Short on Reasonableness

POSTED BY JHW22

Just a quick post to say that Robert Reich and smart Democrats like this can kiss my fat (although, getting skinnier) ass.

Tonight on Hardball, Reich moaned pathetic about Obama being in South America instead of at home creating jobs.

A) I would expect an economics expert to understand the significance of Obama's trip to our economy and job creation.

B) It's not a Spring Break as Fox News wants viewers to believe (oh, I get it, Reich is a Fox watcher).

C) Does Reich realize Reich is doing his very own job (giving astute analysis) via ... wait for it ... satellite? Yep, a job can be done from a different place than the magic place. Jobs are not created from one chair, behind one desk, in one oval-shaped room, in one house painted white, on some street named after a state, in some country with 50 states and a shitload of towns and cities.

C.2) Does Reich think Obama needs to be in Texas to create jobs in Texas? In Oregon to create jobs in Oregon?

D) Reich titled one of his books, "I'll Be Short". Well, I think Reich is being short-minded and short on rational thought or integrity. I lean toward the latter. I think Reich SHOULD know better and chooses to add to the value-less, pathetic and unproductive crap that is a waste of valuable air time. Hey, Reich, use your on-air opportunity this way: Ask not what your President can do for you. Ask what you can do for your President. For starters, you can stop acting like a right-wing wanker and start applying some of the logic I am sure you must possess and talk about things that are relevant and not petty.

By the way, I took my copy of "I'll Be Short" back to the used book store where I bought it from the clearance section. The font was big, the spacing was large and I didn't get a thing out of it. Perhaps I am giving Reich too much credit.

In other words, and I'll be short, "Grow up, Reich".

Elizabeth Taylor Dies at 79

NY Times: Elizabeth Taylor, the actress who dazzled generations of moviegoers with her stunning beauty and whose name was synonymous with Hollywood glamour, died Wednesday in Los Angeles. She was 79.

...Her publicist, Sally Morrison, said the cause was complications of congestive heart failure. Ms. Taylor had had a series of medical setbacks over the years and was hospitalized six weeks ago with heart problems.

Newt Was For It Before He Was Against It... - UPDATED

...and it was only a matter of days before Gingrich decided to switch policy positions for the sole purpose of criticizing President Obama on Libya... whatever the stance happened to be at the time, consistency be damned.

Gingrich on Van Susteren's show, March 7th:

VAN SUSTEREN: What would you do about Libya?

GINGRICH: Exercise a no-fly zone this evening. … It’s also an ideological problem. The United States doesn’t need anybody’s permission. We don’t need to have NATO, who frankly, won’t bring much to the fight. We don’t need to have the United Nations. All we have to say is that we think that slaughtering your own citizens is unacceptable and that we’re intervening. And we don’t have to send troops. All we have to do is suppress his air force, which we could do in minutes.

March 20th from Politico:

“It is impossible to make sense of the standard for intervention in Libya except opportunism and news media publicity,” Gingrich said in a statement to POLITICO, his first public comments since President Barack Obama gave the go-ahead order on Saturday.

March 23rd on The Today Show:

GINGRICH: The standard [Obama] has fallen back to, of humanitarian intervention could apply to Sudan, to North Korea, to Zimbabwe, to Syria this week, to Yemen, to Bahrain. This isn't a serious standard, this is a public relations conversation. The Arab League wanted us to do something. The minute we did something, the Arab League began criticizing us doing it. I think that two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is a lot. I think that the problems we have in Pakistan, Egypt — go around the region. We could get engaged by this standard in all sorts of places. I would not have intervened. I think there were a lot of other ways to affect Qaddafi. I think there are a lot of other allies in the region we could have worked with. I would not have used American and European forces.

Does your neck hurt from the whiplash yet? Within a matter of 13 days, Gingrich went from "exercise a no-fly zone now" to "intervention makes no sense"; from "intervene because slaughtering your own citizens is unacceptable" to "I would not have intervened."

In less than two weeks, Gingrich went from "The United States doesn't need anybody's permission" to "I would not have used American and European forces." Apparently Matt Lauer didn't challenge him on his previous statement supporting a no-fly zone led by the U.S. Good job, Matt. Do your homework next time.

And this lying, hypocritical rat bastard wants to run for president. This fickle fuck wants to be the leader of the free world. But what else can you expect from a jackass who used hard work and patriotism as an excuse to reason away philandering on two of his three wives? I'd watch my back if I were you, Callista.

(H/T Think Progress)

UPDATE (3:30pm): Pathetic backtracking begins.

This is such a sorry attempt to redefine his stance, but the timeline still doesn't add up. If Newt thought allies should have been used and not American forces, why did he initially say that we didn't need permission from the UN and didn't need NATO "who frankly wouldn't bring much to the fight"? If not NATO, what allies is he talking about? The French? The British?

And trying to blame is flip-flopping mind on Obama's statement of March 3rd doesn't make sense when Newt made his statement on March 7th. Of course, since every right wing nut has to oppose everything Obama says and does, we know the real reason he flip-flopped was because Obama actually did commit to a no-fly zone, something Newt was on board with... until Obama agreed. He can never be seen concurring with the President, so just say the opposite. No one will notice, right?

UPDATE II (3/24/11, 11:15am): Newt goes the Sarah Palin route. Enough with the lamestream gotcha media, I'll just post on Facebook!

Buchanan the Contrarian

What exactly is Pat Buchanan's job description as one of the main conservative talking heads on MSNBC? Is he there to give his honest opinion? Or is he there to automatically counterpoint any opinion from the left? Is he there for an historical perspective? Or is he there to disagree with practically every policy decision made by a Democratic administration?

It seems to be the latter and every once in a while, he appropriately gets his ass kicked in public, as happened in tonight's appearance on Hardball. Enjoy.

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

Cartoon of the Day

Well, He's Got MY Vote!

At the time of this posting, this video had 30,195 views and voting for the video was at 156 "likes" and 130 "dislikes." Heh. How's that for exploring? Also, I couldn't go without quoting the very first comment I read:

"Yeah, he limited government - and refused on multiple occasions to allow modest increases on gas taxes that would have paid for road and bridge maintenance - well the whole country saw I-35W crash into the Mississippi River. Here in MN, we've seen our property taxed [sic] rocket upward as he refused to help cities - all the while crowing that HE didn't raise taxes - guess what? My total tax bill is up. Timmy just passed the buck to the communities. He's just another flim-flam artist. Good riddance."

~OlsonDavid2

Explore away, Tim. Explore away!

Oh, I also counted 31 U.S. flags in the 155 second video. Patriotism! RRRWOAR!!!

(H/T Bob Cesca)

Fair and Balanced: Fox Gets Outfoxed

Via TPM:

Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't - UPDATED

Is it me, or had the majority of the media and opposition political leaders been critical of President Obama for not leading in Libya for the last month?

Of course, I expected nothing but negative comments from the usual suspects. After all, they must oppose all things Obama to appease their radical base, therefore, no matter how the situation was handled, they had to express their disapproval ("Obama is weak, why is he waffling on Libya?"). But we also heard the same thing from the mainstream media which I found a little odd. I mean, aren't they all in Obama's pocket?

Then there's a UN resolution for a no fly zone and France takes military action first and we hear idiotic criticisms like "We are no longer leading in the world, even France beat us to the punch!" Well, you know what? I'm glad someone else took the lead for once. Why does it fall to the U.S. to police the world every time? At least now it looks like there's a coalition backed by the U.N., the Arab League and led by the French and British. Good for them!

And finally, the U.S. launches missiles taking out pro-Gaddafi communications and air defense in support of the U.N. resolution and to protect French and British allies, and now the criticism is how we're in a third war and everyone is acting as if it's unilateral (See MSNBC "How dare he go to Latin America looking to create jobs via exports during this time. Libya! Japan! IEEEE!"). Rep. Dennis Kucinich wanted Obama to approach Congress for permission when A) war was not declared and B) is he talking about the same Congress that can't get together on a budget? And Ralph "Uncle Tom" Nader crawled out from under his rock to say the President should be impeached for his action. Kucinich wondered about that action as well.

Does the cognitive dissonance not compute in these peoples' addled brains, or are they purposely looking for cooked up controversy to boost ratings and/or satisfy their ideological bases? This is obviously a rhetorical question.

And there's Obama thinking, "Damned if you do, damned if you don't."

UPDATE (3/22/11 11:45am): I've posted this as a comment but would like to add it here with a little embellishment.

Look, I'm not happy about using force in Libya. I don't think anyone should be happy about it. The U.S. military is already spread thin and spending billions in Iraq and Afghanistan. And the budget balancing Republican hacks who are in favor of our involvement in Libya don't bat an eye at those costs while attempting to cut education and medical assistance at home in the name of fiscal responsibility.

Yes, there are critical questions to be asked. If we're there in a humanitarian capacity then why didn't we engage in Darfur or Sudan? Or why don't we use force in Yemen now? I get that going into Libya may be an excuse because of strategic interests rather than humanitarian ones, and those are fair questions and thoughts.

But spare me the Obama bashing about whether he went in too soon, or too late, or didn't lead or that we're taking a back seat to France. Stop interviewing John McCain and Lindsey Graham for bashing from the right, and Dennis Kucinich and Ralph Nader for bashing from the left just to get a soundbite outside the norm to play on a loop. It just makes it seem all the more partisan and therefore completely disengaging.

UPDATE II (3/22/11 3:15pm): Here's Rachel Maddow's analysis on "Obama's war."

Dumbass Quote of the Day

“I do agree that there are other groups that pose a terroristic threat to this country... I would say that the threat from radicalized Muslims is a unique and greater threat. It is the greatest threat... [Islam] comes from a hate-filled holy book, the Quran, which is taken very literally by its people.”

~Bill Maher on Real Time while speaking to Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, a Muslim

I was shocked and disappointed, waiting for the punchline, when Bill said this especially after starting the interview bringing the question posed by Glenn Beck when he interviewed Ellison, "Sir, tell me why I should think you're not with the enemy." He goes on to quote an author who disparages the Quran, but doesn't bother to go to the source itself? Or to at least follow up with a Quran scholar? I don't understand how he can criticize Rep. Peter King and Glenn Beck for their views in one breath and in the next, agree with the generalized nonsensical right wing meme that Islam is a radical religion that wants to destroy the United States.

If Maher truly believes that the Quran is taken literally by it's followers, then he must think Beck was on to something.

Feeding Frenzy

There's good ol' Mitt Romney taking a leisurely paddle out on the Republican Presidential Nomination Sea on his surfboard. But there are sharks in the water below him and they're confused (as is the case with most GOP sharks) and his silhouette looks like a seal. They go in for the kill. There's blood in the water. Health care blood.

Yesterday, it was the news that Jim DeMint won’t support Mitt Romney unless Romney repudiates RomneyCare.

Now it’s Mike Huckabee’s turn. Speaking on Fox early Friday afternoon, the former Arkansas Governor said that RomneyCare is a “real problem for Mitt Romney” and that the reform plan is Romney’s “Achilles’ heel.”

Huckabee said he was advising Romney to repudiate his health care plan “because it is the model for ObamaCare, and now we have it 50 states, and not one.” Romney, however, is standing by his plan, saying he’s got no apologies for signing it into law despite its similarities to President Obama’s health care reform plan.

Must Reads

Chris Cillizza: The Stumbles of Haley Barbour

Markos Moulitsas: Wisconsin Recall is Real

Jason Linkins: Would A Nuclear Calamity In The U.S. Require A Billion Dollar Taxpayer Bailout? (Yes.)

Media Matters: Note To Media: Experts Say It's "Not Credible" To Blame Obama For Spike In Gas Prices

The Rude Pundit: Why Rush Limbaugh Ought To Be Force-Fed His Own Liposuctioned Fat (Nuclear Edition)

Karoli: Meet the “Other” (Kenneth) Bradley Manning

Dana Milbank: The NPR ‘Emergency’

Eugene Robinson: Inviting a Nuclear Emergency

Steve Benen: The Difference Between Talking Points and a Jobs Agenda

Bill Moyers & Michael Winship: NPR: The Saga Continues

Bill Berry: Carlin Knew the Rich Just Want More

Video referenced in Bill Berry's column:

Warren Christopher Dies at 85

CNN: Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher died Friday from complications of kidney and bladder cancer, his family said. He was 85.

As America's chief diplomat for four years during President Bill Clinton's administration, Christopher "eschewed confrontation in favor of negotiation with friend and foe alike," according to a profile posted on the State Department website.

President Obama's Weekly Address - March 19, 2011

American Jobs Through Exports to Latin America

Anthony Weiner: Get Rid of Click and Clack

Rep. Anthony Weiner took to the floor of the House and outwardly mocked his Republican colleagues (and rightly so) for suspending House rules and calling an emergency session to... discuss the UN Resulution to impose a no fly zone over Libya? No. ...Vote for the US involvement for airstrikes in Libya with France and Britian? No. ...Oh, right, it was to vote for defunding NPR because of yet another edited video by hack James O'Keefe. Nothing about nuclear power plant safety, nothing about creating jobs. Just the GOP falling for another scam.

This is an instant classic.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

One of my favorites.

Hey, Reince Priebus... SUCK IT!

The latest RNC Chairman Clown has taken the opportunity to tweet about President Obama's lack of leadership because he spent a few minutes filling out an NCAA March Madness bracket with ESPN.



I suppose Priebus expected the President to don a radioactive suit and get air-dropped into the center of the failing nuclear reactors in Japan? But I'd bet my house that if the President hadn't taken the time for a little diversion to fill out a bracket, Reince Priebus would have tweeted some asinine comment about how President Obama was too elitist to take the time to be an Average Joe and participate in a March Madness pool.

Do you know what I think is elitist? A name like "Reince Priebus."

Martin Bashir does a fine job showing how petty this complaint is.

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

Just So We're Clear On The Gas Price Thing...

... and frankly because I'm getting sick and tired of Mississippi Governor Boss Hogg and his inane meme that President Obama is somehow manipulating high gas prices because of administration policies (it comes out whenever Barbour decides to open his cakehole), "Drill here, drill now" has nothing to do with gas current prices. That goes for House Speaker John Boehner and Sarah Palin too. Boehner's just using it as a political tool, while Palin should just shut her yapper for once and trying learning something. Drilling here, drilling now might yield oil production increases... in a decade or two, which has nothing to do with today's prices. And the experts, conservative or not, agree:

Near-term fluctuations in gasoline prices are determined by two primary factors: crude oil prices and seasonality. Since the deepwater drilling delay applies only to exploration and production, it would take years, maybe a decade to get any amount of crude oil out of the ground and into our gas tanks. In the meantime, global crude oil supply is exactly the same as it would have been if the government were giving away permits like candy.

~ Chris Lafakis, economist at Moody's Analytics and expert in energy markets

It's not credible to blame the Obama Administration's drilling policies for today's high prices because of the relative scales involved. As I indicated the last time, world oil prices are determined in a market of around 85 million barrels per day of production and consumption, while the consequences of domestic drilling, particularly in the Gulf, likely would be more in the range of several hundred thousand to one million barrels per day, and most of that production would not occur for a number of years.

~Michael Canes, research fellow at the Logistics Management Institute and former chief economist of the American Petroleum Institute

Higher oil prices today are a global phenomenon, and the additional supply from increased drilling by the U.S. would not alter the global balance of supply and demand greatly. Gasoline prices at the pump would be higher either way.

~Lou Crandall, chief economist of Wrightson ICAP LLC, an independent research firm that analyzes high-frequency economic data

Even if you gave permission to drill, it might take generally about seven years for oil to get to market. So that has absolutely no effect on the price of oil today. None whatsoever. The amount of extra oil that the U.S. would produce, as far as affecting the world price of oil, is almost insignificant.
People who say producing more oil will bring price down for Americans are missing the fact that it's a world market. For instance, oil produced in North Slope may very well go to Japan. There's not a separate market -- It's a world market.

~Tom O'Donnell, professor of Graduate International Affairs at The New School and expert on the globalized energy sector

Drilling here, drilling now will only serve to add more oil production to the global market at minimum in the year 2018. It may be harvested on our land, but that doesn't mean it's ours. It's put into a reserve where we are free to purchase it at global prices. And for this privilege, we continue to give exorbitant subsidies and tax breaks to Big Oil.

If Haley Barbour is serious about running for president, then he needs to stop sounding like a fool when it comes to energy policy and lying about the true causes of rising gas and oil prices.

And while we're at it, maybe the media should actually do the research, tell the truth and challenge anyone who tries to blurt out nonsense for purely political purposes instead of having two nitwit talking heads arguing both sides of an issue and giving both sides equal gravitas. Usually, someone is right and someone is wrong. Usually, someone is being honest, and someone isn't. So do your homework and call them out on it. Isn't that what you're supposed to do with liars when you have truth on your side?

Dumbass Quote of the Day

“We all know there’s a double standard in the media... as we know all 3,400 members of the mainstream media are part of the Obama press contingent.”

~ Michele Bachmann on The Laura Ingraham Show as she was trying to explain away her American history gaffe.

It just never stops with Bachmann. She just can't be gracious enough to admit she made a mistake without lashing out. She's got the Sarah Palin Victimization Syndrome down to a tee.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the reason Bachmann gets all the extra attention when it comes to gaffes isn't because of some journalistic double standard, but because the things she says are so fucking outrageous, to ignore them would be a media sin. The founding fathers worked tirelessly to abolish slavery? Lexington and Concord are in New Hampshire? I would think the general public would want to know that a member of Congress doesn't even know her basic American history; and this is the same person who advocated some kind of test of congressional members to see if they are anti-American.

Beverley Randolph

Today, the Broadway world is a little less bright with the passing of Beverley Randolph, a long time production stage manager who lost her battle with cancer this morning. She was 59.

I had the pleasure of working with Beverley about ten years ago. Unfortunately it was on a musical flop called The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. We had about a month of previews and after opening, ran for two and a half weeks before closing. According to the Internet Broadway Database, we ran a total of 55 performances, but in that short time I realized that Beverley Randolph was top notch at her job.

The first time I heard Beverley's name mentioned, it wasn't in a very positive light. Mind you, this was after I'd found out I'd be working my first Broadway show as the Head Electrician with Beverley as the Production Stage Manager. I don't know if those who knew her were trying to pull my leg when telling their unflattering stories, or if they really disliked her. I'd come to find out soon enough that if you did your job well, she would treat you like gold. Of course, having a pre-conceived notion of what I might be headed for didn't leave me with a good feeling. And my first impression made me think the not-so-nice stories I'd heard were valid.

You see initially, Tom Sawyer was supposed to have an out of town tryout in New Haven, Connecticut at the Shubert Theater. Soon afterward it was decided that we would open cold in New York and abandon the tryout. This was all well and good, except that no one told the people in New Haven. They had sold tickets, were awaiting a show and canceling at such a late date was out of the question. By this time, we had already prepped our equipment for New York and were loading in to the theatre for the Broadway run, so a compromise was reached whereby New Haven would get a pared down version of the show. Originally, they'd decided on a concert version of the show. Then it became a concert version with costumes, then some minor set pieces, and before we knew it, there was an attempt to stage a version of the full show in New Haven.

A couple of electricians were hired to put in the abbreviated run in New Haven and somewhere within a week or two into our load in in New York, I was told that I'd have to go to New Haven to run the show. I balked. I thought this was a ridiculous idea because we were already setting up for the run in New York, my place was here and it made no sense to go to New Haven for a crucial ten days while our load in and dry tech was taking place for the actual Broadway run. I was told I had no choice. "Beverley had insisted" that I come.

Two days later, I arrived in New Haven. Most of the work was done and I was angered that I was taken away from my duties to sit on a show that only a few weeks ago was not in the picture. My irritability was soon alleviated when a rather tall woman with long dark hair, a commanding presence and a big smile strode up to introduce herself. It was Beverley.

She told me how grateful she was that I was able to come, and how she felt better having me there to get to know me and have someone to lean on during tech in New York. She also felt that I'd get a good head start for our Broadway production by having a sneak peek. She was right.

I told her I was here mainly at her request and if she needed anything, not to hesitate in asking. She said, "Well, the main thing I'd like are cue lights. There hasn't been enough time to set them up. But I don't really need them until tomorrow." Having just gotten there, I told her I'd see what I could do. An hour later I approached her and said, "Your cue lights are all set." She looked at me incredulously, apparently shocked that I'd gotten the task done so quickly and thanked me. And that's all it took. Beverley knew I was on her side and we hit it off. That simple task formed a bond of trust between us. She knew I had her back and I knew she had mine.

When we got to New York and began our tech there, she'd call me privately to let us know when we were close to a break and wanted to make sure it was okay with the lighting designer while he was working on cues; either we could stretch it out a bit if he was in the middle of something or take it as scheduled. Trust.

As I said earlier, our working relationship was short-lived and I never had the privilege of working with her again. Our career paths never crossed after that one show. For a couple of years afterward, I would run into her occasionally on the street or stop by to say hello at a show she was working on and was always greeted with a warm smile.  Working on the same show for the last four years, I haven't ventured beyond my normal routine too much which cause random meetings to become rare, so when I found out Beverley was no longer with us I felt a sadness that I never got a chance to see her again. But I will always have fond memories of her smile, her amazing work ethic and her booming laugh.

My condolences to her family and her husband, Jim. Tomorrow at 8pm, all the lights on Broadway will dim for one minute in memory of Beverley Randolph. When they restore, I don't think they'll seem as bright.  She will be missed.

If Gilbert Gottfried Got Fired...

...for tweeting distasteful and obviously inappropriate jokes about the Japanese earthquake and subsequent tsunami, then what should happen to Republican Kansas State Rep. Virgil Peck?

The state's House Appropriations Committee was debating financing for controlling the feral swine problem, the Lawrence Journal World reports, when one legislator suggested the problem could be handled by shooting them from helicopters. Peck offered: "It looks like to me if shooting these immigrating feral hogs works maybe we have found a [solution] to our illegal immigration problem."

Asked about his comment, Peck was unapologetic. "I was just speaking like a southeast Kansas person,"...

...He said he didn't expect any further controversy over his comment. "I think it's over," he said.

Over? ...We'll see.

At the very least, there should be calls for Peck's resignation. If Gottfried got fired for "joking" about Japan's tragedy, and Haley Barbour's aide resigns amid controversy after sending tsunami (and Janet Reno) "jokes" via email, then Peck's "joke" about shooting illegal immigrants from helicopters like feral hogs are grounds for his dismissal.