No, It's Not a Manufactured Outrage

POSTED BY JHW22

This is what I was saying before and after Gabby Giffords was shot: there's a line we shouldn't cross. This is not comparable to jokes that one can say are offensive. This is actually suggesting that killing a President is a necessary action. Nugent, at an NRA event, tells a bunch of scared men to be afraid of becoming something America will NEVER become and says it's because Obama is something he will never be. He wasn't "joking" or being "creative." He honestly believes that patriots need to stand up to the government led by Obama. And he knows that referencing America's past, and the words "patriot," and "guns" and "self-sacrifice," all are loud and clear messages that people need to take up arms against enemies domestic. And he's making it very clear that he thinks we should see and treat Obama as an enemy.

This isn't about rhetoric from a rock star. This is about a group of Americans getting louder AGAIN, as the election looms, who INSIST on making you think the only desperate act is to remove Obama from office ANY WAY NECESSARY.

Do YOU think that's how Americans have to handle their struggles? Do you think things are SO BAD that we need someone to assassinate the President? Do YOU think this kind of behavior is inconsequential? Well, it's not. And if you think this doesn't matter, then you're willfully ignorant of what's happening out there and how many people don't just disparage the President but who actually threaten harm by stirring people up to think they have to.

The Tea Partiers around here say, "Wake Up, America." Yes, wake up. Wake up and see that this kind of discourse is BAD for America. And just ignoring it and saying, "Oh, it's JUST Ted Nugent" doesn't make it stop.

I have admitted when liberals have crossed a decency line or when liberals have gone too far. I don't like when liberals suggest Nugent should suck on his own machine gun because that's unproductive and stupid. But even that suggestion is FAR from as HARMFUL to the nation as someone actually implying our President is so dangerous that he should be stopped with force.

Forget the fact that Nugent has OBVIOUSLY missed the 8 years of illegal activity. Forget the 8 years where we did suffer at the hands of a dumb President led by a vicious Vice President and aided by an bumbling, egotistical administration. Forget all that.

IF a fellow liberal went to a convention of people with the firm belief that guns are a God-given right to protect ourselves from the government just as much as a wild boar out in the uncharted lands of the west, and these men would die before giving their guns up to some phantom government gun collector, and these men truly fear their rights are being violated every second of the day, and IF the fellow liberal stirred those fellas up and suggested something should be done about the evil, criminal who is a threat to AMERICA'S SURVIVAL, then I would tell that liberal to shut the fuck up!

But I don't hear a liberal doing that. I don't hear a liberal inciting a bunch of gun-clingers to protect America. I don't hear a liberal saying that to fight for our country we actually have to fight to the death.

When liberals worry about America, we threaten challenging elections and recalls and boycotts and facts!

This isn't about the ugly name calling from any side. This is about ONE PARTY consistently coddling people who actually speak as if our President is the enemy from within and that the only way to take him out is by death.

See, a while back some liberals were mad that Obama signed some bill that clarified and tightened language about protesting at events held by elected officials. I actually supported Obama on that. Why? Because I remember the guy who showed up at an Obama event with a gun strapped to his hip and nothing could be done about it. And I knew we were entering the general election cycle and I remembered that at the last election someone yelled out "kill him." So, you know what? I'm fucking scared.

This Ted Nugent thing isn't manufactured and it's NOWHERE NEAR the level of Hilary Rosen v. Ann Romney.

We're at Gabby Giffords level here. And to mock or ignore it is fucking dangerous. These freaks actually are desperate enough to think Obama is evil. What on earth makes you think one of these freaks won't act on it?

Will it be manufactured outrage if something actually happens to Obama? NO. So stop pretending the threat is fake.

When Did They Stop Believing In The Constitution?

These have to be the saddest quotes in the ever evolving debate on Mirandizing criminals.

Rep. Pete King (R-NY): “Did they Mirandize him? I know he’s an American citizen but still.”

Within 36 hours of the failed SUV Times Square bombing attempt, a suspect is in custody, found at Kennedy Airport. A US citizen. And they're asking if he was Mirandized. Why? Because he's of Pakistani descent?

"Obviously that would be a serious mistake...at least until we find out as much information we have," McCain said during an appearance on "Imus in the Morning" when asked whether the suspect, 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen from Pakistan.

"Don't give this guy his Miranda rights until we find out what it's all about," McCain added.

Fuck habeas corpus, right Maverick? First it was enemy combatants and because they were foreigners, why should they get the same rights as US citizens? Now it's brown-skinned US citizens, but hey, he's not a "real American," right?

 Who's next?

Tea Party Terrorists

ter·ror·ism  [ter-uh-riz-uhm]

1. the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.

Yes. Terrorists. That's what you call those who use violence and threats to intimidate a sect with whom you ideologically disagree to the point of sending death threats in the form of phone calls, faxes, breaking windows, using racial and homophobic epithets and spitting on elected officials.

Are they Republicans? Are they Tea Party "patriots"? Perhaps, because at the very least we know that the perpetrators of these domestic acts of terrorism aren't Democrats. And anyone who thinks that this is some kind of plot by "Democratic operatives" to shift the blame away from the fringe groups in opposition of health care reform, and the Democratic Party in general is just as opportunistic and manipulative as Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh, or insane as the perpetrators themselves.

We know the perpetrators aren't Democrats. Not with lunatics like teabagger Mike Vanderboegh advocating the breaking of windows as an intimidation tactic in order to avoid defending themselves "at the muzzle of a rifle." Not with idiots like a local Virginia Tea Party leader named Nigel Coleman, who chalked up a cut gas line at the home of the brother of a US Congressman as "collateral damage." Not with inciters like Michele Bachmann wanting people "armed and dangerous" or Sarah Palin asking people to "reload" on her Twitter feed and forwarding them to her Facebook page, complete with rifle scope targets keyed in on political swing state elections.

Vandalism - broken windows at Democratic Congressional offices.

Cut gas lines.

"Reload."

Rifle scope targets.

When did inciting violence become "the American way"? When did inciting violence become a GOP tactic? My guess is January 20th, 2009.

They Can't Help Themselves

You can't watch any cable news television nowadays without coming across a lying Republican. They just can't help themselves. It seems to be in their DNA. Whether they're talking about death panels, or a government takeover of health care, or wanting to protect Medicare in a sudden reversal of the GOP agenda to kill Medicare before health care reform was in the forefront. But the latest egregiousness really takes the cake.

America's Mayor, Rudy Giuliani was on Good Morning America today and since the GOP blue plate special has been to attack President Obama and blame him for the failed terrorist attempt of Taintman™ on Northwest Airlines flight 253 landing in Detroit, Rudy thought he'd up the stakes.



Giuliani: "What [Obama] should be doing is following the right things that Bush did -- one of the right things he did was treat this as a war on terror. We had no domestic attacks under Bush. We've had one under Obama."

I suppose Rudy forgot about 9/11, although I don't know how that's possible since "9/11" was his middle name during his pathetic presidential campaign. But to give Rudy the benefit of the doubt, maybe he's blocked the trauma. Maybe he doesn't remember running through the streets of lower Manhattan, away from the Emergency Command Center that he decided to move to the same location that was attacked in 1993. I guess he equated terrorist strikes with lightning strikes; Rudy probably thought they never strike twice in the same place.

But even if you forgive Giuliani his little slip and assume he meant to say that we had no domestic attacks under Bush post 9/11, which is now what a spokesperson for America's Mayor is saying in an attempt to pull Rudy's foot out of his big, fat mouth, it's still not true.

Does Rudy not remember the anthrax attacks in the weeks after 9/11 that killed five people? Does Rudy not remember the DC Sniper who killed ten people in October of 2002? Does he not remember Richard Reid, the failed shoe bomber in December, 2001? I certainly do every time I have to remove my shoes at the airport. Oh wait, my mistake. Rudy does remember the shoe bomber, but says that attack happened before 9/11. Just another lie by another Republican. Just like the lie Rudy told that President Obama waited 10 days before addressing the failed attack when it was three. But it's so easy for them to lie. It's in their DNA.

Does Rudy not remember the attack at Los Angeles International Airport in March of 2006 when two people were shot to death at the El Al ticket counter by an extremist in an incident that was deemed an act of international terrorism?

Of course he does. Rudy remembers all of these attacks, but he decides to deny them. He decides to remain with the Republican meme that Democrats are weak on national security although all signs point to the contrary in terms of actual attacks. Because it's easy for them to lie. It's in their DNA.

This follows on the heels of former Bushie Press Secretary Dana Perino and resident Wicked Witch of the GOP Mary Matalin pushing the same lie; that the Bush administration kept us safe from attacks... pay no attention to those fallen towers behind the curtain. And that doesn't even begin to address the daily Dick Cheney report from Politico or whatever Sunday talk show is scheduled to kiss his ass that particular week.

You can't say that the US wasn't attacked under the Bush administration while discounting the worst terrorist attack in US history. And even if you dismiss 9/11, yes, we were attacked... multiple times. And shame on the mainstream media for letting the lies go unchallenged. George Stephanopoulos has since admitted he should have followed up on the Giuliani lie, but too little too late, George.

I know that the GOP got used to creating it's own reality during those very long Bush years, but do they actually think that revisionist history is going to work on such a traumatic event as the deaths of 3,000 people in one day on their watch? And the GOP making political hay out of this and using the failed Underpants Bomber attack as an opening to malign President Obama and his administration for partisan advantage diminishes the importance of those deaths.

But then again, they just can't help themselves. Being lying jackasses seems to be in their DNA.

Dana? Get. Out.

Dana Perino: "We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term..."



Well, in Perino's defense, she wasn't the Press Secretary on 9/11. I can only assume she didn't know about it considering she didn't even know what the Cuban Missile Crisis was either.

What was that Fox zero tolerance policy for on-screen errors again? Yeah... nevermind. Something tells me Perino isn't going to last long in her new position.

(H/T Bob Cesca)

Can Tiller's Family Sue O'Reilly?

Posted by Fraulein

This is what I want to know: when there is video evidence of Bill O'Reilly's film crew following and ambushing the late Dr. George Tiller--twice--is that enough grounds for Tiller's family to bring a civil suit against O'Reilly for contributing to the fanatical atmosphere that led to Tiller's murder? (This of course in addition to all the other times O'Reilly went on TV foaming at the mouth about Tiller and late-term abortion, implying that women just love to have abortions for fun.)

If not, why not? Seriously?

By the way, among the many outrageous things about this whole situation is the idea, beloved of right-wing blowhards like O'Reilly, that any woman would have an abortion towards the end of her pregnancy without a damn good reason. I guess it's theoretically possible, but as a mother I can tell you it's extremely hard to believe anyone would do this on a whim. For many of Tiller's patients, the choice was between having an abortion, even at a very late stage of pregnancy, or giving birth to a baby with horrific deformities and/or grave illnesses that would cause the baby to die a painful death within hours, days or weeks. The amount of anguish such a decision would cause the mother can't possibly be imagined by anyone as ignorant as O'Reilly. It is this very type of thorny situation that the "pro-lifers," so enamored of their fantasy world where all babies are born whole and perfect, refuse to admit is the reason for many of the abortions performed in this country.

And until we come to terms with this reality and seriously address the domestic terrorism in our midst, we can't even come close to making any progress on the abortion issue in this country.

Frank Schaeffer on Rachel Maddow

I sat around today thinking of the murder of Dr. George Tiller, about his pro-life murderer and how I felt about it. As I've said before, pro-life does not mean pro-abortion, but that nuance gets lost on many not so clear-minded thinkers (or non-thinkers as the case may be.) I didn't want to haphazardly put down some words in the heat of the moment as I tend to do on occasion. Not on this subject.

Then I caught Frank Schaeffer on The Rachel Maddow Show and I felt that he said what I feel better than I could have said it, so I'll let him have at it.

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

By the way, Bill O'Reilly is some piece of work, huh? What an abhorrent human being.

The "I'm So Wrong, I Shouldn't Be Allowed To Speak" Quote of the Year

“Why would the Department of Homeland Security single out groups like pro-life supporters when they should be focusing on identifying and apprehending the real terrorists – like al-Qaeda – groups that have vowed to destroy America? This characterization is not only offensive to millions of Americans who hold constitutionally-protected views opposing abortion – but also raises serious concerns about the political agenda of an agency with a mandate to protect America.”

- Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the Ameican Center for Law and Justice on the DHS issuing a right wing extremist report.

Fuck You, Dick Cheney!

I am so tired of this fucking asshole! Shut your goddamn cakehole and have a heart attack so wrenching that your eyes explode out of your fucking skull!

Dick Fucking Cheney had the temerity to warn of the high probability of terror attacks especially in light of Obama's crazy hair-brained idea of preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution.

"When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an Al Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry,” Cheney said.

Say what now? You know, for once I agree with you, only in the sense that I hope when you attempt to do some travelling, you are denied your rights when they cart you away to the Hague, you fucking war criminal, and you can sit and rot in a goddamn jail cell while no one bothers to give you the right to a fair and speedy trial.

Citing intelligence reports, Cheney said at least 61 of the inmates who were released from Guantanamo during the Bush administration — “that’s about 11 or 12 percent” — have “gone back into the business of being terrorists.”

And why did you let them go, dipshit? Could it be because you didn't have any evidence against them when you decided to round up all the brown people that made you wet your bed after waking up in cold sweats from all the nightmares of letting the American people down the first time, you cowering pussy? Wait, what am I thinking? You'd have to have a fucking conscience to have that reaction. You just did it because it pleases you, just like it pleases you to jack off to Abu Ghraib videos while drinking infant's blood. Or is that Bush's job, the jacking off? It's gotta be George because I'm sure it ain't Lynne.

Did you ever think that the 11 or 12 percent of the people that were released and have gone into the terror business did so because your actions made them terrorists, you fucking douchebag? Did you ever think that perhaps if you had done the legal thing and tried them in a Federal court with proper representation and not suspended habeas corpus, you might have a better conviction rate than the, what is it, three convictions you got in seven years?

“The United States needs to be not so much loved as it needs to be respected. Sometimes, that requires us to take actions that generate controversy. I’m not at all sure that that’s what the Obama administration believes.”

Well you've certainly fucked up the "love," that's for sure. And respect? RESPECT?! You think we're respected around the world? You flushed that down the fucking toilet when you lied us into a war and then went at it alone, you stupid motherfucker. Respect?! Don't make me laugh. You've made a mockery of this nation. If anything, at least we used to have some moral authority, some semblance of trustworthiness, a sense of what was right. Not anymore, fuckwad. That all flew out the window in November of 2000. Thanks a lot.

And what makes Politico think that interviewing this sorry piece of shit is anything this country wanted to hear? Weren't they there at the Inauguration? Didn't they see 2 million people in joyous celebration after holding their collective breath for two and a half months after Election Day, not only because Barack Obama was finally President, but because the reign of Bush and Cheney was finally over? That we finally emerged from the darkness?

So FUCK YOU, Dick Cheney, you stupid, arrogant sonofabitch. We were attacked under YOUR watch, and the last thing we want or need from you is advice on how to protect ourselves at the cost of our civil liberties. What the fuck are we fighting for if not to remain free?

You were, and apparently still are, more of a terrorist than Osama bin Laden or Al Qaeda ever were to this country. Your fearmongering did more to terrorize the citizens of this country than anything we got from Al Qaeda after 9/11. You did their job for them and gave them exactly what they wanted: for Americans to be fearful. "Terrorized," if you will, hence the name, you dirty bastard.

So take your advice and your fearmongering and shove it up your ass. Just wheel away and die already. I'd have an ice floe ready for you, but you ignored global warming as well, you decrepit, evil fuck.

Olbermann's First Special Comment on Palin - Terrorist Ties

I called it!