Some Things Never Change

From Dave Remnick (The New Yorker) via Balloon Juice, this clip from President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 pegs the evasive dishonesty of the Rethuglican party that's been it's hallmark ever since:



Amazing how their DNA remained constant over the decades.

Pants On Fire Cartoon of the Day

(click to enlarge)

One development from the Rethug convention wasn't that there were lies, misrepresentations and distortions aplenty dished out; that's par for the course. It was that the normally passive political press (of the "he says the earth is flat, she says it's a sphere -- you decide who's right" variety) at least began to call out Rethug VP candidate Rep. Paul "Lyin'" Ryan for the serial lying in his convention speech. The Rethugs, of course, don't particularly care if they're called out, since their base and a significant number of other low information voters have ceased believing what the "mainstream media" says. As Willard "Pinocchio" Romney's own pollster says,

"We won't let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers."

They've made a good start.

UPDATE: Is lying just part of Lyin' Ryan's makeup? Now, he's been caught in a lie about running a marathon in a world-class time.

Lyin' Ryan Video of the Day

Hat tip to our Milwaukee Bureau Chief for this example of Rethug VP Paul "Lyin'" Ryan's dishonesty; here, it's a lie about the closing of an auto plant in Janesville which was actually on Dumbya Bush's watch, not President Obama's.

How Do Republicans Win Elections?

They Lie (mendacious "Mitt the Twit" and the RNC);

They Cheat;

They Steal (hello Bush v. Gore!).

Any questions?

Immigration Stat of the Week

"...[T]he six largest southwestern border cities have lower crime rates -- and, specifically, lower rates of murder, rape, robbery and burglary -- than the six largest cities in Ohio, home state of Republican House Speaker John A. Boehner, whose spokesman said last week that immigration reform was dead until violence at the border was checked." -- Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), via today's Kaplan Daily editorial excoriating Rethugs for their fear-mongering distortions on immigration.

It's Why We Call Them "Rethugs," Cont.

Earlier this week, Weeper of the House John "Orange Boner" Boehner spoke to the true Rethuglican base: Wall Street. His speech was meant to reassure the assembled money men that they were still masters of the universe and would remain so as long as Rethugs could do anything about it. Needless to say, facts never got in the way of Orange Boner's presentation. Here's a slam dunk rebuttal of Orange Boner's outright lies (and another reason why we call them "Rethugs").

(Photo: Look, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings... jeez, man up!)

Let the Backpedaling Begin!

Think Progress sums up the furious backpedaling going on in Rethug ranks on the subject of the $100 billon in cuts in discretionary spending the Rethugs promised in their lemon "Pledge to America." Turns out that was "hypothetical." What they really meant was more like $50 billion, or maybe less. Maybe a lot less.

Not even in power one day and another "Pledge" is out the window. Is that a tea kettle whistling...?

"The Shame of the Fourth Estate"

You can add Charles Kaiser's piece to the growing oeuvre on the media's shocking failure to separate news from right-wing propaganda (as E.J. Dionne put it). Needless to say (but we'll say it anyway), progressives have to continue to push back hard at the lazy complicity of the media in the right's Big Lies. The media gets continual pressure/ badgering from the right to be "fair and balanced," whether or not there's any truth to the "story" the right is peddling (debunked but not gone: the ACORN "scandal," health reform "death panels," the Obama birth certificate, etc.). Push back must continue through the mid-term elections, otherwise the narrative will continue to be the one created by the liars.

(Image: Three-fourths of the estate)

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

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

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