Must Reads

Paul Krugman: American Thought Police

AsianGrrlMN: Michele Bachman Announces that She Plans to Formally Announce Forming a Committee for her Presidency Run Just as Soon as She Gets her Nails Done; A Nation Snickers

Steve Benen: The NBPP 'Story' -- Coda....

Glenn Kessler: Rand Paul’s Historical Misfire in the Debate Over Libya

Joseph E. Stiglitz: Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%

The Rude Pundit: If You Are a Birther, You Are a Racist; Therefore, Donald Trump Is a Racist and Birtherism and Your Lying Media (Part 2) and Birtherism and the Death of One Kind of Conservatism (Part 3)

Andrew Sullivan: Left, Right And Time

Michael Winship: Labor Pains and the GOP

President Obama's Weekly Address - April 2, 2011

Gas Prices & Energy Security

April Fool! House HR 1255 Passes

For those of you who have been living under a political rock for the last few days, mark today's date on your calendar. For today is the day that 221 Republican members of the House of Representatives went on the record to show the country that they have no idea how the United States government works. Today is the day that the Republican members of the House who so highly regard the Constitution decided to wipe their asses with said document. Today is the day the GOP admitted it doesn't really give a shit about checks and balances, or the proper procedure of how a bill actually becomes a law. A little hint for House Republicans: this isn't it.

Led by Republican House leader Eric Cantor, the Government Shutdown Prevention Act passed by a vote of 221-202. The bill states that if the Senate doesn't act on the bill by a specific date, another bill automatically becomes law. This bill is so fucking ridiculous, even Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Freakazoidland), the guy who believes in private army conspiracy theories, voted against it. Gohmert! How does that make Cantor feel? How does Eric Cantor feel that calls to Speaker Boehner regarding this issue were blocked and referred to Cantor's office? What does Cantor's view from underneath the bus look like?

And just as a reminder for those with short attention spans or bad short term memory, this vote took place and was passed by the same party that insisted to read the Constitution aloud on the House floor during the first day of session (and they screwed that up in the process). This is the same 112th GOP led Congress (the House anyway) that passed a rule stating that each bill introduced should cite Constitutional authority.

I'm still waiting for Cantor to jump out of the House chamber cloak room shouting, "April Fool!"

Who Wants To Shut The Government Down?!

Is that Tea Party twat, Mike Pence? Is that the teabagger who doesn't want a government shutdown while daring the opposition to shut down the government?

Does that make any sense?

Rep. Tom Marino, Just Resign

... it would be a lot easier than trying to explain yourself.

"The bottom line is I wish the president would have told us, talked to Congress about what is the plan. Is there a plan? Is the mission to take Gadhafi out?" Mr. Marino asked.... "Where does it stop?" he said. "Do we go into Africa next? I don't want to sound callous or cold, but this could go on indefinitely around the world."

For those of you who read this blog or happen upon it by circumstance, here's a little geography lesson: Libya is a country...in the CONTINENT OF AFRICA.

I just wanted to clarify it for anyone who may be confused.

Of course, it's time for the spokesman du jour to polish the turd.

Marino’s spokeswoman Renita Fennick said Thursday the congressman was quoted correctly, but readers, including those at the Inquirer, apparently misunderstood his comment.

“We are not in Africa. There were missile strikes, but many of those missiles were launched from Missouri,” Fennick said. “The congressman’s position is that we don’t want to go into Africa, (but) a few days of missile strikes does not put us on a continent.”

Fennick said Marino’s office was “baffled” about how the quote could have been misunderstood.

Very simple, Renita Fennick. All Rep. Marino had to say was "Libya" instead of "Africa." That's how he was misunderstood. If that "baffles" you, perhaps you should resign as well.

Just say "oops" and get out.

Fox & Friends Doubles It's Collective IQ on Mondays

[Fox] revealed Thursday plans to launch a "Monday Mornings with Trump" segment on its morning show, "Fox & Friends."

"Bold, brash and never bashful, The Donald now makes his voice loud and clear every Monday on Fox," a network promo says.

Dumbass Quote of the Day

...when you find out we're being sent to Libya to use our treasure and American lives there, maybe there's intention to so deplete the military that we're going to need that presidential reserve officer commissioned corps and non-commissioned corps that the president can call up on a moment's notice involuntarily, according to the Obamacare bill.

~Louie Gohmert (R-Wingnutville) on the House floor March 30th, 2011

Yes, you read that correctly. It's not an April Fool's joke. Gohmert thinks that the Affordable Care Act creates a private army for the President to call up at any time. Maybe if Gohmmert could read, and actually looked through the "2,800 page bill" as he incessantly reminds us, he'd know that what that provision in the bill does is create a corp of public health workers to react to disasters. But why bother reading a bill you have no intention of voting in favor of anyway?

As TPM notes...

Some on the far-right believe the health care law creates a private army for President Obama to call up and train on U.S. citizens. What it really does is make good on a plan first envisioned by Bush HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson in the wake of the September 11 attack to create a Ready Reserve Corps of several thousand public health professionals -- nurses, doctors -- that can be called up to treat people in the wake of an epidemic or a disaster like Hurricane Katrina.

Gohmert gave credence to the theory on the House floor, with an addendum. The administration's Libya operation is actually a false flag, to draw down the country's military reserves, and give Obama the excuse he needs to call up his private army.

This is 9/11 truther-type stuff, on the House floor.

And I thought Michele Bachmann was the stupidest member of Congress. I stand corrected.

Anthony Weiner at the Congressional Correspondents' Dinner

Very, very funny! It's too bad Weiner wasn't asked to participate in the Donald Trump Roast.

Among the favorites: "Is Michele Bachmann here? She's probably not -- she's campaigning in Iowa and organizing in that important caucus state because she's running for president. ...That's really all I have for that joke."

The Most Bizarre Interview Ever - UPDATED

I just watched Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie try to interview Donald Trump via telephone on MSNBC. I say it's a bizarre interview because the first question posed was, of course, why The Donald was fixated on the Birther conspiracy that President Obama should show us his birth certificate (he has) and that there's a good chance he wasn't born in the United States (he was).

Trump took offense that he wasn't being asked serious questions about China or the economy. Yeah, Trump blamed the media for bringing up an issue that he has been shouting from the rooftops for the last few weeks, since CPAC in fact, as unserious journalism.

Something akin to this:

Me: I'm running for president and Trump is not qualified because he fucks goats! Did you know that? Trump is a goat fucker. He hasn't proven he doesn't fuck goats. I find no records of Trump not being arrested for bestiality but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Why doesn't Trump just come out and tell us he doesn't fuck goats? Maybe it's because he's a goat fucker. He must be! Trump's a goat fucker. Trump's a goat fucker. Trump's a goat fucker.  

Trump.  

Goatfucker.  

Goatfuckergoatfuckergoatfuckergoatfuckergoatfucker.  

You: Why do you insist Trump is a goat fucker? 

Me: Hey, I'm running for president! Why don't you ask me serious questions? Why must you ask me about this goat fucking business, which by the way, I believe is true. Why is the media fixated on the goat fucking? ...Speaking of which, did you know Trump's a goat fucker? But don't ask me about that. Take me seriously!!!

I hope the video becomes available to post soon, because it was even more bizarre than that. Add to it the fact that Trump barely breathed during the phone interview, leaving Todd and Guthrie unable to counter, speechless and giggling in astonishment, and you have comedy gold.

UPDATE (1pm): Here's the video:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Eric Cantor is a Douchebag

It has only taken a matter of three months as the majority in the House of Representatives for House Majority "Leader" Eric Cantor to render himself completely irrelevant. His imitation of an adolescent power hungry school hall monitor was on full display today when he stated without hesitation that if the Senate does not act on the HR1 after the House passes the... wait for it... "Prevention of a Government Shutdown Act," the spending cuts in HR1 will become the law of the land.

I actually feel sorry for Cantor, being deprived by his parents as a child the pleasure of the lessons learned from Schoolhouse Rock on how a bill becomes a law. Add to that the fact that he's gotten this far in American politics without the apparent knowledge of how the American system of checks and balances works, and you see before you the de-facto running mate for Michele Bachmann's presidential aspirations. After all, you don't want to look smarter than your top of the ticket running mate (see McCain/Palin '08).

But as a refresher, here's a cartoon made that even 9-year olds supposedly understood.



But it seems Eric Cantor thinks that this is how to treat a bill.



Now you may think me naive to believe that this is not a political ploy by Cantor to try and deflect any blame from the GOP when the government shutdown happens. And it will happen. But I'm going to take Cantor at his word and believe that he is as moronic as he sounds if he thinks that non-action by the Senate of a bill passed by the House by a certain deadline will tacitly make both that bill and the bill it is referencing, passed by only one half of one branch of government and neither signed by the President, the law of the land.

Here's Cantor in his own words, pissing all over the Constitution.



Is it me, or does it seem that the majority of Republican party is going batshit crazy simultaneously? You really can't make this shit up. If you were to write this scenario as a screenplay, you'd be laughed out of Hollywood for being completely unrealistic... and that's the same industry that produced and released Showgirls.

Cartoon of the Day

Romneycare Architect Blasts Romney

From the "No Shit, Sherlock" annals of GOP politics, M.I.T. economist Jonathan Gruber called Mitt Romney's loud noises about repealing the Obama Administration's Affordable Care Act "largely political."

For the federal law, "Massachusetts absolutely was the model," Gruber said. "It would have been much harder if we didn't have a working example to show that it worked."
 ..."Romney likes to brag he did it without raising taxes, but he doesn't mention that the feds paid for half of it," Gruber said, referring to $400 million in unused Medicaid funds that Massachusetts had to spend or else return to Washington.

It also didn't hurt that in 2006, Massachusetts already had the lowest proportion of residents without health insurance of any state, 7.7 percent compared to 14.8 percent nationwide.
"It was cheaper because we had fewer people to cover," said Gruber, who is on the board of the state's health insurance purchasing exchange.
The exchange, along with the individual mandate and subsidies to low-income people who can't afford health insurance, are at the heart of both the Massachusetts and national plans -- another key similarity, Gruber said.
"The basic framework is identical," he said. "The details differ."

Mitt, just say "oops" and get out.

Wisconsin GOP Needs To Step Off

A Wisconsin judge for the second time directed the state to put on hold an explosive law that strips most public workers of nearly all their union bargaining rights, ordering officials on Tuesday to follow her original instructions to stand down.

"Apparently that language was either misunderstood or ignored, but what I said was the further implementation of (the law) was enjoined," said a visibly annoyed Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi. "That is what I now want to make crystal clear."

Shorter Judge Sumi: You're not above the law, motherfuckers.

They disregarded the state's 24-hour notice Open Meetings Law, and now they disregard a judge's hold on their illegal push-through of said legislation. So much for upholding the Constitution, eh Teabaggers?

Dumbass Quote of the Day

"I have two grandchildren - Maggie is 11, Robert is 9. I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time they're my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American."

~Newt Gingrich, addressing Rev. John Hagee's congregagtion

Newt Gingrich - serious Republican presidential candidate.

By the way, remember Rev. Hagee? He's the guy whose endorsement of John McCain was rejected by the Maverick after it was revealed that Hagee is a Hitler fan because, you know, he was only doing God's work.

..."God says in Jeremiah 16: 'Behold, I will bring them the Jewish people again unto their land that I gave to their fathers. ... Behold, I will send for many fishers, and after will I send for many hunters. And they the hunters shall hunt them.' That would be the Jews. ... Then God sent a hunter. A hunter is someone who comes with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter," Hagee said, according to a transcript of his sermon.

Now that's someone Newt wants to be associated with, huh? I wonder what he'll do if he gets Hagee's endorsement.

President Obama's Speech on Libya

Where's The Donald's Birth Certificate?

For the last couple of weeks, Donald Trump has been jumping on the Birther bandwagon to try and gain publicity and momentum for a possible run at the GOP presidential nomination. I suppose he couldn't go the fiscal responsibility route since he has declared bankruptcy multiple times. We already know how he'd treat the one country that keeps buying our debt, so his foreign policy seems lacking. Where else for Trump to attack Obama but in the secret Kenyan Manchurian candidate arena?

So imagine my surprise (or lack of) when Trump himself is having trouble producing his own birth certificate!

Donald Trump made headlines earlier today when he provided what he said was a copy of his birth certificate -- but a quick check reveals it's actually not an official document.

...after several New York City-based readers contacted POLITICO's Maggie Haberman, her call to city officials revealed that an actual birth certificate, which is issued by the Department of Health, would have the agency's seal and also a signature of the city registrar - neither of which the Trump document has. Officials said the city Health Department is the "sole issuing authority" of official birth certificates in New York, and that the document would clearly say so, and "city officials said it's not an official document."

By his own standard, until Donald Trump can produce his actual birth certificate, he is not eligible to hold the office of President of the United States. And if he does come up with it, I'll claim it's a forgery. How can he prove me wrong if I refuse to believe it?

Hey Donald, you're fired!

Must Reads

Forgive the late edition of Must Reads, usually a Saturday staple. I was away for the weekend.



BooMan: Civics for Suckers

John Branch: Film Shows Babe Ruth, at Leisure and Up Close

Melanie Mason and Maeve Reston: Records Contradict Mississippi Governor on Lobbying Work for Mexico

Eugene Robinson: Newt Gingrich on Libya Policy: Firing in Every Direction

Bret Baier on The Daily Show

Charles Krauthammer is brilliant. Roger Ailes is a genius. These are just a couple of gems uttered by Fox News journalist Bret Baier on The Daily Show. To Stewart's credit, he does acknowledge that there are some serious journalists that work for Fox News, but doesn't understand how Baier cannot see the conservative slant that permeates the news shows when they are surrounded by wingnut opinion. My guess is that Baier knows it's there, but chooses not to see it.