A Moment of Silence

September 11, 2012. 8:46am

Sometimes I Just Shake My Head and Sigh...

...when I think about elected officials as moronic as Sen. Chuck Grassley having a say in how our government works... or doesn't work as the case may be.

One thing in particular that I didn't miss this time around in the GOP Bullshit Memes Edition of 2012 was the blood boiling ridiculousness that is the teleprompter jab. Obama's soooo dumb.... HOW DUMB IS HE?! He's sooo dumb he can't give a speech without a teleprompter. If he can't read it, he doesn't know what to say. HAR! HAR! HAR!! (This insult brought to you by some GOP idiot reading a teleprompter.)

I know it shouldn't bother me because it's obvious crap, but maybe what bugs me the most is that it's been repeated so often, most of the GOP lemmings take it as fact. They believe this while watching their political leaders READ OFF A TELEPROMPTER! So this time around, I was glad they retired this silly notion. Or so I thought.



Seriously?! What. The. FUCK?! This waste of carbon is a sitting fucking senator in Congress who has watched every President since Lyndon Fucking Johnson use a teleprompter, but obviously the reason President Obama uses it is because he's dumb, right?

And the topper is his comparison to the Romneybot-3000 who apparently is so much smarter, he doesn't need a teleprompter. That Mitt's so quick on his feet that he came up with this little gem while defending his omission of our military troops during this speech at the RNC in what was the biggest night of his political life:

Responding to an inquiry from Fox News reporter Brett Baier, Romney claimed, “When you give a speech, you don’t go through a laundry list, you talk about the things that you think are important.”

Yeah, Mitt wants to talk about the important things. Why waste time giving a little shout out to the troops the GOP always loves to use as a backdrop when you can spend that valuable time letting Clint Eastwood upstage the Republican presidential nominee with an empty fucking chair?

Man, I don't know how President Obama is going to deal with such a razor sharp wit as Mitt Romney during the upcoming debates without a teleprompter.

(Cross-posted on ABLC)

Must Reads

James Downie: An excellent speech from Michelle Obama

Tom Junod: The Lonely Power of Michelle and the Idea of Barack

Haim Saban: The Truth About Obama and Israel

Jason Easley: Bill Clinton Puts Little Boy Paul Ryan Back In His Place

E.J. Dionne: Bill Clinton’s tutorial on the need for government

Gloria J. Browne-Marshall: Racism Festers In RNC's And CNN's Silence

Willard Foxton: On Assange and on CNN, Glenn Greenwald is talking out of his hat and is an embarrassment to The Guardian

Milt Shook: Most Important Qualification For President: Empathy - Obama Has It, Romney Doesn't

McKay Coppins: Romney Endorses Ultraconservative Congressman

President Obama's Weekly Address - September 8, 2012

Coming Together to Remember September 11th

So You Were Disappointed in President Obama

I have to admit I was surprised President Barack Obama's speech was so well-received because frankly it was not the speech I was expecting & from my twitter thread I wasn't the only one surprised. But then PBO always surprises me. I can't really articulate what I was expecting, but the heavy dose of dry humor wasn't on my list. Make no mistake, I  love PBO's humor & the way he laughs at his own jokes. As my family & friends will attest, I do the same thing. I thought the speech was pitch-perfect as the President took us through the evolution of his political life. This moment as he stood before us as President demanded a different kind of speech. I was not disappointed; I was blown away. This speech was a slow burn that ended with a crescendo reminiscent of a call & response sermon--a style of his I dearly love. But, as usual, there were a few flying unicorns pooping fairy dust all over the speech.

So I'm going to address the deafening silence when he talked about drilling for domestic oil, developing natural gas and clean coal. I reject the idea of we can't do something so don't even try.  Increasing domestic oil production is a necessary step in weaning ourselves off of foreign oil. Period. We cannot leap from dependence on oil to alternative sources of energy. It's impossible. Maybe we would if we could all afford to run right out and buy hybrid or electric cars, but we can't. Many of you may not remember the OPEC oil embargoes, but it was a damn scary time. Our country's security was under constant overt or implied threat. Americans were held hostage to the turbulence in the Middle East.

This may sound trivial, but during that time we didn't just turn our thermostats down, we didn't decorate for Christmas. We cancelled vacations in the family car. The cost of petroleum-based products skyrocketed. During the holiday season, we enjoy driving around, looking at Christmas lights. During those years, I remember thinking, seeing one darkened house after another, that the darkness was portending our future. But we survived that energy crisis only to experience others--a never ending cycle we must break. 

I live in the state of NM, a state people associate with beautiful skies, green chili, & tourism. But we, too, are producers of oil & natural gas. Large oil & gas fields as well as giant refineries are located in the NW & SE parts of the state. NM is a huge state with endless miles of nothingness & some of it vast stretches of ugliness. Those oil & gas pumps that dot the landscape are a beautiful sight to a very poor state. The taxes generated by those pumps fund our schools. The severance taxes are critical because, while NM may be a huge state geographically, we have a small population, most of whom live at or below poverty level; therefore, we have a small tax base. Although we may depend on energy production as a source of revenue, NM is also developing  alternative energy sources. So that is one reason I support Pres. Obama's energy plan--like NM energy production, his plan is a bridge between old & new. 

Yes, I am fully aware of the dangers inherent in the use of natural gas. In my hometown a natural gas explosion obliterated 10 members & 3 generations of a family. In another tragedy a young  Navajo family traveling across the reservation was blown to pieces when a gas line exploded under their pickup. I don't need commercials of water faucets shooting out balls of fire to understand the dangers of natural gas. But as someone who has always had a home warmed by natural gas, I also know it is efficient, plentiful, clean, & very cheap. Our heating bill in the dead of cold Albuquerque winters runs about $60.00 a month  Herein lies the dilemma. Natural gas, while potentially dangerous, must be considered a viable alternative to oil & coal. 

 I also lived close to two coal-fired power plants built near a coal deposit on the Navajo Reservation when I taught in a northwestern NM town. For years I watched black smoke billowing out of skyscraper-like smokestacks, darkening our stunning NM sky. According to many it seemed we had a disproportionate number of young women afflicted with MS & cancer attributed to the toxic emissions from the plants.  At the time I lived there I was alarmed at the growing number of seemingly healthy women who suddenly became very ill. No, that's not evidence. It is anecdotal but sometimes that can be powerful. We also believed the air inversions that trapped the air above the basin, leaving us with sunless days for a week at a time, were caused by the smoke. Finally, after years of protests by environmental groups, the stacks were fitted with scrubbers, & now the black smoke is but a thin wisp of white. Now I'm not naive enough to think all environmental & health risks have been eliminated, but certainly progress has been made. 

Secondly, poverty is palatable on the reservation & coal is an important source of revenue for the Navajo Tribe. Just as in West Virginia, where coal mining has done incalculable damage to people's health & environment, the industry does provide a living to many in one of the poorest parts of the United States. So what is the solution?  How can we suddenly deprive the poor of a source of income while protecting their safety & the environment?  These are concerns we all have. 

Choosing Pres. Obama isn't a choice between the lesser of two evils. He is the best & only hope for the environment we've had in my lifetime. I want a watch dog over oil drilling & the extraction of natural gas & coal. I want a shepherd to continue bringing alternative energy production on line. First & foremost, I need is someone who gives a damn about the safety of my family & all families.  I want a leader with a conscience who will not only develop safety regulations but enforce current ones. We have these resources that we need, & we have a President who believes in & seeks out innovation to change & modernize our energy industry while providing safe jobs & a clean environment. 

 

Here's what I know from my own experience & what I want to share with those of you who so readily dismiss the President's plan & responded to that part of the speech with stony silence. Don't scoff at the idea of safe extraction of natural gas. Don't scorn the idea of clean coal. 

For the first 8 years of my life, I lived in a northern NM village where I attended a one building school that housed grades 1-12. We didn't have a school cafeteria because there were no such things, not even a concept of one. We ate our brown bag lunches seated on the bleachers in the gym. Our playground was hard-packed dirt with a couple of swings. No state of the art, safe playgrounds for us. Certainly no Internet, computers, DVD players, etc.  No, it wasn't walking to a school 5 miles away in 8 feet of snow, but it was damn close. I remember when my dad brought our first tv into the house--black & white of course. Hell, I even remember a rotary phone without the rotary. I just picked up the phone & told the local operator the number to call. 

But I also remember my dad getting me up at the crack of dawn to watch the flight of John Glenn into space & Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. I watched with a father who was born at home to a mother born in a sod covered dug out on a NM ranch. And to a father who came to NM in a covered wagon & was alive to see that same moon walk although he never believed it. 

I am in awe of what my grandparents & my parents saw in their lifetimes. I am in awe of what I saw & still see. So don't tell me we can't develop safe natural gas extraction. So don't tell me we aren't going to see clean coal. No sir!  We do incredible stuff here in America.  When I choose my President in November, I'm choosing Barack Obama & his energy plan, thank you very much. 

President Clinton's Speech at the DNC 2012

The Big Dog ate.

First Lady Michelle Obama: DNC 2012 Convention Speech

DNC Ted Kennedy Tribute...

... and eating Mitt Romney's lunch in the process.

Must Reads

Dana Milbank: Isaac brushes past an obsolete convention

Eugene Robinson: Republicans steal Medicare from the Democrats

Joan Walsh: Rick Santorum’s dirty hands

Ari Melber: Paul Ryan needs to rebrand himself

Harold Meyerson: In modern GOP, the old South returns

Charles P. Pierce: The Manufacturing of Willard Romney, Human, Is Here

John Nichols: Paul Ryan's Labor Day Promise to American Workers: Candy and a Sports Schedule

What's Wrong with Ron Christie?

I watched Real Time with Bill Maher last night. After taking a break from Maher for most of last year because I felt he was always 10 days to 2 weeks behind on facts and perhaps had gotten a little lazy on preparation for his show, I figured I had to watch immediately after the GOP Convention just for a couple of laughs. I wasn't disappointed.

He obliterated Dinesh D'Souza while interviewing him and called him out for every bullshit meme that douchebag put in his anti-Obama movie. Catch a repeat if you can. But the main thing that caught my attention was the panel discussion: Jason Alexander, Soledad O'Brien and one of my favorite people to hate, Ron Christie.

When Christie was front and center a few years ago, it would me my blood boil. And he seemed to be on every fucking taking head show there was. He's such a hard line Republican that there was no use debating/arguing with him on any point, regardless of facts. If Darth Cheney came out and said the sky was green, Christie would deny his lying eyes and argue green skies to the death.
I just came to the conclusion that this was the role he was being paid for and that he couldn't possibly believe the bullshit pouring out of his mouth. Just like it's an act for Sean Hannity, I felt the same about Ron Christie. And for me personally, that makes me despise that person even more; there's no conviction or honesty in what they say. It's just a little game, being a paid shill for the GOP.

But watching Christie tonight, after not seeing him for so long, perhaps because his 15 minutes were up or he had a moment of clarity on the air and was subsequently fired as a GOP surrogate (but I doubt that) I tried to give him a fresh start. And wouldn't you know it, that little fucker is still the towing the GOP line always was- but this time I felt differently.

I used to think he was a paid shill, but now I truly think he actually believes what he says. ...I know right?! I was shocked too! The $716 billion Medicare story came up and Christie denounced President Obama's awful $716 billion Medicare "cut" but defended Paul Ryan's $716 billion Medicare "savings," and no amount of explanation that the savings were the same was going to change Christie's mind. Nope. Obama's cut bad. Ryan's savings good.

Bill Maher: So let me ask this panel, do you think we’ve ever seen lies like this [from politicians like Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney]? Because it’s one thing to slant things, all politicians do that, but to just pull out of your ass…I mean Mitt Romney went through…Obama ‘s apologizing around the world — Fact checkers: no — Raising taxes on the middle class — Not true — Cutting defense — He’s only raised it. — Uh, you know, wrecked our credit rating — Welfare work requirement…he got rid of that — No, he didn’t do that — Robbing Medicare… Just a series of total lies. Have we seen this before? 

Soledad O’Brien: I don’t know if we’ve seen it before, but what I think you are seeing is people trying to get control of the message, that sort of the veracity doesn’t matter, right? If you can just say it and say it often, say it enough, and say it loud enough, and just keep repeating it and have everyone around you repeating it, then eventually it becomes true. I think that we’ve seen that a lot in this campaign. 

Bill Maher: Well now you’re describing what Hitler did. I’m not saying the Republicans are Hitler, but Hitler famously said the big lie works and the little lie doesn’t. 

Ron Christie: Well I think the big lie here is we need to fact check the fact checkers. The fact of the matter is the media has been running around – audience disapproval – the media has been running around saying Paul Ryan has been lying. The fact of the matter is this: President Obama and his plan Obamacare took $716 billion out under Medicare Advantage, he took it out of hospitals, and he took it out of the insurance program, and he programmed that into Obamacare. That’s true.

While this is technically true, what's misleading is that it's a cost savings over future spending curbing the increasing costs, not a cut in current spending. The part of Christie's sentence "took $716 billion out under Medicare Advantage" is purposely misleading. You know, it's that fiscal responsibility Republicans constantly beat their chests about but never really put into practice. But I'm done with this. Unlike Republicans, I'm not going to beat a dead horse while simultaneously beating my head against the wall.

When the issue of climate change came up, Christie wondered why it was such a cudgel on both sides, and wished we could just "agree to disagree." The science is not still out on this! And the English scientist email conspiracy theory has been thoroughly debunked as Christie was reminded by Maher when he tried to make that an issue. But at this point I wasn't so much angry as I was dumbfounded.

How does a seemingly intelligent person like Ron Christie deny global warming? How is it that one can be so ingrained in their ideology that solid, scientific facts are nothing but a conspiracy theory in their eyes? How did his brain develop to the point that if he and others like him in his party, which looks like a vast majority of them at this point, don't believe or understand something, then they outright just refuse it? Or that they are so willing to believe a lie from someone they respect, but when confronted with the truth, with facts staring them in the face even by nonpartisan entities, it just doesn't sink in?

No matter how many times they are confronted with pure fact, it's dismissed which makes trying to have a conversation or debate with Republicans, teabaggrs and Obama haters so frustrating. Paraphrasing Maher, how can you have a debate when you can't agree on the facts?

Ron Christie believes Paul Ryan because he wants to believe Paul Ryan. But all those reporters actually doing their jobs for a change and reporting the lies? Nu-uh. He said someone should "fact check the fact checkers." ...What? Well, then who's going to fact check the fact checkers checking the fact checkers when you still don't get the result you want?! It's all talking in circles. It's birtherism at the next level. Insist on a birth certificate, but when it's provided, insist it's a forgery. Ask for the long form and when it's provided, insist it's a forgery. They will never be satisfied.

It must be nice to live in your own little bubble, blissfully unaware that maybe, just maybe you might be wrong.

 (Cross-posted on ABLC)

President Obama's Weekly Address - September 1, 2012

Honoring Our Nation’s Service Members and Military Families

Remember When McCain's Campaign was Erratic

POSTED BY JHW22

I remember when the Obama campaign (and several newspapers) called the McCain Campaign erratic. Those were the good ol' days. Now we are watching Romney run a half-assed campaign. Or maybe it's amateur campaign. Or maybe it's a taking-too-much-for-granted campaign. I don't even know how to label what it is they are doing. My brain is wiggly like Jell-o trying to articulate the lack of energy, clarity, cohesiveness and any sense of forethought. It's as if the Romney campaign is ADHD and lazy at the same time. They make decisions on the fly while lounging like a couch potato. I just don't get what the fuck they are doing.

At the convention, they had Ann Romney say it's all about love then Christie came out and said SCREW love. That was like totally awkward.

Then last night I watched the convention bio piece about Romney and actually thought it accomplished a lot in telling the Romney story. It had touching and funny and interesting moments. 
THEN I learned that the Romney campaign decided to have the networks air Clint Eastwood rather than Romney's bio piece. A) Clint Eastwood isn't the one running for POTUS. B) EVERYONE knows that Romney has been running for 6 years and Americans STILL have no idea what he's about. C) The GOP mocks celebrities yet chose to prioritize a celebrity over their candidate. D) Clint came off like a man entering dementia. 

E) What they fuck are they thinking!?!?!

Paul Ryan the Liar

Man... and I thought Mitt Romney was bad.

By now you've heard all the fact checkers debunk the misleading claims and flat out lies in the Ryan speech last night at the GOP Convention's Meet the Shiny New VP Nominee segment, for the majority who haven't been paying attention. But you have to hand it to the Obama camp to put out a video like this so soon.

Bravo!



(Cross-posted at ABLC)

Still Doth Protest Too Much

POSTED BY JHW22

Remember when Sarah Palin said Game Change was full of lies and distortions and also and too so she wouldn't watch it? Well, I've seen that movie a couple of times now and I'm confused. Because either it was spot-on on or she has seen it and come close to plagiarism. You see, tonight Fox News canceled her appearances and she ain't too happy about it. She took to Facebook tonight to express her disappointment.

I’m sorry Fox cancelled all my scheduled interviews tonight because I sure wanted to take the opportunity on the air to highlight Senator John McCain’s positive contributions to America, to honor him, and to reflect on what a biased media unfairly put him through four years ago tonight. Granted, our honored and esteemed war hero has gone through much more than the liberal media can ever do to him in their efforts to harm this patriot. I look forward to hearing his words to his fellow Americans tonight more than any of the other convention speeches. God bless John McCain. Thank you for everything. And happy birthday, my friend.

- Sarah Palin

 And this is from the movie, Game Change

Schmidt: I understand you've prepared a speech. Is that correct?
Palin: Yes I have. I want to salute John for everything he's done for this country.
Schmidt: That's not gonna happen. You're not giving the speech.

 ----
Palin: I can't wait to get out there and thank you. I have a speech written that is a real tribute to ya.
McCain: No, I think these guys have that covered. Right, Steve?
Schmidt: Yes, sir, we have it covered.
Palin: I just want people to know what a great man you are.

I dunno. Seems to me she pulls the same stunt over and over again. Or she got the idea from the movie about her she says wasn't true and that she didn't watch.

It's Official: Rush Limbaugh Is Back On Drugs

He HAS to be, otherwise how can these batshit crazy comments be taken even remotely seriously?



So... Obama was in cahoots with the National Weather Service to falsify the track of Hurricane Isaac in order to fuck over the first day of the GOP Convention in Tampa, and the people who really WERE in harms way were basically shrugged off and considered collateral damage just to ruin some delegation fun in Florida.

And millions of people take this asshole seriously for three hours on a daily basis.

Obama DOES Get the American Dream

POSTED BY JHW22

I am a small business owner -- well in the least income-generating sense of the word. I work all by myself in my house and have yet to make a profit. But I collect state sales taxes, fulfill orders and have customers. So, technically, I am a small business owner who created one job -- my own.

But before that I was a stay-at-home mom and before that I worked as a teacher's aide in special education and before that I worked in advertising and before that I worked temp jobs and before that I worked in escrow and before that I worked at a video store.

Do you see a trend? My trend is most likely your trend. Very few Americans actually create a business or jobs. Only something like 18% of Americans have their own business (every link I found states the overall rate but all the reports are about segments compared to the overall).

So why is it President Obama is being made out to be someone who doesn't understand the American Dream when more than 80% of us understand him far better than we understand Mitt Romney? (Obviously, that is a TOTALLY rhetorical question.)

As a business owner I am getting REALLY tired of hearing implications that Barack Obama is worthless because he never created anything. Because if that's the case, my husband is worthless. And my parents. And my grandparents. And my aunts and uncles. I have a cousin who started her own business -- but ironically she's a speech therapist who services kiddos on MEDICAID. Even her business wouldn't be possible without that help President Obama was talking about when he said no one builds a business solely on their own. She proudly acknowledges that she couldn't be a business owner without social services. So she calls bullshit on the GOP talking points aka distortions aka lies about what Obama said about who built what.

Guess what? Obama didn't say people don't create their own businesses. He just said they all have some government resources that help. And since not that many people actually start a business in the first place, I'd say President Obama has a pretty good handle on the reality of starting one. I'm pretty sure he gets the American Dream!

But It's Not About Racism (The GOP Convention Edition)

Isn't it great to live in the land of post-racial sentiment after we've elected a black man into the Oval Office? Anyone screaming 'racism' is obviously not in touch with the pulse of the American electorate and is simply using the race card as an instrument of division and hate... wait, what?

"...Zoraida Fonalledas, the chairwoman of the Committee on Permanent Organization—took her turn at the main-stage lectern [at the GOP Convention in Tampa Bay]. As she began speaking in her accented English, some in the crowd started shouting “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” 

The chanting carried on for nearly a minute while most of the other delegates and the media stood by in stunned silence. The Puerto Rican correspondent turned to me and asked, “Is this happening?”... None of us could quite believe what we were seeing: A sea of twentysomething bowties and cowboy hats morphing into frat bros apparently shrieking over (or at) a Latina."

But surely they were chanting because they were proud of their "big tent" and cheering, not jeering the Republican latina woman at their own convention, right? ...Right?

But the Republicans keep telling me that it was Obama who has done absolutely nothing for immigrants (even though the woman was Puerto Rican and therefore an American citizen) in this country, except to throw them a bone with his obvious politicization of young immigrants who are here through no fault of their own, at least according to Romney surrogate John Sununu.

“If Obama really was serious about that, he wouldn’t have been such a phony in doing that, and he would have done it four years ago. This presidency, by doing something late and politically, defined both his incompetence and his insincerity,” Sununu said after answering questions in Spanish with the Hispanic press. 

During the GOP primary, Romney vowed to veto the DREAM Act, which would implement a stronger version of what Obama did through executive order, but since winning the nomination, he’s tacked to the middle and avoided striking the hard-line tone on immigration that made him one of the most conservative candidates on the issue in the GOP field. 

Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state and an immigration adviser to Romney, is the author of Arizona’s of infamous immigration law and took up a suit brought by 10 immigration enforcement agents against the new Obama policy last week.

Hold on. Do you mean to tell me that, try as they might, the Republican Party really isn't that into people of color? I find that hard to believe.

Two attendees at the Republican National Convention were thrown out of the convention center in Tampa on Tuesday after throwing nuts at a black CNN camerawoman and saying, "this is how we feed the animals."

CNN reported that multiple witnesses saw it happen, and police immediately removed the two people from the premises.

Oh, come on! What's next?! Is some frothy guy going to step behind the convention podium and blatantly lie about the Presdient in a clear attempt to rile up the fringiest of the fringe with some dumbass welfare claim even though a large number of white people are help by that program as well?

"This summer he showed us once again he believes in government handouts and dependency by waiving the work requirement for welfare," Santorum said Tuesday in a speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. "I helped write the welfare reform bill; we made the law crystal clear -- no president can waive the work requirement. But as with his refusal to enforce our immigration laws, President Obama rules like he is above the law." 

PolitiFact checked a Romney campaign ad's claim that Obama ended welfare work requirements earlier this month, rating it Pants On Fire. In reality, the Obama administration has said it will consider proposals from states that are aimed at finding better ways of getting welfare recipients into jobs. FactCheck.org and the Washington Post Fact Checker have also said the claim is false.

Fuck. Me.

If you haven't noticed, it's been all dog whistles, all the time. Accusations of "gutting welfare requirements" taking a play out of the welfare queen Reagan playbook. Romney making a little "joke" about not having to show his birth certificate - yet the reaction wasn't laughter, but cheers. Delegates at the GOP convention booing and chanting "USA" when an Hispanic woman speaks. Other conventioneers thrown out after assaulting a black CNN cameraperson and calling her an "animal." And yet when it's brought up, it's the DEMOCRATS who are accused of using the RACE CARD?! If it acts like a racist and it smells like a racist...

ADDING... And let's not forget that scumbag South Carolina state representative Alan Clemmons responding positively to a racially tinged email regarding their bullshit voter ID law.  But hey, it's those Democrats playing that damned race card because you know, black man in the White House, new era of enlightenment, post racial land of the free, home of blah, blah, blah...

(Cross-posted at ABLC)

Reince Gets Reamed

This was a thing of beauty.

Chris Matthews chomped down on RNC Chairman Reince Priebus' head like a crocodile this morning on Morning Joke™, calling out Mitt Romney for his birth certificate comment, which Mitt later characterized as a "joke," and the rest of the GOP and their dog whistles. Watch and be amazed.




Priebus was a deer caught in the headlights, having no clue he was about to get his ass reamed by Matthews, probably because he expected to be in friendly confines on Joe Scarborough's sorry excuse for show.

Just a few things.

Notice how Scarborough tried to come to Reince's rescue, failing miserably I might add, by throwing himself into Matthews' barrage and challenging his claims that the welfare lie and the birth certificate "joke" was not racially tinged.

And a big fuck you to Mika Brzezinski attempting to play the mommy role to two grown men when things get a little heated. And an even bigger fuck you to Tom "I'm Making Shitloads of Money with the Greatest Generation Enterprise" Brokaw for even suggesting the "both sides" meme. Give me the examples, Tom! Don't give example after example of GOP racist shenanigans, come up with nothing from the other side and then say, "but both sides do it" you fucking hack.

Regardless of these asides, it's awfully nice to see someone finally take Priebus down and call him out as the not ready for prime time douchebag that he is. Watching him stammer and sweat and meekly try to take the high road when he saw that he was backed into a corner with no way out warmed the cockles of my heart.  Yeah, that's right, I said cockles, baby!

(Cross-posted on ABLC)

I'm Back From Vacation!

So... uh... what did I miss?

Man! What a week to be away. Let's just bullet point it:

 Todd Akin's crazy week

 GOP leaders going apeshit over Akin's comments and urging him to quit his Missouri Senate race.

 Mitt Romney deciding to courageously voice his opinion that Akin should drop out of his Senate race a convenient 15 minutes after Rush Limbaugh suggested the same.

 Mitt Romney's ridiculous suggestion that he doesn't want to release his taxes because he wants how much he tithes to the LDS to remain private. HA!

 Mitt Romney going Birther at an event in Michigan.

 Another shooting, this time by the Empire State Building

 Phyllis Diller died.

 Neil Armstrong died.



I'll be back to comment on a more regular basis starting tomorrow, but in the meantime, enjoy this picture of the Grand Canyon... yes, I vacationed in Arizona and actually brought my passport... just in case.

President Obama's Weekly Address - August 25, 2012

A day late, but never a dollar short.


Preserving and Strengthening Medicare

Yet Another Way To Tell That You're Vacationing in a Red State

Another Way To Tell You're Vacationing in a Red State

They thought I was honking in solidarity. I was actually just repeatedly slamming my head into the steering wheel.

(Cross-posted at ABLC)

You Know You're Vacationing in a Red State...

... when this has to be answered in the Frequently Asked Questions section of your resort book.



Part if me wishes it read, "Bibles, as well as Torahs and Korans, are available upon request at Guest Services."

Down Time

I'll be on vacation for a week and I hope that my blogging colleagues can stop by and water the plants while I'm away. I may stop in for a quick post or two, but I'm not making any promises.

In the meantime, please keep a list of the Romney/Ryan lies for me while I'm away. That should keep you extremely busy for the next seven days.

Must Reads

Charles P. Pierce: The America Paul Ryan Forgot: A Vision of Freedom, by Way of Free Government, by Way of the Morrill Act

Imani Gandy: Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan Want You People to STFU and Just Trust Them

Bob Cesca: Romney to Cut PBS Funding While Ryan and GOP Protect Big Oil

The Rude Pundit: Mitt Romney's Cringe-Inducing Desperation

Mark Morford: Mitt Romney vs. dead potted plant

President Obama's Weekly Address - August 18, 2012

Congress Should Back Plan to Hire Teachers

Paul Ryan Forgets Stimulus Requests

Seriously, dude?! Now you're just fucking with me.

Paul Ryan spent the last three years railing against the horrible, terrible, no good, very bad stimulus in front of the cameras and microphones, while asking for stimulus money behind the scenes to help his district create jobs and stimulate the economy. That's a goddamn fact.

And still, after being caught with his hand in the cookie jar, with video and audio proof and letters requesting stimulus funds with his fucking signature on them, he still tries to push the bullshit that it "did nothing to stimulate the economy." That the stimulus was a complete failure.

Unfuckingbelievable.

Rachel Maddow wipes up the studio floor with this punk, jackass. Must. See.

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

(Cross-posted at ABLC)

Fact Check: Enough of the GOP Medicare BS

The new lie from the Romney camp and its hatchet men is that the Affordable Care Act cuts $716 billion from Medicare. Mitt Romney himself says that President Obama "stole $716 billion from Medicare to fund Obamacare" and that current seniors are seeing a reduction in their benefits and their service. All of it is absolute horse shit.

And thank you, Soledad O'Brien for giving us a concise look at the facts.

 


This has to be shouted from the mountaintops. I don't give a shit that Paul Ryan's plan which Mitt Romney embraces, cuts the same amount of money out of the Medicare program. This is a bad argument for the mere fact that it'll get convoluted in a "both sides are the same" meme.

The argument is that ACA reduces Medicare increases by $716 billion over 10 years by reducing payments and streamlining the system and pumps that savings back into the healthcare system. Romney and Ryan would have that $716 billion come from the pockets of those who can least afford it, namely seniors on a fixed income, by restructuring Medicare into a voucher system that will never keep up with the rising cost of healthcare, especially if they plan on "repealing ALL of Obamacare" as Romney continues to threat.

And here's a great catch from Bob Cesca on the latest Romney ad flat out lying about the CBO report that I didn't catch the first time I saw it:

...the CBO’s director Doug Elmendorf wrote that if the House Republicans repeal the Affordable Care Act, the repeal would increase federal spending on Medicare by $716 billion. There’s nothing about cutting Medicare in there. NOTHING. Romney and his campaign are lying. Again. And they’ll keep on doing it.

(Cross-posted on ABLC)

Paul Ryan's First "Homina Homina" Interview

Say what you will about Brit Hume (I certainly have), but this is one solid interview. Hume for the most part, doesn't let Ryan get away with vague, softball answers and tries to get concrete answers from Ryan on the GOP ticket's philosophy and how they plan to implement their vision.

You really should watch the whole interview and try to stomach some of the bullshit talking points.



There were a few things that struck me during this interview.

The $716 billion "raided" from Medicare to pay for Obamacare bullshit talking point not withstanding, Ryan insisted that under a Romney presidency, they would repeal ALL of Obamacare. Not keep the things that work or expressing concern for those who are enjoying some of the benefits of Obamacare already, but ENTIRELY repeal it.

That means those who have been able to obtain insurance now despite being previously refused due to preexisting conditions are out of luck. Seniors who've been able to save money by the Medicare Part D donut hole being closed? Sorry, you'll have to start paying for those meds again. Children who can stay on their parents insurance plan until 26 years of age, especially during this time of high unemployment and college graduates having trouble finding a job? That's a shame. It's the Henry Hill "Fuck you, pay me" Goodfellas style of health care policy.

If you noticed, it seems that the Romney campaign has basically forced Paul Ryan to abandon his own budget, causing Ryan to repeatedly refer to Romney's vision and that he signed on to the Romney campaign. Nevermind Ryan's philosophy and the budget he worked tirelessly on. That was apparently just an exercise to "start the conversation."

Hume also asked about Ryan's affinity for Ayn Rand, to which Ryan responded that he loved her books but not her philosophy. That same philosophy she espouses in her books that causes Ryan to insist his staffers read Rand?

All of this is can only get much more interesting if this is just Day Three of the Dynamic Duo's rollout. What does Ryan now stand for? All of Romney's ideas... or lack of.

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All-Hands-On-Deck Response to the Drought

Mitt Romney: Just Trust Me

Are you fucking kidding me?!

ROMNEY: “[O]ur campaign would be-- helped immensely if we had an agreement between both campaigns that we were only going to talk about issues and that attacks based upon-- business or family or taxes or things of that nature." 

[...] 

“[W]e only talk about issues. And we can talk about the differences between our positions and our opponent's position.” Romney said of his own campaign: “[O]ur ads haven't gone after the president personally. … [W]e haven't dredged up the old stuff that people talked about last time around. We haven't gone after the personal things.”

Personal things? PERSONAL THINGS?!

For a fucking year now, Mitt Romney has been touting his time as a the rootinest, tootinest bobtailed wildcat north, south, east or west of the Great Salt Lake. He's the kick ass and take names private sector job creator at his private equity firm, Bain Capital. He's a master CEO who created a bajillion jobs, and it's through this amazing experience in the private sector which President Obama lacks, that he is better suited to run the U.S. of A. That's all we've heard from this sleazy, used car salesman.

And now with less than 90 days to go, now that we are in the thick of it campaign-wise, now that the dirty little dealings of Bain's vulture capitalism are coming to light, now that we find out that Mitt Romney was still the de facto head of Bain for three years after the time he claims he left, now he's claiming that what he's been putting front and center as the cornerstone of his leadership bona fides is "personal' and shouldn't be subject to criticism?

I say again: ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!

Now all of this is stemming from the Priorities USA SuperPAC ad centering on Joe Soptic, a victim of Bain's vulture capitalism. Everyone on the right is having an apoplectic fit over the ad, saying it goes too far and points to Romney as Soptic's wife's murderer after she was stricken with cancer but waited too long for treatment because they had lost their health insurance. They're all laying it at the feet of the Obama campaign when the fact of the matter is that it's a SuperPAC ad, not an Obama campaign ad.

How do you like Citizens' United now, bitches?

Mitt Romney 2012: Just Trust Me.

And the Voter Suppression Begins

Here we go. Make up bullshit rules, and even if they're deemed illegal and unenforceable, the mass confusion it causes will deny arguably hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of eligible voters across the country their Constitutional right to vote.

Reports of voters being turned away because they declined to check a box asking them to verify U.S. citizenship have been coming in from several areas of [Michigan] state.

Michigan Radio first became aware of the situation when talking to Michigan Campaign Finance Network's Rich Robinson who said he was refused a ballot because he would not check the box. He refused because it is not legally required... 

...When Rich Robinson went to the polls in East Lansing this morning, poll workers refused to give him a ballot because he would not check a box declaring he was a U.S. citizen. Checking that box is not required under law. Robinson works for the Michigan Campaign Finance Network and is familiar with election law. He says he wonders how many others are being denied the right to vote today because local election officials are misinformed.

“If the information couldn’t travel accurately five miles down Michigan Avenue from the capitol to the East Lansing City Clerk, what’s going on in Ontonagon or Monroe or points in between."

And all of this is due to the decision of Republican Secretary of State Ruth Johnson to add the citizenship box on the ballot after the bill requesting that provision was vetoed by Governor Rick Snyder. You know, because voter fraud and freedoms.

This doesn't even begin to tackle the subject of voter ID laws tantamount to poll taxes and what will be considered legal ID in the differing eyes of thousands and thousands of volunteer percent workers. I don't know about you, but I've seen the people manning my voting booths, and I don't think they're capable of filling out a postal service change of address form, let alone figure out what's a real ID and what isn't.

Marvin Hamlisch 1944-2012

LA Times: Celebrated composer Marvin Hamlisch, best known for the Tony Award-winning "A Chorus Line" and the movie classic "The Sting," has died in Los Angeles. He was 68.

Family spokesman Jason Lee said Hamlisch died Monday after a brief illness, but he did not provide additional details, according to the Associated Press.

Hamlisch was a prolific composer. His work included the Oscar-winning score and song for "The Way We Were," as well as "Sophie's Choice," "Ordinary People," "Ice Castles" and, most recently, "The Informant."

Rafalca's Olympic Dreams Are Over

Yeah... that's a shame.

Rafalca the horse returned to the Olympic spotlight Tuesday for her second and final round of competition in equestrian dressage. Stephen Colbert's favorite horse was mathematically eliminated from the individual competition, as was the U.S. in the team medal race... 

...Rafalca, a 15-year-old, German-bred mare, is co-owned by Mitt Romney's wife Ann, and has inspired jokes and financial questions about the Republican presidential candidate. 

[Ann] Romney said Rafalca had another "fabulous" ride and that she's thinking of breeding the German-born mare. "It was wonderful. She was elegant and consistent again. 

We just love her." She said that after Ebeling competes with Rafalca for another year or two, they might try to breed her.

Or Mitt may just nominate Rafalca as the VP candidate at the convention.

...The left-leaning Guardian newspaper headlined its coverage of Rafalca's debut: "Ann Romney's Horse Fails to Win Dressage but Avoids Offending British."

BOOM!

Fightin' Harry Reid Not Backing Down

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated he spoke with someone who claimed Mitt Romney hadn't paid taxes in 10 years.

Reid suggested that Romney’s decision to withhold tax information would bar him from ever earning Senate confirmation to a Cabinet post. Then, Reid recalled a phone call his office received about a month ago from “a person who had invested with Bain Capital,” according to The Huffington Post. 

Reid said the person told him: “Harry, he didn’t pay any taxes for 10 years.” 

“He didn’t pay taxes for 10 years! Now, do I know that that’s true? Well, I’m not certain,” Reid told HuffPo. “But obviously he can’t release those tax returns. How would it look?”

Good question, Harry. It would look pretty shitty, especially considering Romney's tax plan would give even more tax cuts to the have mores, and cut social and medical programs to pay for it. The burden of proof is on Romney. He can shut down all of those claiming he's got something to hide by releasing his returns. It's really that simple.

Reid's comments have caused an apoplectic fit among the right, with RNC Chairman calling Reid a "dirty liar" on the Sunday talk shows. I would take their protests seriously if they hadn't been so completely silent on the Birther issue looking the other way when anyone in their party asked for proof of President Obama's citizenship.

Well Reid and his office aren't backing down just because poor, little Reince Priebus and Lindsey Graham get their panties in a knot calling Reid a liar. In fact, it's only gotten harsher.

“They’re a bunch of cowards, and they’re avoiding the issue,” said David Krone, Reid’s chief of staff, in an interview with POLITICO on Sunday night. “Lindsey Graham, Reince Priebus — they’re a bunch of henchmen for Romney, and they’re all reading off the same talking points. They couldn’t hold a candle to Harry Reid.” 

Krone added: “What Harry Reid said is the fact of what he was told. To turn it around, all their childish rants this weekend about calling Reid a ‘liar’ and all that, it just shows you how scared they are that Harry Reid was telling the truth.”  

As far as I'm concerned, it's political gamesmanship. This time though, the GOP is crying foul because they're on the short end. So if the GOP has been unwilling to publicly put the Birther issue to rest once and for all, if they continue to embrace the Tea Party when Tea Party leaders insist that President Obama release his medical records to prove he's not a gay crack addict, if they're willing to call Harry Reid a liar but keep mum on Mitt Romney's blatant lie that the Obama administration is trying to suppress the military vote in Ohio, then game on, motherfuckers.


(Cross-posted at ABLC)

Let's Be Clear on "Hate"

POSTED BY JHW22

I keep seeing a Rick Warren quote popping up on Facebook. Hell, I don't know if he really said it but here it is:

"Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone's lifestyle, you must fear them or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don't have to compromise convictions to be compassionate." -Rick Warren

Days after all the Chik-Fil-A crap, and some people STILL don't understand that the left isn't mad about what the head of Chick-fil-a SAID. We're pissed at what he DID. He funded groups that take rights away from gay people -- preventing them from marrying, adopting, getting jobs and in parts of the world LIVING. Yes, the head of Chick-fil-a helps fund a group that supports the execution of gays in Africa.

You can SAY that doesn't mean he hates gay people if you want. But when you support people being executed for being gay, I guess you can say Hitler didn't hate gays when he sent them to the camps.

Semantics, I guess.

And really, when you use the "it doesn't mean I hate them" as a distraction from the real issue that you oppose civil rights, it's as if you're defensive about being called a hater. Gee, I think a gay person is probably MORE defensive about having their rights taken away.

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President Obama's Weekly Address - August 4, 2012

Celebrating the Summer Olympics and Paralympics

Job Search

Posted by JHW22

Since President Obama was elected, his policies (the ones NOT blocked by the GOP) have created 4.5 million jobs. There are days when I get so furious thinking how many more jobs his policies could have created had the GOP actually not been assholes.
4.5 million jobs! That's a LOT. That's a lot considering how close we were to a Depression. It's kind of like being in 8th place until the last 50 meters and then pulling out all you've got and getting the Silver Have to have an Olympic reference, right). We still need to get the Gold but that would require some team effort. Sadly, with the GOP working against us, our team isn't being very productive.

Today we got a new jobs report and our economy added 163,000 jobs. The unemployment rate went up a click and that's what the GOP will focus on. They'll pretend the addition of jobs is a bad thing because the percent went up. But 163,000 jobs exist that didn't exist before.

-- Kevin Drum, Mother Jones

As a person who has been looking for a job for the first time in six years, and really longer ago than that because I had a job before I decided to be a stay-at-home mom, this is great news.

However, my problem isn't the number of jobs out there. I look at job boards several times a day. I have apps I check obsessively. I see jobs all day long. I see jobs in health care. I see jobs in retail. I see clerical jobs. And at times I see jobs in my field. But the jobs I see the most are in technical fields. Seriously. The problem isn't that we don't have jobs. The problem is that we aren't all qualified for the plethora of good paying jobs because we all decided to major in Literature (well, I did, anyway).

So I have a hard time applying for more jobs than I'd like simply because I don't have the skill sets needed for the jobs that ARE out there.

I read a quote a few weeks ago and I think about it all the time. I have to paraphrase it because I don't remember it specifically, and I have no idea who said it, but the gist is this:
[quote]Don't wait for something to happen. MAKE something happen.[/quote]
I'm trying to follow this in my job search. I am trying to be creative and inventive. It hasn't worked so far but at least I FEEL in control. I KNOW I'm not in control -- after all, there are hundreds of applicants competing for the same jobs, I've been off the circuit for A LONG TIME, and I have to admit I had a pretty glaring error on the resumes I was submitting for almost two months. I can't control the person's schedule who receives my resume to ensure they don't go on vacation or call in sick while my resume is at the top of the stack.

But I can take classes, I can read books, I can read articles, I can find ways to hone my skills.

And I can help re-elect President Obama and work to elect good Democrats to support him in Congress. Because if the 2012 election results in a Democratic win, I am confident that Obama will have more job creation policies enacted and a lot more opportunities for ALL of us and not just the techies. Or hell, maybe I can find something to hold me over while I become a techie, myself. Ahahahahaha. That was funny.

Cross-posted at www.ThisWomanThinks.com

Is Romney Really Worse Than Sarah Palin?

A few days ago, when Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney took off for London in what was supposed to be an easy, softball, build your foreign policy credibility trip, he began making a series of gaffes from insulting the readiness of London to host the Olympics, and shrugging off his wife's dressage horse event in order to look less elitist, to forgetting the opposition party leader's name.

The British press tore him to shreds, not only because they felt the had to protect their own, but also because for a trip that was supposed to be easy-peasy, Mitt was blowing it in epic proportions. But one particular statement caught my eye. Worse than Sarah Palin. I mean, I get it, but really? Actually worse that Palin?

It's true that the more we see and hear Mitt, the more we realize he's got his own little brand of word salad going on, but at least he tries to speak in a fashion that's grammatically correct whether what he's saying makes sense or not. But worse than know-nothing Sarah Palin? ...Then he went to Israel.

Adding to the already loud din of criticism of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney after he said Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, China today said Mr. Romney’s “hawkish remarks” could spark conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. 

“Romney's remarks totally neglect historical facts and are actually irresponsible if he just meant to appeal to voters at home,” wrote Xinhua, China’s official state news service. “[A]ny words that favor any party to the conflict regardless of history and reality are irresponsible and unfair for Palestinians who are in a less powerful position in the peace talks. They may even result in a much worse situation in this region by intensifying the differences between the two sides.” 

China also took issue with Mr. Romney’s claim that he would move the US embassy to Jerusalem, something American officials have long avoided doing because the move would imply Israeli sovereignty of the long contested city.

Not only is he stupid, but he's dangerous. For the sake of scoring some political points not with the Jewish population here at home, but with the Evangelical right, Mitt Romney has gone against what every president since Harry Truman has understood; that Jerusalem was deemed an international city to protect religious rights for all in the region, unsettled since the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948, and negotiation is the only way to settle it.  Hell, even St. Ronnie agreed with that!*

But why should Romney care about such nuance when he can indirectly point a finger at President Obama in an attempt to categorize him as not friendly towards Israel? Who cares about looking like a fool to the rest of the world when you're trying to win an election at home by any means necessary for Pete's sake?!

Romney also touted Israel's healthcare system. A universal healthcare system. You know, sort of like Medicare for all, but with an individual mandate. The same mandate that was good enough for Romneycare in Massachusetts but according to Mitt, is an abomination in Obamacare. The sound you hear is my head slamming into my keyboard repeatedly.

So in short, yeah, Mitt Romney is worse than Sarah Palin. You can excuse Palin for being plucked out of the middle of nowhere, being completely unvetted and not ready for prime time. Exposing her idiocy was an unintended consequence of being thrown onto the national stage. But Mitt Romney has been running for President for over eight years and has apparently learned or attempted to learn nothing. What's his excuse?

(* H/T Zandar)

(Cross-posted on ABLC)

Romney Hightails It Out of London - Campaign Shoots Barbs From Afar

It seems that the Romney campaign can't seem to stop stepping on its own tongue. Rather than leave well enough alone and quitting while they're behind, the Romney camp decided totalk toughafter they left London for Israel.

A Romney campaign official has blasted Boris Johnson, the London Mayor, as an ‘eccentric, odd fellow’ whose public attack on the Republican candidate was ‘unbecoming’ and an indication of his bias towards President Barack Obama...  

'Johnson on the other hand lived up to his reputation as an eccentric, odd fellow. It was unbecoming to attack Governor Romney in that way. There really was no need. But Johnson made it clear in 2008 that his vote would have gone to Obama.’

So, Romney can insult London, but London can't insult Romney. It's "unbecoming." Got it.

In the meantime, the Romney campaign hasdenied access to reporters in his scheduled Jerusalem fundraiser.

Romney's campaign is barring reporters from a fundraiser at Jerusalem's King David Hotel and not saying why. At U.S. events, Romney's remarks to donors in communal spaces such as hotels are typically public.

You know what I find unbecoming? A "President" Mitt Romney.

(Cross-posted on ABLC)

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