HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The legendary Ella Fitzgerald closes out 2011 and rings in 2012 for the Hackwhackers with the classic "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" Happy New Year to all!

Cartoon of the Day - Iowa Caucus Edition

(Jim Morin, Miami Herald)

Year in Review: Rethugs Gone Wild

We can't let 2011 slip into the past without acknowledging the contribution Rethuglicans have made to the devolution of mankind. At the risk of giving them more time and thought than they deserve, here are a few memories and observations:

Gone But Not Forgotten: Snowbilly Grifter Sarah Palin, Donald "Rump" Trump, Herman "Horndog Herb" Cain, Glenn "Boo-Hoo the Hoot" Beck, all of whom over-stayed whatever welcome they had, but still live on in the hearts of "millions" (at least in their minds) of their followers.

Forgotten But Not Gone: Jon Huntsman, Rick "Oops" Perry, Michele "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann, and the Tea Party "agenda," all but forgotten, but still somehow providing enough shiny surface to get minimal media attention (at least, for the pols listed, until the Iowa caucus).

Read 'em and Weep: Weeper of the House John "Orange Boner" Boehner, who absolutely cannot get a handle on his teatard House Rethuglican caucus. Remember the "grand bargain" that he had to walk away from? The related debt ceiling fiasco? The payroll tax cut extension debacle? If Boner plays his cards this well in 2012, he may end up as former Weeper of the House.

Inmates Running the Asylum: (See above)

99 Red Balloons: Newt "Poot" Gingrich, "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann, "Rump" Trump, Gov. Chris "Bag o' Donuts" Christie, Rep. Paul "Lyin'" Ryan's budget plan to end Medicare, all Rethug balloons that rose and then went "pop!"

Gifts for the Needy: A functioning "gaydar" scope to Michele Bachmann (not that there's anything wrong with you, Marcus!); a heart, a soul, and at least one principle to stand for to Willard "Flip Flop/ Mendacious/ Millionaire Mitt" Romney.

To the Manor Born: Who else but the aforementioned Millionaire Mitt, the plutocrat's plutocrat.

A Gift Certificate For A Moving Van: To Wisconsin's Koch-head Gov. Scott "Take A Walk" Walker, who should be evicted from the Governor's mansion in Madison after a recall election this spring. Not to worry, Take A Walk will certainly find employment at Koch Industries.

Weekend Song

San Francisco band Third Eye Blind has this top 10 hit, "How's It Going To Be," about what happens when people end a relationship and contemplate the future "when you don't know me."

Making Progress

A new Pew research survey indicates that the term "progressive" has the most positive connotation among political labels in the U.S. Moreover, 55 percent of Rethuglicans and 68 percent of independents view the term favorably.

Once upon a time, right wingers were successful in tarnishing an honorable political label -- liberal -- by dishonestly associating it with a myriad of economic and social ills that were mostly caused by right wing governance and policies (response to poverty, civil unrest due to racism, etc.). Let's make sure they don't succeed again.

Better Economic Signs

In news the clueless media will generally ignore, to the great relief of Rethugs rooting against an American recovery, economic signs continue to improve. Unemployment claims, on a 4-week moving average, dropped to a 3 1/2 year low. Pending sales of previously-owned homes were up. And there's better manufacturing data to boot.

No doubt this has not been, nor will it be, a recovery without hitches. But so far, slow steady progress is better than one could expect, given the concerted efforts of Rethuglicans to sabotage economic growth over the past 2 1/2 years.

Dumped

With only a few days left before next Tuesday's Rethuglican Iowa caucus, Minnesota loon Michelle "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann's Iowa campaign chairman has resigned and endorsed an even more extreme nutzoid, Rep. Ron "Race War" Paul. Kent Sorenson claimed that he had been thinking about switching allegiances for days. He apparently saw Crazy Eyes' chances dimming and decided to throw in his lot with fringe fanatic Paul, who has risen in the polls.

For a Party that supposedly values loyalty among its cherished "traditional values", these clowns make cannibals look positively tame.

Quote of the Day - "Oops" Perry Edition

“Every barrel of oil that comes out of those sands in Canada is a barrel of oil that we don’t have to buy from a foreign source.” -- Gov. Rick "Oops" Perry (Dumbshit-TX), yesterday in Clarinda, Iowa. You can't make this stuff up. (h/t Daily Kos)

Class Warfare Cartoon - Willard Romney Platinum Edition

(Click to enlarge)



(Jen Sorensen, via Daily Kos)

Mid-Week Crank-It-Up Song

Department of Cluelessness

Sayeth Pope Benedict XVI in his Christmas eve address: "see through the superficial glitter of this season and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem".

Sorry, but your glittery garments are blocking our view of the child in the stable, Pope Bling.

Quote of the Day

"If, as was said, George W. Bush was born on third base and thought he hit a triple, then Willard Romney was born in the dugout with four runs in, nobody out, and the bases loaded." -- Esquire's ever-entertaining Charles P. Pierce. Read more of his takedown of Willard Romney here.

Don't Let The Door Hit You.....

Nebraska "Democratic" Sen. Ben "Half" Nelson is retiring, according to reports. Half Nelson is one of the least reliable Senators as far as supporting the Dem agenda -- outgoing Sen. Joe Lieberliar (I-Party of One) and Sen. Mary Landrieu are others.

It's characteristic of a political hack like Half Nelson to quit when facing a tough election year, and leave his nominal Party in the lurch when it comes to holding the Senate majority. Nice timing. While his seat will likely go Rethuglican, it won't be hard to miss him and his frequent alignment with Rethugs.

UPDATE: One bright spot is that former Sen. Bob Kerrey is being talked up as a possible candidate with a chance to hold the seat for the Democrats.

Quote of the Day -- Newt's Pearl Harbor Analogy Dept.

"Newt Gingrich will not be on the Virginia primary ballot, because he was having too much fun running for President on the teevee to be bothered to run for President in real life and hand in on time the 10,000 signatures that the state requires to qualify. A lower mind might attribute such a problem to organizational failure and shoddy management skills, but where is the sense of delusional victimhood in that? Right. BORING. The more likely explanation is that Virginia is like Japan, and they are doing a Pearl Harbor on Newt by not letting him on the ballot against the rules, for fascism." -- Kirsten Boyd Johnson, today in Wonkette.

Reading Newt's Lips

(Please pardon the ads)

This is the most sense he's ever made.

"NEWT GINGRICH" — a Bad Lip Reading Soundbite - watch more funny videos

Merry Christmas!

Protest in Russia

Tens of thousands of Russians gathered in central Moscow today to protest the recent parliamentary elections and to demand the ouster of Russian Prime Minister Putin. Referring to "crooks and thieves" in the government and ruling United Russia party (hmmm.. they must be the Russian equivalent of the Rethuglicans), speaker after speaker called for "Russia Without Putin" and for new elections to be held. The protesters represented a broad cross-section of Russian politics, from liberals and environmentalists to nationalists to anarchists. Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, now Russia Without Putin: something is definitely in the air.

(Photo: Sergie Karpukhin, REUTERS)

Gingrich Fail: Won't Be on Virginia Primary Ballot

One week after telling supporters and the media that he had more than the 10,000 signatures required to have his name on the Virginia Rethug primary ballot, Newt "Poot" Gingrich has been told by the Virginia Rethuglican Party... uh, sorry Newtie, you don't. This is, simply put, a glaring symptom of a disastrous campaign organization, and more proof of Poot's well-deserved reputation as a (ahem) less- than- competent manager. Poot had been leading the Rethug field in Virginia, and even if he hadn't won the primary outright, Virginia's proportional rules would have given him some delegates.

As it stands now, only Willard "Flip-Flop/ Mendacious Mitt" Romney and Ron "Race War" Paul had enough signatures to appear on the primary ballot. Ya think the fix is in for Mendacious Mitt?

(Photo: "Missed it by that much!")

Weekend Holiday Song

It's now winter, the holidays are upon us, and the music is full of references to sleighs and snow. This is one of my favorites, an evocative piece by Prokofiev about a ride in a three-horse sleigh ("troika").

Quote of the Day

"If Mr. Romney is in fact the Republican presidential nominee, he will make wildly false claims about Mr. Obama and, occasionally, get some flack for doing so. But news organizations will compensate by treating it as a comparable offense when, say, the president misstates the income share of the top 1 percent by a percentage point or two. The end result will be no real penalty for running an utterly fraudulent campaign. As I said, welcome to post-truth politics." -- New York Times columnist and Nobel prize laureate Paul Krugman in today's NYT.

To listen to slippery one percenter Willard "Mittens" Romney is to listen to non-stop falsehoods about the President, his record, and his policies. In a quest for "balance" when discussing Mittens' huge whoppers, the media will scrounge up minor slips by the President, and present it as a "both sides do it" exercise in false equivalence. Just wait and see.

Boehner, Rethuglicans Blink

It's being reported right now that Weeper of the House John "Orange Boner" Boehner (Rethug-OH) and his cast of House Rethuglican crackpots have agreed to the 2-month extension of the payroll tax cut. Doubtlessly, teatard Members have been hearing it back home, as well as from Senate Rethugs and party leaders, that their position was doing great damage to the party's image as anti-tax. It must have been difficult for these extremists to choose between their obsession with fighting Obama to the bitter end, and well, the bitter end. Good.

Oh, and the Dems didn't cave for once. May that continue.

(Photo: Weeper of the House Boehner's having a bad week. Harry Reid? Lovin' it!))

Numbers That Drive Rethugs Crazy

Back in 2009, when the U.S. auto industry was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, most prominent Rethuglicans were absolutely against any Government loans to keep the industry alive, calling it the "road to socialism," never mind that they were loans expected to be paid back. The U.S. auto industry is not only the source of jobs for car makers themselves, but it supports jobs in the steel, glass, rubber, plastics, and electronics industries to name a few; in other words, the Rethugs would have taken hundreds of thousands of jobs away across America in order to weaken the economy under President Obama.

Sadly for the Rethugs, but good for America, the auto industry has rebounded with a bang, with U.S. automakers selling about 1 million more cars than in 2010. The Government loan enabled the automakers to retool, reorganize and get back on a healthy footing, with the initial loans paid back with interest to the Government. Better still, U.S. auto companies have been able to hire back nearly everyone that was laid off, because of the booming sales.

Polling on Iraq

Sometimes, the American public gets it right:

Do you approve or disapprove of the decision to remove all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of this year?

Approve: 78
Disapprove: 21

Do you think the Bush administration deliberately misled the American public about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, or not?

Yes, deliberately misled: 57
No, did not: 41

(ORC for CNN. December 16-18, 2011. American adults. ±3% -- via Daily Kos.)

"Republicans Aren't Racist"

(Click to enlarge)



Exhibit A: This tweet from twit Cassie "Never" Wright, President of the University of Texas College Republicans. This follows by about a month a tweet from her twit predecessor, Lauren Pierce (Exhibit B), with a similar hateful message. These young debs prove the obvious: if you're in an organization called College Republicans, you have neither a soul nor a brain. Holla.

Quote of the Day

"GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell famously said a year ago that his main task in the 112th Congress was to make sure that President Obama would not be re-elected. Given how he and House Speaker John Boehner have handled the payroll tax debate, we wonder if they might end up re-electing the President before the 2012 campaign even begins in earnest." -- an editorial in the right-wing Wall Street Journal. We can only hope.

When the WSJ editorial page has to tell House teahadist Rethugs that they're on the wrong side of the payroll tax cut debate, you know those Rethugs are hopelessly out of touch with reality.

Mid-Week Song

Tomorrow's the first day of winter, so we'll mark the occasion with a song by the aptly-named The Decemberists, "This Is Why We Fight."

"The Tea Party's Not Racist"

Here's a story that's become all too familiar: a right wing California teahadist tool has made threats against President Obama and his family. The appropropriately-named Jules Manson wrote "assassinate the fucken nigger and his monkey children" on his Facebook page. No word whether the Secret Service has followed up with a visit to the deranged Mr. Manson yet, but it's only a matter of time. We'd love to see how he would handle "niggers" in Federal prison, too.

We have no idea whether this yutz was a wild oat sowed by mass murderer Charles Manson, but he sure acts the part and has a name to match.

(photo: Weird and creepy much?)

PolitiFlop

Every year, the organization PolitiFact puts out its "Lie of the Year" award for the biggest political whopper. This year, apparently bowing to the gods of "both sides do it" centrism, they actually chose the true claim by Dems that Rep. Paul "Lyin'" Ryan's plan to voucherize Medicare would end the program as it exists today. Paul Krugman has the smackdown of PolitiFlop's bogus award. Added: here's the HuffPo's Jason Linkens' detailed deconstruction of PolitiFlop's nonsense.

If all we can expect is for the media to be timid in the face of one side in the political world telling the overwhelming number of political lies, then we deserve the politics we get. If outfits like PolitiFlop think they need to appease the right, lest they be bombarded with cries of "bias" from the wingnutosphere, then their "service" is no longer needed.

(image: You've earned it, PolitiFlop)

Gingrich Balloon Imploding In Iowa

(Click to enlarge)

(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal Constitution, via gocomics.com)

The boomlet for the latest "Please God, Not Romney" candidate, Newt "Poot" Gingrich, appears to have sprung a leak in the first Rethuglican caucus state, Iowa. The "hired larynx" has dropped in two weeks from 27 percent, to 22 percent, to his current 14 percent. He trails poll leader (!) and Stormfront-endorsed Ron Paul, who is at 23 percent, and Willard "Flip-Flop/ Mendacious Mitt" Romney, holding steady at an anemic 20 percent.

Death of Dear Leader

North Korean State Television has announced the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il at the age of 69. The strange, reclusive dictator was the son of former North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, and was reported to be suffering from diabetes and heart problems. His son Kim Jong Un is expected to succeed him in what has become a Stalinist monarchy.

(photo: OK, it's in bad taste to mock the dead...except in his case)

Over

The last 500 American troops crossed into Kuwait from Iraq this morning, marking the end of eight and a half years of a war that was initiated on false premises and cherry-picked intelligence. While the war in Afghanistan was legitimately launched to uproot the Taliban who sponsored bin Laden's al Qaeda forces, the Iraq war was predicated on stopping Saddam Hussein from imminent development of nuclear weapons and his supposed links to the fundamentalist al Qaeda. Both rationales proved false. The neocon architects of the war have yet to be held to account for their deceit.

The cost in human and financial terms was great (a summary can be found here). Nearly 4,500 American soldiers were killed and over 30,000 wounded, and more than $800 billion spent. The toll on the Iraqi population was severe, with estimates of civilian casualties in the hundreds of thousands, leaving an economy shattered. The war diverted our resources from Afghanistan and the fight against al Qaeda, and it increased Iran's influence in Iraq and in the region.

We dedicate this old song to the memory of those lost and those forever changed by that war.

Vaclav Havel

Vaclav Havel, the first democratically elected president of Czechoslovakia, has died at age 75. Havel led the "Velvet Revolution" in Czechoslovakia in 1989, which led to the country's peaceful transition from communism. He was president of the unified country until its peaceful breakup in 1993, into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Havel, along with his contemporary Lech Walesa in Poland, will be remembered as one of the seminal figures leading the democratic transition of former Soviet Bloc countries.

Quote of the Day -- Numbnut Division

"Environmentalists have always had an agenda to put nature above man. If they can find an end to their means, they don't care how it happens. If they can do it under the guise of global warming and climate change, they will do it." -- lizard-brained gibberish courtesy of Donna Holt, leader of the teahadist "Virginia Campaign for Liberty," quoted in today's Kaplan Daily, "Climate-change fight intensifies in Va." Blacktop the fields! Bring back coal-fired stoves! Where's my 16-cylinder gas hog!? We'll show nature who's boss! Also, please explain how you "find an end to their means." On second thought, nevermind.

Someone Else Beat Us To It

As The Twilight Zone's Rod Serling used to say, "submitted for your consideration." Here is Salon.com's list of 2011's biggest hacks.

We can't argue with the vast majority, and note that MSNBC's "Morning Joe" crew has a few regulars on the list including Mark Halperin (#1), Joe Scarborough (#14), and Jon Meacham (#18). The cases for why they made the list are usually hilarious, and spot-on.

Rethug Sex Blotter - Gay Sex Toy Shop Edition

Well, with that title, you don't need to read much more to get the drift, but here it is anyway: Rethug Mayor Greg Davis of Mississippi, would have continued living his self-loathing life, posing as a conservative Christian "family values" dipstick if it weren't for the fact that he's a dumb conservative Christian "family values" dipstick. The Mayor, it happens, was in Toronto doing some (holiday?) shopping at Priape, a gay sex toy shop and charged his purchases with a city credit card. (Aside: "Why do you hate America, Mayor Davis? Aren't American gay sex toy shops good enough for you?!") Of course, his expenses were checked and BOOM! goes the cover. Now he's under criminal investigation for misuse of $170,000 (only $67 at the sex shop - whew!).

Hypocrite - check. Dumb as a sack of sex toys - check. Rethug - check.

(Photo: Mayor Greg Davis, latest in a long and never-ending line of Rethuglican hypocrites and liars.)

Mendacious Mitt

(Clay Bennett, via gocomics.com)

By now, it's become a political cliche that Willard "Flip-Flop/ Mendacious Mitt" Romney is a chameleon, a core-less, soulless mannequin who'll be whomever you want him to be and say whatever you want him to say, just so you'll please vote for him. Steve Benen has a piece this morning on the baldfaced lying of Mendacious Mitt, the empty vessel who has a hard time telling the truth.

Nearing Total Recall

Wisconsinites are well along to having the required 540,000 signatures necessary to force a recall of their Koch-head Governor Scott "Take A Walk" Walker, having collected 507,000 in the first 30 days. Although they only need to collect another 33,000 more in the next 30 days, they plan to collect some 700,000 signatures to put them well over the required number.

The out of state right-wing plutocrats backing Take A Walk are pouring resources into the state to keep their puppet in place, and will resort to any dirty trick, challenge and delaying tactic available to them. But the good news is Take a Walk's shown his true self to the voters in Wisconsin, and they don't like what they see.

Weekend Modern Man Song

Another of Canada's fine musical exports:



(h/t/ Ya-Ya)

Teahadist Leader Arrested on Gun Charge

The founder of the Tea Party "Patriots" was arrested yesterday morning for attempting to board a flight at LaGuardia carrying a concealed handgun and ammunition. Mark "Teahadist Terrorist" Meckler was charged with felony criminal possession of a weapon, and released on his own recognizance. The charge carries a potential 15 year sentence (please, please throw the book at him).

When these clowns carried guns to political rallies and implied that their Second Amendment rights allowed them to assassinate public officials, it was a clear red flag that this far-right element (along with their militia and secessionist allies) was a threat to our democracy. That they casually assume the right to carry a concealed handgun on an airplane simply reinforces how delusional they've become.

Jobless Claims Fall

In good news for the Administration and nation, unemployment claims fell to their lowest point since May 2008, with 366,000 applying for benefits.

While this is not the time to start popping the champagne corks, it's a steady trend that demonstrates the economy is headed in the right direction. So maybe a beer or glass of wine to celebrate instead.

G(r)ift Idea

In parts of Spain, Portugal and Italy, nativity scenes are often whimsically decorated with little statuettes of famous figures, umm, relieving themselves. They're called caganers, and our favorite is this one of snowbilly grifter Winky You Betcha, after apparently consuming too much spoiled moose meat.
A great stocking stuffer to cheer up grumpy progressives!

Poot Panned

There's a growing panic among Rethuglican elites that evil gasbag and K Street historian Newt "Poot" Gingrich will win the nomination, only to go down in flames against the President, bringing the Rethuglican / New Confederate Party down with him. We can only hope so.

The latest evidence of the "petrified of Poot" movement is the latest issue of the right wing National Review, which devotes an entire issue to chewing a new orifice for Poot, starting with the cover depicting him as a cartoon Martian. While we love to see Rethug cannibals eating their own, we're pulling for Poot to be their nominee and burn them badly in 2012. After all, Poot's gas would sustain a pretty good fire.

Quote of the Day

“He’s been consistent since he changed his mind.” -- former teahadist Senate candidate Christine "I'm Not A Witch" O'Donnell, announcing her much coveted endorsement of Millionaire Mittens Romney. Yes, Christine, and you've been smart ever since you've been an idiot.

I'll Bet This Is The Cartoon of the Day

The forest Kathleen Parker (see below) missed (click to enlarge):


(Pat Oliphant, via gocomics.com)

Mostly, The Blind Squirrel Doesn't Find The Acorn

Blind squirrel Kathleen Parker swooning in today's Kaplan Daily, expertly parsing the bet Millionaire Mitt offered Rick "Oops" Perry at the latest Rethug "debate", and mystically determining that the wager was not too cold, not too hot, not too hard, not too soft, but Just Right, all the while missing the forest for the trees:

"... Ten thousand dollars was the perfect number. A dollar would have been silly; $10 trite. A hundred would have seemed amateurish; a thousand, too studied. At the higher end, $100,000 would have been boastful, and a million would have tied Romney to the millionaire’s club to which he does belong — but the man is not a braggart. Ergo, $10,000 was an amount he could afford to lose (the first rule of betting), and it was high enough to demonstrate his certitude."

Oh. My. God.

Now They're Making Much More Sense

Rick "Oops" Perry:



Herman "Herb" Cain:



Willard "Millionaire Mitt" Romney:



(h/t Silver Spring Bureau Chief Brian)

Mid-Week Happy Birthday Song

For two Hackwhacker offspring, a very happy birthday!

Rump Trump Ditches His Circus Debate

To the dismay of comedians everywhere, comb-over king Donald "Rump" Trump has ditched the Rethuglican circus "debate" he was supposed to moderate, which at last count only had Poot Gingrich and Rick "Google Me" Santorum as participants anyway. Whether the spectacle will go on is up in the air; it's being sponsored by wingnut propaganda wurlitzer "Newsmax," whose visits to reality are rare indeed. One has to wonder, though, if the disrespect the Rethug candidates and establishment have shown toward Rump in this debacle will make a Rump decision to run for President as an independent more likely. Could we be so lucky?

(Image: "Send in the clowns...don't bother, they're here.")

Street View Tour of Fukushima, Japan

Google has assembled a fascinating virtual street level tour of Fukushima, Japan, which was, of course, devastated in the March 2011 tsunami. It once again provides a reminder of the horrible power of the tsunami and the slow rebuilding that is underway in the region.

Graph of the Day

Courtesy of the New York Times' Paul Krugman. Note the rates for the top 1% and the top 0.1 percent are similar to the rates for the bottom 40%. As he notes, Poot Gingrich's tax plan would suit infamous hotelier and tax dodger Leona Helmsley, who famously said "we don't pay taxes, only the little people pay taxes." A Rethug slogan to be sure.

Poot's Promise Of Purity

While we're on the topic of K Street Historian and pompous gasbag Newt "Poot" Gingrich, we had to laugh when we saw that Poot signed a pledge created by the Iowan homophobic wingnut group The Family Leader promising to uphold "traditional marriage," and to remain faithful to his current, third wife (unlike the first two).

Bwahahahaha! We're sure wife Callista can take Poot's pledge to the bank, er, Tiffany's.

Cartoon of the Day - Getting to Know Gingrich Edition

(Click to enlarge)


(Tom Tomorrow, via Daily Kos)

Bonus: Poot does have a mean streak, too. But we don't mind when it's applied to Millionaire Mittens Romney (via TPM):

"Asked this morning whether he should give back his Freddie Mac money, as Mitt Romney suggested, Newt responded: 'I would just say that if Gov. Romney would like to give back all of the money he's earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees over his years at Bain, that I would be glad to listen to him.'"

Low-Down Lowe's

After complaints by the right-wing bigot group Florida Family Association (FFA), Lowe's Home Improvement pulled its advertising from the new cable show "All-American Muslim." The show portrays the lives of five American Muslim families from Dearborn, Michigan, and the discrimination they often face. As if on cue, the FFA's mouth-breathers complained to Lowe's that the show was "propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda's clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values."

Unless and until they reverse their craven decision, Boycott Lowe's.

(Image: ... "something," but not bigotry.)

Occupy Russia - Cartoon of the Day

(Jeff Danziger)

Millionaire Mitt's $10,000 Bet

Wherein Millionaire Mitt/ Willard Romney offers a wager to Rick "Oops" Perry at last night's Rethuglican/ 1% Party "debate:"

Letters We Wish We'd Written Dept.

From today's Kaplan Daily "Letters to the Editor:"

"Oh, the rich irony of George F. Will bemoaning the increase in health-care costs for a company whose very business model contributes to so many health problems in this country ['Indigestion over Obamacare,' op-ed, Dec. 8].

How about we agree to let CKE Restaurants peddle its less-than-healthy Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s fast food (if people want to eat themselves to death, so be it) and it agrees to provide reasonable health-care coverage for its employees?

Thank you for the good, if unintentional, laugh, Mr. Will.

Richard N. McGlothlin, Washington"

The thesaurus-thumbing, right-wing shill "Quill" Will, busted again!

Happy Anniversary To Us!

Today marks the 5th anniversary of the Hackwhackers blog. We've seen the blog grow from a readership of two (us) to one that produces 4,300 page views a month on average (and growing), and nearly 76,000 in total. We have folks from the U.S., U.K., Russia, India, Canada, Germany, Philippines, France, Netherlands and many other countries following us. For that, we thank you for regularly or occasionally looking in to see what we're doing, overlooking the random crude or lewd word, and sharing your comments with us. As with any blog, we're writing about what's important to us, and we hope along the way it's been informative or amusing or outraging to you. Thank you all again!

(Image: Thankfully, we have friends in high places.)

Headline of the Day

"Newt Gingrich Is Wild About Zoos" -- from an ass-kissing puff piece in this morning's Kaplan Daily.

No wonder he belongs to the Rethuglican / New Confederate Party, lots of strange animals there. Too bad he isn't more concerned with people.

(photo: J. Marquette, AP)

It's Why We Call Them "Rethugs," Rick Perry Edition

We posted on this the other day, but you should see this stinking pile of s**t for yourselves:



-- phony claim of persecution - check;

-- phony claim Obama is "anti-religion" - check;

-- non-support of gays fighting for their country - check;

-- in sum, dumb as a rock (with the "n" word painted on it?) and grotesquely bigoted - check.

It's why we call them "Rethugs."

It's Why We Call Them "Rethugs," Newt Gingrich Edition

Dana Milbank notes:

Nearly two decades ago, Gingrich’s political action committee, with the help of GOP wordsmith Frank Luntz, issued a now-famous memo telling Republican candidates which words they should use to describe their opponents. Among them: “anti,” “betray,” “bizarre,” “corrupt,” “destructive,” “disgrace,” “shame,” “lie,” “pathetic,” “radical,” “self-serving,” “selfish,” “shallow,” “shame,” “sick,” “traitors.”

“These are powerful words that can create a clear and easily understood contrast,” this Gingrich-endorsed memo explained. “Remember that creating a difference helps you. Apply these to the opponent, their record, proposals and their party.”

Wow. And ironically, nearly all of those words apply to today's Rethuglican/ New Confederate Party and to Newtie himself, as in "I'm rubber and you're glue; your words bounce off me and stick to you."

Weekend Song

From Britain's PJ Harvey (h/t Ya-Ya and hi P.E.C.!):

Quote of the Day - Trump Endorsement Edition

From Eugene Robinson in today's Kaplan Daily:

"Among all voters, the Fox News poll found, only 6 percent said a Trump endorsement would make them more likely to vote for the endorsee, while a stunning 31 percent said they would be less likely to do so.

"That’s quite an achievement for the helmet-haired host of “The Apprentice.” It’s hard to think of anyone else this side of Guantanamo whose backing could turn off nearly one-third of the U.S. voting population."

Rump Trump, of course, is a narcissist whose lack of self-awareness is only matched by his lack of scruples... making him "Poo or Poot" Gingrich's alter ego (only Gingrich and Rick "Google It" Santorum are participating in Rump's December 27 circus debate).

UPDATE: Now there's word Rump may cancel his "debate" due to lack of participation. Ha-ha!

"Mr. Gingrich Requires Two Bathrooms, Please!"

(Click to enlarge slightly - check out second paragraph, first sentence:)

-- from a rider to a contract for a 2010 speaking engagement in Missouri for Newt "Poo or Poot?" Gingrich. As Wonkette points out, that's "because he is just that full of shit."

(h/t Smoking Gun, via Wonkette)

Quote of the Day

"So, how's that Donald Trump debate shaping up? So far, it looks like it's going to be two hours of watching Rick Santorum try to get a word in edgewise between Trump-as-moderator and Newt Gingrich -- the Scylla and Charybdis of unrestrained bloviation." -- Jason Linkins, in the Huffington Post, noting that fast-fading Hair Perry had declined to participate in vulgarian egomaniac Rump Trump's "debate."

UPDATE: Add Crazy Eyes Bachmann to the no-shows.

Hair On Fire

Soon-to-be-former-candidate Rick "Hair" Perry (R - Oops) has an ad running in Iowa that accuses President Obama of conducting a "war on religion," and points to having gays serve openly in the military as a moral problem. While most observers are regarding this ad as a desperation move by Hair, who is in single digits in the polls, there was even dissent among his advisors whether to take on gays and the culture war. His top pollster, Tony Fabrizio, went so far as to call the ad "nuts."

We're certain that the country will be spared a Hair Perry presidency, but it's a shame we still have to be exposed to his shameless and dishonest ads for the next few weeks as he throws every smear against the wall to see what sticks.

To Know Him Is To Not Vote For Him

Hired larynx and hyper-inflated ego Professor of History Newt "Poot" Gingrich won't be getting his half-sister's vote should he end up facing President Obama in November 2012. Gay activist Candace Gingrich-Jones, saying Poot is "definitely on the wrong side of history" for his views on gay rights, says she plans to "work really, really hard" to re-elect President Obama. Well, at least now we know there's one Gingrich with integrity.

Jon Stewart on Rump Trump's Circus "Debate"

(Apologies in advance for the ad!)


I believe he alludes to Trump at one point as "a circus peanut wearing a badger." I'll never be able to think of the "badass honey badger who don't give a damn" in the same way again!

Tweet of the Day -- Mitt's "Grassroots" Supporters Edition

(h/t Rising Hegemon)

Cartoon of the Day

(click to enlarge)

The Rump and Poot Show has become a symbol of the degeneration of the Rethuglican / New Confederate Party. They're truly out of touch with the 99%, and don't seem to care. And how many votes will the Rethug candidates win by genuflecting to master vulgarian and self-promoter Rump Trump?

Presidential behavior? Don't make us laugh.

Rethuglican Voter Suppression, Maryland Style

In 2010, the Rethuglican candidate for Governor of Maryland, former Gov. Bob "Beatle Bob" Erlich, was challenging incumbent Dem Gov. Martin O'Malley. The race was within a few points, but the Rethugs wanted to make sure and put the fix in. On election day, Beatle Bob's campaign placed over 100,000 robocalls to Democratic households in African-American districts telling them to "relax" and stay home because O'Malley had the election won. So it was good to see that Beatle Bob's campaign manager, Paul "Ick" Schurick has been convicted of election fraud for authorizing the robocalls. More Rethug conspirators are expected to be convicted.

Remember this the next time you hear Rethuglicans talking about protecting the ballot box against voter fraud by requiring Dem-leaning young/poor/minority/elderly voters to jump through multiple flaming hoops to vote. The fraud is actually originating from the Rethug side.

Mid-Week Song

The son of the late African-American jazz musician Don Cherry and Swedish artist Monika Karlsson, Stockholm-based Eagle-Eye Cherry (his given name) had this catchy hit in 1997. In this official video, he plays all of the lead characters.

Obama: "Make or Break Time" for Middle Class

Today, President Obama was in Osawatomie, Kansas, making what some observers believe was a speech that contained the outlines of his reelection strategy: attack the Rethuglicans' core belief that a laissez-faire approach to governing a modern society, including letting the "job creators" get richer at the expense of the middle class, was unworkable:

“It’s a simple theory - one that speaks to our rugged individualism and healthy skepticism of too much government. It fits well on a bumper sticker. Here’s the problem: It doesn’t work. It’s never worked. It didn’t work when it was tried in the decade before the Great Depression. It’s not what led to the incredible post-war boom of the 50s and 60s. And it didn’t work when we tried it during the last decade.”

From all indications, the White House and the Obama campaign are preparing to fight the election on the economic justice front, and the concepts of fair play and common sacrifice. If the electorate pays attention to the contrasting visions, it should be a winner for Democrats.

Give Him The Ball!

Congrats to Wisconsin's star running back Montee Ball for making the list of finalists for the Heisman Trophy. Ball, who is one touchdown short of tying Barry Sanders' college single season record, is a real long-shot to win the trophy, but it's a great honor in itself to be in the final group.

Poot's Bad Reviews

Sam Stein looks at the right wing establishment's disdain for rental politician and child labor advocate Newt "Poot" Gingrich: from the William F. Buckley rag National Review, to the neocon Weekly Standard, to columnists George "Quill" Will and Charles "Kraphammer" Krauthammer, the welcome mat isn't out for Poot. Even the Fux Channel is cranky about the Historian of K Street.

Whether it's Poot's ability to turn on a dime for a dime, his unethical behavior as Speaker, or his shoddy personal life, with Poot, it's "what you see is what you get." Wingnuts, having run through most of their village idiots vying for the Rethug nomination, might figure that Poot's their man regardless.

Quote of the Day - Rethuglican Candidates Edition

"It is simply amazing that in a country of 313 million people, many of them literate, the political opposition consists of ignoramuses, dimwits, contrarians, Christian jihadists and, now, two men so thoroughly hollow that a moral principle would make a rattling sound inside them. I am talking of course of Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney." Frequent concern troll Richard Cohen in today's Kaplan Daily. Rethuglicans made a deal with the devil a long time ago. Now they're reaping the whirlwind.

Adulterers Unite!

There are reports that Rethuglican moral compass "Horndog Herb" Cain is set to endorse serial adulterer and "hired larynx" Newt "Poot" Gingrich, perhaps as soon as today. We wonder if they bonded over their common moral weakness as cheating cads, or their common sense of themselves as Great Historical Figures?

(Photo: Members in bad standing of the Rethuglican Liars and Adulterers Club: "I love me more!" "No, I love ME more!"))

Monday Class Warfare Cartoon

(Click to enlarge)

(Tom Tomorrow, via DailyKos)

Sunday Reading

Normally, Thesaurus-thumbing right wing pundit George "Quill" Will's columns don't draw our attention, but this morning he unloaded on his least-favorite Rethug (emphasis added):

"Gingrich...embodies the vanity and rapacity that make modern Washington repulsive. And there is his anti-conservative confidence that he has a comprehensive explanation of, and plan to perfect, everything.

Granted, his grandiose rhetoric celebrating his 'transformative' self is entertaining: Recently he compared his revival of his campaign to Sam Walton’s and Ray Kroc’s creations of Wal-Mart and McDonald’s, two of America’s largest private-sector employers. There is almost artistic vulgarity in Gingrich’s unrepented role as a hired larynx for interests profiting from such government follies as ethanol and cheap mortgages. His Olympian sense of exemption from standards and logic allowed him, fresh from pocketing $1.6 million from Freddie Mac (for services as a 'historian'), to say, 'If you want to put people in jail,' look at 'the politicians who profited from' Washington’s environment."

Guess this means that Quill is off Poot Gingrich's Christmas card list.

"Topic 1: How Great Am I?"

TV reality host and blowhard birther Donald "Rump" Trump has a new scam: he's trying to round up the Rethuglican candidates for a "debate" later this month that he will host on a small cable channel. Since everything that Rump does is all about Rump, we'll have to assume this is his forum for upstaging the pathetic Rethuglican field and for self-promotion.

Rump likes to project himself as a self-made billionaire, but his multi-millionaire father set him up in the family business. He's been in and out of bankruptcy court more than once, and led the lunatic "birther" fringe until his humiliating smack down by President Obama at last April's White House Correspondents' Dinner. Rump quickly fell in the polls after the President's birth certificate was released.

To their credit, Rep. Ron Paul and former Gov. Jon Huntsman declined to kiss Rump's rump and participate in the "debate," which has been memorably -- and accurately -- described as "the clown hosting the circus."

Rose Bowl!!

The University of Wisconsin Badgers football team (a.k.a., "badass honey badgers") is headed for the 2012 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, following last night's grueling 42-39 win over (yuk...ptouie!) Michigan State in the inaugural Big 10 Championship game. It's the second year in a row the Badgers have represented the Big 10 in the Rose Bowl. The Badgers will play PAC-12 winner Oregon on January 2. Go Badgers!

We anxiously await the bowl assignment (Sugar?) for the University of Michigan Wolverines. Go Blue!

UPDATE: It's the Sugar Bowl (vs. Virginia Tech) for Michigan!

Then and Now

Sixty years ago, the contenders for the Republican nomination for president were Dwight Eisenhower, Robert Taft, Earl Warren, and Harold Stassen. In those days, it could still legitimately be called the "Grand Old Party." Today:

(Clay Bennett, via gocomics.com)

Horndog Herb's Opening Line

Today's the day Rethuglican morality template Herman "Horndog Herb" Cain is supposed to announce the results from "reassessing" his campaign for the Rethuglican presidential nomination, assuming he's still alive. You see, last night, Horndog Herb was to have met with his wife Gloria to do some 'splainin' about the 13-year-long relationship with Ginger White. Several listeners to the Tom Joyner radio show offered helpful thoughts as to what the first words out of Horndog Herb's mouth might be upon seeing his wife:

"Don't shoot!"

"Why are my bags packed?"

But comedian Steve Hofstetter had the best advice: "Admit you are cheating on her and cheat on her again. It seemed to work fine for Newt Gingrich!"

UPDATE: Horndog Herb is "suspending" his campaign... and is still denying all, with his wife standing by him. Also, just announced: "Sucker of the Year" - Gloria Cain.

Poot's Good Old Days

Self-proclaimed Rethuglican "idea man," historian/lobbyist and current Rethuglican flavor of the month Newt "Poot" Gingrich must have been reading some 19th century literature lately. How else could you explain his proposal -- right out of a Charles Dickens novel -- to use poor children as school "janitors" because Poot feels they're not taught good work ethics at home? (It's no coincidence that Poot chose janitorial work as his example, which is the right wing's stereotype of the work for which poor people of color are best suited).

Leaving aside the gratuitous racism in Poot's example, there have been child labor laws in this country for nearly 100 years for good reasons. It's one thing for a college student to work as a means of getting through college, but it's another to expect poor children of color to stay in school and study when they're working afternoons and evenings trying to supplement their family's income. Of course, that's the point. Poot and the Rethugs are fine with creating a permanent underclass that can't climb into the middle class through education, because they've been too busy pushing a mop.

(hat tip to AZ Gail)

Picture of the Week

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton embraces Burmese human rights icon Aung San Suu Kyi in a visit to Suu Kyi's home. After the Burmese government showed signs of reforming, Clinton became the first major American official to visit Burma (also known as Myannmar) in some 50 years. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has opposed the brutal Burmese military junta's violation of human rights for decades.