President Addressing Nation Tonight On Immigration Plans

Well, at least he's addressing the part of the nation that watches Univision and Telemundo (to be fair, CNN, MSNBC, PBS and Fox "News" are also expected to broadcast the speech).  The main broadcast networks declined to broadcast the President's speech in prime time tonight (November is sweeps months, and we all know what'$ important to tho$e network dolt$).  But if we had to choose between Univision and Telemundo audiences tuning in and those of the old networks, we'll take the former.

Meanwhile, when you hear Republican vandals and their Very Serious enablers in the media yap about the President's action "poisoning the well," American Bridge has a helpful rundown of all the other times over the years Republicans declared "the well" was poisoned before by an Obama action.  Here's a summary of American Bridge's piece we copped from Daily Kos:

Sen. Jeff Flake: If Obama Took Partial Credit For A Deal On Immigration Principles Reached By Eight Senators, It Would “Poison The Well” With Republicans. [...] 

Marco Rubio: Obama’s 2012 Executive Orders On Immigration “Poisoned The Well.” [...] 

Lindsey Graham: Obama’s Strategy On Gun Control “Poisoned The Well.” [...] 

U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Spokesman Bruce Josten: Obama National Labor Relations Board Appointments “Further Poison The Well.” [...] 

Rep. Paul Ryan: Obama’s Criticism Of Ryan Budget “Poisoned The Well” In The Budget Debate. [...] 

Senator Lindsey Graham: If Democrats Use Reconciliation To Pass Affordable Care Act, It’s “Going To Poison The Well For Anything Else They Would Like To Achieve For This Year Or Thereafter.”  [...] 

Sen. Bob Corker: Democratic Efforts To Repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell “Poisons The Well” On The START Treaty With Russia.

In case anyone hasn't noticed, that well's been poisoned since the day a black Democrat took the Presidential oath of office in January 2009.  That's why you have to ignore the crap they're shoveling and do what's right.

Mike Nichols, 1931 - 2014

Legendary director of stage and screen Mike Nichols has died at the age of 83.  Nichols' career spanned six decades from when he was half of the comedy team of Nichols and May, with Elaine May, to an honored director who has won the "big four" entertainment awards: the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy.  He was honored in 1999 at the Lincoln Center for his lifetime of achievement.  He is known for directing "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" and "The Graduate" in the 1960s, as well as numerous plays on Broadway, including "The Odd Couple" and "Barefoot in the Park" by Neil Simon.  Nichols is survived by his wife, former ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer and three children.

BONUS:  Here are some memorable scenes from some of Mike Nichols' films.

Toxic Job Creation

(click to enlarge)

The short-term job gains from the construction of the pipeline are outweighed by the potential for severe environmental damage if the tar sand oil leaks from the pipeline.  With oil prices down, there's also a reduced economic incentive of providing Canada with a pipeline to move their dirtiest form of oil across the Great Plains, over the Ogallala aquifer, and across the Yellowstone, Missouri, Platte, Arkansas, and Red Rivers to refineries in Texas, and then out to the world market.

And the number of permanent jobs created?  A whopping 35.

(cartoon: Rob Rogers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, via Gocomics.com)

Quote of the Day

"The Republicans have a pretty simple philosophy: they say if those at the top have more — more power for Wall Street players to do whatever they want and more money for tax cuts than somehow they can be counted on to build the economy for everyone else.  Well, we tried it for 30 years and it didn’t work. In fact the consequences were nearly catastrophic." -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren, at yesterday's Center for American Progress convention.

How true, but we heard one pundit say this morning, this is the United States of Amnesia.  When Republican politicians talk about job creation and the economy, recall that in the final month of the last Republican President, the U.S. lost more than 750,000 jobs, home foreclosures were at record levels, and people lost their investment and retirement funds when the stock market crashed.

Image of the Day: The House Republican Committee Chairs

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Republicans have assigned their incoming Committee chairs.  One out of 21 is a woman.

We despair of the Republican / New Confederate/ Stupid / White Man Party rebranding.

Immigration: Obama "Should Be Working With Congress To Do Nothing Together!"

Steven Colbert and "Esteban Colberto" on the Republican's transparent threats, and their paying for having "been such huge dicks" about Hispanics:

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Face the Nation Celebrates 60 Years, Most of Them With John McCain

From today's "Reliable Source" feature in the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle:

More than a dozen members of Congress, R’s and D’s alike, along with a who’s who of Washington TV news, turned up at a splashy fete Monday night to mark the Sunday show’s [Face the Nation's] 60th birthday. Sen. John McCain boasted to the crowd at the Newseum that he had been a guest 101 times.  (our emphasis)

"Face the Nation:  Catapulting Republican Talking Points For Six Decades."

(Photo:  from a previous "bro-date" in 2011, co-hosts Bob Schieffer and Grampy McCain;  where's your other hand, Bob?)

Opportunity Lost

It is said that Dems never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.  That was certainly true in the mid-term elections, where many adopted a defensive crouch position when they should have been touting 200,000 jobs added each month, the stock market (and retirement accounts) booming, and the success of the Affordable Care Act in providing coverage to 10 million Americans.

Dems are now selecting their House leadership (soon-to-be Senate Minority Leader and a guy who resembles a small town mortician Sen. Harry "Thin" Reid was re-annointed earlier on the Senate side).  House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi was re-elected by the Dem caucus, but during the election process, Pelosi received a request by Illinois Rep. Tammy Duckworth, who is a wounded warrior and about to give birth, to waive the rules and be allowed to cast a proxy vote.  Duckworth was told by her doctor not to travel so close to her due date.  Missing an opportunity to demonstrate her party's respect and concern for women, the rigid, tone-deaf Pelosi denied the request.  Duckworth was magnanimous in her acceptance of the ruling.

One could argue that if someone is allowed to cast a proxy vote, then what's to keep more Congresscritters from doing that?  We dunno, how many are eight-and-a-half months pregnant, double amputee war veterans?  Odd decision by Pelosi.

Mid-Week Song

Jazz trumpeter Rick Braun's new single "Back To Back" is climbing the smooth jazz charts, following its release a few weeks ago.  Have another cup of coffee and enjoy.

A Tale Of Two Editorial Boards

The execrable once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle editorial board on President Obama's pledge to act on immigration:

Mr. Obama may find a constitutional way to rewrite the nation’s immigration laws. But in his frustration with democracy, he is likely to prove his point: Unilateralism will not make the system work.   [snip]

Mr. Obama may find a constitutional way to rewrite the nation’s immigration laws. But in his frustration with democracy, he is likely to prove his point: Unilateralism will not make the system work.  (our emphasis)

"Unilateralism will not make the system work."  There's no end to the stupid in that line.  It just sits there like a deaf,  blind, thing. (What was that Shakespeare quote?  Oh yeah: "You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things."  He must've met the once great Washington Post's Bezos Bugle's editorial board.)  What do these frightened ninnies think will "make the system work?"  Golf with John Boehner?  Tea with Mitch McConnell?

The Miami Herald, whose editorial board is nearly a thousand miles away from Washington, yet has more perspective on what's going on right under the once great Washington Post's Bezos Bugle's nose:

We hope it’s soon and that he does everything he can within the law to provide a strong measure of relief to immigrant communities in Florida and throughout the nation. They’ve waited patiently and for too long for the president to act. [...] Mr. Boehner and other Republicans have not been shy about threatening the president if he decides to go ahead, saying any relaxation of immigration rules would “poison the atmosphere” in Washington. Really? At this stage — after years of demonizing the president, blocking his agenda, voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act some 50 times, and so on — now they’re saying No More Mr. Nice Guy?  (our emphasis)

Mr. Obama would be wise to ignore the posturing by his adversaries on The Hill. They’ve been in “No” mode for so long they apparently don’t know how else to behave. If they’re serious about wanting to pass a bill to supersede his executive action, they have the votes to do it whenever they’re ready.

The once great Washington Post's Bezos Bugle's own Eugene Robinson has an opposite page riposte to the unteachable numbnuts on his own editorial board (Fred Hiatt?  Ruth Marcus?  The smell of faux centrism leads back in their direction.):

The president has not just the right but also the obligation to “use all the lawful authority that I possess,” as he promised last week in a long-deferred effort to repair an immigration system that both parties agree is broken. Law and precedent give Obama wide latitude, and at this point he can hardly be accused of acting rashly.  (our emphasis)

Except by the once great Washington Post's Bezos Bugle's editorial board.

Save Your Confederate Money, Boys

A group in Mississippi calling themselves the "Magnolia State Heritage Campaign" is seeking to place an amendment on the 2016 ballot that would make Christianity the State's religion, "Dixie" would be named the State song, English would be the only official language, and April would be declared "Confederate Heritage Month."  One the one hand, that should go over well with Mississippi's 1.1 million African-American residents.  On the other hand, it's Mississippi.

The resurgence of wingnut militias, secessionist blather, displays of the Confederate flag and other evidence of renewed racism increased the moment President Obama took the oath of office.  Now, a state wants to enshrine racism (and religious bigotry) in its constitution, because…..we're a post-racial country?  Really?

(image:  Always leading the pack)

Jerusalem's Bloody Tuesday

Two Palestinian cousins wielding axes, knives and guns burst into a synagogue in West Jerusalem and murdered four rabbis, three of whom are American, and injured several more worshipers severely before police shot them to death.  While not expressly claiming credit, Hamas praised the attackers, as Palestinian Authority leader Mamoud Abbas condemned the murders. The Israeli government promised swift and harsh retaliation for the murders, and immediately ordered the destruction of the cousins' homes in the Gaza strip and arrests of family members believed to have had prior knowledge of the attack.

With the peace process all but derailed, this may have been the final blow to any resolution of issues dividing Israelis and Palestinians for the foreseeable future.

Monday Reading - Carrying The Fight To The Republican Vandals

A couple of good reads on the struggle between the Republican vandals and people who want government to work (as usual, please read the entire pieces).

Charles Blow on why government is "broken" and who's breaking it:

Congressional Republicans have been sent to Washington with a mandate not so much to conduct business but rather to collect a bounty, to do what they promised and what their supporters expect: Stop Obama at any cost and at every turn, to erase his name or at least put an asterisk by it.

Blow concludes with this observation about the Republican/ plutocrat master plan:

Liberal ideology depends on a productive federal government; conservatism rises when that government is crippled. 

Republicans, in all their cynicism, are increasing their efforts to break the government. 

Isn’t America great?

E.J. Dionne, Jr., on the Democratic push-back that's already started on net neutrality, climate change and immigration:

Republicans did a brilliant job in the campaign playing on the idea that Obama is weak, passive and without a game plan. That was the not-so-hidden meaning of all their television ads about the Islamic State, Ebola and immigration. So Obama has made clear that he won’t be weak and passive and that he has a game plan. 

But what of the hand-wringing by the usual suspects to this continuing "partisanship"? Dionne:

Yes, Washington may again be engulfed in partisan warfare. But at least this time, it will be over things that are actually happening.  (our emphasis) 

And, we might add, things that are actually worth fighting for.

More Rethug Election Games

Not content with rigging voting laws to disenfranchise likely Democratic voters and flooding politics with corporate money, Republicans reportedly used bogus Twitter accounts to share information with right-wing political action committees like Turdblossom Rove's "American Crossroads", an apparent violation of campaign laws which prohibit such coordination.

Using codes within these bogus accounts, internal polling data was shared with right-wing super PACs in order to have them target ad funding more effectively.  It was only after CNN contacted the National Republican Congressional Committee that the accounts were deleted.

BONUS:  Esquire.com's Charles P. Pierce weighs in:

"This isn't 'rigging the system.' It's tearing the system down and putting in place an entirely new, and vastly corrupt, system of your own. The ratfking here isn't a matter of dodging campaign laws. It's a matter of ignoring them until they become transparently ridiculous and fall of their own carefully engineered impotence. It also has the valuable side effect of making voting itself appear doomed and useless, which has been part of the point all along." (emphasis added)

Today's Cartoon Twofer - Immigration And The Republican Rage Machine

As President Obama prepares to issue an Executive Order addressing the immigration crisis in America, the howls from the right wing are starting to rise.  (Read, if you must, New York Times Republican scold and would-be moral arbiter "Cardinal" Ross "I Seriously" Douthat's piece if you want to experience full-on crackpot hyperbole.)  Meanwhile, Republicans are threatening to use budget bills to pressure Obama to back down on immigration.  If only consistency and humanity guided them rather than pure racist partisanship.  At the risk of their tiny heads exploding, these right-wingers might want to see what other recent Presidents took executive action to shield immigrants from deportation =cough= St. Ronnie =cough= Poppy Bush =cough=.  But, seriously, you were expecting something different? Our rule of thumb applies here as elsewhere:  the louder the Republicans squeal, the more certain you can be you're doing the right thing.

In the meantime, here's your cartoon twofer:

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(Jim Morin, The Miami Herald)

(Rob Rogers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)