Friday, April 30, 2010

What If Millions Marched, And No One Noticed?

Want to bet that tomorrow's 80-city rallies for immigration reform don't receive a fraction of the coverage that the astroturfed tea bagger rallies did? Wonkette has some reasons why the mainstream media will once again prove to be inadequate and clueless. Here's one of our favorite reasons:
"They won’t look as stupid as teabaggers. Lacking tri-corner Olde Hatts and misspelled signs with racist slogans, the somber immigration rallies just don’t make “good teevee” in this era of constant reality freak-show entertainment. Plus, it’s embarrassing to send Brit Hume or whoever out to a rally — who wants to make eye contact with your gardener and nanny out in public?"
Some weeks ago, an estimated 100,000 marched for immigration reform in DC, but the media coverage focused on the angry 2,000 Rethuglicans massed on Capitol Hill with their costumes and misspelled racist signs, so why change now?

Economy Grows 3.2 Percent

The economy grew at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the 1st Quarter, the Commerce Department reported today. That's three quarters of growth in a row, following four consecutive quarters in the negative column. Mainstream media, let's hear it for the President's economic policies! =crickets chirping=

Let's Celebrate Union Victory Month Instead

As we count down the final hours of Confederate History Month in some states like Virginia, Mississippi, etc., it bears repeating that the New Confederate Party / Rethuglican Party is doing its best to bring back those good old days. From Texas Gov. Rick "Hair" Perry's virtually seditious threat of secession to Gov. Robert "Blowdry Bob" McDonnell's lapse of memory when it comes to slavery, the New Confederate Party is ready to lead us into the 1860s.

Today's overtones of threatened violence, brandishing guns, denial of the democratically-elected government's legitimacy, and racism was also present leading up to the Civil War. Celebrating a "cause" that defended slavery and led to secession from the Union isn't patriotic at all. But tell that to today's New Confederate Party and you'll get blank stares at best, because they've largely become a party of the Old Confederacy. And they're on the wrong side of history as a result.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Implementing Arizona's "Papers Please" Law


Arizona police official Major Strasser, center, confronts a suspicious person: "I demand to see your papers."

Mr. Unmentionable?


Think Progress observes that in Fux News' new promotional ad, a Fux personality is conspicuously missing: Boo Hoo the Hoot Beck. Could it be because Boo Hoo's ratings have dropped almost 30% since January? The advertiser boycott launched last year has resulted in many dozens of companies refusing to air ads during his nightly hallucinations, with the exception of gold-selling con men and makers of hemorrhoid creams.

Maybe Boo Hoo will address this oversight on his chalkboard soon; perhaps he can draw an analogy to the Soviets' habit of airbrushing purged commissars from photos.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Fux News Joins "Lamestream Media"


Wonkette reports on the latest dumbassery from Fux News' shining star, Winky You Betcha, this time on Sean "Heil" Hannity's cavalcade-of-wingnuts tee-vee show. Check out who she cluelessly tags as a "lamestream media" outlet where she saw a caption saying Arizona's law made it "illegal to be an illegal."

As they say, if brains were gunpowder, Winky wouldn't be able to blow her nose. Now, what does that say about the geniuses who hired her? And her fans?

Crist to Bolt Rethuglicans?


According to reports, expect Florida Republican Gov. Charlie Crist to announce this afternoon that he's going to drop out of the Rethug primary (which he's losing badly to far right, tea baggin' Marco "Boobie-o" Rubio) and run for Senate as an independent. Such a 3-way race increases the odds of two outcomes that are unfavorable to the Rethuglicans and their base (tea baggers): Crist wins as an independent (who knows, he might caucus with the Dems in the Senate), or Democrat Kendrick Meeks wins (much less likely, but more possible now). Meanwhile, the Rethugs just lost a guy who was one of the top candidates for their VP nomination in 2008. Speaks volumes about the extremists calling the tune on the right these days.

The Rethugs' Immigration Dilemma

One need look no farther than the op/ed page of today's Kaplan Daily to see why Democrats salivate over the idea of a full debate on immigration reform before the November elections. Dems believe it would lay bare a fundamental schism in the Rethug ranks, between two factions. One faction believes the Rethugs can co-opt a portion of the Hispanic vote by appealing to moral and social values; they also tend to be Roman Catholic Rethugs who identify with their Hispanic co-religionists. This side is represented in today's joust by Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson. On the other you have the faction that firmly believes in "law and order," and strict interpretation of the Constitution (except, as Eugene Robinson noted below, when it applies to brown-skinned people who speak Spanish). Tory George "Quill" Will takes this side today. The topic is Arizona's anti-immigrant law. No wonder the Rethugs are desperate to put immigration reform on the back burner until after November! We say, let the bloodletting begin!

Look Who's Talking Ethics


MoDo has her own take on yesterday's Senate hearing into Goldman Sachs' scuzzy operation, and notices one posturing Rethug throwing stones from his glass house:
"You know you’re ethically compromised when Senator John Ensign scolds you about ethics. The Nevada Republican is under investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee and the F.B.I. for chicanery surrounding an affair with a staffer. His wealthy parents paid off the mistress and her husband, who was also on Ensign’s payroll.

“'I think most people in Las Vegas would take offense at having Wall Street compared to Las Vegas. Because in Las Vegas, actually people know that the odds are against them. They play anyway,' said the righteous Ensign. 'On Wall Street, they manipulate the odds while you’re playing the game. And I would say that it’s actually much more dishonest.'”
Heh heh. Of course, off camera, he later voted to kill debate on the financial reform bill. Perhaps a Senate hearing could be arranged where Rethug Sen. David "Diapers" Vitter could lecture us on the sin of adultery.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Quote of the Week

"[W]here was the Tea Party crowd? Isn't the whole premise of the Tea Party movement that overreaching government poses a threat to individual freedom? It seems to me a law allowing individuals to be detained and interrogated on a whim -- and requiring legal residents to carry identification, as in a police state -- would send the Tea Partyers into apoplexy. Or is there some kind of exception if the people whose freedoms are being taken away happen to have brown skin and speak Spanish?" -- Eugene Robinson in today's Kaplan Daily, on the racial profiling immigration law recently passed by extremist right-wingers in the Arizona legislature.

Rethugs Representing Wall St. -- Day 2


The Senate voted again today on whether to debate the financial reform bill, and the Rethuglicans voted unanimously to block the debate. Actually, this is good news, since every day that passes, and we have the Goldman Sachs pirates testifying and more news of fraud on Wall Street, the Rethugs are seen as defending the status quo. If the Dems can force the Rethugs to fillibuster, the spectacle of them on the floor of the Senate reading recipes and pages from the phone book to tie up the Senate's business in order to protect Wall Street would be priceless.

Boobie-o's Dilemma

Arizona's new law giving police the authority to stop people and ask for identification if they suspect a person might be an illegal immigrant is going to cause some gas pains for the Rethuglican party long-term. The demographics of not only Arizona but the U.S. in general indicate growing Hispanic populations -- and voters that the Rethugs are alienating. The law's clearly based on racial profiling and is something that will damage police relations with the community. It's another idea from the far-right, lily white Rethug fringe that will boomerang in the long run.

Ironically, one worried Rethug seems to be wingnut fave Marco "Boobie-o" Rubio, a Cuban-American who is running for the Senate in Florida. Boobie-o says he has "concerns" about the new law, saying, "it could also unreasonably single out people who are here legally, including many American citizens." True enough. In fact, Boobio-o could one day he be stopped and asked for "papers" in Arizona, since it's not that easy for the local gendarmes to distinguish between a right-wing, freedom-loving Cuban and an illegal Meskin drug kingpin. In fact, we'd be willing to test the law and buy Boobie-o a one-way ticket to the Grand Canyon state.

Monday, April 26, 2010

A Chicken Shit Health Plan


We've been remiss in not joining the crowd in exploring the lunacy of Rethug Senatorial candidate Sue "Cluck Cluck" Lowden, running against Harry Reid in Nevada. Here's TPM's (via Germantown bureau chief Brian) helpful breakdown of the implications of Cluck Cluck's health care "plan," which involves using chickens to barter for one's care.

What is it with Rethugs and chickens? After all, wasn't it Herbert Hoover that promised Americans "a chicken in every pot?" Maybe he was just being prescient in planning for his political descendants' use of the noble bird?

BREAKING: Blind Squirrel Halperin Finds Nut


Unless his blog's been hacked, Time's Mark Halperin, noted wanker and McCain BFF, has a remarkably upbeat piece about President Obama today. It's worth a read, even though we question some of its assumptions and characterizations. It might be noteworthy also in the fact that Halperin is a notorious adherent of the Beltway Conventional Wisdom, so this might be an indication that the prevailing media narrative over the past year or so, wherein "Real Americans are mad as hell and the Dems are going down," might be undergoing a course correction.

Those "Country First" Rethuglicans

As we noted last Friday, Senate Rethugs are representing Wall Street in trying to block financial reform, while pretending to want a deal with the Dems for public consumption. It appears as though the Rethugs are ready to fillibuster the reform bill coming out of the Senate Banking Committee. No doubt the Rethugs are positioning themselves to insert some Wall Street-friendly language in the bill as the price for allowing the bill to be debated. Meanwhile they continue to lie their asses off about "too big to fail" (which the bill addresses forcefully) and "bank bailouts" (which aren't even envisioned in the bill). The mainstream media, of course, is largely treating it as a Dem/Rethug sporting event, and themselves as mere observers unable or unwilling to call out the liars for fear of being accused of being "librul."

Imagine


Tim Wise wants us to play a little game he calls "Imagine if the tea party was black." (After playing Tim's game, another game suggests itself to us, one we would call "Imagine if the media were doing their job.")

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Sunday Funny

An object lesson in sharing, courtesy of Brian and Chi --

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Department of Unintentional Humor


Wonkette found this campaign ad for Alabama Rethug Tim James, who is all for giving his state's drivers license exams in English, instead of all them farn langiges. The kicker is when he says, "this is Alabama, we speak English." Bwahahaha. . .you do? Is that what you call it, Jethro? Is that why the rest of us need a dictionary to understand you?

(photo: "Ah pass'd mah drivin' tess; less go shootin'")

Saturday Song


Rain is coming to this area for the next several days, so we'll get wet with The Beatles.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Rethugs Doing Wall Street's Bidding

While President Obama was in New York City yesterday talking about the need for effective financial industry regulation, senior Rethug politicians were in Washington attending a fundraiser with financial industry lobbyists, who are trying to scuttle any reform. This follows a meeting in New York two weeks ago between Rethug Sens. Mitch "Missy" McConnell and John "Big John" Cornyn, who leads the Senate Rethug Campaign Committee, and major hedge fund managers to assure them of Rethug opposition to reform.

According to Think Progress, which videoed the Rethugs and lobbyists coming from yesterday's fundraiser, several Rethugs and their corporate sponsors declined to comment or give their names as the exited the building. They know that being on the take from Wall Street wouldn't be popular with their "Joe the Plumber" low-information base, so seeing them scurry from the meeting is fun to watch. We'd love to see it picked up in Dem campaign ads, too.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Sign of the Month


Lest we forget.

Earth Day's 40th Anniversary


When the first Earth Day was celebrated 40 years ago today, there was no national awareness of the peril our environment faced, no Clean Air or Clean Water legislation, no EPA to enforce environmental laws. The first Earth Day originated with a group of 20-somethings in an office on P Street in Washington, DC, inspired by the late Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-WI) who called for "teach-ins" on the environment a year earlier.

Still, with global warming deniers and their polluter patrons spreading doubt and misinformation, there is much ignorance and opposition to overcome. Perhaps on Earth Day's 50th anniversary, we'll have more to cheer about.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

IRS Investigating Rubio


Uber right-winger and teabagger fave Marco "Boobie-o" Rubio may have hit a snag in his quest to beat Charlie Crist for the Rethug nomination for U.S. Senate in Florida. We noted in February that Boobie-o was feeling heat because of his Rethug credit card charges. Now, it seems the IRS is investigating Boobie-o's use of his Rethug credit card for personal expenses, and then not reporting it on his taxes. Will this be enough to derail his campaign (he's 30 points ahead of Crist in Rethug voter polling)? We hope not. We'd love to see this fair-haired wingnut jackass go down - but not until he pushes Crist into a 3-way race for Senate - a race Crist (as an independent) or even Democrat Kendrick Meek has a better chance of winning. Either would be an improvement over Boobie-o.

(Image: "I may have some 'splainin' to do.")

A New Symbol of the Rethug Party


He's Harley "Har Har" Brown, Rethug candidate for the First Congressional District of Idaho/the Aryan Nation. Not surprisingly, he's staked out the most extreme right positions his reptilian brain could come up with. A sampling from Harley Har Har's website/hate blog, via the link above:
"Just one of our submarines packs enough Fire Power to level a continent. The Terrorists should be terrified of the USA not the other way around. This is because many US politicians are spineless jellyfish. 9/11 should have been more than enough provocation for us to use our "HEAVY EQUIPMENT."
"I declare the US Tax code should be scuttled and declared unconstitutional on the legal grounds of being Void for Vagueness. Please consider sending a loud mouth passionate demolition expert to Washington DC. I will destroy mediocrity and politics as we know it. Congress needs someone crazy like me to combat their insanity.
We're imagining this rabid nutcase actually drawing some support among his Aryan Nation constituents and beyond. But Harley Har Har will have to wear a paper bag over his head when he campaigns, so as not to scare the kids.

(photo: No, we didn't Photoshop the picture: he actually looks that way.)

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

SarahPORK


Former half-Governor and full time grifter Winky You Betcha has quickly grasped the art of fleecing the rubes. Her "SarahPAC" scam raked in $400,000 in the first quarter of this year, adding to the $900,000 it had on hand, but handed out only $7,500 to candidates in the same period, and none to the Rethug candidates that were in her infamously "targeted" House races. So where did the snowbilly grifter's cash go? Over $42,000 went to travel expenses, including over $7,300 for de-icing her private plane. Some $11,500 went to her "photographer" and nearly $32,000 went for postage. A whopping $243,000 went to "consultants" -- probably to write her "speeches" and jot notes on her palm. Sounds like Winky's Political Action Committee is all about Winky, and not about "political action."

So how's that griftin' an' winkin' workin' out for ya? Pretty good so far, we'd say.

(photo: "Buyin' lipstick for a pig's expensive!")

Monday, April 19, 2010

Fifteen Years Later, Deja Vu


Today is the 15th anniversary of the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The bomb was set by far right extremist Timothy McVeigh and it killed 168 people, including children in the building's day care center. Tonight on MSNBC, Rachel Maddow will devote an hour to dissecting the motives of the bomber, and the ominous parallels to today's revived hate groups on the right.

Today, in fact, several right-wing militia groups and assorted gun nuts are collecting across the Potomac River from Washington, DC to vent their rage at the Government. The WaPo (no link) describes the organizers:
"On the lineup are several heroes of the militia movement, including Mike Vanderboegh, who advocated throwing bricks through the windows of Democrats who voted for the health-care bill; Tom Fernandez, who has established a nationwide call tree to mobilize an armed resistance to any government order to seize firearms; and former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack, who refused to enforce the Brady law and then won a Supreme Court verdict that weakened its background-check provisions."
If that lineup doesn't sound an alarm, we don't know what will. Nevertheless, expect the mainstream media to describe the gathering as a group of "concerned gun owners" and "average Americans," you know, just like Timothy McVeigh was.

The militia nuts like to portray the actions of a democratically-elected Congress and President as "tyranny" which they are obliged to resist with force if necessary. In essence, they believe that majority rule can be overthrown by intimidation through threats of violence. They'd be wrong, but would anyone rule out the possibility that among these inflamed assholes are more Timothy McVeighs hearing the siren call to violence?

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Sunday Morning Reading, Teabagger Edition

This morning, it's Charles Blow on the teabagger meeting he attended in Dallas, Texas: "a political minstrel show" by and for people on the "rim of obliviousness."

Also, Dan "No" Balz is finally catching on (as we think more and more of the "mainstream" media is) to the fact that the teabaggers are really just the right-wing base of the Rethuglican Party, all dressed up, ill-informed, and angry that they lost the 2008 election.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Quote of the Day

"So why, exactly, should President Obama show any deference whatsoever to insane people who spread the nastiest and most ridiculous smears about him on a daily basis, people who never in a million years would vote for him? People who almost certainly did not vote for him in 2008, and now refuse to accept the verdict of the election they lost?" -- Dave Neiwert in Crooks and Liars, commenting on the "offense" taken by the wingnutosphere, including the Fux commentariat, who accused the President of condescending to the teabaggers for refusing to acknowledge his tax cuts for them.

Saturday "Embryonic Journey"

Since we're off on a drive to West Virginia today, this cut from Surrealistic Pillow seems mildly appropriate. Other worthy tunes from that iconic album: "Today," "White Rabbit," "Coming Back to Me," and "How Do You Feel?"

Friday, April 16, 2010

Rethugs: "We'll Filibuster Wall Street Reform!"


On cue, the 41 Rethug Senators have signed a letter saying they'll oppose bringing the financial reform bill up for debate and a vote. Also on cue, the Rethugs are using the focus-group tested line of attack offered by Rethug hack Frank Luntz: "To defeat reform, just call it a bailout!" The Rethugs look to get campaign money from the bankers and Wall Street (viz Missy McConnell's and John "Boner" Boehner's reported sales pitches to Wall Steet fat cats -- see April 14 posting). Also, why give Obama another legislative victory?

Also on cue will be the media's balancing fact with fiction and declaring both legitimate.

The Veil Lifts, Momentarily


Tea Party Gauleiter Sean "Heil" Hannity was ordered back to Fux News studios in New York after it was learned by network news executives that Heil was allowing the tea baggers in Cincinnati to charge for admission to see him. That apparently angered the Fux corporate news people, after last week's statement by owner Rupert "The Pirate" Murdoch stated that his network would not support the Tea Party or any political parties. Cough cough. (Pause for giggling) The Tea Parties were practically an invention of Fux last spring, in collaboration with health industry lobbyists ("Dick" Armey) and assorted Rethug politicians (Bachmann Palin Overdrive, etc.)

Occasionally, some Fuxers get too far in front of their anti-Administration campaign, and need to be pulled back by those trying desperately to prop up the false veneer of "objectivity" for their network. Heil is just the latest, but not the last.

(photo: "Damn, and I was going to pocket half the gate.")

Your "Liberal" Media

CBS News had the bright idea of using former Bushite staffer and veteran plagiarist Ben "Copy Boy" Domenech for their blog site, and guess what happened? Copy Boy used the CBS site to falsely allege that Solicitor General Elena Kagan, a possible Supreme Court nominee, was a lesbian, despite being told that was false. The CBS site initially failed to pull Copy Boy's attempted smear, but did later, saying "after looking at the facts we determined that it was nothing but pure and irresponsible speculation on the blogger's part." Get that? After looking at the facts. Why not try looking at the facts before you publish a lie?

Former White House Communications Director Anita Dunn, who is a fighter and should be the Administration's spokesperson, blasted CBS:
"The fact that they've chosen to become enablers of people posting lies on their site tells us where the journalistic standards of CBS are in 2010." She said the network was giving a platform to a blogger "with a history of plagiarism" who was "applying old stereotypes to single women with successful careers."
The fact that this has passed from a lying Rethug operative to CBS News to the mainstream media in general demonstrates how the right-wing gets smears and falsehoods into wider currency, and demonstrates that the "liberal" media is more often than not a lazy, willing accomplice.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Off To A Slow Start In DC


Not that tax day won't draw good-sized crowds of the clueless to their rallies today, but this picture is funny. Maybe some of the teabaggers noticed that they're paying lower Federal taxes this year, thanks to that Kenyan usurper and commiefascistmonarchist B. Hussein Obamaladen. Here's an interesting excerpt from a NY Times story about what the teabaggers think (relatively speaking):
"Their responses are like the general public’s in many ways. Most describe the amount they paid in taxes this year as “fair.” Most send their children to public schools. A plurality do not think Sarah Palin is qualified to be president, and, despite their push for smaller government, they think that Social Security and Medicare are worth the cost to taxpayers."
Maybe if the baggers checked out this information, it might make them less, uh, motivated. Ha ha, just kidding: it seems that the basic motivation of the bagger set is anger, as in the anger of sore losers. And listening to hate radio, Fux News, and half-Governor Winky as they do religiously, it's not surprising that their anger has been diverted from the plutocratic, corporate Rethuglican apparatus responsible for the mess we inherited, to people actually trying to improve their access to health care, grow the economy, and improve the situation of the middle class. Be assured that they'll continue to vote against their self-interests.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

McNasty's At It Again


Clearly, Arizona Sen. John McNasty is running scared in his Rethuglican primary against loopy wingnut J.D. Hayworth. He's saying he never thought of himself as a "maverick," despite referring to himself that way constantly in the 2008 campaign (and in his Rethuglican Convention speech!). Now, in a replay of his "Bombbombbomb, bombbombIran" gaffe during the campaign, McNasty is suggesting that we should "pull the trigger" on Iran to derail their nuclear program. Yeah, that's the ticket: a third war in the Middle East, because two's not enough!

Thank God this craven, bitter old clown wasn't the winner in the last Presidential election.

(photo: Let's drop McNasty on Iran; two problems solved in one fell swoop!)

Dem Wins Special House Election...


... and pins are heard dropping all over. Thanks for the media coverage, "mainstream" media! And the Rethug made this a "referendum" on the health reform law! I guess this doesn't conform with your storyline of the year: Republican resurgence!

The "Socialist" Smear

Norm Ornstein of the conservative American Enterprise Institute may be getting the David Frum treatment soon if Rethug donors see his op/ed in today's Kaplan Daily. In it, he dissects and then dismisses all of the crackpot epithets being hurled against President Obama. Specifically calling out the likes of Oxycontin Rush Limpballs, Winky You Betcha, Michael "Wiener" Savage, and Newt "Poot" Gingrich, Ornstein reviews the Obama record on foreign and domestic issues and pronounces him "a mainstream, pragmatic moderate, operating in the center of American politics; center-left, perhaps, but not left of center." (We somewhat sadly concur with that assessment.)

Poot, in particular, is quoted at the recent confab of Confederate Rethugs as having called Obama "the most radical president in American history." Ornstein asks,
"The most radical president in American history? Does Newt Gingrich, a PhD in history, really believe that [expletive]?"

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

When You "Think" With The Gut, Poop's the Product


This exchange between Russian leader Medvedev and ABC's George Steponaflagpinopolus speaks volumes about why the international community is relieved to be dealing with President Obama:
MEDVEDEV: [Obama's] a very comfortable partner, it's very interesting to be with him. The most important thing that distinguishes him from many other people -- I won't name anyone by name -- he's a thinker, he thinks when he speaks. Which is already pretty good.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You had somebody in your mind, I think. (LAUGHS)

MEDVEDEV: Obviously I do have someone on my mind. I don't want to offend anyone.

Oh go on, we know who it is anyway.

Rethugs to Wall St. Predators: We're on Your Side!


Senate Rethuglicans are busy trying to undermine new financial industry reform legislation, after their party was responsible for massive deregulation of that industry which led to the financial crash of 2008. Senate Rethug leader Mitch "Missy" McConnell and Texas Sen. John "Big John" Cornyn met last week with Wall Street executives to urge them to support the Rethug effort to defeat reform, which they say would be bad for Wall Street. Nothing like understanding the mood of America. Let's see how many teabaggers protest that move.

(Image: Broke? Don't worry, the Rethugs will come to your rescue.)

Quote of the Day


"If he has never done so, Barbour should hold in his hands some of the leg irons, manacles and other restraints that were used to subdue the Africans. He should visit some of the plantations where slave cabins still stand -- there are plenty in his state -- to get a sense of how the Africans lived. He should spend a long, hot day picking cotton. He should read the accounts of plantation life written by former slaves, and then he should explain why there is any reason to 'honor' soldiers who fought to perpetuate a system that could never have functioned without constant, deliberate, unflinching cruelty." -- Pulitzer Prize winner Eugene Robinson, referring to Mississippi Rethug/New Confederate Gov. Haley "Gen. Cornpone" Barbour's "so what?" response to his Virginia colleague's proclamation of "Confederate History Month." The racism of these southern white right wing politicians has been inherited from generation to generation, and they're completely comfortable acknowledging it, albeit through coded references to "Southern tradition" and "war of independence."

Monday, April 12, 2010

At Least Teabaggers Aren't Racists!


Stop saying patriotic American teabaggers are racists! Especially, stop saying that about Tea Party backed Rethug candidate for Governor of New York Carl Paladino! What's a few harmless, "politically incorrect," sexually explicit, bestial e-mails among teabaggers?

And while we're at it, teabaggers aren't uninformed, stupid, far-right crackpots either!

Why would Centerfold Brown (see below) want to keep his distance from these nice people?

(Image: 'Nuff said.)

Look Who's Tea'ed Off


We know that teabaggers everywhere will be out in force on April 15 to yell, between the racial epithets, about high Federal taxes -- which went down during the first year of President Obama's term. But it looks like one Rethug politician is declining to join the teabagger rally in Boston that former Alaska half-term Gov. Winky You Betcha will attend: new Senator Scott "Centerfold" Brown. It looks like Centerfold is trying to avoid the nut cases -- including Winky -- that show up at these rallies, with their costumes, bizarre beliefs, and misspelled signs. What better than to convince the voters of Massachusetts that he's a "moderate" Rethug, whatever that is?

We say, good luck, Centerfold. The far right lunatic fringe is swallowing your Party, which is out of ideas and increasingly out of its mind.

(photo: Winky's not happy being snubbed)

Why Democrats Should Push Immigration Reform Now

Ezra Klein has an interesting post today on the Kaplan Daily's webkins site on the political advantages of, not to mention the moral arguments for, pushing an immigration reform bill through this summer/fall. Harry Reid says he has enough votes in the Senate (with a few Republicans) and the House would be much easier to navigate. Not only would this fulfill a campaign promise by President Obama, but it would divide the Rethugs between (to be somewhat simplistic) the "get out of MY country" yahoos and the country clubbers who want continued cheap labor. That sounds like a win-win to us.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Quote of the Day

"Advertently or not, Mr. McDonnell is working in a long and dispiriting tradition. Efforts to rehabilitate the Southern rebellion frequently come at moments of racial and social stress, and it is revealing that Virginia’s neo-Confederates are refighting the Civil War in 2010. Whitewashing the war is one way for the right — alienated, anxious and angry about the president, health care reform and all manner of threats, mostly imaginary — to express its unease with the Age of Obama, disguising hate as heritage." -- Jon Meacham, in the New York Times, reflecting on the Virginia Rethuglican Governor's attempts to re-write history, and turning the "Party of Lincoln" on its head. Worth reading.

Simply put, Southern states committed treason when they seceded from the Union and triggered the Civil War. Their defense of slavery was indefensible, and their cause was anything but noble. Period.

The Mouth...er, South Rises Again:
Mississippi Rethug Gov. Haley Barbour continues to step in shit and claim "It don't smell!"

Sunday Funny

WARNING: Empty your bladder before viewing! (Apologies for the commercial intro.)

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Meinhardt Rabbe, "Wizard of Oz" Coroner Dies


Meinhardt Raabe, who played the Munchkin coroner in "The Wizard of Oz," died yesterday. He was 94. My brother and I met Raabe in the early '60's when he rolled up our parents' driveway in the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile (!!). It turns out Raabe was a friend of our father -- they grew up together in Watertown, Wisconsin, and both attended the University of Wisconsin. One of his post-Oz gigs was as the Wienermobile "pilot," but of course it was his brief appearance as the Munchkin coroner that is his lasting claim to fame.

Raabe was the last surviving actor with a speaking role in "The Wizard of Oz," and among the last surviving Munchkins. As the coroner he pronounced the Wicked Witch of the East dead (death by squashing, by Dorothy's house). We're sure he would smile at the lines he said then, applied to himself today:
"As coroner, I must aver
I thoroughly examined her
And she's not only merely dead
She's really, most sincerely dead."

Rest in peace.

(UPDATE: Here's his NY Times' obituary)

Quote of the Day


"I honestly can't think of a better illustration of plutocratic arrogance.He's literally killing them, but because he looks like a patriotic good old boy and mutters corn pone gibberish in vaguely soothing tones, they cheer wildly and consider him one of them. He climbed back into his personal helicopter that day and had a good laugh having just been reassured once again that there's a sucker born every minute." -- Hullabaloo's Digby, in her post "Sociopathic Plutocrat," referring to Massey Coal CEO Don "Big Shit" Blankenship. The more you learn about this s.o.b, the more you despise him and the right-wing corporate predator class he represents.

Saturday Song


It's a good day with sunshine here.

Our Dad would have been 96 today, too. Always loved and remembered.

Friday, April 9, 2010

What Tweety Said

Last night on "Hardball," Tweety closed with his view of the role reversal between the Democratic and Rethug parties from Lincoln thru the Civil Rights movement to now. Wish it could've been an hour, but this will do.

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


Tweety Bonus: Referring to the deranged Boo Hoo the Hoot Beck on his show tonight, Tweety said, "Isn't it amazing how you can make a good living talking like a guy on the commuter train after 3 drinks."

Teabaggers and Taxes

The whole raison d'etre of the "Tea Party" astroturf movement is embedded in their name (Taxed Enough Already). OBS (Obama Derangement Syndrome) also comes to mind. Nonetheless, one would think (hope?) that a group galvanized by a single issue would have a pretty good understanding of that issue, right?

Er... wrong. That's not just our opinion, but pretty well sums up the opinion of a former Reagan Treasury Department official and conservative think-tanker, Bruce Bartlett. Something tells us even if they understood taxes -- and that the vast majority of them probably got a Federal tax cut last year and aren't overtaxed by industrialized nation standards anyway -- they would be mad anyway because of the brown islamocommiefascist Dimmycrat in the White House. (h/t to Germantown bureau chief Brian)

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Another Day, Another Wingnut Terrorist













Federal prosecutors have charged that a Tyler, TX man left pipe bombs in multiple mailboxes in part because of his anger with the Federal government. Larry "Sloth" North, whose appearance closely resembles Pills Limpballs, distributed 36 explosive devices over the past month in mailboxes. Check out this vignette of Sloth from the Tyler Morning Telegraph:
"Tyler ATF agent Clay Alexander said at least one more explosive device was found in the handicapped-equipped van North was driving. Because of North's size and no special ramp available, trusties had to lift the man into the back of a Smith County Sheriff's Department van."
From the looks of him, it's hard to imagine him escaping quickly from a bomb set to explode. Actually, a prison diet might save his fat ass.

(photo: The big bomber being wheeled off to jail. "Glenn Beck said whut I wuz doin' wuz OK")

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

FBI Bags Another Violent Wingnut...

...this one in California, for threatening Speaker Pelosi. Keep those calls and letters coming in -- we'll build more prisons.

And Let's Burn Some Crosses While We're At It


When he ran for Governor of Virginia, Robert "Blowdry Bob" McDonnell made it a point of stressing how "moderate" he was, the better to pick up swing voters in Northern Virginia. He was to be the face of a new Rethuglican Party -- less strident and ideologic, and more reasonable. We know how that turned out.

Yesterday, Blowdry Bob proclaimed April as "Confederate History Month," as if anyone in the South needs to be instructed in their history. To make matters worse, Blowdry Bob left out the anti-slavery language that had appeared in previous proclamations by Rethuglican Governors (Dem Governors Mark Warner and Tim Kaine had stopped the proclamations altogether). African-American officials in Virginia are understandably outraged, but the blowdry guy won't back down because he's beholden to the rabid right, who are the heirs to the great patriots who took up arms against their country.

(photo: Blowdry Bob's fan club celebrates Confederate History Month)

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The Fruits of Fux's Labor

The U.S. Attorney for Western Washington has charged a 64 year-old right winger with threatening to kill Sen. Patty Murray over her vote in support of the health insurance reform bill. The wingnut called Sen. Murray's office multiple times after the legislation passed, and threatened her, saying on one occasion, "I want to (expletive) kill you."

The right wing media, and Fux in particular, spent the last 14 months stoking the anger of their right-wing audience with blatant lies and misinformation straight from health care industry and Rethug talking points. Boo Hoo the Hoot Beck and Heil Hannity endlessly trumpeted how health insurance reform was the beginning of socialist totalitarianism and the end of America, and were actively both promoting and covering tea bagger rallies meant to create the impression of a grass roots movement. Some of the more extreme cases have started to act out the paranoid visions painted by the Fux propagandists. How long before one of them breaches the law enforcement cordon, and actually harms a public official?

Behind the West Virginia Mine Tragedy


The tragic death of 25 miners underscores the continual danger involved in coal mining today (4 miners are unaccounted for). However, despite state and Federal mine safety regulations, some coal companies regularly put maximizing profits over the safety of their workers.

While the story is still unfolding, it appears that the mine's owners, Massey Energy Co., has had numerous safety violations and has been fined over the past several years -- nearly $400,000 last year alone. Apparently, the company has actually refused to pay some of the fines. The CEO of Massey Energy is Don "Big Shit" Blankenship, a right-wing corporate thug who has tried in the past to buy a judge on the state court, and weaken mine safety enforcement. It's rumored that Big Shit wants to run as a Rethuglican against Dem. incumbent Rep. Nick Rayhall. Maybe we'll see Big Shit do a political ad from deep inside one of his coal mines, wearing his Stars 'N Stripes outfit and telling us what a good job he did at Massey Energy.

(photo: An actual photo of Big Shit Blankenship at a wingnut "Friends of America" rally which featured Sean "Heil" Hannity and Ted "Numbnuts" Nugent, no doubt telling everyone that the "gummint" is the problem)

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss


Some may have thought with the departure of Jim Zorn and Vinnie "The Ninny" Cerrato, and the hiring of Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen that Redskins genius owner Li'l Danny Snyder was finally willing to admit the Redskins were in a long-term rebuilding mode -- which would have demonstrated heretofore unseen maturity and impulse-control on Li'l Danny's part. And they would be WRONG!

As Mike Wise ably notes in today's Kaplan Daily:
"Daniel Snyder can bring in a new regime. The owner can say he's ceding authority in football decisions to Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen like never before. But the delusion ultimately continues. They still are in the business of selling hope more than harsh truth, hyperbole more than reality."

The acquisition of 33 year old Donovan McNabb occasions this melancholy assessment. And it's not just the fact of the acquisition, for me. It's also the shabby way Jason Campbell has been treated (again!) by Redskins management - not being told about the deal and finding out about it from a local reporter! Stay classy, 'Skins!

Wise's best point boils down to this: in parsing why McNabb was allowed by the Eagles to go to a rival division team for a paltry second round choice, think about who, over the past decade, has made better personnel decisions -- the Eagles or Redskins?

Monday, April 5, 2010

I'm Not a Maverick, I'm a Wanker


If there's one word in his political life that Sen. John "Walnuts" McCain has associated himself with (accurately or not), it's "maverick." Well, seems like we were all imagining it.

The man is that desperate to hold on to his Senate seat. How sad for him.

(Image: "What!? I never called myself an honest person!")

The Joker Plays the Race Card


Rethuglican National Committee Chairclown Michael "The Shizzle" Steele last December, attacking Dems for bringing up civil rights in the health care reform debate:
I’m kinda sick and tired of the left and Democrats in this country when they get in trouble and don’t get their way and their backs are up against the wall on legislation or whatever it is their trying to do, they go to that card, they play that race card, that slavery card, that civil rights card.

The Shizzle yesterday on ABC's This Week, regarding criticism of his "leadership" of the RNC:
STEPHANOPOULOS: We’ve got questions on my blog for you, this morning. One came in from Myron, he asked, do you feel as an African-American, you have a slimmer margin for error as another chairman would?

STEELE: The answer is yes.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Why is that?

STEELE: It just is. Barack Obama has a slimmer margin. A lot of folks do. It’s a different role for, you know, for me to play and others to play. That’s just the reality of it.
That should further endear The Shizzle to his party's Aryan base.

UPDATE:
In his press briefing today, Robert Gibbs said this of The Shizzle's "race card" claim: "I think Michael Steele's problem isn't the race card, it's the credit card."

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Picture of the Day

Easter eggs for the White House Easter egg roll. (White House photo)

Quote of the Weekend

"Eric Cantor has been riding the tiger for a long time.

Eleven years ago, the future House Republican whip was still a young state delegate in Virginia when Jerry Falwell declared that the Antichrist would be a Jew. Jewish leaders and others denounced Falwell's words, but Cantor 'was careful to avoid publicly criticizing' the minister, noted Cantor's hometown paper, the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

When Falwell died in 2007, Cantor went to the House floor to eulogize 'a great leader.' You don't get to be the No. 2 Republican in the House, and the only Republican Jew in Congress, by taking on extremists in your party."


-- Dickwhisperer Dana Milbank in today's Kaplan Daily, wishing in the end that Cantor would "use his influence to calm" the crackpots in his party. Dream on.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Fux Lite

CNN, in its effort to remake itself as "Fux Lite," recently hired wingnut blogger Erick "Erick the Loon" Erickson. He's the rage-meister behind the far right-wing RedState blog, and his hate speech is well documented. Despite that, CNN has hired Erick the Loon as a commentator/analyst, appearing regularly on the execrable "John King, USA" show. Media Matters has Erick the Loon's most recent outrage, where he threatens to confront a Census worker with a shotgun.

It's not surprising that CNN is flailing around for a new winger identity: their viewership of their prime time programs has dropped dramatically in the past few months, apparently losing audience to the Fuxers.

The Patient is Recovering


The Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest report shows gains in job creation, some 162,000 jobs in March alone. But notice the trend in the chart, above. The red bars show the situation under Dumbya, and the blue bars show the situation under Obama. No matter how Rethug politicians try to spin it, a recovery is underway, and job growth, while still lagging, is showing signs of continued improvement. As Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman is saying, the patient is in stable condition. We can't sue Dumbya for malpractice, but we can stop Rethug "doctors" from operating on us again by turning out at the polls.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Happy Weekend, Day and Night

Not the most Easter-y song, but it's the Kinks after all, one of the greatest, most influential R&R bands evah...

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Psst. . .Call Me!

There must be something in the coffee at the Rethuglican National Committee. It's reported that a flyer from the Committee mistakenly (?) lists a toll free sex line to call to make a contribution. And this was the mock "census" form that Michael "The Shizzle" Steele thought was such a good idea to mail out, despite misgivings from Congressional Rethuglican leaders.

It's just not The Shizzle's week.

Tea Baggers and Social Darwinism


Germantown Bureau Chief Brian has alerted us to a good read by Christopher Malone, "Finding the Forgotten Man," which explores the relationship between social Darwinists and their latest "populist" incarnation, the teabaggers. Interesting dynamics, given the Rethugs' cynical attempts to capitalize on the anger of these low-information, quasi-sociopaths.