Personhood Questions

So there's this ballot vote in Mississippi coming up that defines "personhood" from the moment of fertilization. Basically, it's another attempt to outlaw not only abortion, but in vitro fertilization and even stem cell research. So I have a couple of questions:

Can a person still in it's zygote state receive a Social Security number at the point of conception?

Can a person still in it's embryo state apply for a credit card? A mortgage?

Can a person who was conceived in a foreign country by his/her American citizen parents on a vacation be eligible to run for president of the United States? Or does he need to show his "Conception" Certificate?

Just saying'...

Flip Romney

Mitt Romney is confused. The old adage, "All politics is local" is being jumbled in Romney's mind as "All video is local." He thinks he can say one thing in one state and then just 24 hours later say something completely different.

Remember when former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney went to a call center of conservative faithful in Ohio, as volunteers were dialing on behalf of the efforts to save SB 5, the state’s new union-busting bill? And then when asked by reporters, said he wasn’t going to take a position on the issue?

Well, that was yesterday.

Today it appears Romney does have a position: he supports Gov. John Kasich’s efforts to curtail public employee unions in the name of tightening Ohio’s budget. Romney said as much at an event in Virginia...

And apparently the confusion was ours. He wasn't going to take a position on other ballot questions, even though he spent his time at the pro-SB5 call center. Reporters couldn't possibly have been asking him about SB5, could they? As soon as Mitt hightailed it out of Ohio - where polls show a majority of Ohioans plan on voting to repeal the union busting bill - he decided to back Gov. Kasich while his feet were firmly planted in Virginia.

Just say, "Oops!" and get out.

Cain's Not That Conniving, He's Just Dumb

There's a theory going around that the only reason Herman Cain got into the presidential race is for the 15 minutes of fame, thereby selling more books and booking more paid speeches. But now that he's actually in the lead in the latest GOP presidential hopeful polls, he's realizing he doesn't want the most important job in the world and he's trying to sabotage himself with his most recent bizarre commercial.



I'm not buying it. I don't think Herman Cain is that smart. I think he's delusional enough to believe he really can be an effective President with his inane 9-9-9 "I have no idea" Plan and his foreign "Ubeki-beki-beki-stan-stan" policy. I think he and his campaign believe their pale smoking man/cheesy music/creepy grin commercial is a winner. The only thing Cain is sabotaging is the Republican Party. This isn't campaign self sabotage. He's just that dumb.

President Obama on The Tonight Show

In case you missed it, like I did.

Rick Perry Has Blown a Gasket

Remember a couple of months ago when the next Coming for the Republican Party was Texas Governor Rick Perry? Remember when he was leading in the polls when compared to other GOP primary nominees before he ever entered the race? There was only one little hurdle - and the basic flaw in the future President Perry plan: he had to open his mouth.

The more I listened to Rick Perry in the two debates that I could stomach (and watching highlights from the rest) the more he reminded me of George W. Bush, but without the eloquence. And the more he spoke, the more he sank in the polls. And now in a desperate attempt to rebound from a dismal 6% approval in the latest CBS/New York Times poll of GOP presidential hopefuls, he has decided to pull the Birther card.

After having dinner with The Birther King Donald Trump, Rick Perry decided that it was either A) advantageous for him to jump on the Birther bandwagon to garner some fringe freak support, or B) he really believes the tinfoil hat notion that President Obama is illegitimate because he's not an American born citizen but instead, a Kenyan born, secret Muslim Manchurian candidate.

Now, Perry may be dumb as a rock with 'Niggerhead' scrawled on it, but he ain't stupid, and he proved it while admitting to journalist John Harwood that all this birther talk is really just a distraction:

“I’m really not worried about the president’s birth certificate. It’s fun to poke at him a little bit, say, 'Hey, let’s see your grades and your birth certificate.'”

So he's pretty much laying it out that he knows the Birther thing is all bullshit, yet he stops short of admitting it's a load of crap for political expediency. But that's not all Perry's doing to remove the cement shoes from his feet after jumping into the GOP primary pool. Seeing the meteoric rise of fellow charlatan Herman Cain* the more he repeats his 999 Plan, Perry has decided to announce a tax reform plan of his own. A flat tax. But just one look at Perry's plan and anyone can tell it makes absolutely no sense.

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Perhaps if Perry repeated his plan as the "Flat, Flat, Flat Plan" it would catch on like Cain's.  And it would be easy for him to remember. The tax is flat. Like the earth if flat. And his head is flat.

Martin Bashir puts things in perspective:

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Sorry, Rick. The Birther ship sailed six months ago with the Donald Trump flameout. You should have been paying attention instead of eating popcorn while sitting in the front row of your latest Texas execution.
________________________
*This bears repeating: "The meteoric rise" of Herman. Fucking. Cain. Republican voters hate Mitt Romney so much, they'd prefer to live in Bizarro World with Herman Cain than actually have a legitimate shot at having a nominee who might give President Obama a little trouble.

Twitter Fight!

It would seem Donald Trump, out of nowhere, decided to take a shot at Lawrence O'Donnell via Twitter today. O'Donnell responded and the two went at it for a bit. Trump then backed away from going on The Last Word when asked to appear. Very funny read.



Also, if you read Trump's Twitter timeline, it reads like the rantings of a raving tinfoil hat lunatic. ...Amazing.

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?

VERY LARGE Pants On Fire

Via PolitiFact:

...Having endorsed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, [New Jersey Governor Chris] Christie has been addressing what he considers illegitimate comparisons between Romney’s health care reform in Massachusetts and the national health care reform led by President Barack Obama...

"...ninety-three percent of the people in Massachusetts had private insurance then and have private insurance now. That’s not what’s gonna happen under Obamacare. It’s gonna be a government takeover of health care."

PolitiFact previously addressed the "government takeover of healthcare" talking point as its 2010 Lie of the Year.

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Joan Walsh: Pat Buchanan Declares Defeat

Bob Cesca: The Most Depressing Thing of the Week So Far

AP: Mark Sanford Hired By Fox News: Former SC Governor To Become 2012 Election Commentator

Max Udargo: Open Letter to that 53% Guy

Facebook Status of the Day

For those who don't know, Harvey Fierstein is a U.S. actor and playwright, noted for the early (1982) distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and playing the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the award-winning book to the musical La Cage aux Folles. He has since become a champion for gay civil rights.

My Occupy Wall Street Experience at Times Square

POSTED BY NOWHERE MAN

With the continuation of the two longest and unnecessary wars in our nation's history, our jobs being shipped overseas, the so called Democratic Party becoming the Republican Light Party, the obvious evidence that the banks and Wall Street own our government and with the corporate media refusing to either do it's job or in some cases even understand what it's job is, I was angry and frustrated because the people seemed powerless or unwilling to rise up like we saw in the Arab Spring. But then came "Occupy Wall Street."

I felt so inspired by their guts and determination that last Saturday I went down to lend my voice and support. I didn't see nor was I offered any of the free sex and drugs that Fox News had reported was available, nor did I find any of the anti-semites Rush Limbaugh had said organized the whole thing. What I did find were groups with different agendas ranging from Bronx doctors who wanted health care for all, to Filipinos demanding an end to US imperialism in their country. However, the great majority were there protesting the corporate strangle hold Wall Street and the banks have on our government and the awful consequences being felt by families across the country.

Zucotti Park was filled with people of all ages and backgrounds. Most of the organizers are college age twenty somethings. I was impressed with how organized the park was - a cleaning crew section, a first aid station, a food section and a large blackboard detailing what the schedule was for the week.

We were to march to Washington Square Park and then uptown to Times Square. We were told that this was a non violent protest and that we were to obey the police orders at all times who for the most part were courteous. As we marched up Broadway we chanted different slogans over and over:

"BANKS GOT BAILED OUT, WE GOT SOLD OUT!"


"MONEY FOR JOBS AND EDUCATION NOT FOR WAR AND OCCUPATION!"


"TELL ME WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE, THIS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!"





"HOW DO WE FIX THE DEFICIT, END THE WAR AND TAX THE RICH!"


"WE ARE THE 99 PERCENT! YOU ARE THE 99 PERCENT!"


"THE PEOPLE UNITED, WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED!"

A lot of people on the streets along with tourists from double decker buses gave us a thumbs up as we chanted "JOIN US! JOIN US!" while others looked confused, wondering what all the fuss was about as the police escorted us along the entire route.

When we got to the park we gathered near the fountain and were told that 23 of had just gotten arrested at a Citicorp Bank on LaGuardia Place for allegedly occupying the bank. Some of us went there chanting "LET THEM GO!" of course to no avail. Before we continued on to Times Square we were given the phone number to the National Lawyers Guild in case we were arrested.

As we continued on to Times Square I felt as empowered as I was in the late 60s when I marched against the Vietnam War. I could overhear conversations of strangers from different parts of the country talking about the mess our country is in and the overwhelming consensus that Eric Cantor is the biggest asshole in Congress. I then received a text from Broadway Carl knowing I was attending the event, who told me to be careful because he had just seen a video* of a white shirted NYPD supervisor punching a woman in the face, knocking her to the ground! I didn't see the incident and the media didn't report it the next day. You would think a video of a police supervisor punching out a woman would be a front page photo and or story, but I digress.

There was no further incident until we got to West 46th Street and Broadway, which is where we were supposed to enter. I was about 200 feet from Broadway when there was a confrontation with police. I later learned that the police had positioned the barricades so that only a trickle of us could get in which produced a bottle neck. Human nature took over so some us pushed the barricade back so we could enter which of course gave the police the provocation they wanted and created, resulting in 45 of us getting arrested and the police picking up the metal barricades and using it to push us back.

Now they had cut off access to Broadway. Then, about 200 cops came up behind us and told us to get off the street for no apparent reason since the street had already been closed to traffic. They told us to get on the sidewalk which we did. They then told us not to block the pedestrians which was a joke since WE WERE THE PEDESTRIANS! Finally they told us to clear the sidewalk so pedstrians could get by which we did by moving to one side of the sidewalk. But that wasn't good enough so they ordered us back to 6th Avenue when all they had to do was just give us access to Broadway which they had deliberately closed off to try create the confrontation they wanted.

So we made our way back to 6th Avenue hoping to get to Broadway via 42nd Street since they had closed access to West 43rd, 44th and 45th. By the time I got there the crowd had dwindled probably recognizing the police were trying to start trouble. Adding to the frustration was the fact that the organizers were not allowed to have loudspeakers or microphones of any kind making it difficult to make speeches or to communicate with one another.

I started for home thinking what jerks the NYPD is failing to realize we were marching for them as well. Maybe they will figure it all out when NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg starts laying them off as well.

*Editor's Note: It seems the initial report of a woman being punched by a Police Supervisor was actually the story of Felix Rivera-Pitre. The NYPD is defending the action by accusing Rivera-Pitre of attempting to elbow Deputy Inspector Johnny Cardona in the face, but multiple angles of the incident reveal no such attempt.

More Photos of the day's events from Nowhere Man (clicking on any photo in this post will give you access to original size):









And of course, after the 46th Street confrontation, there was this:

President Obama's Weekly Address - October 22, 2011

Bringing Home Our Troops

Another Dictator/Terrorist Down, Another GOP Excuse to Avoid Crediting Obama

So... because of the US involvement in NATO actions in Libya, providing intelligence and air support in the Libya mission, another dictator is now dead. And at the beginning of our country's involvement, we heard much grumbling from the right and the left, of President Obama's decision to involve us in "yet another war." But now that rebels have overtaken Libya and finally have rid themselves of their dictator, everyone seems to think it's a good thing, but refuse to admit that the President was right or at least give him credit, save for a begrudging few.

"Well first of all, today's not a day to be pointing fingers. I'm glad it's all working out. Ultimately it's about the freedom and liberty of the Libyan people. But let's give credit where credit's due, it's the French and the British that led on this fight and probably even led on the strike that led to [Libyan dictator Col. Moammar Gaddhafi's] capture or to his death," Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) said Thursday on Fox News.

Rubio said President Obama "did the right thing" by bringing the U.S. into the multinational intervention effort in Libya but "he just took too long to do it."

Perhaps Rubio should worry about lying that his Cuban parents were exiles when they actually left the island of Cuba three years before Fidel Castor came to power. Sometimes you just have to admit when you've been bested. When you don't it just looks foolish and petty.

Now, let's remember that the general conclusion when it comes to the parties is that Democrats are weak on defense and Republicans are the tough guys with a kick ass foreign policy. But as a friend relayed to me yesterday, under our current Democratic president, Osama Bin Laden was killed, Gaddhafi is now dead, we have a free trade pact with Latin America, terrorist leaders are being taken out by drones with no American casualties... so conservatives, tell me what's wrong with Obama's foreign policy?

ADDING... Watch for the growing list of anti-Obama factions getting the vapors over President Obama's statement today that we are finally exiting Iraq. Even though it was also a "decision point" made by George Bush.

Picture of the Day

No Longer a Joking Matter

Via Bob Cesca: “I do believe that we are now in uncharted waters when it comes to the dysfunction in our political system — and it is no longer a joking matter,” former Defense Secretary Robert Gates told an audience two weeks ago at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia, where he received the Liberty Medal for national service. “It appears that as a result of several long-building, polarizing trends in American politics and culture, we have lost the ability to execute even the basic functions of government much less solve the most difficult and divisive problems facing the country. Thus, I am more concerned than I have ever been about the state of American governance.”

And I'll add that I don't ever think it was joking matter to begin with. In eras gone by, an entire political party's desire to defeat an opposition incumbent president at the possible risk of the country's financial ruin would be considered treasonous. Now it's thought of and reported as just another goddamn game.

And before you say that both sides are the same, I'll stop the bullshit right now. All the proof you need is the rejection by the GOP of bills or policy positions espoused by the current administration that used to be Republican positions. Now that the main strategy of the Republicans is to defeat President Obama at all costs, they will say no to everything suggested by the White House even if it's something with which they philosophically agree. They're willing to burn the village in order to save it. Actually, they're willing to burn the village in order to control it. You won't find that kind of political sabotage on the Democratic side because "country first" actually means something to them.

NYPD Prepares for Occupy Wall Street Protesters at Times Square

I took this shot today at about 1:30pm on 41st Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue. NYPD officers gathering in preparation for the Occupy Wall Street protesters marching up 6th Avenue headed towards Time Square.



Approximately 300 cops lined up on the sidewalk extending from 6th Avenue and almost reaching Broadway. Blog reader Nowhere Man is participating in today's march and will give me his perspective of today's events along with some photographs of the day.

Better Government Management Through Lame Video Games

Or as it's otherwise known, Herman Cain's 999 Plan.

Long before Cain was running for president and getting attention for his 999 plan, the residents of SimCity 4 -- which was released in 2003 -- were living under a system where the default tax rate was 9 percent for commercial taxes, 9 percent for industrial taxes and 9 percent for residential taxes.

Now this may just be a really, really, really freaky coincidence, but if you can compare Cain's cockamamie tax reform plan to something in an eight year old video game, something is amiss. And this doesn't even touch on the subject of how ridiculous the plan actually is. And when Cain is asked specific questions on aspects of his plan, like how the 100% deduction would work for businesses that buy American designed products but are assembled out of the country and contain parts made elsewhere, he'll give answers like, "I have no idea." No idea? Herman Cain has no idea how his plan would work? He's shouting "9-9-9" from the mountaintops any chance he gets, but he doesn't even know how it works.

When you crunch the numbers, it's just another in a long line of Republican tax reform plans that increase taxes for middle class and working poor families while cutting taxes for the top income earners. And by "top" I don't mean breaking six figures. I mean millionaires.

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Kevin Drum: Why Republicans are Flummoxed by 9-9-9

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Amanda Terkel: Herman Cain 999 Plan: Did It Come From SimCity?

Suzanne Mettler: Our Hidden Government Benefits

Alex Pareene: The tragic, hilarious “We Are the 53 percent” movement

Eugene Robinson: Raising up Herman Cain

The Rude Pundit: Photos That Point to the Inevitable Action Against the Occupation

Richard Cohen: The GOP Debate as Animal Planet

President Obama's Weekly Address - October 15, 2011

Made in America

GOP Obstructionism Means to an Obama End, Economy Be Damned

Today, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) confirmed pretty much what we've known all along. The Republican Party's obstructionism and its latest vote against the American Jobs Act is not because of some philosophical difference about how to govern, but a political tactic to "make President Obama look bad" in order to help defeat him in the 2012 election, and if they have to throw the American economy in the shitter to do so, so be it.



It really isn't a shock, but the fact that a member of Congress would admit that something like this is happening behind closed doors is stunning, as MSNBC host Chris Jansing expressed. So the next time you hear that both parties care for their country but just have a difference of opinion in how to run it, know that it's complete bullshit. The Republican Party would rather destroy the US (and possibly global) economy solely for the purpose of winning the White House in 2012 and then attempt to repeal health care reform.