Another Christie Bridgegate Revelation

From the New York Times, this afternoon (our emphasis):

The former Port Authority official who personally oversaw the lane closings on the George Washington Bridge in the scandal now swirling around Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said on Friday that the governor knew about the lane closings when they were happening, and that he had the evidence to prove it.  [snip] 

The letter marked the first signal that Mr. Christie may have been aware of the closings, something he repeatedly denied during the news conference.

The air continues to whistle out of that balloon.

Weekend Song - The Countdown Continues

Continuing our "countdown" to the upcoming, not-so-secret Beatles milestone, today's song, "I'll Get You," was the B-side of "She Loves You."  It's got a little of the Lennon harmonica that we love, plus a little mystery:

In the bridge of the song, after the line, "Well, there's gonna be a time...," Paul sings, "... when I'm gonna change your mind." At the same time, John sings, "...when I'm gonna make you mine," resulting in a blend of the two lines. It's not known who was correct or why they didn't correct it.

Listen for it.  Enjoy the song and your weekend.

How's That Rebranding Coming Along?

Rethuglican legislators are at a retreat on the Eastern Shore of Maryland this week to come up with some ways of selling the same old reverse Robin Hood policies to the middle class.  They will block minimum wage increases, yet claim they care about the working poor and families.  They will propose cuts to middle class programs in education and health, and claim it's wasteful spending or not the Government's job.  The Daily Beast's Michael Tomasky believes he has their plan figured out:

"1. Give a lot of speeches about the middle class and about poverty; look sincere, sound sad, regretful when you talk about how big government has failed people.

2. Propose a few tax credits, and maybe a small symbolic actual expense of some kind.

3. Watch the press roll over and carry on excitedly about how this is a new GOP."

Sadly, the chances of it working -- especially with the boosterism of the courtier press -- are good.

BONUS:  Weigel, talking about the Republican "framework" on immigration reform, says ". . . that the party needs to look busy on immigration but doesn't fear great suffering if it fails to pass an immigration reform bill."  So, yeah, that fits the m.o.

Republican Bipartisan Bullshit

We can't remember a better, more apt, more thorough reaming of Republicans' "if only President Obama would work with us" mendacious twaddle than this masterpiece by Jon Stewart.  (Bonus points to Jon for calling out their "Total bullshit...collected and packaged by hand from the polished anuses of award-winning Texas longhorns...")

The Daily Show
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Quote of the Day

Does this remind you of a particular American political party:

"Fanaticism consists of redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim." -  George Santayana.

We thought so.

Cartoons of the Day

The newest Rethuglican drama is over President Obama's promise in the State of the Union message to implement policies by Executive Order when legislation isn't necessary.  Their nonsensical cries of "King" and "dictator" don't hold up when you realize that Obama has been one of the most restrained Presidents when issuing Executive Orders -- far fewer than their demigod St. Ronnie of Hollywood.

After five years of organized obstruction by Rethuglican partisans, and their refusal to work with the Administration on significant legislation, the President decided that enough was enough.  As we noted last Monday, the public knows the score, too, and identifies the Rethugs as the party unwilling to compromise.

(top, Tom Toles, bottom, Jim Morin, via Gocomics.com)

Wanking The State Of The Union

Rather than a State of the Union epilogue, which Charles P. Pierce handles quite nicely here, we want to look at some of the wankery on display last night (in addition, of course, to the thuggish wankery of Rep. Michael "Dim" Grimm noted in the post directly below).

Wanker #1 -  Rep. Tim Huelskamp (Tea-Totally Nuts), who engaged in this incoherent, bullying nonsense with Rachel Maddow:

Huelskamp (with finger-stabbing): The President acted in numerous unlawful manners, particularly in his willingness to suspend parts of Obamacare … I think that’s lawlessness, I don’t think he has that authority. I do not think he had the authority to make recess appointments; I think the Court’s going to agree with me … [snip]

Maddow: Sir, I’m just trying to focus on the case that you’re making, which is that his speech… 

Huelskamp: A speech makes no law! The President makes good speeches… 

Maddow (quoting Huelskamp’s tweet): … “reads like dictates from a King. [hashtag]LawLess”; What did he say in the speech that was lawless tonight? 

Huelskamp: …Fourteen different points where the President said, ‘I don’t like the American people, who they elected…’ That’s what the President was saying! He said, ‘I don’t like Congress! I don’t like the American people that sent these people up here, and so he listed fourteen different dictates, executive orders…

That's exactly what the President said, Rep. Hayseed.. er, Huelskamp.  Where's the guy with the net when you need him?  Also,  Huelskamp has a long history of being a ... dick.  That's why we put him on top of the list, barely.

Wanker #2 -  Rep. Randy Weber (R-Deranged), who tweeted before the SOTU:

On floor of house waitin on "Kommandant-In-Chef"... the Socialistic dictator who's been feeding US a line or is it "A-Lying?" 

Wow.  The Weber in our back yard has more wit and intelligence than this one, and is way less paranoid.

Wanker #3 -  Sen. Mike Lee (R-Cruzland) who, after careful study of the heavily annotated and edited U.S. Conshtitushun he keeps in his jacket pocket next to his copy of "Atlas Shrugged," plus a correspondence course from the Hayek School of 19th Century Economics, has found the source of inequality in America:

But where does this new inequality come from? From government ...

Well, he's right in part.  That would be the part of government and the party to which he belongs, whose unofficial motto is "Benefit Cuts For Thee, Tax Cuts For Me."

That's A REAL Thug

New York Teapublican Rep. Michael "Dim" Grimm might want to check his right-wing rage at the doors of the Capitol building from now on.  Last night, toward the end of an interview with local New York station NY1, the reporter (Michael Scotto) shifted topics and asked Dim Grimm about the ongoing Federal investigation into his campaign finances.  Grimm blew up and threatened the reporter with violence, at one point saying he'd break him in half and throw him over the balcony.  The video (at the link) has gone viral, and Grimm has finally apologized, after initially refusing to.

After the recent playoff game between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers, Seahawk player Richard Sherman delivered an emotional rant on national TV, and was labeled a "thug" by a lot of wingers on social media.  He never threatened anyone with violence, as Dim Grimm did.  That's the mark of a real thug.

BONUS:  And a classy "ladies man," to boot.

BONUS II:  Dim Grimm doesn't pick his victims well (bwahahaha):

Rep. Michael Grimm didn’t know whom he was dealing with on Tuesday when he threatened to throw NY1 reporter Michael Scotto off the US Capitol balcony and “break you in half. Like a boy.” 

The journalist is related to Anthony Scotto, former head of the Brooklyn longshoremen’s union and a former boss in the Gambino crime family.  (our emphasis)

Our assessment:  grim times are in store for Rep. Grimm.

Mid-Week Song

The band O.A.R., four of whose five members graduated from Wootton High School in Rockville, MD, as did several of our "offspring," has had considerable success in the past decade.  One of their songs, "Shattered (Turn the Car Around)," reached number 2 on the charts in late 2008.  Here's a live performance of that song.

Don't Let The Door Hit You….

Recently, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said some pointed things about extreme conservatives not being electable in New York:  they should find someplace else to live.  Over the line?  Maybe, but Jon Stewart takes on the reaction by the right wing to Cuomo's blast, specifically that of uber-winger rabble rouser Sean "Heil" Hanity.  (The Jersey Boys performance and Nathan Lane's sendoff in the second part are priceless).

Part 1

Part 2

Pete Seeger, 1919 - 2014

Folk music legend Peter Seeger has passed away at the age of 94.  With the possible exceptions of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, no other artist has had the ranging influence on folk music as Pete Seeger.  Composing such iconic songs as "Turn, Turn, Turn," "If I Had A Hammer," and "Where Have All The Flowers Gone," Seeger's music spoke to generations of Americans looking for meaning in their music.  He supported labor rights in the '30s and '40s, stood up to the McCarthy witch hunt in the '50s, and marched for civil rights and against the war in Vietnam in the '60s.  Seeger was also a prominent environmental activist, lending support to clean water causes and environmental preservation for nearly 50 years.  Here's the New York Times' article on the music icon.  Rest in peace.

Poll: Rethuglicans More Extreme

For those in the Beltway media that push the "both sides are to blame" argument in politics, a new Pew Research poll shows that the American public knows the situation better:  54 percent believe the Republicans are more extreme (vs. 35 percent saying Democrats), and 52 percent believe the Democrats are more willing to compromise (vs. 27 percent saying Republicans).

That won't change the Beltway media's narrative, however.  Their careers depend on access to politicians in both parties, not calling it like it is.  Wouldn't want to offend any extreme obstructionists, would they?

Na-Na-Na-Na, Trey-Trey-Trey, Goodbye

Florida Teapublican Congressman and cocaine aficionado Trey "Snow Nose" Radel, who was arrested last October on cocaine possession charges in Washington, D.C., is resigning from Congress effective later today.   Snow Nose spent six weeks in rehab, and vowed to continue in Congress, despite calls from his own party to step aside.  Snow Nose was an especially overt hypocrite on the matter of drug testing people receiving Federal assistance.

Now Snow Nose will be free to spend more time with his dealer family.

(photo:  "More time to par-tay!")

Today's Cartoon

(click to enlarge)

(Tom Toles, once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle)

The hostage-taking threats continue, all the while those playing to the non-reality-based insist their fingerprints weren't on the last manufactured crisis.

Monday Morning Reading - Of Fox and Rich Men

You might call this the "get out of your crouch, progressives!" morning reading:

-- Frank Rich has a long, provocative piece on why liberals should see Fox "News" as roadkill, and that, "Rather than waste time bemoaning Fox's bogus journalism, liberals should encourage it."  We must admit, noting the constant crazy coming from Fox is like catnip to us.  But rather than reacting to every Fox dropping, Rich makes the point that we should be focused on promoting bread- and- butter economic issues where we have the wind at our back (i.e., raising the minimum wage, income inequality, job creation).

-- Speaking of economic issues, Paul Krugman writes about the paranoia of the plutocrats, and why progressives should see it as a sign we're doing something right.

BONUS:  Steve M. at No More Mister Nice Blog has a bracing rejoinder to the Rich article.

Sunday Funnies

(click to enlarge)

As the Winter Olympics approach, a perfect storm of problems are plaguing the regime of Vladimir Putin.  Foremost, of course, is the threat of terrorist attacks similar to the ones last month in Volgograd, and Putin has turned Sochi into an armed camp of security forces and police.  Added to that is the unrest in the Ukraine over their government's desire to draw closer to Putin's Russia and away from the European Union, something that Ukrainians oppose.  Lastly, there's an atmosphere of intolerance and political oppression pervading the Olympics that are part of Putin's style.  We'll be watching some events, but not without holding our noses.

(cartoon:  Jim Morin, The Miami Herald, via Gocomics.com)

"We're Sorry..."

We're sorry to have to point you to Dana Milbank's column in today's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle, 'cause there's a lot of sorry people over there:

 Chris Christie is terribly sorry that his staff lied to him about things they did without his knowledge, and he feels remorse that the partisan media are targeting him with a witch hunt. 

Bob McDonnell is really sorry that an overzealous federal prosecutor is going after him for doing perfectly legal things. 

And Glenn Beck feels just awful that people were so “fragile” that they allowed his rhetoric to tear the country apart. 

Wouldn't it be refreshing if male right-wingers, classic over-compensators when it comes to defining masculinity, learned to take responsibility -- and the consequences -- for their actions?  We're so sorry they won't.

Republicans Meet, Remain Clueless

The reviews of the recently-completed winter meeting of the Republican National Committee are in, and they're not pretty:

A quick look at the media coverage confirms the party is still struggling: 

Politico: "After the 2012 election, establishment Republicans promised things would be different next time. They'd stop turning off women. They'd tamp down on rogue outside groups. And they'd get the tea party movement in line. But now that 2014 is here, those goals seem as elusive as ever and even insiders admit the party's got a long way to go — if it really wants to change." 

Reuters: "At the Republican National Committee's winter meeting this week in Washington, it was clear the panic that hit the party after the 2012 elections has subsided, although polls indicate that efforts to make the party more attractive to single women, minorities and gays, groups that favor Democrats by big numbers, have not made any headway." 

Associated Press: "Yet, awkward comments about contraception and women's reproductive systems and chatter over Michigan committeeman Dave Agema's derogatory comments about gays and Muslims obscured the party's attempt to feature its efforts at last week's meeting."

Let's not forget (and we won't) to add in the remarks at the meeting by potential Republican presidential candidate and gyno-fetishist, former Arkansas Gov. Mike "Huckleberry" Huckabee (R-Genitalia). Many electrons are still being used up across the internetz and on op/ed pages on Preacher Huckleberry's choice of language and, more to the point, how the "thinking" behind that language is in the DNA of the Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid Party.  With DNA as strong as that, we (again) despair of the rebranding.

BONUS:  Meanwhile, let's see how well misogynist Republican attacks on Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis will go over.  This collection is particularly offensive.

BONUS II:   For the "Are you shitting me?" file, the Arizona Republican Party has censured Sen. John "Grampypants" McCain for... not being conservative enough.  These crackpots love to eat their own, don't they?  Maybe we should pass them some forks and knives.

Republicans: Confusing Bullying With Manhood

Bill Maher last night:

In Passing

Former Congressman Otis Pike (D-NY) died last week at the age of 92.  Pike served his New York district from 1960 to 1978.  He was a pugnacious and witty politician, a Marine Corps pilot during WWII, and a gleeful mocker of the Pentagon's foolish spending.  Here's a story from his obituary:

"While speaking out against what he considered outlandish defense spending during the Vietnam War, Mr. Pike cited the example of small metal rods with a retail cost of 50 cents. The Pentagon, which bought them for $25.55 apiece, described them as 'precision shafting.' 'For once,' Mr. Pike declared on the House floor, 'the American taxpayer got precisely what he paid for.'" (emphasis added)

When he left Congress, he said it was no longer fun serving there.  Too bad we can't have more Otis Pikes today.

Today's Cartoon and Flowchart - Republican Rebranding Edition

(click to enlarge)

(Pat Oliphant, via gocomics.com)

And, from the Iowa Republican Party, we have this (click to enlarge):

They just can't help themselves.

Ukraine Burning

Here are haunting photos from pro-European Union demonstrations in Kiev, Ukraine over the past 36 hours. For more, go to TPM.  (click to enlarge)

(Photos:  AP/Sergei Grits)

Weekend Song

As we approach our Beatles milestone date, we want to share another favorite, this from the film "A Hard Day's Night."  "I Should Have Known Better" is a John Lennon composition released in July 1964.  Of note is lead guitarist George Harrison's brand-new 12-string Rickenbacker 360/12, the "sneaky" 12-string that intrigued Byrds founder Roger McGuinn into getting a Rickenbacker for himself.  And the rest is history, as they say.   If this song doesn't get you on your feet, you may want to have your pulse checked!  Enjoy the weekend!

Three Million Enrollees Under ACA

The Department of Health and Human Services reports that some 3 million Americans have signed up for private health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as of January 15.  Despite a botched roll-out in October, the numbers of people signing up for affordable health insurance through the HealthCare.gov website or through State health insurance exchanges is roughly on pace to reach up to 7 million enrollees by the end of March.

The more Americans that receive affordable coverage under the ACA -- coverage that doesn't stop when they get sick and that covers pre-existing conditions --  the harder it will be for right-wing reactionaries to campaign against it.

Quote of the Day II

“Listen, I like to play golf. I like to cut my own grass. You know, I do drink red wine. I smoke cigarettes.  And I'm not giving that up to be the president of the United States.” -- Weeper of the House John "Mr. Tangerine Man" Boehner, appearing on "The Tonight Show," explaining his priorities.  The Weeper was out West on a fundraising and PR mission and perhaps to play a little golf and drink wine, rather than meet with his Ohio constituents.  After all, priorities.

Quote of the Day I

"There’s an enduring myth among the punditocracy that populism doesn’t sell, that Americans don’t care about the gap between the rich and everyone else. It’s not true. Yes, we’re a nation that admires rather than resents success, but most people are nonetheless disturbed by the extreme disparities of our Second Gilded Age." -- Nobel Prize economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.  His column in today's Times challenges the myths on the right about income inequality's effects on the economy, and what to do about it.

Another Shoe

According to new reports, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer told associates (including a city council member) last May of the threat by New Jersey Gov. Chris "Krispykreme" Christie to withhold Sandy funds from her city unless she supported a development project backed by Krispykreme.  That would give Federal prosecutors reason to lend additional weight to Mayor Zimmer's allegation, since contemporaneous accounts of the threat were given to others.   New Jersey Lt. Gov. and Krispykreme's underboss Kim Guadagno has denied Mayor Zimmer's charge that she relayed the Governor's threat in a parking lot outside the Hoboken city hall last May.  Federal prosecutors will be interviewing the associates next week to get their sworn statements.  In the face of this development, Guadagno will have to decide whether she will cooperate with the Feds, or try to stonewall.  For Krispykreme, neither option bodes well.

And that still leaves the separate, ongoing investigations of Bridgegate….

Right-Wing Hack Indicted For Fraudulent Campaign Contributions

It's that faithful chronicler of President Obama and upholder of family values,  right-wing hack Dinesh D'Souza:

 Dinesh D'Souza, a conservative commentator and best-selling author, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for arranging excessive campaign contributions to a candidate for the U.S. Senate. 

According to an indictment made public on Thursday in federal court in Manhattan, D'Souza around August 2012 reimbursed people who he had directed to contribute $20,000 to the candidate's campaign. The candidate was not named in the indictment. [snip]

D'Souza was charged in the indictment with one count of making illegal contributions in the names of others, and one count of causing false statements to be made.

You're not a good man, Dinesh D'Souza.  But we already knew that.

Huckabee Still Not Scoring With The Ladies

The toobz are abuzz today with comments made by Bible banger and former Gov. Mike "Huckleberry" Huckabee (R-Genitalia) at the Republican National Committee's Winter Meeting.  Seems like the once and future Republican candidate for President has some thoughts about the Republican War on Women -  er, make that the Demoncrat War on Women.  Sensing that the women of America wanted to hear yet another middle-aged, uptight, white Republican school them on politics and sex,

Huckabee said Democrats tell women “they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing them for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of government.”  [our emphasis]

Of all the ripostes to Huckleberry's attempt at oratorical ju-jitsu, we like TBogg's best:

So there you have it. Democrats know that the ladies would like to be sexing and succubusing the shit out of men 24/7 because of their out of control “libido” but  the gals also don’t want to be pooping out a baby every nine months. So Democrats will give women free birth control in exchange for their votes in much the same way that they give the blacks free Obamaphones. If you are a black lady, check your mailbox, you may have won twice!

If Huckleberry's "reading" of "the ladies" is representative of "thinking" in Republican circles, we despair of their "rebranding."

BONUS:  Steve M. at No More Mister Nice Blog reminds us who Huckleberry is channeling (hint: "Oink-oink.")

BONUS II:  Preacher Huckleberry has a consistency hypocrisy problem, we think.  Shocking!

Funny story: in 2005, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee signed a law mandating Arkansas insurance plans provide contraception coverage, including church-affiliated organizations such as hospitals and universities. 

Nine years ago, Huckabee thought that the government should ensure that everyone had access to contraception. In fact, as the Los Angeles Times detailed in 2012, all sorts of Republicans were happily embracing contraception coverage mandates in the days of Bush and Clinton.

(Photo:  "The Lord says, 'Control your libido without the help of gummint,' ladies!")

Elections Have Consequences, Virginia Edition

Virginia's new Attorney General Mark Herring (D) has announced that Virginia will no longer side with the commonwealth's anti-marriage equality law in a pending lawsuit challenging the state law.  Citing the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, Herring declared that,

 "As attorney general, I cannot and will not defend laws that violate Virginians' rights.  The commonwealth will be siding with the plaintiffs in this case and with every other Virginia couple whose right to marry is being denied." (emphasis added)

That's a 180-degree shift from the attitude of former Rethuglican AG Ken "Transvaginal" Cuccinelli, and points to the reality that an increasing majority of Americans support marriage equality.

It's Snowing Stupidity At The WaPo

Apparently the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle thinks it hasn't gone far enough to the right, with George Will, Charles Krauthammer, Jennifer Rubin, Michael Gerson, and Mark Thiessen among others soiling its pages.  Now, the Bezos Bugle is hiring The Volokh Conspiracy, a right-wing climate change denier site, to replace the departed star Ezra Klein on its website.  What, George Will's quill pen broke?

If the Bezos Bugle's strategy is to out-right-wing the Moonie paper Washington Times, it might want to look more carefully at regional political demographics:  DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia have become Democratic strongholds, and the region in increasingly diverse ethnically with Latino, South Asian and African American households on the rise, not exactly fertile ground for Teapublican opinion.  What next for the Bezos Bugle?  A dinosaurs-and-humans-coexisted creationist column?

(image:  Citizen Shame)

Too Little Too Late Quote of the Day

“I remember it as an awful lot of fun and that I made an awful lot of mistakes, and I wish I could go back and be more uniting in my language.  I think I played a role, unfortunately, in helping tear the country apart and it's not who we are.”  -- blubbering loon Glenn "Dreck" Beck, interviewed on the Fux Channel, in a rare moment of lucidity.

Now, as your penance, please GET LOST (and get treatment).  America will be the better for it.

Good Signs In Virginia

With the Democratic sweep of the top positions in the Commonwealth of Virginia -- Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General -- last November, it's clear that Virginia may be transitioning from a purple state to a blue state. When Dem. Mark Herring won the Attorney General job, he vacated a state senate position, and yesterday, despite a snow storm, Democrat Jennifer Wexton won his seat in a special election with 53% of the vote, to Teapublican John Whitbeck's 38% (Independent candidate Joe May drew less than 10%).  Wexton ran a vigorous campaign, with one ad saying she'd fight "Tea Party Republicans" in Richmond over their conservative, anti-women social agenda.  Wexton's victory moves the Dems closer to control of the Virginia State Senate;  Democrat Lynwood Lewis leads his millionaire Rethuglican opponent by only 9 votes in the race to win Lt. Governor Ralph Northam's seat, with a recount in progress.

(photo:  State senator-elect Jennifer Wexton, by Rick Wasser, Loudon Times-Mirror)

Mid-Week Song

The number one song 20 years ago this week -- and for the next three weeks -- featured Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, and Sting singing "All For Love."  (You have to get through the first minute of the video, as the trio yuck it up with each other).

Ding-Dong. Secret Service Calling! (Cont.)

Today we have a current and potential recidivist candidate for a visit from the Secret Service:

The U.S. Secret Service paid a visit to the Florida state House candidate who advocated for President Barack Obama's execution on Twitter. 

Joshua Black, a Republican who is running in Florida House District 68, told the Tampa Bay Times that Secret Service agents had come to his home following the uproar over his comments 

"I'm past impeachment. It's time to arrest him and hang him high," read a message on Black's campaign Twitter page Monday.  [our emphasis]

The Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid Party, a.k.a. "House of Nuts."

And, blog favorite Ted "Crap Pants Fever" Nugent is apparently off his feed again, saying on January 17:

I have obviously failed to galvanize and prod, if not shame enough Americans to be ever vigilant not to let a Chicago communist raised communist educated communist nurtured subhuman mongrel like the ACORN community organizer gangster Barack Hussein Obama to weasel his way into the top office of authority in the United States of America. I am heartbroken but I am not giving up. I think America will be America again when Barack Obama, [Attorney General] Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton, [Sen.] Dick Durbin, [former New York City Mayor] Michael Bloomberg and all of the liberal Democrats are in jail facing the just due punishment that their treasonous acts are clearly apparent. 

So a lot of people would call that inflammatory speech. Well I would call it inflammatory speech when it’s your job to protect Americans and you look into the television camera and say what difference does it make that I failed in my job to provide security and we have four dead Americans. What difference does that make? Not to a chimpanzee or Hillary Clinton, I guess it doesn’t matter.

Crap Pants Fever Nugent, who never served his country in or out of uniform, is a National Gun Manufacturers Rifle Association board member who's well-known to the Secret Service for his past blowhard bullshit.  Having a crackpot on the NRA board is par for the course;  but a crackpot who's also a vicious racist?  Is the NRA "tent" that big?

Crippling Unions: The Far Right's On-Going Crusade

Unable to prevail at the ballot box, Republicans and their extremist plutocrat backers are hard at work chipping away at one of the foundations of the progressive movement:  labor unions.

The ultra-wealthy DeVos family (the Amway co-founders) aren't as well known as the nefarious "dark money" Koch brothers, but they are heavy hitters in the extreme right's re-energized battle to crush the union movement, starting in their home state of Michigan:

Passing right-to-work in Michigan was more than a policy victory. It was a major score for Republicans who have long sought to weaken the Democratic Party by attacking its sources of funding and organizing muscle. "Michigan big labor literally controls one of the major political parties," Dick DeVos said last January. "I'm not suggesting they have influence; I'm saying they hold total dominance, command, and control." So DeVos and his allies hit labor—and the Democratic Party—where it hurt: their bank accounts. By attacking their opponents' revenue stream, they could help put Michigan into play for the GOP heading into the 2016 presidential race—as it was more than three decades earlier, when the state's Reagan Democrats were key to winning the White House. 

More broadly, the Michigan fight has given hope—and a road map—to conservatives across the country working to cripple organized labor and defund the left. Whereas party activists had for years viewed right-to-work as a pipe dream, a determined and very wealthy family, putting in place all the elements of a classic political campaign, was able to move the needle in a matter of months. "Michigan is Stalingrad, man," one prominent conservative activist told me. "It's where the battle will be won or lost."  [our emphasis]

Harold Meyerson highlights another villain in the extreme right's effort to cripple unions and, therefore, the progressive movement:

Among the causes most frequently cited for the dizzying rise in American inequality in recent decades — globalization, technology, de-unionization — one culprit is generally left off the list: the Supreme Court. But the justices (more precisely, the conservative justices) must be given their due. In cases ranging from Buckley v. Valeo in 1976 to Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010, they have greatly increased the wealthy’s sway over elections — which, in turn, has led to public policies that have reduced taxes on the rich, curtailed regulation of Wall Street and kept workers from forming unions. 

On Tuesday, the justices were presented with a golden opportunity to further increase inequality. [our emphasis]

Meyerson is referring to the Harris v. Quinn case that is currently before the Supreme Court.  Please read both the Mother Jones and Meyerson pieces to get a real sense of the pernicious efforts of the ultra-wealthy, ultra-right to take away the gains made by the middle class and Democrats over the past half-century, with a critical assist from the Republicans on the Supreme Court.

Factoid of the Day - Income Inequality Dept.

From Oxfam:  the 85 richest people have as much wealth as the lowest income half of the world. That's $110 trillion and 3.5 billion people.  If anyone thinks that's alright, there's something wrong with him (like he's "hard-core right wing").

Video of the Day

Via Let's Move:

Former Gov. McDonnell and Wife Indicted

Former Virginia grifter/ Gov. "Blowdry Bob" McDonnell (R-Bribe) and his wife Maureen have been indicted today on Federal corruption charges:

Former Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and his wife Maureen were charged in federal court Tuesday with illegally accepting gifts, luxury vacations and large loans from a wealthy Richmond-area businessman who sought special treatment from state government. 

The two were charged in connection with their relationship with dietary supplement executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr.

You can read the 14 felony counts here.  So, here we have another example of a venal pol seeing government service as a chance to pad his bank account.   To think, just a few short years ago, McDonnell was being touted as one of the future stars of the Republican / New Confederate/ Stupid Party.

Hmmm... Kind of like Gov. Chris "Krispykreme" Christie was a few months ago.  And Sen. Marco "Glug Glug" Rubio and Gov. "Bobby" Jindal and...

Poll: Two-Thirds of Americans Dissatisfied With Income Inequality

A new Gallup Poll is showing that two-thirds of Americans are dissatisfied with growing income inequality.  (Note how closely Democrats and Independents track.)  Click to enlarge:

Applying our keen analytical skillz, we're detecting a winning political issue here (that has the benefit of being a highly moral one, too):

Attitudes about the distribution of income and wealth are highly related to partisanship. Republicans, at 45% very or somewhat satisfied, express the highest satisfaction with the current wealth disparity in the U.S. Democrats are much less satisfied, at 24%, with independents closer in satisfaction to Democrats, at 28%. Furthermore, almost half (43%) of Democrats and independents express strong dissatisfaction with the current state of wealth and income distribution.  [our emphasis]

We should also mention the upcoming meeting in March between President Obama and Pope Francis, who has taken a refreshing turn from his two most recent predecessors in aligning himself - and the Church - unequivocally with the poor and against "unfettered capitalism."  That could provide yet another opportunity to highlight the problem of the accelerating income gap between the poor and the super rich (possibly causing the heads of "Sweaty Bill" Donohue, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Neil Cavuto and all the other "Catholics" over at Fox "News" to explode).

Report: Income Inequality The Biggest World-wide Risk

Prior to next week's economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum has released its Global Risks report.  The consensus greatest risk to the global community in the opinion of the leaders surveyed?

The large and growing income gap between rich and poor is the biggest risk to the global community in the next decade, the World Economic Forum said on Thursday as politicians, business leaders and academics prepared to gather in Davos.

Reflecting mounting concern about the risk to societies from inequality, the WEF said the need to tackle disparities in income and wealth had to be addressed at WEF's annual gathering in the Swiss ski resort of Davos next week.

Extreme weather events and unemployment/underemployment were the next two projected greatest risks.

(Pro tip to the organizers:  maybe the "Swiss ski resort of Davos" doesn't provide the best optics if you're going to be talking about the growing income gap between the rich and the poor.  Just sayin'.)

Our Broken Media, Cont'd.

This quote from today's New York Times speaks volumes about why our mainstream media is broken:

"Off camera, the governor [Chris Christie] developed close ties to anchors like Ms. Brzezinski, even showing up at her book signing not long ago. Immediately after Mr. Christie concluded his apologetic news conference about the controversy last week, he spent 15 minutes on the phone with Ms. Brzezinski as he prepared to face Fort Lee, the small community crippled by gridlock from the lane closures, she said.

On Sunday, Ms. Brzezinski still spoke fondly of Mr. Christie and his wife, Mary Pat, 'whom I have the biggest admiration for,' she said."

 We're not suggesting that Mika Brzezinski is a journalist, rather than a cable hostess / TV wife to hack Joe "Squint" Scarborough.  But there should be an arms-length relationship for anyone even playing the role of a journalist with the people they cover.  The kissy-kissy relationship between Brzezinski and Krispykreme shouldn't be allowed by the execs at MSNBC to color their coverage of the embattled governor.  As for those book signings, perhaps Krispykreme wouldn't have shown up if Mika didn't put on her tabletop show.

BONUS:  Curiously (or not so much considering), former Mittens Romney testicle-cozy and wannabe Krispykreme testicle-cozy Jennifer Rubin thinks MSNBC has been vewy, vewy mean to that nice Mr. Krispykreme!  Nothing to see here, move along, move along!

BONUS II:  Jon Chait has a response to Rubin's whinging.

(photo:  Mark Selinger, Vanity Fair)

Today's Tomorrow Cartoon

(click to enlarge)

Public officials who were previously intimidated by Gov. Chris "Krispykreme" Christie's power are now stepping forward with their accounts of strong-arm politics.  The allegations made by Hoboken mayor Dawn Zimmer are now in the hands of Federal prosecutors, who will determine whether Federal laws were broken in an alleged case of extortion by the Christie administration.  In the meantime, Krispykreme wants us to believe he "didn't know nuttin'," but is "very, very sad."

UPDATE:  Krispykreme's underboss Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno denies Mayor Zimmer's allegations in an appearance where she refused to take questions from the media about her role in the Hoboken caper.  The U.S. Attorney will sort things out and put people under oath.

(cartoon:  Tom Tomorrow)

Martin Luther King, Jr., 1929-1968

"In the final analysis, the rich must not ignore the poor because both rich and poor are tied in a single garment of destiny. All life is interrelated, and all men are interdependent. The agony of the poor diminishes the rich, and the salvation of the poor enlarges the rich. We are inevitably our brothers' keeper because of the interrelated structure of reality." Nobel Laureate lecture, Oslo, Norway, December 11, 1964.

Rodman To Rehab

Former NBA player and poster boy for piercings gone bad Dennis "The Menace" Rodman has checked into an alcohol rehabilitation center for treatment.  Rodman has spent time in North Korea with the boy tyrant Kim Jong Un as a self-appointed ambassador of goodwill, during which time he defended North Korea's unlawful detention of a Korean-American citizen, Kenneth Bae, and sang "Happy Birthday" to the brutal North Korean dictator.

Rodman, who apparently fancies himself the next Jesse Jackson or Barack Obama, has been widely condemned for lending an air of credibility to the North Korean regime by his visits and his work with their men's national basketball team.  Hopefully, he'll dry out for good and take a long, hard look at how his behavior was exploited by a brutal dictatorship.

(photo:  The Dear Leader asks if Rodman can take a .45 caliber piercing)

The Senate Intelligence Report on Benghazi

In today's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle, David Ignatius writes about the recent Senate intelligence committee report on "Benghazi !":

The Senate intelligence committee made headlines this week by reporting that the 2012 attack in Benghazi was preventable. But frankly, we knew that. The deeper message of the bipartisan report was that Republicans in Congress wasted a year arguing about what turned out to be mostly phony issues.  [snip] 

The Republican tirades about Benghazi were unfortunate not just because they were based on erroneous speculation but also because they distracted policymakers from the real challenge of framing coherent policy in the Middle East. Sometimes, it seemed as if Benghazi finger-pointing was the only issue that leading Republicans cared about. 

In between the selected paragraphs above, Ignatius indicates how the (bi-partisan) Senate report refuted more than a year's worth of Republican witch-hunting and character assassination, led by the execrable Rep. Darrell "Grand Theft Auto" Issa (R-Arson).   What Ignatius omits is the "why," i.e., the real issue "leading Republicans cared about."   Let's fill in that blank for him in two words:  Hillary Clinton.

The minute Barack Obama became a lame duck President, Republicans shifted their strategic focus to roughing up the strongest Democratic contender for 2016:  Hillary Clinton.  It must have scared the bejezus out of Fox "News" (GOP-TV) that Clinton was leading every potential Republican contender by double digits, hence their drumbeat of "coverup!" that began the year-long obsession:

Driving the Republican jihad was a claim, first reported in October 2012 by Fox News, that CIA personnel had wanted to respond more quickly to the Benghazi attack but were ordered to “stand down,” perhaps by political higher-ups. Although this claim was promptly rebutted by CIA officials, it was repeated by Fox News at least 85 times, according to a review by the liberal advocacy group Media Matters. This barrage fueled Republican charges that the Democrats were engaging in a coverup.

They might need to manufacture a new diversion, though, because Hillary's lead over her closest Republican rival, once-Great White Whale Hope Gov. Chris "Krispykreme" Christie, is back to double digits.

Sunday Funnies

(click to enlarge)

The polluting company that caused the chemical spill in the water supply of Waste Virginia has declared bankruptcy.  So-called Freedom Industries has $3. 7 million in outstanding debt to creditors and (surprise!) owes the Federal Government nearly $2.5 million in unpaid taxes.

We'll see in the months and years ahead whether the good people of Waste Virginia will tolerate more deregulation for the purpose of attracting reckless polluters to their State in exchange for their health.

(cartoon:  Rob Rogers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, via Gocomics.com)

Praise The Lord and Pass The Contraceptives

A headline in yesterday's HuffPo:

Nun Gives Birth To Baby Boy In Italy

She said, "I did not know I was pregnant" with the 9 pound baby boy.  (Whew!)  She did wonder if that priest at her church knew what he was doing when he gave her a pap test.  (ba-dom-dom)

She named the boy Francesco (Francis) in honor of the Pope, so quick thinking there.

Another Shoe Dropping in Christie's Fiefdom?

A lot of buzz about MSNBC "Up" host Steve Kornacki's interview today of Hoboken, NJ, mayor Dawn Zimmer, who alleges Gov. Chris "Krispykreme" Christie's goons strong-armed her during the Hurricane Sandy disaster:

Two senior members of Gov. Chris Christie’s administration warned a New Jersey mayor earlier this year that her town would be starved of hurricane relief money unless she approved a lucrative redevelopment plan favored by the governor, according to the mayor and emails and personal notes she shared with msnbc. 

The mayor, Dawn Zimmer, hasn’t approved the project, but she did request $127 million in hurricane relief for her city of Hoboken – 80% of which was underwater after Sandy hit in October 2012. What she got was $142,000 to defray the cost of a single back-up generator plus an additional $200,000 in recovery grants. 

Anyone noticing a pattern here?  This could be the opening that empowers other Jersey officials to come forward with their own accounts of other Krispykreme administration extortionist strong-arm tactics that have directly harmed the State's citizens.

Today's Cartoons and Read - The Republican Poverty and Deprivation Agenda

(click to enlarge)

(Dan Wasserman, Boston Globe)

(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

We know Republicans are engaged in a (futile) effort to send the message "We care!" about the jobless and the poor, while "deep-six-ing" programs that would alleviate their misery.  Meanwhile, Ezra Klein says "Follow the money" if you want to gauge the seriousness of Republican concern:

Follow the trail in the party’s recent budgets and what you find, hidden between appendix tables, are deep cuts to programs for the poor. That’s the inevitable consequence of Republican commitments to favored constituencies. The party promised its anti-tax wing no tax increases and lower tax rates. It promised older voters that Medicare and Social Security would not change for those over age 55. It promised defense hawks that sequestration cuts to military spending would be reversed. And it promised its tea party allies that it would cut trillions from government spending and balance the federal budget. 

The only way to square all those promises is through draconian cuts to programs for the poor. The liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that programs for lower-income Americans would account for two-thirds of proposed Republican budget savings. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that as many as 37 million Americans would lose access to Medicaid, which was targeted for hundreds of billions in cuts. 

That’s an agenda that would result in more poverty and deprivation, not less. Yet all the Republicans now talking about poverty -- Sens. Marco Rubio, Mike Lee and Rand Paul and Rep. Paul Ryan -- either voted for or, in Ryan’s case, authored these cuts.

The rest of Klein's post is worth the read.

Though none of the above comes as a shock to anyone who's followed politics in the last 40 years, it's always worth highlighting the fact that the overriding concern of the Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid Party is, and for over a century has been, the welfare of the job creators  makers  wealthy 1 percent, a fact that eludes many of the knuckledraggers who vote their fears and prejudices rather than their economic interests.

Wanker of the Week

What an ignorant bigot:

Putin met with a group of volunteers in the Olympic mountain venue at Krasnaya Polyana on Friday to wish them success at the Games. During a question-and-answer session, one volunteer asked him about Russia’s attitudes toward gays, a subject that has provoked worldwide controversy, and Putin offered what was apparently meant to be a reassuring answer for visitors to the Olympics. 

"One can feel calm and at ease," he said. "Just leave the kids alone, please."

UPDATE:  Here's your runner-up.

Weekend Song

As we mentioned last Friday, we're building up to an event in rock 'n' roll history (all right, you probably figured it out by now) involving the Beatles.  So today we're featuring this Lennon/McCartney song from "Hard Days Night" sung by George Harrison.  Enjoy the weekend.

Letters We Wish We'd Written - Dark Money Edition

As we noted a while back, "dark money" (untraceable political contributions) has been exposed for the anti-democratic cancer that it is (again, thanks Roberts Court!).  To its credit the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle had an editorial on January 13 (following up on reporting by Matea Gold) on the extraordinary lengths to which far right-wing plutocrats =cough=Koch brothers=cough= go to hide the obscene amounts of money sloshing around the world of right-wing politics.  Here's a letter on the subject which appeared in today's paper:

The Post’s Jan. 13 editorial “Dark money labyrinth” asked of the conservative groups flooding our electoral process with hundreds of millions of dollars: “What do they fear from disclosure of their political investments?” It may be that these groups and other Republicans favor secrecy because most Americans do not agree with their positions.

Even most Republicans favor raising the minimum wage and extending unemployment benefits. Most Americans favor a balanced approach to the deficit, rejected by Republicans, that includes new revenue from tax reform.

Those backing such groups also probably don’t want to advertise their support for a party that considers protecting the wealthy’s privileged tax breaks as its primary priority and that relegates the plight of the unemployed and the slow economic recovery to secondary status. From minimum wage to immigrationto extending unemployment insurance to voter suppression to assaults on union workers and women’s rights, Republicans have fixed their sights on regular, hard-working Americans. If I were supporting that party and those efforts, I would want secrecy, too.   [our emphasis]

Bill Conrad, Alexandria

Money is not free speech, and corporations aren't people, no matter what the plutocrats and their toadies would have us believe.  Not only does it have the potential to subvert the democratic process, it's (yes, Justice Kennedy) corrupting.  More light needs to be shed on the problem by the media, followed by heat from the electorate.

Quote of the Day

"What an asshole." -- This pithy quote courtesy of Weeper of the House John "Mr. Tangerine Man" Boehner, referring to uber-wingnut and flaming bigot Rep. Steve King and his comparison of young undocumented Latino immigrants to drug mules with calves like cantaloupes.  Sadly for the Weeper, his caucus is overflowing with assholes.

Fire, Aim, Ready

Last July 4, a Virginia man active in the "patriot" libertarian movement, Adam "Needs An Eve" Kokesh, stood on Pennsylvania Avenue's Freedom Plaza (two blocks from the White House) with a shotgun and proceeded to load it, while ranting about the tyrannical gummint.  The stunt, which was videotaped, resulted in him being arrested on several weapons charges, and later, on drug charges when the home that he shares with several other losers men was raided and police found marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms.  After serving four months in D.C. jail, he was released today on two years' probation, after facing as much as seven years in prison for the charges against him.

Unwittingly, this 'shroom head, who proclaims himself to be a gun rights advocate, undercut his cause by his over-the-top stunt (imagine tourists with families seeing this idiot in downtown D.C.)  A newly contrite Adam Needs An Eve admitted his poor judgement at sentencing, and promised not to carry out any more stunts like that -- at least while he's on probation.  If there's a next time, throw the book at him.

(photo:  About to shoot himself in the foot)

The Rethuglican War on Women, Cont'd.

House Rethuglicans are pushing a bill, HR 7, that would open the door to IRS audits of rape and incest victims having legal abortions, among other outrages.  Think Progress gets to the heart of the offensive provision:

 "...HR 7 eliminates medical-expense deductions for abortion care, essentially raising taxes on the women who opt to have an abortion. Like many abortion restrictions, this provision includes an exemption for victims of rape and incest, as well as women who encounter life-threatening complications from their pregnancies. But in order to enforce those exceptions, the IRS would have to verify that the women who are claiming a medical-expense deduction for an abortion fall into one of those three categories, to ensure they’re not committing tax fraud." (emphasis added)

The bill is being pushed through the House's Judiciary Committee, headed by Neanderthal teahadist Rep. Bob Goodlatte, who said just yesterday that restricting abortion rights would be a way of creating jobs, when research points to the opposite.  Actually, the best jobs program would be to replace obstructionist wingnuts like Goodlatte with people whose minds aren't stuck in the 19th century.

The Toxic Kool-Aid MCHM Test*

(click to enlarge cartoon)

Jim Morin, via GoComics.com

Then there's the CEO of polluting chemical company Freedom Industries enjoying his bottled water while West Virginians go without theirs, after 7,500 gallons of toxic MCHM spilled into the Elk River.  Drink up!
(*Apologies to Tom Wolfe)

North Carolina Republicans Open A Front In The Class War

From Think Progress, here's what you get when you elect a reverse-Robin Hood Republican Governor and legislature:

The 900,000 poorest working families in North Carolina just got another tax hike from the conservatives who swept state legislature elections in 2010.

The change took effect at the beginning of 2014, meaning that the taxes those families file this spring will be the last to feature the state’s tax break for the working poor. The provision, known as the Earned Income Tax Credit or EITC, will also be 10 percent less generous in its final year. State-level EITCs work by tacking on an additional benefit to the federal EITC, and the law repealing North Carolina’s EITC for 2014 also cut the credit from 5 percent to 4.5 percent of the federal benefit.  [snip] 

Along with the disappearance of the EITC, low-income North Carolinians will be paying higher taxes in order to pay for a tax cut for the richest people in the state. Republicans moved from a two-tiered, progressive income tax system to a flat tax rate of 5.8 percent. A person who earns a million dollars per year will get a roughly $10,000 tax cut thanks to that move, but the bottom 80 percent of the income distribution will see their taxes rise. That means that four out of five taxpayers in the state were going to pay more next year even before the EITC repeal.  [our emphasis]

Class warfare?  What class warfare?!

(Image:  Where's Robin Hood when you need him?)

Today's Dispatches From The Stupid Party - Meet The Candidates Edition

There's a fair amount of Stupid in the Stupid Party today (and every day, for that matter).  Let's take a look at some of the folks the establishment wing of the Republican /New Confederate /Stupid Party would like you to not notice, starting with this goober running for Congress:

After taking a drubbing in last year's state elections, Virginia Republicans are debating whether their party has come to be defined by its extremists. But in a congressional district in Northern Virginia, one of the state's main instigators of culture warfare, state Sen. Richard H. "Dick" Black, is running in the Republican primary to replace longtime GOP moderate Rep. Frank Wolf, who is retiring. And he's guaranteed to ignite wedge-issue passion. Exhibit A: As a state legislator, Black opposed making spousal rape a crime, citing the impossibility of convicting a husband accused of raping his wife "when they're living together, sleeping in the same bed, she's in a nightie, and so forth."

Black, Dick, has more to share on his view on "Army rape," slavery (of course) and contraception (of course).  He's quite a spokesperson for the values of the Stupid Party, to say the least (and we are).

Looking away to the land of cotton (brains) - Mississippi - we have this specimen running to the right of ultra-conservative Sen. Thad Cochran in the Stupid Party primary:

Down in Mississippi, state Sen. Chris McDaniels is going to be one to watch. He's the one mounting a primary challenge against Republican Sen. Thad Cochran for being insufficiently conservative, where insufficiently conservative now includes anyone who believes in gravity or a round earth, and since Mr. McDaniels, like all sufficiently conservative conservatives, once had his own sufficiently conservative talk radio show he is proving to be a rich source of sufficiently conservative quotes. 

He was the one who blamed "hip-hop" music for Canadian gun violence, remember? It turns out he also knew what's-what about these darn Muslims and how Hollywood has been coddling them by not showing how they're all just terrahists and the like.

Hoo boy.  He'd be a great addition to the gravitas of Senate deliberations... We just aren't sure the rules would allow him to wear his tinfoil hat on the floor of the Senate.

Staying in the Stupid Party's regional base, another cotton head  wants to provide a steady diet of wingnut word salad to the people of North Carolina:

Greg Brannon, the North Carolina Republican Senate candidate endorsed by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), likened being on food stamps to slavery. 

"The answer is the Department of Agriculture should go away at the federal level," Brannon said in an interview with the North Carolina Tea Party highlighted by Mother Jones on Tuesday. "And now 80% of the farm bill is food stamps. That enslaves people. What you want to do — it's crazy but it's true — is teach people to fish so they can fish. When you're at the behest of someone else, you are actually a slavery to them [sic]."

Brain sore... losing IQ points... must end reading of dispatches... 'til next time.

Waste Virginia's Bidness Problem

Now that last week's chemical spill in West Virginia is seemingly contained, environmental activists are asking questions about the lack of regulatory oversight of the ironically-named Freedom Industries plant producing the toxic MCHM chemical.  It appears that the last inspection of the plant near Charleston, WV was in 1991, and no one seemed to be concerned that the plant was on the banks of the Elk River, upstream from a water plant serving hundreds of thousands of people.

Charles P. Pierce's take is that the State's anything-goes bidness-friendly environment led to an abdication of responsibility on the part of State regulators to the citizens, who were on the losing end of the State's "economic development" deals to entice corporate predators to set up shop in the State.

UPDATE:  Weeper of the House and man-with-the-suspicious-orange-glow John "Mr. Tangerine Man" Boehner thinks we have enough regulations.  Tell that to your constituents in the Cincinnati area, who may be affected by the upstream spill.