Ugh

POSTED BY JHW22

When trying to think of a title of this post, I couldn't do better than, "Ugh." Why? Because, for starters, Glenn Beck moved to my metroplex. He lives pretty close to one of my FAVORITE places to eat and I fear the day I see him there. I told someone that I hope he chokes on a chicken bone while I am there: I don't want him to die, but I'd really like to see the fear and panic in his face. The same fear and panic he spreads throughout the country with his lies and mongering.

We've all thought, at one point or another, that Glenn Beck is a snake oil salesman, a con man, and even a televangelist of sorts. He talks about God as if he somehow understands what it means to be Christian. Well, he acts like the very type of Christian that helped me decide to be atheist. But He doesn't act like the type of Christian that matches the Christ part of the Bible. I want to tell Beck that he takes the Christ out of Christian. But, wait, is he still Mormon? And are Mormons really Christian anyway? I can't keep track of what people "are" and what they "profess" to be and who gets to decide what someone really is. Sorry, that's a bit of a tangent on the Reverend Jeffress calling Romney a Mormon but Obama a "professed" Christian thing. Isn't it interesting that Reverend Jeffress is super close to the name Jeffs?

Anywho, Beck lives near me and it makes me shiver.

But that's not the real ugh of it. The real ugh of it is that he is buying a church, yes, a church, to run his media empire out of. And that's even closer to me than his house. I actually drive past the church several times a week. Ugh.

My first thought was, "So he really IS a televangelist." My husband's first thought was, "What does that say about the area we live in that Glenn Beck thinks his type of nutty is a perfect fit here?" My next thought was, "How much nuttier are our neighbors gonna get?"

In all the controversy over the Beckoning of Glenn's media empire in our area, people have focused on the risks associated with his brand of controversy and ill-will. People are seriously nervous about the property and the surrounding homes. The agreement is that there will be security staffing to protect people. But the odd thing is that they seem to think the people who need protecting are the people who will attend the Beck Freak Show. They seriously worry that "liberals" will cause them harm. It's funny that Palin was completely blameless in the tenor of the country around the time of Gabby Giffords' shooting but Beck will somehow cause all the area liberals to rise up and cause harm. Baffling.

But I do think Palin was, in part, responsible for the tenor of the nation's rage and disgust. And I think Glenn Beck is a huge reason many in the country think violence and aggression is acceptable.

So my fear isn't that people who show up for the cattle call will be hurt. My fear is that liberals with Obama stickers driving by the Tea Party Church will be harmed. Can you imagine the sewage that he will fill my community's heads with and how he will enable rage? And can you see some Obama-supporter driving by as the hounds are released en masse? The street is a congested mess already. The traffic moves faster than it should. People switch lanes and tailgate worse on that road than most others. Add a bunch of pumped up angry Becker-heads, and I think bad shit will happen.

So I am trying to wrap my brain around this. I am for the First Amendment (the speech part should only apply here since he's not a religion, but the undertones seem religious, don't they?). I think he has a right to be there. As long as he owns the building as his business and not his non-profit, then I think the taxes and employment are good. BUT to think that his anger and ugliness will be near me, well, just simply, ugh.

I hope local liberals don't add to the madness of that street and picket. I hope local liberals live and let live and show the Beckies that we are better than they think we are. But above all, I hope the community quickly sees him for what he is: a charlatan.

On his own website he says the following is one of his core values and principles (perhaps I should get a bumper sticker of this when he opens for business):

"Unapologetically profit focused"

Now, I don't live in the town where the church is. I live on the "other side of the tracks." But to get a real idea of the town he's moving into for his fear mongering, profit focusing, here's a peek of his neighborhood. Is that where Jesus would go?

Stop Digging, Huckabee

Former Governor, possible Republican Presidential nominee contender and recent Birther red meat thrower, Mike Huckabee has gotten into some hot water for remarks he made on a conservative radio show in which he said President Obama was born in Kenya, and threw in a couple of Mau-Mau Revolution references to sweeten the pot.

First he said he simply misspoke. Well, I don't remember anything about a Mau-Mau uprising in Indonesia. Then he said "if I'd read from my own text, page 183 of my book, I clearly said he grew up in Indonesia." Nice cross reference to plug his book, huh? There's only one problem: there's no mention of Indonesia on page 183. In fact, there's no mention of Indonesia on any of the pages of his book. It's Indonesia free.

In trying to re-re-re-explain himself on the intrepid O'Reilly Factor, Huckabee then said this:

"My point even talking about him being raised in a different country, actually in Indonesia and not Kenya as I do understand. Again, it's right there in the book for me to read and everybody else, if they care to, but the point that I do want to make is that that creates a different world view. This is not a kid who grew up going to boy scout meetings and playing little league baseball in a small town."

Two things: One, in defending Obama against the birthers, he again reiterates how "different" he is and two, Huckabee is WRONG AGAIN when he says he was "raised in Indonesia."

Barack Obama was in Indonesia from the ages of 6 through 10 before moving back to Hawaii, a US state if I recall correctly. Is that an impressionable age when it comes to subjects like British imperialism in a country you were never in? I don't know about you, but from the ages of 6 through 10, I was more worried about not striking out playing stickball than about Watergate or Nixon's resignation, something that would have made me see at a young age to what depths Republicans would sink to win elections.

Mike, a little advice: Never lose an opportunity to keep your mouth shut.

ADDING... Perfect.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
On Notice/Dead to Me - Mike Huckabee
www.colbertnation.com
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See Ya, Juan!

Juan Williams agreeing with Bill O'Reilly's comments on the now infamous The View segment in which Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar walked off the set:

"...I think you’re right. I think, look, political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don’t address reality.
I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

Did it ever occur to Williams that the 9/11 hijackers were NOT wearing Muslim garb? So according to Williams, we have more to fear from someone wearing "Muslim garb" than someone who isn't. Remind me again what the Times Square Bomber was wearing? So finally, NPR, which over a year ago asked Williams not to identify himself as an NPR analyst while on O'Reilly's show, has had enough.

NPR announced late on Wednesday night that it has terminated the contract of longtime analyst Juan Williams over his comments... In a statement, NPR said that it had informed Williams of its decision on Wednesday night, and that his remarks were "inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR."

A quick Google search will find that right wing bloggers are outraged, OUTRAGE I TELL YOU!, that Williams was fired for "no particular reason" or for "telling the truth" and are blaming Think Progress and The Huffington Post for... well for reporting the incident I suppose.

Even the Morning Joe crew was appalled at the firing. And just recently, Joe Scarborough tweeted this:



Actually, Joe, no. Williams was fired for saying he gets nervous on a plane when he sees people wearing Muslim garb.

But here's one question that these people should answer: If it's okay for Rick Sanchez to be fired for saying Jews run the media, and it's okay for Helen Thomas to be forced out for saying that Jews should get out of Palestine, then why is this particular firing an outrage? It couldn't be because one religion is to be revered and the other is to be vilified, could it?

Well at least Williams if now free to express his opinion on Fox News full time without having to worry about damaging NPR's credibility.

Colbert's Fearstock.com

Classic!

Moral Panic

POSTED BY JHW22

I wish I wrote this:

Back in the early 1970s — an era whose tumult we yet may come to regard as benign — social scientists here and in Britain coined the term "moral panic" to describe what can happen when groups of people are seized by an exaggerated fear that other people or communal forces threaten their values or way of life. The scholars described those who promoted the panic's spread as "moral entrepreneurs" — a term that takes on a deep resonance when you consider the commentators and politicians who have attached themselves, and their interests, to the "tea party" and its attendant movements.

In the midst of moral panic, inchoate indignation stands in for reason; accusation and denunciation supplant dialogue and argument; history and facts are rendered malleable, merely adjuncts of the moral entrepreneur's — or should we say provocateur's — rhetorical will. As we now also see, a self-interested mass media with an economic stake in the theatricality of raised and angry voices can transmit moral panic like a pathogen.

~Timothy Rutten, L.A. Times

Health Care Reform: The Morning After

~Submitted by special guest contributor, Barbara O'Brien of The Mahablog fame.

Many politicians and pundits warned us that the health care reform (HCR) legislation that just became law will destroy America. Government bureaucrats will take over health care decisions, we were told. The old and infirm would be hauled away by death panels. Everything about the way we receive our medical care will change, and change drastically, they said.

Medicare recipients have been frightened by stories that their benefits will be cut. Middle-age people are worried they will lose their jobs when the law’s dreaded regulations, or taxes, or maybe regulations with taxes, would destroy their employers’ businesses.

The truth is, very little will change for most people. If you were insured by employee benefits before HCR, you will be insured by exactly the same policy in exactly the same way after HCR. You will have access to the same doctors on the same terms. “Government bureaucrats” will no more be involved in your health care than they were before.

And the same is true of Medicare, which of course is a government program, although many of the people who opposed the HCR bill don’t seem to know that.

Here are the “cataclysmic” changes to health care that are now in effect, or which will go into effect within the next six months for people who are already in group insurance plans:

• The law says you can’t lose your insurance coverage because you get sick. Before, in many states, if you were stricken with a severe illness such as mesothelioma cancer that would be expensive to treat, your insurer could use just about any excuse to cancel your coverage. That is over.

• HCR has ended lifetime limits on coverage. As long as you are receiving medical care, your insurer pays the bills.

• Your children can be covered on your existing policy until they are 26 years old.

• In six months, insurers cannot refuse to insure people under the age of 19 because of “pre-existing conditions.” This provision will go into effect for everyone in 2014.

And if you are on Medicare, you will be asked to struggle with the following:

• You get a free annual checkup.

• The co-pays and deductibles on many preventive care services are eliminated.

• If you are in the Medicare D “doughnut hole,” doughnut hole,” doughnut hole,” doughnut hole,” you will get a $250 rebate check in a few weeks. The hole itself will be closed gradually and will be gone by 2020.

But what about all those terrible regulations and taxes that are about to drive businesses out of business? Um, there really isn’t much to report. Oh, wait, here’s one — a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services that use ultraviolet lamps will go into effect July 1. That’s about it.

However, beginning this year a tax credit will be available for some small businesses to help provide insurance coverage for employees.

Soon the politicians and pundits will start trying to frighten you about the provisions that will go into effect after this year. I assure you they are about as scary as the provisions that go into effect this year, but I will discuss them in a follow-up post.

— Barbara O’Brien

Fear May Win Again

The terrorists have already won. Even if any planned terrorist attack is thwarted, just the thought of another possible attack inside the US has so freaked out some of the public and elected officials that they are willing to drop Constitutional rights at the snap of a finger as is being demonstrated with the 9/11 trial location.

In a potential reversal, White House advisers are close to recommending that President Barack Obama opt for military tribunals for self-professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed...

In addition to local opposition to a trial [in New York City due to costs, security and logistical concerns], the administration faces pressure on its goal of closing Guantanamo on another front. Republicans in Congress have proposed barring prosecutions of terrorism defendants in federal courts or in reformed military commissions located in the United States.

...The Obama administration views civilian trials for terrorists as an important demonstration of the U.S. commitment to rule of law. Officials also have cited the numerous terrorism trials already held successfully in U.S. criminal courts.

..."If this stunning reversal comes to pass, President Obama will deal a death blow to his own Justice Department, not to mention American values," said American Civil Liberties Union Anthony D. Romero. "Even with recent improvements, the military commissions system is incapable of handling complicated terrorism cases and achieving reliable results. President Obama must not cave in to political pressure and fear-mongering. He should hold firm and keep these prosecutions in federal court, where they belong."

Agreed. If there is no way to be able to hold this trial in a civilian court because of logistics, then they should at least attempt to have some kind of civilian trial at a military base as an end around to costs and security.

Using the Federal Court System the right thing to do and it's also successful and has been used in over 300 terrorism trials by the previous administration, which has been conveniently forgotten by the opposition party. Not only would this be a political loss for the Obama administration but more importantly, a tragic loss for the rule of law.

Douchebag of the Week: Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney

McInerney: "If you are an 18-28 year old Muslim man, then you should be strip searched. And if we don't do that, there's a very high probability we're gonna lose an airliner."

Words escape me. McInerney goes on to say that this isn't racial profiling. And he right. It's religious profiling. Why don't we just have all Muslims wear a crescent and star patch on their lapels? That way we know who we're dealing with. After all, it worked for the Nazis.

Plus, there's no way we'd accidentally make a Israeli strip search because he looks Middle Eastern, right? Or an Italian. Or a dark skinned, native born African who may happen to be Christian. That wouldn't happen in this scenario, would it?

Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney (Retired... thankfully): Douchebag of the Week.

(H/T Cesca)

Cartoons of the Day

Dear Investors Business Daily Editorial Desk

By now you may have received an e-mail or two about your "How House Bill Runs Over Grandma" editorial and the fear mongering you perpetuate in the health care debate with the following quote:

"People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless."

Stephen Hawking is British. Always has been. Marvelous job discrediting yourselves. I'm sure there is plenty to debate over in the current bills being offered by Congress regarding health care reform. But is it possible to stick to the facts instead of, you know, just making stuff up out of thin air?

Sincerely,
Broadway Carl

RESPONSE:

Thank you for contacting us.

Due to the large volume of email we receive, we are unable to respond to every comment or inquiry. However, please know that we value your input and read every email we receive.

The IBDeditorials.com team

...Sure you do.

The Party of Inclusion

As for us Republicans, the outlines of the GOP of the future are already coming into focus. We pledge to become a party of inclusion, not exclusion. What binds us is our faith – a belief in the ability of individuals to succeed in a free environment and to shape their own destiny through hard work.

Opportunity and the incentive to work and produce inspired America to flourish. The Republican Party will never forget that.

~ Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), House minority whip, January 28, 2009

Someone should remind House Minority Leader John Boehner of that "inclusion" thing so the next time he decides to produce a fearmongering video, he should probably leave out the photos of President Obama meeting with the Hispanic Caucus that he interspersed with pictures of Hugo Chavez and Al-Qaeda operatives with rocket launchers as well a photo of the Pentagon aflame.

Hispanic Democrats are furious and demanding an apology over an image wedged in a new GOP web video on terrorism that shows members of the Hispanic Caucus sitting at a table with President Obama.

...Among many other images designed to, according to the GOP, “[underscore] why the American people are growing more worried about the Administration’s political decisions on national security,” the video includes an image at the 1:11 mark of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus at the White House.

You see, they really are the party of inclusion... except for Hispanics, Muslims and other brown-skinned people that don't look like they do. The caucus' complaint doesn't upset me as much as that video. So much for the GOP changing their tune. Sinking ship, my friends. Sinking ship.

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.

The Final Days of John McCain

These past few days have been scary. I'm not talking about a standard, figurative scary. I'm talking about never seeing things like this in my lifetime, thinking that the sins of the past were history and how we couldn't possibly go back to those horrible places again. I'm dumbfounded by the turn of events that have taken place over the last few days and how I could have been so wrong.

I always knew that race and racism have been and still are issues in this country, but it was always lurking underneath; a not so pretty, guarded chamber of man's soul that had laid dormant for at least the last twenty or thirty years. Of course, there are code words racists use to show their colors such as "affirmative action" and "immigration reform." In my own life, being of Hispanic descent I have occasionally been the victim of some racist taunts or comments. In my lifetime, there have been hate crimes based on race, but overall it's been few and far between in comparison to the civil rights movement of the 60s. I never thought it would ever get as bad as it had been "back in the day."

But with the new hate-filled speeches of McCain and especially Palin, depicting Barack Obama as someone you should fear - a one-man terrorist cell, a Manchurian candidate, someone who "sees America as so imperfect that he pals around with terrorists" - the dormant volcano of racism in America has erupted into some very ugly scenes at the McCain/Palin rallies.

Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. McCain

In the last seven days alone, we've seen Senator Erratic trade in his Maverick's license, which had been suspended for quite some time, for a chance at the golden ring. In his performance at the final presidential debate, McCain came off even angrier than is usual cantankerous self and then joked on a revealing Letterman interview, where he caught himself in mid-lie at least three times, having to revise his answer in the same breath that he uttered the falsehood. McCain also apologized to "Joe the plumber" for drawing attention to his story and putting him in the national spotlight after mentioning him 21 times during the debate, then blamed Obama for "smearing" Joe and exposing his private life.

McCain said that he has repudiated all of the hate filled rhetoric against Obama at his rallies (another lie) - calling shouts of "terrorist," "traitor," and "kill him" fringe elements - while hiring the same company that was used against his campaign in 2000 to robocall and continue the Obama/William Ayers smear just this past week. This is the same tactic that McCain called "hate calls" when used against him eight years ago.

Guilt by association and sowing the seeds of doubt from McCain and Palin are only serving to perpetuate the fear and hate. They have nothing else to run on - they fail on the issues, they fail on their policies - so the only other alternative is character assassination. But character is not the only thing they may be inadvertently urging to assassinate. This is dangerous territory they are treading on and Georgia Rep. John Lewis got it right.

"As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. What I am seeing today reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.

During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who only desired to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed one Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.

As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Governor Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better."

Of course the McCain campaign took umbrage at Lewis' statement, concentrating on the Wallace section and dismissing the very essence of Lewis' meaning. Fear breeds contempt and hatred and we've seen that in spades at the McCain/Palin rallies. They've encouraged it.They've stoked it. Will it take someone to be being beaten or killed before they understand the nature of Lewis' remarks instead of painting it as a smear, feeling "saddened" by his remarks and asking Obama to repudiate a leader of the Civil Rights Movement? Will they listen if and when someone dies in a hate crime incited by their campaign rhetoric? By their guilt by association tactic? And by then, won't it already be too late?

I watch the videos of the crowds' overt racism and it truly scares me. What does it say about Sarah Palin when she thinks she can differentiate between "pro-American" parts of the country and anti-American parts? Does she believe that anyone who doesn't support her is anti-American?

Is this what she thinks is "pro-American"?

Or this?

Or maybe this?

What does it say about Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann when she suggests that Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid are anti-American because of their "liberal" views? The same liberals she rails against, by the way, are the ones who fought for her right to vote and her right to run for office!

What does it say for us as a collective people that imbeciles like Palin and Bachmann get elected into office?

Luckily, I do believe that we are in the final days of daily McCain and Palin sightings. It's just another 18 days until the election. Soon, they'll be out of sight, out of mind. McCain can go back to the Senate and become irrelevant as his maverick status no longer applies and eventually die the bitter, old bastard that he truly is. Palin can go back to Alaska and get voted out of office in her next election bid after the ugliness we've seen exposed - the Troopergate controversy alone showing her native Alaskan voters that she is no different from the people she replaced, and then have the free time to help her husband cheat on his taxes.

In eighteen days we start a new chapter in American history. In eighteen days we take our country back as citizens of the United States and finally beat down the Rovian machine that has been holding us back for far too long. In eighteen days.

Eighteen long days.

Low Point of the Republican National Convention

I knew that the GOP was classless, but this was far and away the shittiest thing I've ever witnessed. Rudy Giuliani and his "Ithlamith exthremith" fear mongering wasn't enough on Day 3 of the convention. They followed it up with video.



Someone should remind the morons that were shouting "USA! USA! USA!" at the top of their lungs after the video was over that we were attacked under a Republican watch. Bush cleared brush while being warned of the "evildoers" and was playing "read-me-a-story" while New York and the Pentagon fell.

This video was billed as a "tribute" to the victims of 9/11, but it was nothing more than cheap theatrics, complete with images of extremists that we should fear because they are "different" than us, Osama Bin Laden (who we still haven't caught under Republican rule, by the way) and the burning towers of the World Trade Center, which I personally viewed collapsing out of my rear view mirror as we were forced to evacuate Manhattan.

It may have been a tribute for the chickenhawk, mouth-breathing, knuckle-draggers at the convention, but I wonder how the families of the fallen felt? I know how I felt, and it wasn't full of pride.

Fear and Loathing in Pennsylvania

I haven't had much time to blog lately as my two days off were spent starting a major project at home followed by a 15 hour day at work. However, I couldn't let the day go by without acknowledging Hillary Clinton's Pennsylvania primary win yesterday.

It looks like fear mongering works and Hillary's sticking to it. Here's her latest campaign ad released the day before the votes were cast in the Keystone State and you'll understand what I mean.



Nice touch, huh? In 30 seconds, Clinton manages to squeeze in the Stock Market crash of 1929 leading to the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, the Cuban missile crisis, the 70's gas shortage, Osama bin Laden and New Orleans drowning under Hurricane Katrina. It's like a fear monger jambalaya! Mmmm... tastes like scary!

I'll just leave you with a quote from a certain Democratic political figure from 2004:

"If one candidate's trying to scare you, and the other one's trying to get you to think; if one candidate's appealing to your fears, and the other one's appealing to your hopes; you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope."

The politician who said that: Bill Clinton. I wonder if he remembers saying that considering he called it "one of Clinton's laws of politics."

There she goes, fear mongering again...

(H/T Jumpypants for the photo)

The Obama E-Mail Smear Campaign

I received this e-mail from a friend who knew it to be false but thought I'd like to take a look at it. He asked the person who sent it to him not to send stuff like this again. Good for him.

This e-mail has been around for at least a year. I remember getting it long ago, maybe before I started this blog and never really wrote about it, until now.

Here is the unedited e-mail I received, misspellings, capitalizations and all.

THIS DEFINITELY WARRANTS LOOKING INTO. THIS COUNTRY WASFOUNDED 'ONE NATION UNDER GOD'. ALMIGHTY GOD, NOT THE GOD OF THE KORAN.

We checked this out on 'snopes.com'. It is factual. Check for yourself.
********************************************************************************
Who is Barack Obama?Probable U. S. presidential candidate, Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black MUSLIM from Nyangoma-Kogel, Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white ATHEIST from Wichita ,Kansas .

Obama's parents met at the University of Hawaii. When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya. Hismother then married Lolo Soetoro, a RADICAL Muslim from Indonesia . When Obama was 6 years old, the family relocated to Indonesia. Obama attended a MUSLIM school in Jakarta. He also spent two years in a Catholic school.

Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that, 'He was once a Muslim, but that he also attended Catholic school.'And that he now is a member of Trinity United Church of Christ, "a black is proud based church " that through it's minister is associated with Louis Farakam's Nation Of Islam.

Obama's political handlers are attempting to make it appear that Obama's introduction to Islam came via his father, and that this influence was temporary at best. In reality, the senior Obama returned to Kenya soon after the divorce, and never again had any direct influence over his son's education.

Lolo Soetoro, the second husband of Obama's mother, Ann Dunham,introduced his stepson to Islam. Obama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta.

Wahabism is the RADICAL teaching that is followed by the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad against the western world. Since it is politically expedient to be a CHRISTIAN when seeking major public office in the United States, Barack Hussein Obama has joined the Trinity United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background. ALSO, keep in mind that when he was sworn into office he DID NOT use the Holy Bible, but instead the Koran (their equivalency to our Bible, but very different beliefs).

Let us all remain alert concerning Obama's expected presidential candidacy.The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the U.S. from the inside out, what better way to start than at the highest level - through the President of the United States, one of their own!!!!

Please forward to everyone you know. Would you want this man leading our country?...... NOT ME!!!

It's very interesting to me that whoever started this e-mail even linked Snopes.com at the top. So the first thing I did was click on the link and type "obama muslim" in the Snopes search window. Here's what I found: (click on the screen capture for full size)

How very sad that the idiots trying to perpetuate these smears won't even take the time to click on a link provided to them to disprove the lies in the very e-mail that tries to maintain the smears. But that's what these evil bastards count on: ignorance, laziness, fearmongering, racism and stupidity.

From the Snopes article: (click on the screen capture for full size)





So please, forward THIS post to everyone you know who is too lazy to look it up for themselves the next time you get trash in your inbox.

Rudy Official: Rudy Will Chase Muslims Back To Their Caves

Yes, you read the title right.

John Deady, Co-Chair of Veterans for Rudy tells us why Ghouliani is the only capable person for the job of President: "...we need to keep the [Muslims'] feet to the fire and keep pressing these people ‘til we defeat them or chase them back to their caves, or in other words, get rid of them."

And don't miss taking a quick look at all the frightened citizens of New Hampshire supporting Rudy because they "don't want a Palestinian coming in and wipe out a pizza parlor."

Is this what America needs? Perpetual war with an undefinable enemy? Yet another reason why Iowa and New Hampshire being first on the block to shape the field of candidates for the rest of the country is not such a great idea.

Bill Maher - For Halloween, Fear Global Warming

Not the Fearmongers

The Plot Thins

I must admit, when I first heard of the foiled plot to bomb New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, with calls coming from different parts of the country to "see if I was alright", I thought to myself, "You've got to be kidding." I didn't even know about said plot until those calls actually came. But being the cynic that the Bush administration has made me, my first response was, "Thank God... the Republicans saved our lives..."

So imagine my complete expectation just four days after the announcement of the supposed plot, word that the credibility of the terror case was suspect in the first place. Really? Nah...

This from New York Newsday on June 6th:

When U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf described the alleged terror plot to blow up Kennedy Airport as "one of the most chilling plots imaginable," which might have caused "unthinkable" devastation, one law enforcement official said he cringed. The plot, he knew, was never operational. The public had never been at risk. And the notion of blowing up the airport, let alone the borough of Queens, by exploding a fuel tank was in all likelihood a technical impossibility.

And now, with a portrait emerging of alleged mastermind Russell Defreitas as hapless and episodically homeless, and of co-conspirator Abdel Nur as a drug addict, Mauskopf's initial characterizations seem more questionable -- some go so far as to say hyped.

"I think her comments were over the top," said Michael Greenberger, director of the Center for Health and Homeland Security at the University of Maryland. "It was a totally overstated characterization that doesn't comport with the facts."

Greenberger said he has no argument with police pursuing and stopping the alleged plotters."I think they were correct to take this seriously," he said. "... But there's a pattern here of Justice Department attorneys overstating what they have. I think they feel under tremendous pressure to vindicate the elaborate counterterrorism structure they've created since 9/11, including the Patriot Act."

Here is fear mongering at its best. Gone are the days of orange terror alerts. Remember those halcion days? Color coded terror alerts went the way of the circular file when people figured out that anytime Republicans were slipping in the polls during the 2004 election campaign, all they had to do was circle the wagons and tell the country we were at "high alert" orange. This way, everyone would hide in their shells and thank whoever they needed to for those "strong on defense" Republicans.

Don't misunderstand me. Anyone stupid enough to even begin thinking of something as ludicrous as plotting to blow up JFK should be arrested. At the very least it strengthens the gene pool.

But must we stop the presses every time we get a couple of wackos that amount to nothing in the "war of terror"? Do we have to cut to a live press conference to announce to the world that we were able to apprehend a homeless man from Trinidad and a drug addict from Guyana because they hatred of our freedom, and now we're all the safer because of it? Is the government that desperate that they must hold these pathetic souls up as proof to try and convince us that the war of terror is working? Don't answer that last question, it was rhetorical.

But it doesn't end there. Rudy Giuliani, in his zeal to show he's the saviour of our time, gloms on to this plot at the latest Republican Debate and uses it as an example that we "have to fight them over there so we don't fight them here."

Earth to Rudy: Are we to start wars against Guyana and Trinidad as well? I'll bring the tequila. How about the Timothy McVeighs of the country, Rudy? Where do we fight them?

And then there's poor (billionaire) and current New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who took my attitude about the whole JFK fiasco:
"There are lots of threats to you in the world. There's the threat of a heart attack for genetic reasons. You can't sit there and worry about everything. Get a life," he said. "You have a much greater danger of being hit by lightning than being struck by a terrorist," he added.

Good for Mike! I'm sure he's going to receive tons of criticism, but at least he spoke out and didn't follow the rest of the sheeple. Of course, with talk like that, I don't know how much longer he'll be a Republican.