Saturday, October 8, 2011

An Open Letter to ECI

Posted by Nowhere Man

To: The Powers-That-Be at Emergency Committee for Israel
Re: Queensborough Bridge Not For Israel Billboard.

I recently came across your billboard as I was heading into Manhattan, showing a picture of President Obama shaking hands with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas with the caption, "Telling Jews They Can't Build in Jerusalem. Not Pro-Israel."

The people of Israel are also divided on the building of more settlements on the West Bank. Do you consider them to be traitors or just simply not friends of their own country? Why is it that a President of the United States isn't considered a friend of Israel unless he kowtows to every single Israeli right wing policy? If your friends disagree with something you do or say, are they no longer your friends? President Obama didn't say anything critical, although he should have, about Israel's massacre of 1,500 Palestinians in the Gaza conflict, did he?

Did I miss something or has President Obama stopped sending Israel $3 billion a year in aid? Newsweek is reporting that President Obama sold Israel bunker-buster bombs in 2009 - something even former President Bush wouldn't do - and yet it is Obama that isn't a friend of Israel?

The real injustice is that the Arab Spring has dramatically changed the Middle East but the US is impotent to try to forge broad relationships with these new governments because as always, the President and his State Department are the marionettes of Israel and are not allowed to freely conduct broad relationships with other Arabs and Muslims... you know,the people who "attacked" us. Your billboard is so pathetically disingenuous that it reminds me of the propaganda the Nazis used to hide the truth. What Israel is doing to the Palestinians is no different from the apartheid that was practiced in South Africa. I would also appreciate it if for once you'd let us be free to conduct our own independent foreign policy without the typical smears and maliciously intended misinformation.

Must Reads



Asjylyn Loder and David Evans: Koch Brothers Flout Law Getting Richer With Secret Iran Sales

Hunter: Newt Gingrich says as President, he'd ignore the Supreme Court

The Rude Pundit: An Inarticulate Articulation of Why Occupy Wall Street Doesn't Need to Articulate a Damn Thing

Justin Rosario: Ron Paul: Libertarian? Only When It’s Convenient

Alexander Bolton: Reid Triggers ‘Nuclear Option’ to Change Senate Rules, End Repeat Filibusters

President Obama's Weekly Address - October 8, 2011

Making Your Voice Heard on the American Jobs Act

Friday, October 7, 2011

Picture of the Day

At the Occupy Wall Street protest.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Sarah Palin Not Running

No links. No news. No surprise.

I could have told you Sarah Palin wasn't running for the nomination a year and a half ago. The only reason she chose to make her announcement was because she saw all the attention NJ Governor Chris Christie was attracting when he decided to have a press conference to state the same thing he's been saying for a year now. And as we all know by now, whether it be Christie or Michele Bachmann or Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin is so goddamn shallow she can't stand not being the center of attention.

Palin's not running?! ...Yawn....

Blame Yourself

Outsourcing doesn't matter. The greatest recession since the Great Depression doesn't matter. The Too Big To Fail Banks who played Las Vegas with our money and lost it all, than had to be bailed out with taxpayer money doesn't matter. Herman Cain, who is running for President of the United States, thinks if you lost your job, and can't get ahead, you have no one to blame but yourself.

Herman Cain: "I don’t have facts to back this up, but I happen to believe that these demonstrations are planned and orchestrated to distract from the failed policies of the Obama administration. Don’t blame Wall Street, don’t blame the big banks, if you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself! [...] It is not a person’s fault if they succeeded, it is a person’s fault if they failed."


A word of advice to Herman Cain: if you don't have facts to back something up, then keep your mouth shut.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Steve Jobs Dies at 56

Chicago Tribune: CUPERTINO, Calif. -- Apple announced Wednesday that former Apple CEO Steve Jobs has died.
...In January, Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor, took his second medical leave of absence in two years, raising serious questions about his health and the leadership of a company.
Jobs, 56, has been instrumental in turning Apple into the dominant producer of portable music players, a leader in the smart phone business and, with the iPad, the inventor of a new category of modern tablet computers.
Jobs is now looking down from his iCloud and observing how he changed the world.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Moment of Zen

...from last night's Daily Show.

Christie Not Running

Chris Christie is having a press conference at 1pm to announce that he is not running for the Republican nomination for the presidential race. In other words, he's making news by announcing what he's been saying for the last twelve months.



Now let's give Christie a little credit. Even though sources say he was reconsidering his position after hearing the outcry of voters who aren't satisfied with any of the eight current nominees, he was smart enough to realize that even if he were ready to be president, he's nowhere near ready organizationally to run a national campaign.

The question will soon shift to who will the voters clamor for as their next flavor of the week?

Monday, October 3, 2011

Rick Perry and "Niggerhead"

Is Rick Perry a racist? He doesn't seem to be from what those who know him are saying. Was he a little more than insensitive in this situation? Absolutely, especially for a public servant.

WaPo: "In the early years of his political career, Rick Perry began hosting fellow lawmakers, friends and supporters at his family’s secluded West Texas hunting camp, a place known by the name painted in block letters across a large, flat rock standing upright at its gated entrance.
'Niggerhead,' it read."
Here's the insensitivity:
"...the name of this particular parcel did not change for years after it became associated with Rick Perry, first as a private citizen, then as a state official and finally as Texas governor. Some locals still call it that. As recently as this summer, the slablike rock — lying flat, the name still faintly visible beneath a coat of white paint — remained by the gated entrance to the camp."
Perry has a record showing he is not a racist, naming African-American justices and staff members during his tenure as Governor, but in trying to avoid the subject because it's not politically convenient at the current time shows he's more interested in damage control than having the courage to address this issue head on.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

More Like This, Please

President Obama: “We don’t believe in the kind of smallness that says it’s OK for a stage full of political leaders — one of whom could end up being the President of the United States — being silent when an American soldier is booed. We don’t believe in that. We don’t believe in standing silent when that happens. We don't believe in them being silent since. You want to be commander-in-chief? You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States, even when it’s not politically convenient."

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Must Reads



The Rude Pundit: What Matters: A Contrast in Two Photos

Eugene Robinson: Chris Christie’s Big Problem

Melissa Harris-Perry: Black President, Double Standard: Why White Liberals Are Abandoning Obama

Patrick McGeehan: N.J. to Repay U.S. $95 Million Over Hudson Tunnels

Michael D. Shear: Imagining a Christie Campaign for President

Bob Cesca: Progressive Racism, Careerism and Delusion

President Obama's Weekly Address - October 1, 2011

Fighting for the American Jobs Act

Friday, September 30, 2011

Will O'Reilly Quit If Taxed at a Higher Rate?

Absolutely not. And he said as much on The Daily Show.

Here's Jon Stewart taking Bill O'Reilly to the woodshed yet again. I would truly love to see O'Reilly in a serious discussion with Stewart regarding the issues they speak about, instead of his insistence in trying out a punchline here and there. I do believe he's a smart guy - but I also believe he knows where his bread is buttered and therefore leans towards conclusions with which he might not otherwise agree.



The Solyndra fiasco was reported, or shall I say regurgitated by the media before all the facts were made known.
And the $16 muffins? That's already been debunked as well. Too bad Stewart didn't know anything about it.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

So Much for Savior Perry

Well this can't be good for the Perry campaign.
Herman Cain, the former chief executive of Godfather’s Pizza, won the Florida straw poll today, defeating second-place Rick Perry after the Texas governor worked the crowd of activists with a breakfast speech Saturday morning.
Mr. Cain won nearly 40 percent of the 2,657 people who voted, more than doubling Mr. Perry’s total and that of Mitt Romney, who came in a close third.
Herman the pizza guy beat Rick Perry, the GOP's flavor of the month, in Florida's straw poll after his performance in the most recent GOP debate. And I have to ask: what the hell is wrong with Republican voters? Arguably, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman are the most sane, responsible politicians vying for the GOP nomination, but they're not even close to what the polls say the voters want.

First it was Donald Trump, until he exposed himself as a complete buffoon when he jumped on the Birther bandwagon. Then came Michele Bachmann, whose buffoonery is usually excused until she suggested that the HPV vaccine could cause "mental retardation." Then it was Rick Perry, who got cheers for 234 Texas executions under his leadership, but jeers for his Texas Dream Act where illegal immigrants who came to this country when they were children are given a chance to go to college. They were also too quickly reminded of the 43rd president when Perry tripped over his tongue while trying to attack Mitt Romney. And we may as well forget the other six candidates, including Cain, considering the fact that week after week GOP pundits and talking heads are constantly touting new candidates and hoping they'll get in the race.

This week they're returning to the idea of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie yet again... until they take a cursory look and realize he called the fringe right wing "crazies" when it comes to their anti-Muslim rhetoric and the whole "banning Sharia law" thing in places where Sharia law doesn't exist and will never exist. And as of this writing, he had once again stated he's not interested in running for president in 2012.

Who'll be the flavor of the week next week?

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Hypocritical Family "Values"

Funny - I was more upset when I found out Nancy Grace was going to be a contestant on Dancing With The Stars than Chaz Bono, and I don't even watch the show. Lewis Black was on the same wavelength.

Must Reads



David Frum: The GOP's Bernanke Letter

Ezra Klein: Nice central bank you got here. Shame if something should happen to it.

The Rude Pundit: Hypocritical, Cruel, and Buffoonish Responses from the GOP on Obama's Tax Plan

Bob Cesca: Rick Perry’s Epic Lying Could Make Him the Next President

Justin Rosario: Stop Pretending You’re Not A Conservative! You Wrecked The Country, Now Own Up To It!

Sarah Lai Stirland: Energy Department: House Republicans Distorted E-Mail Correspondence

Joel Atcheson: Reality? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Reality

President Obama's Weekly Address - September 24, 2011

Strengthening the American Education System

Friday, September 23, 2011

Cartoon of the Day

The Big Tent Party

Here you go Log Cabin Republicans. Pat yourselves on the back, GOProud. Please Lt. Dan Choi, continue to rail against President Obama and how he's done nothing for the gay community, and realize that in fighting against Obama, this is what you're fighting for.



The cognitive dissonance is astounding.

Just as I will never understand why any middle class member of a union votes Republican, I will shake my head in amazement at a gay American who flips the lever for any GOP candidate.

And let's be clear about Rick Santorum's idiotic statement:

I would say any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military. The fact they are making a point to include it as a provision within the military that we are going to recognize a group of people and give them a special privilege to, and removing don't ask don’t tell. I think tries to inject social policy into the military. And the military's job is to do one thing: to defend our country...
Yes, it's a real privilege to put your life on the line to defend Rick Santorum and his policies isn't it? But please, Rick, continue.
I would just say that going forward we would reinstitute that policy if Rick Santorum was president. That policy would be re-instituted as far as people in, I would not throw them out because that would be unfair to them because of the policy of this administration. But we would move forward in conformity with what was happening in the past. Which was- sex is not an issue. It should not be an issue. Leave it alone. Keep it to yourself whether you are heterosexual or homosexual.
The repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell is now law. Rick Santorum or any other Republican president (I shudder at the thought) cannot unilaterally reinstitute DADT with the flick of a pen. You can't repeal a law by executive order. That's why it was so important for President Obama to make this a legislative issue as he is doing with the Defense of Marriage Act. Besides the fact that the federal court deemed DADT unconstitutional.

Santorum is right. Sex is not an issue, but by discriminating against gay and lesbian soldiers, he is making it an issue. There is no "exception," no "special privilege" we are bestowing among gay soldiers be the repeal of DADT. So take your own advice, Rick. Leave it alone.

As far as yet another hostile Republican crowd at the debate after the "Let 'em die" Tea Party crowd at the CNN debate, I'm not the least bit surprised by their applause at Santorum's answer, but the boos at a uniformed member of the Armed Forces who is protecting their right to be homophobes and bigots takes it to a new low. Booing a member of the military? They should be ashamed, but they're not.

Gay Republicans, what the hell are you thinking?

 
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