African," then maybe we won't assume those making the racist statements are racist.

But so long as they take your lead, Rush, so long as they agree with segregation, so long as they accept your infantile premise in equating homosexuality and inherent racism, they will continue to circle the drain into GOP irrelevance.

Rush "We Need Segregated Buses" Limbaugh: Douchebag of the Week.

Must Reads

Wonkette: David Brooks Went Running On The Mall And Saw No Racism!

driftglass: Unjust For Men

Derrick Z. Jackson: Soda tax: It’s the real thing

Bob Herbert: The Scourge Persists

Christopher Brauchli: The Internet and The Ignorant

Joe Conason: In defense of ACORN

Maha: Strangling Ourselves With Selfishness and You’ll Get a Kick Out of This, Maybe

Roy Edroso: Their Negro Problem - And Ours

President Obama's Weekly Address - September 19, 2009

Progress in the Global Economy

Things People Have Forgotten About

Posted by Fraulein

Remember Hurricane Katrina? It's had some jaw-dropping lasting effects. That no one will talk about. Because they concern mostly black people. But it's not like people are still racist in America, right? Just avert your eyes and carry on...

Personally I still recall the raw horror, the literal nausea, I felt watching the Katrina disaster unfold on TV while King George the Inept ate birthday cake with John McCain. I vividly remember thinking: "We've lost an entire American city due to the Bush administration's ineptitude. NOW, now he's going to get impeached for sure."

So much for that. And today, all these years later, large swaths of New Orleans are evidently still a giant hellhole, and this NEVER makes it on the news. Awesome.

But It's Not About Racism (One of the Most Racist E-Mails Ever Edition)

A friend was appalled at an e-mail he received from a family member living in the southwest. He forwarded it to me for my take. Here is the email, undoctored except for the size and compilation of the photos for space reasons:

Subject: READ THIS AND WEEP!!!!!!!



I wonder how many other governmental type trucks they have been cloning?
Texas DOT Vehicle stopped by an alert DPS Trooper on I-10 between San Antonio
and Seguin , TX .



The Mexicans cloned a Texas DOT Truck and got busted smuggling drugs...
I wonder how long they got away with it before they got busted?
Let's give them more welfare money, more of our Social Security money, and raise your taxes to fund their free-ride... !

BELOW ARE PICTURES TAKEN AFTER A RAID ON A DRUG DEALER'S HOUSE IN MEXICO CITY...THIS HOUSE WAS IN A GATED AND WEALTHY SECTION OF MC. ARE YOU READY FOR THIS???



AREN'T WE GLAD THAT WE HAVE AN OPEN BORDER POLICY BETWEEN US?
JUST LOOK AT HOW WELL IT'S PAYING OFF........



I THINK ALLOWING MEXICAN TRUCKERS IN THE U.S. IS A GREAT IDEA!!! JUST TAKE A LOOK AT THE MILLIONS OF REASONS WHY.........



SEE HOW WELL THESE TRUCKERS ARE DOING? WHAT ARE WE THINKING???



Notice that nearly 100% of this money is U.S. currency!!! Do you now wonder why the cost of living has catapulted in our country??? I don't.

Some of the illegal aliens we're letting in can afford anything at any cost!!! And for the ones who cannot........ we'll give it to them anyway!!!



AND WE HAVE TWO BORDER PATROL AGENTS IN PRISON FOR SHOOTING AND WOUNDING A WELL DOCUMENTED MEXICAN DRUG DEALER

WHO, BY THE WAY, WAS ARMED AND ALSO HAPPENS TO BE A CONVICTED (BY MEXICO ) MURDERER.



MAKES A LOT OF SENSE, DOESN'T IT??? AUTOMATICS, SILENCERS...... THEY'RE ALL HAVING A NICE LAUGH ABOUT THIS STUFF AT OUR EXPENSE!!!



And our Government wants to give ILLEGAL ALIENS amnesty and not build the border fence because of funding!?!?!? SEND THIS TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING YOUR LOCAL CONGRESS REPRESENTATIVE. Our country is bleeding from the outside in!!! Don't you think it's time we take back what WE (NOT the Government) have sacrificed for over 140 years for??? I do. Build the fence higher and deeper, tighten border control, and send EVERY illegal alien home!!!

Nice touch, that patriotic eagle, huh?

So here's my take:

1 - This is one of the most racist emails I've ever seen.

2 – Drug smuggling has been going on forever. Just ask Oliver North. Things like this happen. That’s why it’s call DRUG SMUGGLING and not DRUG CARRYING OVERTLY ACROSS THE BORDER IN PLAIN SIGHT.

3 – ALL Mexican truckers are now to blame? That’s rich.

4 – Notice that it’s all US currency? NO SHIT! We have a horrible drug problem in this country, not only because of the "evil drug lords", but because of our DEMAND for it. (See Oliver North.) By the same token, we can be called ENABLERS of the drug trade.

5 – We no longer have don’t have an “open border” policy with Mexico & Canada. We must now show our passports to get across their borders. This happened under the OBAMA ADMINISTRATION. I don’t know if it’s a holdover from the Bush years, but if it was a real problem, you’d think the Bushies would have done something about it before they left office, or at least after 9/11.

6 - According to this douchebag, all illegal aliens are rich, drug trafficers who can buy anything at cost, driving the cost of living up for us poor, flag loving Americans. But it doesn't matter because if they're not smart enough to be drug dealers, they'll just get on the government teet with...

7 – Welfare? Don’t you have to have documents to receive welfare? And Social Security? Don’t you have to pay into Social Security if you actually have a legally obtained job? Just more racist immigration hyperbole.

8 - Guns: Gee, those look like American made guns to me. You can thank your National Rifle Association for their lobbying against stricter gun laws that make it much easier for US made firearms to fall into the hands of those evil drug smugglers, gang bangers and common criminals to use against our law enforcement officers.

9 - "Sacrificing for 140 years"... Hmmm... that would have been 1869. What were we recovering from back then? Oh yeah, The Civil War. This imbecile is citing the time around the end of the Civil War as the starting point of their "sacrifice." What happened back then? Oh, I remember. Slavery ended. Negroes were freed by that Rupublican bastard Abraham Lincoln. Sounds like subtle secessionist talk to me.

But I really don’t get surprised by this type of stuff anymore. This email combined with the fact that the whole racism debate with Obama that is happening right now only goes to further prove the point that racism is not only a factor, but a significant one in this country. Electing a black man to the Presidency has only exacerbated it. It was hidden for a while now, just bubbling under the surface. The sleeping giant of Racism has now awakened – it didn’t go away because smart people actually voted for the smart guy.

Instead of being happy the Drug Enforcement Agency caught this particular crime and that our law enforcement is working, the racist who originated this email just decides to blame a WHOLE RACE of people. Because as we all know everyone else is evil if they don’t need sunblock. Did this same person blame the entire Caucasian race for Bernie Madoff? By their standard are all white people now thieves?... Or would it just be the Jews?

Pathetic.

ADDING... By the way, Texas racist email originator, this happened in your state. Stop your whining and start cleaning it up. Or better yet, just go ahead a secede already. Take your Governor's advice. We don't need you, we don't want you. Leave us Austin, and go away. Form your own banana republic and see how far that gets you when we sanction your ass.

Immune To Irony

How do these people get elected into office? Did they stop drooling on themselves long enough to convince the rubes they call their constituents that they would be of use in Congress? ANY USE?

After receiving a complaint from a rube/constituent of their inconvenience during their recent travel, Republican Texas Rep. Kevin Brady decided to write a letter on their behalf, which would be a nice gesture if it weren't for the purpose of the trip and the specific travel complaint, as the Wall Street Journal so aptly describes:

Protesters who attended Saturday’s Tea Party rally in Washington found a new reason to be upset: Apparently they are unhappy with the level of service provided by the subway system.

Rep. Kevin Brady asked for an explanation of why the government-run subway system didn’t, in his view, adequately prepare for this past weekend’s rally to protest government spending and government services.

Seriously.

This would be funny if it weren't so pathetic. But what do you expect? These people who, as Brady writes in his letter of complaint to DC's Metro system, "came all the way from Southeast Texas to protest the excessive spending and growing government intrusion by the 111th Congress and the new Obama administration" complained that said government's transit system did not spend extra money to provide extra service for the teabagger event.

Seriously.

And the newest Republican MENSA member to step into that dubious Spotlight of Superstupid decides to write a letter on the behalf of an 80-year old woman, who is most likely in that evil, socialized Medicare program, with absolutely no conception of the irony of the situation.

Seriously.

And the kicker of this whole affront to the teabagging community? In July, the House voted on a resolution for appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, HUD, and related agencies including emergency funding for the Metro DC subway system. Brady voted against the resolution.

Seriously.

Texas Republican Rep. Kevin Brady: SUPERGENIUS.

(H/T Wonkette)

Frank Schaeffer Kicks Ass

Schaeffer on Rachel Maddow's show: "A village cannot reorganize village life to suit the village idiot. It's as simple as that. And we have to understand we have a village idiot in this country: it's called Fundamentalist Christianity. And until we move past these people... until the Republican leadership has the guts to stand up and say it would be better not to have a Republican party than a party that caters to the village idiot, there's going to be no end in sight."

Wow.

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Mary Travers Dies at 72

NY Times: Mary Travers, whose ringing, earnest vocals with the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary made songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “If I Had a Hammer” and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” enduring anthems of the 1960s protest movement, died Wednesday night in Danbury Hospital in Connecticut. She was 72 and had lived in Redding, Conn.

The cause was cancer, said her spokeswoman, Heather Lylis.

But It's Not About Racism (The Jimmy Carter Edition) - UPDATED

This past Tuesday, former President Jimmy Carter, an old white Southern man who would probably know racism when he sees it, commented that the Joe "YOU LIE!" Wilson outburst, as well as the teabagger 9/12 demonstrations, was based in part on racial politics.

"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American," Carter told NBC News. "I live in the South, and I've seen the South come a long way, and I've seen the rest of the country that shares the South's attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African-Americans."

"That racism inclination still exists, and I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of belief among many white people -- not just in the South but around the country -- that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply," Carter said.

No sooner had he made that comment, the attack dogs were on the cable chatter stations to debate whether Carter was right in his assessment. Matt Lauer interviewed Michael Eric Dyson and Frank Luntz (Frank FUCKING Luntz!) as if there were equal sides to this debate. Conspicuously absent from the piece was any video or images of the racists signs being carried at the 9/12 protests. Dyson was also on Morning Joke™ where MENSA member Maria "Why Isn't 45 Year Old Anthony Weiner On Medicare If It's So Good?" Bartiromo tried to dismiss racism on the grounds that President Obama once enjoyed a 70% approval rating. Dyson astutely breaks down the arguments, but of course on the Morning Joke™ set, it falls of deaf ears.

The whole point of these most recent morning interviews was to discredit Carter's valuation, just as they attacked him for his Palestine book. They try refuting Carter's argument with no facts or images to bolster their non-racial argument from the teabaggers in DC. They discredit him and thereby try to show that race has little or nothing to do with the 9/12 marchers in Washington on Saturday who were soooo angry at the government "spending its tax dollars" that they showed up bearing signs with Obama dressed as a witch doctor with a bone through his nose, or telling him to go back to Kenya and take his "arrogent" wife with him (Arrogant... perhaps they meant "uppity"?) or calling him a "Muslim Marxist" as though no freedom of religion existed in this country, let alone probably not knowing the definition of Marxism. To them it's just another thing to repeat that they heard from "their hero, Glenn Beck."

Anyone who refuses to believe that race is not only an issue, but the main issue for the upswell in opposition is purposely ignoring what is plainly visible; the deep seated feeling that they really are racist but can't admit it. Where were these protesters when former President Bush bailed out financial institutions with $700 billion? President Obama continues the Bush policy and all of a sudden it's socialism? But you bring a sign like this to your protest?



I'd like to know how many 9/12 teabaggers "protesting the government spending" are A) Democrats and B) voted for Obama? I have more respect for David Duke than some I do for some of these teabaggers or Glenn Beck. At least Duke admits to being a racist and is proud of it.

UPDATE (9/17/09, 6:45am): Keith Olbermann takes on the race issue and backs it up with examples.

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Too Soon?

Oops...

Glenn Beck's 9/12 loonies hate Communism...



...but loooooove the artwork.



TEABAG FAIL!

Must-read Robert Borosage Column

Posted by Fraulein

Robert Borosage, the very smart and insightful co-director of the Campaign for America's Future, has written a must-read column for Huffington Post today. Borosage sums up where we stand today regarding reform on a number of fronts, from health care to the financial system, and, in my view, paints a pretty accurate picture of the risks we face if these reforms fail. It's worth reading the whole thing, but among the points worth noting:

Despite all the fantasies of the rabid right, Obama is moderate by temperament, creative at compromise. He is, as one of his White House staff described him, a "raging minimalist." He really does believe you put everyone around a table, have a "civil conversation," find areas of agreement and move forward. He does believe that everyone -- from billionaire hedge fund operators to insurance company CEOS to conservative legislators -- will in a crisis put the country first.

But he and his reform program are getting mugged. He's taken on the most powerful private interests in America -- Big Oil, Wall Street, the insurance and drug lobbies -- and they are winning. Republicans, despite the shattering of their conservative shibboleths, have chosen, with lockstep unity, obstruction over compromise. And too many Democrats have shown themselves more beholden to the private interests that pay for their campaigns than the public interest the president of their own party invokes.

This is precisely my fear at this point. In pursuit of some fantasy of bipartisan compromise, the Obama administration is backing itself into a corner from which there might not be an easy escape. Borosage continues:

We are witnessing a harrowing test of our democracy. America is a big, bustling and entrepreneurial country. We pursue our own passions and pursuits, are jealous of our freedoms, and begrudge governmental intrusions. But in a crisis -- faced with depression or war, our history tells us, many become one. We join together for the common good.

But will that happen this time? Will the Republicans join with the Democrats "for the common good"? My fear is that the Obama administration is being awfully optimistic, waiting for this to happen. If the Republicans were to put country above party now, let's face it, it would be the first time. It's just not likely to happen. So then what? Will Obama call them out on it?

With George W. Bush, flawed in a million ways as he undoubtedly was, many people rallied around him because he gave off the air of being "a strong leader." And this, to me, is what we desperately need at this moment in our history. As Borosage says:

Middle income Americans lost income over the last decade, for the first time since we began keeping records. Financial speculation drove the economy off the cliff. Catastrophic climate change is already melting the ice caps. We cannot afford another lost decade. If reason cannot prevail, angry people will increasingly look for a strong man to get something done. And that could make the teabaggers look like a tea party.

What do you think--is Obama up to the challenge?

Patrick Swayze Dies at 57

NY TIMES: Patrick Swayze, the balletically athletic actor who rose to stardom in the films “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost” and whose 20-month battle with advanced pancreatic cancer drew wide attention, died Monday. He was 57.

His publicist, Annett Wolf, told The Associated Press in Los Angeles that Mr. Swayze died with family at his side.

Quote of the Day

If you saw a woman struck by a car, would you call an ambulance right away? Or would you first ask for her papers to make sure she was not an illegal immigrant? - E.J. Dionne on the prospect of Rep. Joe Wilson and other GOP members spreading the health care coverage for illegal aliens lie.

Puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

Frank Schaeffer on the 9/12 Marchers

...Ordinary folks from Planet Earth may ask why the Republican Party, right-wing activists and members of the Religious Right seem so unreachable with mere facts let alone decency and decorum. (As the proud father of a US Marine who fought in Afghanistan I'm particularly outraged that these people would exploit the 9/11 attacks after my son and others were prepared to give their lives in response to our enemies.)

As a former Religious Right leader, who was raised (and home-schooled by my Evangelical-leader parents, Francis and Edith Schaeffer) in the movement, let me explain just why the ordinary rules of decency don't apply to the right these days...

Read the whole post here.

Classic Stupidity - UPDATE

These are the boneheads we are dealing with.


(Photo via Bob Cesca)

These are the imbeciles that "want their country back" as if it was taken away from them in the first place. I wonder how morons like these get by day to day without being killed by walking into traffic? Or walking off a cliff? Or having an anvil fall on their head?

UPDATE (2:30pm): Update on The Stupid.

Via Wonkette:

Would-be teabaggers and and other easily duped dingbats are proudly emailing each other wonderful pictures of a million teabaggers crowding the National Mall, but these pictures are actually from the Million Man March of 1997, an event attended by, ahem, colored people.

Oh, the irony! AHAHAHAHAAHAAHAAHAAAAAAA!!!

Kayne West Is A Dick

I don't usually write about pop culture on my blog and those who frequent this site know my musical tastes are not mainstream by any means, but last night's display by Kanye West at the MTV Video Music Awards was something truly sickening to watch and I felt the need to comment.

The first time I'd ever heard of Kanye West was when he uttered his now famous, "George Bush doesn't care about black people" quote during a broadcast concert for hurricane relief to benefit Katrina victims. His emotions got the better of him that night and I thought then that either he was pretty ballsy or pretty stupid. Now I know it was the latter. If you weren't sure before, you certainly know it now.

Taylor Swift got a surprise when she accepted the award for Best Female Video at Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards.

After Swift, looking shocked, beat out Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Pink and Beyonce for the honor, she took the stage and accepted the award. As she was thanking MTV, Kanye West ran up on stage, took her microphone, and said Beyonce had been robbed for her "Single Ladies" video.

"Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!"

Swift, 19, stood silently holding her trophy, cameras cut to Beyonce looking stunned in the crowd, and MTV then cut to break.

MTV Shows

What. A. Dick. Just goes to show you that money doesn't buy class. Or brains. Or a good haircut.

Luckily, Beyonce is pretty damned classy herself and when she was awarded Video of the Year towards the end of the program, she called out to Taylor Swift to come on stage and finish her interrupted acceptance speech.

MTV Shows

New found respect for Beyonce! And Kanye can kiss my ass. He has since apologized on his blog for his intrusion in an obviously effort at damage control, but sometimes an apology just doesn't mean anything. You can't always do what you want and think an apology will make it all go away. And it's clear that he still doesn't get it.

"I'm in the wrong for going on stage and taking away from her moment," he wrote. "Beyonce's video was the best of this decade . . . I'm sorry to my fans if I let you guys down . . . I'm sorry to my friends at MTV . . . I will apologize to Taylor."

Sorry, Kanye, it's too late. Maybe you should have sought out Taylor and apologized before posting your ALL-CAPS comment on your blog. And if you're going to apologize, don't try to justify your actions in the apology. Asshole.

Kanye West doesn't care about 19-year old white country singers!

The More Things Change...

This cartoon was posted by a Facebook friend with the caption, "This cartoon is over five years old. Things have gotten even WORSE since it was drawn."



The slow death march of journalism continues...

Sunday Must Reads

Armadillo Joe recommends...

Frank Rich: Obama’s Squandered Summer

Alex Koppelman: Conservatives march on Washington

Douchebag of the Week: Joe "You Lie!" Wilson

It's a no-brainer this week. The gentleman from the state of South Carolina was anything but gentlemanly in his outburst during President Obama's joint session of Congress this past Wednesday, calling the President a liar in his ignorant refusal to believe that HR3200, the health care bill being brought up in the House would not cover illegal aliens.

Of course, there is no provision in the bill that states they will be covered. In fact, it specifically states that non-citizens will not be covered. But why would that stop a Birther like Wilson from lying about it?

Not only was his douchebaggery evident in his dirty diaper tantrum, but it was plain for all to see in the subsequent apology, which he then said was requested by GOP leadership and then just deciding to shake his tin cup for donations after he realized he's the new wingnut darling, while continuing to lie about health care coverage for illegal aliens.



Joe "YOU LIE!" Wilson: Douchebag of the Week.