O'Keefe's Latest Oeuvre

Lights! Camera! Mug shot! Right-wing video doctor James "G. Gordon Diddy" O'Keefe may just have crossed the line again, this time by engaging in voter fraud in the recent New Hampshire Rethug primary. It seems the young dimwit and his band of, er, dimwits videotaped an election official while they were in the process of committing voter fraud! Why would anyone with a brain do such a thing, and provide the video evidence? (I believe I answered that question while asking it.) They're trying to show how important it is to have tough voter I.D. laws, that's why by crackey! (In other words, they're involved in the ongoing Rethug voter suppression effort.)

For his noble efforts, G. Gordon is facing potential state charges of voter fraud and illegally recording an election official, and federal charges of crossing state lines to record an election official and identity theft. The little ass whistle is already on 3-years probation for "entry by false pretense" into Sen. Mary Landrieu's office with the intention of wiretapping her phone. We'd like to see him put his mad videographic skillz to a real test with a hidden camera in the showers at the Atlanta Penitentiary.

(Photo: G. Gordon Diddy in happier times.)

Duck!!

If you're planning on being in the Indian Ocean on Sunday or Monday, you may want to keep an eye on the sky. The 14.6 ton Russian Mars probe "Phobus-Ground," which was launched in November but failed to escape Earth orbit, is expected to largely burn up in the atmosphere, although pieces could survive re-entry and land in the sea. It's unclear, beyond the slim possibility of large pieces of space junk making it down in one piece, whether the craft's contents pose any additional risk to life.

Bad Money

Facing a recall election threat this spring, right-wing Koch head Gov. Scott "Take A Walk" Walker is now being accused of over a thousand campaign finance violations in his gubernatorial campaign in 2010. Take A Walk is accused of not properly reporting over $500,000 in contributions (*cough, Koch, cough cough*), and could face $557,500 in fines. What would be most helpful is an accounting of all the mystery donors, who they are and what they contributed; what they wanted was a piece of the State.

Take A Walk and his plutocrat backers expected to waltz through Wisconsin busting unions, dismantling the Democratic Party, and making life much easier for the wealthiest individuals and corporations. Didn't happen. And we're hopeful that officials in Wisconsin throw the book at Take A Walk and send a message to the right wing elites that Wisconsin isn't for sale.

Quote of the Day

"President Obama, Willard told his crowd, is practicing 'the bitter politics of envy.' He warned them not to be seduced by the president's 'resentment of success.' It was a moment of almost transcendental meanness and fakery. Willard was explaining to his audience that he was just like them, and that they were the keepers of America's promise, and that they would continue to be — at least until, for his own profit and that of his wealthy investors, Willard wrecked their companies, stole their retirement, and shipped their jobs to China, never to return. They were all in it together, Willard assured them." -- the always readable Charles Pierce, in Esquire.com. He notes in another piece today how the Village mainstream media is swooning over Mittens' win in New Hampshire, while attempting to defend Mittens against those mean attacks on his destructive role at Bain Capital. Always good to remember the media elite are also part of the 1%.

Mid-Week Song

The Minneapolis-based band Semisonic had this late '90s hit, and creative video using split screen realities which shift back and forth. The recent movie, "Friends With Benefits," featured the song, as no doubt did many a high school graduation party.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

Mittens Mo

With millionaire vulture capitalist Willard "Mittens" Romney's win last night in New Hampshire, the fractured right-wing of the Rethuglican Party is scrambling to unite behind one candidate in order to stop Mittens' momentum. While his victory in New Hampshire is being touted as "decisive," Mittens' virtual favorite-son status in New Hampshire should have given him more than the 39% of the votes he received. He's still not acceptable to some 60% of Rethuglican voters -- even in a state like New Hampshire, where he's lived off-and-on for years.

The Washington Monthly has a good piece on the decision the anti-Mittens forces need to make, and soon, before Mittens runs the table. If there were one, credible right-wing alternative to Mittens, he would have been blown away in Iowa and New Hampshire. Now, South Carolina is shaping up to be the last stand for Rethugs who can't swallow the smarmy plutocrat from Massachusetts.

Class Warfare - Rethuglican Hypocrisy Edition

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(Tony Auth, Philadelphia Inquirer, via Gocomics.com)

Mittens Speaks His Real Mind

Occasionally, Rethuglican one-percenter and humanoid facsimile Willard "Millionaire Mitt" Romney will slip and say something he really believes. For instance, in Iowa he stated "Corporations are people" to the barely-stifled gasps of the crowd.

Today, in New Hampshire, Mittens addressed a group of business leaders and declared,

"I like being able to fire people who provide services to me."

Spoken like the vulture capitalist you are, Mittens! It was all about how much money your firm, Bain Capital, could suck out of failing businesses by firing employees, grabbing their pension funds and selling off the remaining assets. So much for "job creator."

Expect the "librul" media to largely ignore this moment of Mittens saying what he really believes, and for Mittens' political yacht to sail on, albeit without strong winds.

(photo: "Now this won't hurt a bit....")

Jon Huntsman, Throwback Republican

Republican presidential candidate Ambassador Jon Huntsman reminds us from time to time that there are still honorable conservatives in the Rethuglican party. To be clear, Huntsman holds views on the economy and social safety net that are wrong-headed. But he also is someone who represents a dying breed in his party: he's a sane person. He's made it clear he believes science trumps ideology when it comes to global climate change and evolution. Unlike Willard "Millionaire Mitt" Romney, he doesn't believe corporations are people.

Most disqualifying of all to the Obama-hating troglodytes and mouth-breathers in the far right of the Rethug base, he accepted the ambassadorship to China from President Obama. This drew fire at this weekend's candidate debate from Willard (motto: "Profits first, party second, country... meh"), who implied Huntsman did the wrong thing by serving a Dimmycrat! Huntsman had a great riposte for Willard, which got a loud ovation: "This country is divided because of attitudes like that."

Democrats don't like to say it too loudly, but Huntsman, not Willard, is the Republican we think would run the strongest against Obama in the general election. He's the kind of authentic, patriotic Republican that makes hot messes like the trying-too-hard Krispy Cream Christie (see post below) look especially mean-spirited and stupid. We won't be surprised if Huntsman does very well tomorrow in the New Hampshire primary, which allows independents to vote on the Rethug ballot.

Mr. Tough Guy: Krispy Cream Christie???

From Reuters (whose "mainstream media" reporters clearly have a Christie boner):

"When a heckler yelled, 'Christie kills jobs,' Christie was ready with a response - New Jersey style.

"'Really?' Christie replied. 'Something may go down tonight but it's not going to be jobs, sweetheart.'"

Nothing strikes more fear into my heart than a human (?) blob like Krispy Cream, with his rehearsed "Tony Soprano" lines.

(Photo: Brian Snyder, Reuters)

Quote of the Day

"Look can we drop a little bit of the pious baloney?" -- Hired larynx and Mitt-seeking missile Newt "Poot" Gingrich to Willard "Millionaire Mitt" Romney at today's NBC/Facebook Rethuglican debate. Willard had just made another attempt to cast himself as a non-career politician who left office because he wanted to get back into the business world. Riiight! Several pundits have noted that Willard was noticably sweating after taking shots from his Rethuglican rivals -- oh, excuse me, millionaires don't "sweat," they "perspire."

Sanctimonious Santorum

Maureen Dowd today on Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum (Rethug-Vatican City) and his situational conservatism:

"16-year-old Jessica Scharf asked Santorum how her handicapped brother could be cared for without help from the federal government. He replied, as The Times’s Katharine Q. Seelye reported, that he and his wife 'bear the cost' of a handicapped daughter; he said family, friends, neighbors and the church could help, and that caring for someone would knit them closer. [snip]

"He bashes President Obama as a European-style socialist and preaches fiscal conservatism. Yet in the Senate, he made sure dollars from the socialistic Medicare program went to Puerto Rico on behalf of a hometown firm — United Health Services — that later gave him nearly $400,000 in director’s fees and stock options.

"He was among the pay-for-play Republicans who tried to strong-arm lobbyists and say that if you wanted to have influence you had to cough up campaign money.

"While Karen Santorum was home-schooling their seven children in Virginia, Santorum soaked the Pennsylvania taxpayers to the tune of $100,000 by enrolling the children in a Pennsylvania cyber charter school."

Walnuts McCain Endorses Obama

Ancient loser Sen. John "Walnuts" McCain (Rethug-Sunset City) was out on the hustings the other day with Willard "Millionaire Mitt" Romney when he made this mavericky endorsement:

That's Not God Talking to You, Pat Robertson

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Telebangelist and life-long ass biscuit "Rev." Pat Robertson would like his simple-minded viewers to believe he has a direct line to God. It makes it a little easier for him to shake them down for donations if they think he's got the God mojo. But, Pat, God doesn't speak to you! He speaks to me, and here's what he said, and I quote: "Pat, if you don't stop scamming those old people who believe in you, using my name in vain by the way, I'm going to have to downgrade your accommodations in Hell from your current booking in the Father Coughlin suite to the Torquemada suite! And by the way, Beelzebub called -- he'd like his ears back!"