A Great Grift Idea

Snowbilly grifter and idiot philosopher Sarah "Winky" Palin has announced that "her family" is writing a book on fitness (it would have to be a family effort, since Winky's attention span is measured in nanoseconds). Although there's no publisher nor publication date mentioned, we're certain that Winky's book will be a smash among the morbidly obese, aging, angry white folks that comprise her fan base.

Everyone out of your Hoverounds! All together now, touch your toes! No? OK, let's start with touch your nose.

(photo: Winky and daughter doing some Christmas shopping. How do you like Winky's age-inappropriate outfit? Trying out for a revival of "Grease" are we?)

Willard's Continuing Makeover

With his Etch-A-Sketch plan in high gear, plutocrat prevaricator Willard "Weathervane Willard" Romney has shifted positions on tax cuts for the wealthy, on health care, and on other issues in an attempt to disguise his and his party's extreme right wing positions. Now, it's women's reproductive health. After lying in an interview with the Des Moines Register that, "There's no legislation with regards to abortion that I'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda", Willard's staff had to walk back his new position to one more in line with his party's reactionary policy toward women's' reproductive rights:

"Gov. Romney would of course support legislation aimed at providing greater protections for life."

Willard has clearly made the calculation that the rabid right wing base of his party has nowhere to go in November and will vote Rethuglican even if the candidate were a head of cabbage, their hatred of the President is so consuming. Thus, he feels free to lie, shift, misrepresent and dodge in order to convince enough undecided/low information voters that he's not the clueless, coreless job exporter that he really is. The next few weeks will be a test of voters' tolerance of deceit on Willard's part.

Willard Romney, Lovable Prankster

"Matt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor's second son, told how his father would present his children with a stick of butter, telling them 'it's so rotten you have to smell it.' When they leaned down he would gleefully shove their faces into the plate.

"Mr. Romney apparently repeated the trick recently with one of his grandsons, pushing the shocked child's head into a platter of whipped cream." -- from an article in the UK Telegraph. Actually, it's a prank many of us would like to pull on Willard.

Mid-Week Birthday Song

Today is our Washington, D.C., Bureau Chief's birthday. It's also the birthday of John Lennon, who wrote this song for his son Sean. So, when you hear this song, just replace the word "Sean" with "Brian" and we're good to go! Happy Birthday, Brian!

War On Sesame Street Cartoon of the Day

(click to enlarge)

Willard "I'll Fire Big Bird" Romney's most remembered line from the first debate might be his promise to de-fund the Public Broadcasting System, and with it Big Bird. That's another small insight into Willard's greedy, cynical soul.

(cartoon: Matt Bors)

Question.....

If Willard "I'll Say Anything" Romney were a Democratic candidate for President, do you think the right wing would howl about his five healthy sons never serving in the armed forces? Just asking.

Willard with his sons Nip, Dip, Ding, Dong, and Pfft.

Conspiracy Cartoon of the Day

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As Paul Krugman notes in our posting below, there's a lunacy infecting the right wing in this country that has to constantly adjust reality to fit its perceptions. Plutocrats like former GE chairman Jack "I Bring Bad Things To Life" Welch, shady gambling tycoon Sheldon "Smelly Shelly" Adelson, and birther Donald "Rump" Trump have really come out of the woodwork this election year in aggressive attempts to maintain their economic status, country be damned.

Unreal World

The New York Times' Nobel Prize winning Paul Krugman, writing about the conspiracy nonsense over the September jobs report:

"The furor over Friday’s report revealed a political movement that is rooting for American failure, so obsessed with taking down Mr. Obama that good news for the nation’s long-suffering workers drives its members into a blind rage. It also revealed a movement that lives in an intellectual bubble, dealing with uncomfortable reality — whether that reality involves polls or economic data — not just by denying the facts, but by spinning wild conspiracy theories."

With a large segment of the population living in a world of their own strange imagination and paranoia, and sabotaging economic recovery for political gain, it's hard to imagine a future in which we can deal as a society with our most pressing problems.

Save Your Confederate Money, Boys....

"GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s big rally Monday in Denver turned out thousands of cheering, pumped up fans at the Wings over the Rockies Air and Space Museum — an event that provided a last very dramatic public stand before Wednesday’s debate at the University of Denver. There was a 'huh?' moment: country singer Laurie Morgan serenading the crowd with 'Dixie' — those “I wish I were in the land of cotton” lyrics not too often heard at modern day presidential campaign events." -- Carla Marinucci, San Francisco Chronicle. True.

That's one of the reasons we call it the Rethuglican / New Confederate Party, complete with "Dixie" as their official song. It didn't stop with Nixon's "Southern strategy," it's in full flower now.

Giving Willard The Bird

One of the more memorable moments at last Wednesday's Presidential debate was the promise by weirdly plastic Willard "Corporations Are People, Too" Romney to eliminate Federal funding for the Public Broadcasting System, which has aired the beloved Sesame Street for decades. How brave of Willard to focus on tiny PBS and not billions in tax subsidies for the oil and gas industry and others! His churlish promise has spawned some picketing at his events, and some creative graphics floating around the inter-tubes:

Blind Justice

Far right wing Supreme Court Justice Antonin "Fat Tony" Scalia seems to be getting more and more partisan and outrageous recently. His latest assault on judicial integrity was a statement that upcoming decisions on marriage equality, women's reproductive rights, and the death penalty would be "easy." Perhaps, if you're a hammer and you see the world as made up of only nails. His anger over the Court's favorable decision on the Affordable Care Act spilled over into the public, a "no-no" if there ever was one. Never cautious about displaying his partisan affiliation, Fat Tony frequently attends right wing gatherings, and is a fan of former (Vice) President Dick "The Dick" Cheney. 'Nuff said.

The Daily Beast has put together a useful compilation of Fat Tony's intemperate and injudicious thoughts, which should not only call into question his fitness for the high court, but his basic decency.

(photo: Same to you, Fat Tony)

Eeeny, Meeny, Miney, Mitt Cartoon of the Day

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How many Americans were fooled by Willard Weathervane's performance on Wednesday night? He has no problem whatsoever in saying whatever he thinks the audience wants to hear at that moment. The Obama campaign needs to hit Willard's dishonesty and lack of principle hard in the weeks remaining. Here's a good start:

Comedy Gold

One of the great side benefits of an election year is being able to watch the hilarious Steven Colbert take down the Rethuglican wing nuts. Here he was last night, talking about Willard "Etch-A-Sketch" Romney's performance. His mimicking of Romney's smirk and Fux's Britt Hume's hound dog face is dead on.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Mitt's Socialist Rhetoric & Body Language
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"Mitt Romney's health care plan is just like his positions: the details change state by state." Priceless.

Mitt's Mendacity, Cont'd.

It's Friday, so here's another installment of the chronicles of the lies of one Willard "I'll Say Anything" Romney, thanks to the keen eye of MaddowBlog's Steve Benen.

It's hard to pick just one favorite out of this week's debate deceptions, but one favorite is Willard's claim that his plan would not lower taxes on the very wealthy. His performance in Wednesday night's debate was a model of political deceit, with Willard lying about the President's record on the one hand, and fabricating new positions for himself on the other.

Weekend Minneapolis Skyway Song

Brother Hackwhacker is heading to Minnesota for a family visit, so a song from a Minnesota band seems appropriate. We could have selected from a variety of artists who hail from the Land of 10,000 lakes: Bob Dylan, Prince, Soul Asylum, Husker Du, Semisonic, even the '40s group The Andrews Sisters ("Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" anybody?). Our pick, "Skyway," is a lovely 1987 tune by the seminal alternative rock group The Replacements. Enjoy.