Friday, April 11, 2014
Colbert Skewers O'Reilly - Bingbingbing!
We're going to miss this guy. Watch Stephen Colbert respond to Fox "News'" perpetual bullshit machine Bill "Bingbingbing" O'Reilly's latest dumbass grievance:
Weekend Embryonic Song
Here in Maryland, the State legislature recently passed a bill decriminalizing possession of marijuana for amounts under 10 grams (about a third of an ounce). You get escalating fines, but no criminal record. It's clearly a first step (given the many socially conservative Dems in the legislature, it was a small miracle anything was passed). Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley has said he will sign the bill into law.
Jefferson Airplane was a San Francisco based group that would appreciate both the intent of the law as well as its embryonic nature (alright alright, enough with the tortured segue). Here they are with guitarist (and D.C. native) Jorma Kaukonen's "Embryonic Journey" from their masterpiece pre- Summer of Love 1967 album "Surrealistic Pillow":
New Management at HHS
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced her resignation yesterday, after five years in that position. The recent boom in health insurance enrollments under the Affordable Care Act, now numbering 7.5 million, means that Sebelius can leave on a decidedly positive note, after the bungled roll-out last October threatened the law's implementation. President Obama intends to nominate the current Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, to replace Sebelius. In many ways, it's a thankless job, as Secretary Sebelius can attest, and we wish Ms. Burwell well.
Dems, This Is How It's Done
Senator Mark Begich (D-Alaska) is in a tough contest for re-election this year. Republicans who hope to capture the seat, and right-wing Koch-funded groups like "Americans for (Plutocrat) Prosperity," have been putting out the usual bogus information about Begich's record. In Alaska and elsewhere where Democratic Senators are up for re-election -- particularly in "red" states -- deceitful attacks are being launched on the Affordable Care Act, attacks which have later been debunked. In our opinion, this is how the Dems should respond:
Other Dems should sit up and take note (and perhaps hire Begich's media consultants): that is how you counter the dark, negative messaging of the Rethuglican / New Confederate / Stupid Party and the plutocrats that own them.
(hat tip to Daily Kos)
Quote of the Week
"Is that somebody throwing something at me? Is that part of Cirque du Soleil? My goodness, I didn't know that solid waste management was so controversial." -- Hillary Clinton, yesterday at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries meeting at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino in Las Vegas (to applause and laughter). A lady loon had just thrown a shoe in her direction during Ms. Clinton's speech. The unnamed loon was arrested.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Noooo
According to CBS, political satirist and tormenter of right wingers everywhere Stephen Colbert will be replacing David Letterman as host of the Late Night show next year when Letterman retires. Colbert is brilliant, but it wouldn't seem to be his kind of venue. Neil Patrick Harris, or someone with his multiple talents would be seem to be a better fit, but who knows? Oh, well, good luck to a satirical genius.
Comedy Central needs to bring back the brilliant John Oliver and put him in that timeslot. When he was last summer's substitute for Jon Stewart, he made us wish the cable network would find a home for him somewhere, anywhere. Now, perhaps they can.
BONUS: Anything that enrages the conservatwits is good by us.
And the Rockets' Red Glare, The Flag Flaming In Air...
We're sure the Atlanta Braves didn't count on their new scoreboard fireworks setting off the American flag attached to it a couple of days ago, but stuff happens, as they say. Fortunately, the flag was made from fire-retardant material and the flames died quickly, as did the scoreboard- with-fireworks idea. Frances Scott Key would have been proud.
(photo: Julie Paulk/Facebook)
Equal Pay Cartoons of the Day
(click to enlarge)
While President Obama signed an Executive Order this week on "National Equal Pay Day" that will make progress on the equal-pay-for-equal-work issue with respect to Federal contractors, the Republican Congress strongly opposed any national legislation that would give transparency to pay disparity on the basis of gender. Their "War on Women" continues.
(cartoons: top, Nick Anderson, bottom, Clay Bennett, via Gocomics.com)
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Love Bites Bush
A few days ago, former Florida Gov. and Dumbya's much smarter brother John Ellis "Jeb" Bush offered his opinion on the immigration issue, saying:
"The way I look at this is someone who comes to our country because they couldn’t come legally, they come to our country because their families -- the dad who loved their children -- was worried that their children didn’t have food on the table. And they wanted to make sure their family was intact, and they crossed the border because they had no other means to work to be able to provide for their family. Yes, they broke the law, but it’s not a felony. It’s an act of love." (emphasis added)Actually, a pretty decent sentiment for someone whose political party is fueled by hatred of undocumented Latino immigrants, among other hates. Of course, right on cue, the wingnuts questioned Bush's expression of decency, led by the likes of
“I mean, that statement he made about illegal immigrants being an act of love is kind of bizarre.”Give Kraphammer his due: if anyone knows what bizarre is, it's him.
As long as the Republican / New Confederate / Stupid Party adheres to their exclusionary vision on immigration with no path to citizenship, no candidate of theirs has a hope of winning national office. And that's an act of love on behalf of the American people.
Mid-Week Chicago Jazz Song
"Fullerton Ave." is the latest jazz hit from award-winning artist Brian Culbertson, who plays keyboards, piano, trombone and other instruments. Fullerton Avenue in Chicago runs east-west through the eclectic and popular Bucktown and Lincoln Park neighborhoods -- there's a brief shot in the video of the Bourgeois Pig Cafe on W. Fullerton, for example. (Disclosure: Two Hackwhacker boys lived near this area a few years ago). Enjoy the smooth jazz.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
The Republican War On Women - Equal Pay Day
Today is Equal Pay Day, a day for promoting and taking action on guaranteeing equal pay for equal work. Pretty simple concept: regardless of your gender, you should receive pay equal to that of anyone else doing the same work. A little background first, courtesy of the Department of Labor (the link has a lot more background, information and resources on the issue - please check it out):
When the Equal Pay Act was signed into law by President Kennedy in 1963, women were earning an average of 59 cents on the dollar compared to men. While women hold nearly half of today's jobs, and their earnings account for a significant portion of the household income that sustains the financial well-being of their families, they are still experiencing a gap in pay compared to men's wages for similar work. Today, women earn about 81 cents on the dollar compared to men — a gap that results in hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost wages. For African-American women and Latinas, the pay gap is even greater.
Each year, National Equal Pay Day reflects how far into the current year women must work to match what men earned in the previous year. On National Equal Pay Day, we rededicate ourselves to carrying forward the fight for true economic equality for all. (our emphasis)As you might suspect, Democrats get it, hence the proposed "Paycheck Fairness Act" and executive actions President Obama announced today:
President Barack Obama is marking Equal Pay Day by announcing two executive orders strengthening equal pay protections at federal contractors. One of the orders will prohibit employer retaliation against workers who inquire about or share pay information, making it easier for women to find out if they are being discriminated against, and the other will call for the Labor Department to collect pay information from federal contractors, with the data including race and gender to make it easier to identify employers who discriminate.The
Republicans are mounting a counteroffensive against Equal Pay Day, the Paycheck Fairness Act, and indeed the very notion that equal pay is a serious issue. Since you can't straight-up admit to opposing equal pay, the substance of the Republican counteroffensive is essentially this: We support equal pay. Just not any efforts to actually make it a reality. (our emphasis)And what does Senate Republican Minority Leader and chinless wonder Mitch "Missy" McConnell call equal pay for equal work?
"Instead of focusing on jobs, [Reid] launched into another confusing attack on the left's latest bizarre obsession," McConnell said, adding that Reid was refusing to entertain GOP suggestions on the economy. "Democrats chose to ignore serious job-creation ideas so they could blow a few kisses to their powerful pals on the left." (our emphasis)And did the
"Many ladies I know feel like they are being used as pawns, and find it condescending [that] Democrats are trying to use this issue as a political distraction from the failures of their economic policy," Jenkins said. (our emphasis)And that Republican front group "Independent [snicker] Women's Forum" says what?
And talking about unequal pay is bad because, in the words of Sabrina Schaeffer of the Independent Women's Forum, "Perpetuating the myth that women are a victim class harms women and makes them feel weak." Heavens, no. Women are empowered by their lack of economic power, I suppose. (our emphasis)Sisterhood! Solidarity forever!
We haven't seen so much embarrassing flat-footedness since Tom "The Hammer" DeLay was on "Dancing With The Stars."
The issue has been laid out in stark terms. The government can and should act. The only question remaining is "Whose side are you on?"
Not surprisingly, with their long history of looking out for reactionary bidness interests, maintaining socially regressive =cough= fundamentalist = cough= policies, and disenfranchising non-Republican voting blocs, we see Republicans once again on the wrong side of history.
Oh, and how's that Republican rebranding coming along?
UPDATE: Also "Hummina, hummina, hummina."
UPDATE II: We're shocked! Shocked! Senate Republicans block the Paycheck Fairness Act from proceeding.
Blooper of the Day
“The UConn Huskies are the 2014 NAACP national champs.” -- Heather Childers, on this morning's execrable "Fox and Friends" mistaking the NAACP with the NCAA. She later corrected the error.
If you watch "Saturday Night Live", they often do a "cold open" skit mocking the latest "Fox and Friends" idiocy (most recently, a discussion of climate change with "Neil deGrasse Tyson"). At the end of the skit they always roll the fictional "corrections" for the segment -- usually a very lengthy and absurd list. And you thought the SNL folks were just kidding…..
Tensions In Eastern Ukraine
Last Sunday's takeover of Ukrainian administrative buildings in Kharkiv, Donetsk and other Ukrainian cities by pro-Russian agitators signals that Russia is likely using its proxies in Ukraine to create a possible pretext for invading the sovereign nation again, as they did in Crimea. Russia has massed tens of thousands of troops and military assets along Ukraine's eastern border with Russia, and has vowed to "protect" Russian-speaking people in Ukraine -- echoing their threat against Crimea weeks ago.
Eastern Ukraine is heavily industrialized, and populated with millions of Russian-speaking Ukrainians. Some pro-Russian demonstrators there want a referendum to choose whether the eastern part of the country would break away from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. An identical ploy was used by the Russian-speaking majority in Crimea, at the apparent behest of Russia.
(photo: A pro-Russian thug breaks a window in an administrative building in Kharkiv. Reuters)
Monday, April 7, 2014
Mickey Rooney, 1920-2014
One of the very last stars of the "Golden Age" of Hollywood, Mickey Rooney, died yesterday at age 93. His career in stage, film and television spanned eight decades. A frequent co-star of Judy Garland, Rooney was perhaps best known for his 14 "Andy Hardy" films and for one of his earliest films, "Boys Town" with Spencer Tracy. He was also known for his matrimonial adventures, having married eight times, including his first marriage to Ava Gardner (lasting less than 2 years) and his final marriage to Jan Chamberlin (which lasted 37 years).
Here's a clip from the American Film Institute honoring Rooney:
Republican Sex Blotter - Same Old, Same Old
We wish we had a dollar for every one of these all- too- predictable stories.
Perhaps he was only demonstrating proper mouth- to- mouth resuscitation techniques, but the video here (with the story here) would have you suspecting the very married (wife- and- 5- kids married) Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid party Rep. Vance McAllister (Reprobate-LA) was tongue-fondling his married aide's tonsils. As the local paper notes, McAllister was no ordinary hypocrite:
Throughout last fall’s congressional campaign, McAllister, a Republican from Swartz, touted his Christian faith and in one television commercial, he asked voters to pray for him. At least two other campaign television commercials featured McAllister walking hand in hand with his wife, Kelly, while their five children walked along. One television commercial captured the McAllister family in the kitchen of their home preparing breakfast before attending church.Depending on your point of view, either the voters prayed for him too much or too little. By the way, McAllister is the same dick who invited reality star Willie Robertson, son of "Duck Dynasty" homophobe Phil Robertson, to President Obama's State of the Union Address. His way of stickin' it to The Man (in a Christian, non-homophobic way, of course).
We have no doubt the clueless, Bible-thumping yokels who continue to send these
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