Going South

Eventually this had to happen in the failed state of Iraq.  Several thousand radical fighters belonging to ISIS, a violent offshoot of al-Qaeda, have seized Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, and are driving south toward Baghdad.  Iraq's leading Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Sistani, has called for all who are able to shoulder a weapon to join the disintegrating Iraqi Army, which has fled in the face of inferior forces.
Neocons, who wanted perpetual occupation if not war in Iraq, are cynically calling for a reintroduction of American military power, conveniently forgetting their central role in creating the false pretenses for invading Iraq years ago.  This is the broken pottery that they refuse to own.

Bitter loser Sen. John "McNasty" McCain stepped out of a national security briefing after only two minutes to rush to the microphones to blame the turn of events on the person that kicked his wrinkled ass in 2008.  How predictable, and how ill-informed.  McNasty said we should have kept a residual American force behind, something the government of Nouri al-Maliki refused to allow.  Now that al-Maliki is fighting for his life, the U.S. may decide to launch limited airstrikes or drone attacks to slow the advance of ISIS.  There are also reports that Iran has sent units of its elite Revolutionary Guard to join Maliki's forces against ISIS.  "The enemy of my enemy is my friend";  ironic that Iran would be allied with us, if we intervene.

The New York Times cuts through the Rethuglican posturing and says Maliki has to go:

"Why would the United States want to bail out a dangerous leader like Mr. Maliki, who is attempting to remain in power for a third term as prime minister? It is up to Iraq’s leaders to show leadership and name a new prime minister who will share power, make needed reforms and include all sectarian and ethnic groups, especially disenfranchised Sunnis, in the country’s political and economic life — if, indeed, it is not too late."

With the Iraqi Army refusing to fight for its own government, it's hard to see how any U.S. military action would have a long-term impact, despite what McNasty claims.  It would also be refreshing, albeit rare, for hacks like McNasty to show some remorse and humility over their responsibility for the original mess.  Don't hold your breath.

Just Being Helpful Quote of the Day

“I believe the Republicans should follow the lead of Lindsey Graham. Lindsey Graham was part of the Gang of Eight to come up with immigration reform. He never backed down, backed up. He kept going forward on this issue.  We need more Republicans who are Lindsey Grahams.  Lindsey Graham is a very conservative man, but I’ve worked with him on a number of issues, some of which we don’t even talk about publicly.” (our emphasis) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, "congratulating" South Carolina Rethuglican Lindsey "Huckleberry Closetcase" Graham on his primary election victory Tuesday (h/t to Daily Kos).

We're sure Huckleberry appreciates the "endorsement" of Sen. Reid, one of the Rethuglican / Stupid Party's archenemies.  Here's hoping Sen. Reid continues to commend his endangered Rethuglican colleagues frequently and lavishly.

The Cantor Loss, Cont'd.: Frankenstein's Monster

Combined with Jon Stewart's knockdown below, last night's piece by Stephen Colbert concludes our Eric Cantor schadenfreude spectacular -- at least for today.  Key moment:

"No one saw it coming, least of all Eric Cantor, who helped create the Tea Party by stitching together dead ideas, and then filling it with rage and giving it a jolt of power and letting it loose on the countryside terrified of fire and science."

The Cantor Loss: Too Liberal (By Pre-Enlightenment Standards)

Jon Stewart offers his perspective on the primary loss by steakhouse supporter Rep. Eric "Too Liberal (Pre-Enlightenment)" Cantor on Tuesday (parts I and II):

The Daily Show
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Part II:

The Daily Show
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Then there's TBogg's analysis, captured in this headline:  "All things considered, Eric Cantor probably lost because he's a dick."  Can't argue with that.

Tea Time Cartoons of the Day

 (click to enlarge)

"Message received," as Dumbya's daddy used to awkwardly say.  If any Rethug up for reelection strays from the hard-right teabagger orthodoxy, they're in a primary fight.  One exception was South Carolina Sen. Lindsey "Huckleberry Closetcase" Graham, who had the good fortune of running in his Rethug primary against a platoon of teabagger morons, effectively splitting the anti-Huckleberry vote.  It also didn't hurt Huckleberry with the teatards when he ran around threatening to impeach Obama in the last few days of his campaign.

(cartoons:  top, Jim Morin, Miami Herald, bottom, Tom Toles, Bezos Bugle, via Gocomics.com)

Mid-Week Karma Song

This one goes out to tea party tiger-rider Rep. Eric Cantor and the drain-circling Republican/ Stupid /New Confederate Party.

Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism And The Media

In the aftermath of the Las Vegas shootings, we noted the "mainstream" media's likely aversion to dwelling on the horror, especially the extreme right-wing political motivations of the shooters.  In today's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle, tucked away in the "Style" section, tv critic Paul Farhi notes the media's instinct to pussyfoot around what it really was:

What do you call a couple who espouse an extremist, anti-government ideology and kill two policemen and a bystander while draping one of their victims in a flag associated with a political movement? 

After Sunday’s shooting spree perpetrated by just such a couple in Las Vegas, many in the media declined to use one potential label: terrorists.

The article goes on to quote several Muslim Americans who are quick to note, rightly, that had the shooters been Muslims, the "terrorist" label would have been slapped on immediately by the media. Why doesn't that term apply to right-wing domestic terrorism of the kind we saw in Las Vegas (or Georgia just a few days earlier)?

“If it’s an al-Qaeda attack, you can bet it will affect the resources and how we respond to it,” [Brookings Institution counterterrorism expert Daniel L.] Byman said. But “many of the objectives [of right-wing extremist groups] are close enough to legitimate political movements. It would be hard to take them on as a whole without causing a lot of discomfort” among people who don’t have violent aims.  (our emphasis)

Ah, that's the crux of it:  it might cause "discomfort" among the (so far) non-violent right-wing crackpots to be too closely associated with the violent ones;  and, of course, that "discomfort" may cause a reaction, which in turn could cause some bottom line "discomfort" to the media companies.  So, it's better to leave it at "anti-government ideology," if you have to mention ideology at all.  Meanwhile, the right-wing domestic terrorists get more and more phobic, more estranged, more hateful, more violent, while they're continuously stoked to mindless rage by their own right-wing media bubble and craven pols.

The "mainstream" media thinks ignoring the reality will make everything nice-nice, but it's only postponing the time when these dangerous loons will have to be weeded out and confronted in order to safeguard our democracy.  Discomforting or not.

It's Why We Call Them Rethuglicans, Homophobe Edition

Most Rethuglicans have a mute button when it comes to marriage equality / LGBT issues, since they understand that overt expressions of utter malice won't sit well with a growing majority of Americans.  There are, however, always some exceptions.  Case in point:  Scott "Ick" Esk, a Rethuglican candidate for state representative in red state Oklahoma.  Ick has been posting homicidal musings on his Facebook page which indicate his support for stoning gays to death, if local voters are cool with that, because, you know, the Old Testament.  This is the Bible Belt, after all, where Taliban values merge with Rethuglican social policy.

Whether Ick's prescription for "The Gay" will sell with voters in Oklahoma remains to be seen;  less predictable things have happened (see Cantor, Eric).  He's the kind of loon who gets caught with a blow-up sex toy in a public restroom, while running a campaign touting his Christian fundamentalism.  Here's hoping.

BONUS:  Here's Esk's picture.  He looks like a genius, doesn't he?

Tweet Of The Day

"....those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside." John F. Kennedy. #EricCantor
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) June 11, 2014

Firing up the pitchfork-carrying mouthbreathers will only work for you so long before they turn their pitchforks on you.

BONUS:  "Republican Civil War Is About To Explode" say pundits.  Great, we'll bring the popcorn.

BONUS II:  The knives are out for the soon-to-be-former House Majority Leader:  "Everybody hates him."

Cantor Ousted In Primary

Associated Press is reporting the major news that House Majority Leader Eric "Cancer" Cantor has lost to his Rethuglican teabagger primary opponent, far right economics professor and Ayn Rand Calvinist Dave "The Brat" Brat.  Cancer was second to Speaker John "Mr. Tangerine Man" Boehner in the House Rethuglican pecking order, and has been perceived as an ally of the teabagger wing of the party.

This is by far the most significant blow dealt by the teabaggers to the "establishment" Rethuglicans, and will likely drive more of them further right to embrace radical teabagger positions.

UPDATE:  The Brat ran hard against what he said was Cancer's insufficient conservatism and against any immigration reform -- what teabaggers call "amnesty." That last point sounds an ominous note for the Rethuglican / Stupid Party on a national level, as they try to appeal to Hispanic voters while appeasing their hard-right, nativist -- and aging -- base.

Video Of The Day

This ad, produced by the Yocha Dehe Wintun Native American Nation of California, is scheduled to air during Game 3 of the NBA playoffs.  It's powerful in its simple dignity, contrasted with the petulant,   childish attitude of Washington football owner Li'l Danny Snyder and his organization.

Imagine you're with a group of Native Americans.  Ask yourself whether you would refer to them as "redskins" to their faces.  Didn't think so.  That's the test of a racial slur.

74 And Counting

Today's shooting at Troutdale, Oregon's Reynolds High School marks the 74th shooting in a school since the December, 2012 mass killing at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT.   That's more than one school shooting per week, with the majority occurring in K - 12 schools.  Two died in today's shooting, including the shooter.

From the shocked outrage after the killing of the children at Sandy Hook, most have become numb and resigned, but there are groups gaining momentum in fighting against the gun manufacturers and their wholly-owed legislators, most notably Moms Demand Action, which has been active in the fight against the "I'll-shove-a-gun-in-your-face-at-Chipotle" Open Carry ammosexuals.  Meanwhile, the body count rises.

Will's Latest Misogyny

George "Ill" Will, the bloodless right-wing gasbag and fluffer for St. Ronnie of Hollywood, has turned his attention from denying climate change and championing plutocrat money in politics as "speech" to sexual assault on college campuses.  Ill Will's column in the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle dealt with campus sexual assaults in a way that only Ill Will knows how:  to trivialize them by saying that assault survivors gain a "coveted status" as victims.  It's a pretty monstrous view, as Esquire.com's Charles P. Pierce observes.

One would think that a moralizing scold like Ill Will -- who described the Clintons as "vulgarians" and who is always ready to tut-tut progressives' foibles -- would be circumspect in his own life.  Not so.  His marriage to his first wife ended after his affair with his girlfriend (now second wife) became open knowledge.  His first wife reportedly tossed out his belongings on his front lawn in Chevy Chase, MD with a note from her saying, "Take it somewhere else, buster."  We couldn't have said it better.

(photo:  Moralist Ill Will covertly observing coed behavior on campus?)

Of Beards, Blessings, and Terrorists

No one is better at exposing the right-wing's hypocrisy over the Bergdahl prisoner exchange than Jon Stewart's The Daily Show.  The wingnut Wurlitzer / Fux Channel Berghazi Bendahl poo factory has been in a lather over Bob Bergdahl's (Muslim?) beard and his use of an Islamic blessing last week at the White House.  Watch how he reminds us of Dumbya's acceptance of the blessing, and of the Fuxers' cultivation of the true domestic terrorists at Nevada's Bundy "ranch."

The Republican War On Women: Twitter Twits Edition

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. (Well, maybe a picture with six words.)

Here's (below, left to right) Michigan Republican State Reps. Roger Victory, Pete Pettalia, and Ben Glardon giving us some funny, by "reading" women's fashion magazines.  The quote in the tweet is attributed to the assmonkey sportin' the '70s pornstache in the center (Pettalia).

(click to enlarge)

(Jake Neher, Michigan Public Radio)