Republican Rebranding, DREAM Act Edition

During a political event in Iowa on Sunday, far-right bigot Rep. Steve "Cantaloupe Calves" King was approached by two DREAM Act activists while eating with Presidential hopeful Sen. "Ayn" Rand Paul (Rethug- Galt's Gulch).  The two Latinos questioned Cantaloupe Calves' opposition to meaningful immigration reform, including opposition to the DREAM Act, which allows immigrants who were brought here as children to work toward citizenship.  The best part of the scene was Ayn scooting out of camera range when the conversation got started, after one bite of his burger (about 19 seconds into this video):



Ayn wants you to believe he can tackle not only domestic problems, but national security and international problems, but he runs away from two young Dreamers who have come to engage him in a dialogue.

BONUS:  Driftglass has some wonderful photographic examples of "Ran" Paul running away from things here, here, and here.

CNN Doing the Tango With Dancin' Dave?

There are new reports that NBC's Press the Meat anchor and nasty neighbor David "Dancin' Dave" Gregory privately met with CNN to discuss opportunities there.  Press the Meat has steadily slipped in the ratings ever since Dancin' Dave took over the anchor position, finishing third behind ABC and CBS in the same time slot.  Naturally the talk of NBC canning the haughty anchor has increased in recent months.

Dancin' Dave is one of the key players of the "both sides are to blame" illness that permeates the Beltway media.  Just yesterday, he cast blame on Dems and Rethuglicans alike for gridlock and the breakdown over the child immigrant border situation, despite the fact that the House Rethug caucus rejected their own leadership's border bill in favor of a more radical alternative pushed by the most extreme members of the caucus.  

(photo:  Dancin' Dave, left, cutting the rug with Karl "Turdblossom" Rove)

Water, Water Everywhere Quote of the Day

"...this is the second time in a year in which environmental damage has deprived an American city of its drinking water for a substantial period of time; we recall that Huntington, West Virginia was boiling and bottling thanks to the efforts of Freedom Industries. We have had wars for gold. We have had wars for oil. We next will have wars for water, provided, of course, that there's any left that's fit to drink." -- Esquire.com's Charles P. Pierce, noting in his piece that a warming Lake Erie among other climate factors caused some 500,000 people to go without drinking water in the greater Toledo, OH area.  (The ban on the water was lifted earlier today).  Read the whole article for an idea of how a combination of right-wing inspired deregulation and climate change denial has led to this point in our stewardship -- or lack of it -- of the environment.

"Benghazi! BENGHAZI! Huh? What? Er, Look Over There"

Another major Republican faux story line may be biting the dust after two years of relentless slander:

 The House Intelligence Committee, led by Republicans, has concluded that there was no deliberate wrongdoing by the Obama administration in the 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, said Rep. Mike Thompson of St. Helena, the second-ranking Democrat on the committee. 

The panel voted Thursday to declassify the report, the result of two years of investigation by the committee. U.S. intelligence agencies will have to approve making the report public. 

Thompson said the report "confirms that no one was deliberately misled, no military assets were withheld and no stand-down order (to U.S. forces) was given."  (our emphasis)

Rep. Darrell "Grand Theft Auto" Issa (Asshat-CA), teatarders, conspiracy nuts, hate radio, Fox "News," and all the associated flora of the right-wing swampland will, of course, continue to ignore the facts, because it was really all about roughing up Hillary Clinton (and, collaterally, the President) anyway.  Let's see how the "mainstream media" plays this (our bet is 15 seconds max on the broadcast news, and back in the undergarment ads in the press).

Grimes Barbecues McConnell

In Kentucky politics, one of the major election year events is the Fancy Farm barbecue picnic.  Like Virginia's Shad Planking, it draws elected officials out for a rough and tumble, old-fashioned rally.  Rethuglican Kentucky Sen. and human-turtle hybrid Mitch "Missy" McConnell is facing a tough race against Dem Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, and when both showed up at the Fancy Farm event on Saturday, most observers called it a big win for Grimes, who zinged Missy repeatedly for his 30 years in Washington.

Looking at the race as it stands today, with Missy holding a statistically insignificant lead over Grimes, the contest may be decided by voter turnout.  Normally, in an off-Presidential election year, that favors Rethugs, but after Missy's bitter primary against teabagger challenger Matt Bevin, extremist teatards upset over Bevin's defeat may decide to stay home.  That's the reason Missy's trying to tie Grimes to President Obama -- the teatards' mortal enemy.   To counter, Grimes has enlisted the support of former President Bill Clinton, who remains popular in Kentucky, and if Dems turn out the vote, and Kentucky teatards stay home sulking, it may be a long night for Missy.

(photo: Alison Lundergan Grimes at Fancy Farm, KY by W. McNamee, Getty Images)

Today's Cartoon Twofer: Deportation Republicans

(click to enlarge)

(Tom Toles, once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle)

(Signe Wilkinson, via gocomics.com)

The Wall Street wing of the Republican Party has a name for them: "Deportation Republicans."

Obama Turns 53

He wants to send this birthday greeting to all the crazy birthers out there.  Have a piece of cake!

More Evidence That Sarah Palin Needs Some ESL Classes

“When we get to send a message to Obama — and you know my position on how do we send the message, we begin the process of impeachment — once that message is sent, then that is a clear message to be received by his predecessors, so that any future President will know we’re not going to put up with it, we the people are not going to put up with imperial presidencies.” -  Snowbilly grifter Sarah Palin, struggling with a particularly challenging bit of word salad on her Sarah Palin Channel. (h/t the Sarah Palin Fartknocker Report, Wonkette)

Sunday Sermon

Don't let the door hit you…..

"Sovereign Citizens" The Top Domestic Terrorist Threat

A new study of domestic terrorism reports that law enforcement perceives far right-wing anarchist "sovereign citizens" as the greatest threat to domestic tranquillity:

In a new study conducted by researchers tasked with  studying of the root causes and consequences of terrorism in the U.S. and abroad, the sovereign citizen movement was perceived to be the gravest terrorist threat, rivaling Islamist extremists and militia/patriot groups. 

According to National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism —better known as START— sovereign citizens were the top concern of law enforcement, even as a belief that some domestic groups including the KKK, Christian Identity, and neo-Nazis represent less of an actual terrorist threat when compared to a previous study.

Note that, taken as a whole, the fetid, far-right swamps of sociopaths such as the militia/ patriot movement, neo-Nazis, KKK, etc., comprise the vast majority of groups threatening domestic terrorism.

Forget Republican Spin: Why They'll Vote To Impeach Obama In 2015

Michael Tomasky on why he wouldn't be surprised if Republicans mount an impeachment effort after the November elections, even if they know they would not get the necessary votes to convict in the Senate:

... The question here is, what’s the point in their minds of impeaching him? If it is a rational point—to remove the high misdemeanant from office—then the above scenario holds water. But I think the point isn’t rational; it’s emotional. To punish him for daring to act like the president. Hoist that big historical asterisk skyward and place it next to his name. Try to ensure that future generations see his as a less-than-legitimate presidency. And, not least, get their right-wing kum-ba-yah-yah’s out, give the base a song they can really dance to.  [snip] 

I can hear the rationalistas: no way they’d do it. They’re too smart for that. They know it didn’t work last time. They’ll be too mindful that it might hurt them in 2016. I say nonsense to all that. They’ll do it because it’s who they are. They keep showing us who they are. Someday, Washington might actually believe them.  (our emphasis)

Tomasky addresses the problem with the Republican- wired Beltway media buying the Republican spin, people like Politic-hos' Mike "Payola" Allen,  NBC's Chuck "Not My Job" Todd, and the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle's "politics- is- only- a- horse- race" tout Chris "The Lizard" Cillizza. These are some of the clowns who willfully and regularly catapult right-wing talking points into the "mainstream media," the latest one being that "Democrats are the only ones talking about impeachment!"  Bullshit.

Come next February or so, let's see who's right about the intent of the Republican crazy caucus:  the blinkered,  Republican- wired Beltway political "ho's" "pros" or Tomasky and the rest of us.

Republicans: "Deport 'Em!"

So this is what Republicans think of as "immigration reform."

Last night, nihilistic vandals, a.k.a. the Republican House of Representatives, passed a bill that can best be summed up as "Deport!  Deport!  Deport!"

The vote marks the third time in the 113th Congress that House Republicans have passed legislation that would, effectively, require the deportation of so-called Dreamers. They are the only immigration-related bills that have been allowed votes in the full House in 2013 or 2014. 

"This, in all honesty and candor, is one of the most mean-spirited and anti-immigrant pieces of legislation I've seen in all of my years in the Congress," said Rep. John Conyers (MI), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.  [snip]

"Where are our hearts?" said Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), a civil rights hero, in a fiery floor speech. "Where are our souls?" 

You won't find any hearts and souls on the other side of the aisle, Rep. Lewis.  They need to pay dearly for this.

Bishop Eusebio Elizondo of Seattle, who heads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' immigration policy group, called the Republican bill  “a low point for our country. It eviscerates American values of justice and due process and stains our record as a defender of human rights globally.”

Of course, the bill is dead on arrival in the Senate;  but the drooling crackpots in the House Republican caucus were fully aware of that.  They're playing to their nativist, racist base while trying to force President Obama into executive actions that they will doubtless find "impeachable offenses."  Just watch.

Weekend Birthday Song

Sunday is music legend (and good Democrat) Tony Bennett's 88th birthday.  Born Anthony Benedetto, this national treasure has multiple Grammy and Emmy awards to his credit, with such classic hits at "Rags to Riches," "Because of You," and "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."  His collaborations with contemporary artists such as Lady Gaga, Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney, Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, and Amy Winehouse have brought him new generations of fans and admirers.   His artistry extends to painting, as well, having exhibited in galleries around the world.  If you haven't been exposed to much of his songbook, you'd be doing yourself a favor to check it out.  We wish him a happy Hackwhackers birthday!

Blind Squirrel Quote of the Day

Because even a blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally:

"It is, to me, incomprehensible that Republicans aren't getting together on this.  It is ridiculous to sue the president on a Wednesday because he oversteps the law, as he has done a dozen times illegally and unconstitutionally, and then on a Thursday say that he should overstep the law, contradict the law that passed in 2008 and deal with this himself." (emphasis added)-- wingnut commentator extraordinaire Charles "Kraphammer" Krauthammer, showing frustration over his party's most recent inanity.

Carry Me Back To Old Virginny….

…. for a couple of news items concerning the Commonwealth:

1)  Former Virginia Gov. and helmet hair icon Bob "Blowdry Bob" McDonnell heard testimony from his erstwhile gift horse, "health" pill bidnizzman Jonnie Williams, that the extreme gift-giving to the Governor and his wife "More More" Maureen McDonnell was all about advancing his business, and not the result of a flirtatious affair with More More Maureen.  That sticks a pin in the couple's defense that this wasn't about influence peddling, but about something more personal.  Tee hee.

2)  Soon-to-be-ex-Virginia Congressman and Rethug Majority Leader Eric "Cancer" Cantor (R - Tea Party Ate Me), who was defeated in a primary by an even more radical reactionary, announced he will resign from Congress on August 18, not completing his two year term.  Now he's free to join former half-term Alaska Gov. and full-time grifter Sarah "Winky" Palin to lecture the public on the "work ethic."

BONUS:  Petula Dvorak has a must-read article on the McDonnell trial.  Here's a sample:

All the lovesick melodrama about the first lady having a crush on Williams has probably been manufactured by the defense attorneys. Maybe they have some evidence to back up this story line. But when this scandal began, Bob and Maureen McDonnell showed up in court holding hands, presenting themselves as a solid, Christian couple. 

Now they are changing that narrative, walking in and out of court in separate entourages, riding different elevators, brushing past each other without even making eye contact. The staging borders on ridiculous. They are doing nothing more than selling Virginians another tale.

What pieces of work these McDonnells are.