@JebBush i'm an avid supporter— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 6, 2016
He has landed near the sweet spot between Cruz-like extremism, Trump-like nativism, and Jeb Bush’s more principled rejection of both factions of the right. But to get there, he’s attached himself to policy proposals that are different in kind, and more extreme, than those of recent Republican nominees. Now Rubio threatens to smuggle them into the general election undetected by a press corps that has been fixated on Trump. [snip]
There's much more, so please read the entire piece if you can.
- Recklessly suggested ethnically profiling Muslims through their mosques, community centers, businesses, and the web. He accused President Obama of pitting Americans against one another by visiting a mosque, seemingly articulating the principle that presidents shouldn’t visit mosques because the millions of Americans whose votes Rubio wants dislike Muslims.
- Professed, in what was possibly a moment of debate-stage panic, the view that abortion should be outlawed even in cases of rape, incest, or risk to the life of the mother. (Republicans see this in particular as a major liability.)
- Denied the fact that “human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it.”
- Promised to nominate Supreme Court justices who would rescind the constitutional right to same-sex marriage.
"Jared Taylor, online editor of AmRen, the media outlet of the white nationalist group called American Renaissance, is one of the voices on the robocall. Taylor is also spokesman for the group the Council of Conservative Citizens, which is widely considered to be white supremacist group, though they call themselves a 'white rights' group on their website. The group dates back decades and inspired Dylann Roof, who last summer confessed to shooting and killing nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, South Carolina." (emphasis added)An excerpt of their robocall message doesn't leave much to the imagination either:
"....I’m Jared Taylor with American Renaissance. I urge you to vote for Donald Trump because he is the one candidate who points out that we should accept immigrants who are good for America. We don’t need Muslims. We need smart, well-educated white people who will assimilate to our culture. Vote Trump.Rump's campaign disavows "endorsements" from these groups, but his xenophobic and often racist rhetoric has clearly resonated with these fringe elements. Or, you could say that they've heard the Trump-et's call (hat tip to our beloved "D").
I am William Johnson, a farmer and a white nationalist. Support Donald Trump. I paid for this through the super PAC..."
You know that “TrusTed” logo? The one with TRUS and TED merged, yet separated via different colors?
Turns out that when you Google “TRUS”, the logo at once becomes hilarious and hilariously appropriate:
"A transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) is an ultrasound technique that is used to view a man's prostate and surrounding tissues. The ultrasound transducer (probe) sends sound waves through the wall of the rectum into the prostate gland, which is located directly in front of the rectum."
Yup, that’s the very top Google result. Basically, it’s an anal probe. Which makes us even more certain that he’s actually an alien.
Roger!Well done, Ted!
Dem Debate: Two smart adults going at it hard. (low comedy)— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) February 5, 2016
Repub Debate: Slaw-brained, soul-damaged psychos yelling. (goldmine) #DemDebate
Let's try to keep that in mind, please."... I agree with what the secretary said. We shouldn’t be getting ahead of ourselves. And as I have said many times, you know, sometimes in these campaigns, things get a little bit out of hand. I happen to respect the secretary very much, I hope it’s mutual. And on our worst days, I think it is fair to say we are 100 times better than any Republican candidate."
Job growth settled into a more sustainable pace in January and the unemployment rate dropped to an almost eight-year low of 4.9 percent, signs of a resilient labor market that’s causing wage growth to stir.
The 151,000 advance in payrolls, while less than forecast, largely reflected payback for a seasonal hiring pickup in the final two months of 2015, Labor Department figures showed Friday. The jobless rate fell to the lowest level since February 2008. Hourly earnings rose more than estimated after climbing in the year to December by the most since July 2009.
The moderation in hiring still leaves the job market on solid footing and shows companies are confident about the outlook for domestic sales. A further tightening of labor conditions that sparks wage gains would help assure Federal Reserve policy makers that inflation will reach its goal.
“This is a very encouraging report -- the fact that wages rose is very important, the unemployment rate continues to go lower, and job growth at 151,000 is still a good number,” said Kathy Bostjancic, an economist at Oxford Economics USA in New York, which is among the best forecasters of the payrolls data over the past two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. [snip]
Friday’s data showed a much-awaited pickup in wage growth is starting to manifest itself. Average hourly earnings rose 0.5 percent from a month earlier to $25.39. The year-over-year increase of 2.5 percent followed a 2.7 percent jump in the 12 months ended in December, which was the biggest advance since mid-2009. (our emphasis)The next time you hear one of the vicious sociopaths running for the Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid/ Shooter's Party nomination yapping about the "economic disaster" wrought by President Kenyan Usurper Obummer, remember these facts as just one benchmark for what pathological, destructive liars they are.
Mr. Rubio somehow contorted the president’s message of inclusiveness into “pitting people against each other.” This, the Floridian said piously, “is hurting our country badly.”
What’s hurting the country badly are hate-mongers who would rather betray American values by appealing to bigotry than address the reality of 2 million to 3 million American Muslims, the overwhelming majority of them patriotic, who are as entitled to dignity and respect as everyone else.[Sound of rake hitting young Marco in the face]
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Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) somehow found a way to criticize President Barack Obama's speech on Wednesday denouncing anti-Muslim bigotry.If there are any of you out there who know someone who thinks the rather transparently cynical Glug Glug is the "New Generation," please read them this quote, read this, and ask them if they think Glug Glug or the President is the one doing the dividing. Tellingly, he's in the same company as neo- fascist bag o' farts Donald "Rump" Trump in denouncing the President's courageous and moral speech on religious tolerance.
Rubio, who often stresses religious liberty and his own faith on the campaign trail, said Obama's words at a Baltimore mosque were intended to divide, rather than unite, the American people.
"I'm tired of being divided against each other for political reasons like this president's done," Rubio said at a Wednesday campaign stop in Dover, New Hampshire. "Always pitting people against each other. Always! Look at today: He gave a speech at a mosque. Oh, you know, basically implying that America is discriminating against Muslims." (our emphasis)
We really need to start talking openly about how dumb young Marco seems to be. https://t.co/gAJpKrnWUU— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) February 4, 2016
"The only issues to be debated in Flint involve the failure at all levels of Republican (and conservative) government, and the destruction of the political commonwealth by the same. Just take turns pointing that out for a couple of hours and you may not have to worry about who you're running against. Also, if you can have a big pitcher of lovely yellow water on your podiums for the camera, that would be nice, too." (emphasis added)Given the venue and the terrible, criminal actions by the Rethug-controlled State and local governments visited on the working class citizens of Flint, this would seem to be a no-brainer. So perhaps one debate where the candidates' major fusillades are aimed at the destructive forces of right-wing government would be a debate worth watching.
"Extremist groups motivated by a range of U.S.-born philosophies present a 'clear and present danger,' John Carlin, the Justice Department's chief of national security, told Reuters in an interview. 'Based on recent reports and the cases we are seeing, it seems like we’re in a heightened environment.'” (emphasis added)A barrier to aggressively pursuing domestic terrorists who have bombed schools and religious buildings, etc., is the lack of a domestic terrorist statute that would prohibit giving support to designated domestic terrorist groups. With the Rethuglican / New Confederate / Stupid / Shooter's Party actively cultivating the support of far right secessionists and groups with extreme anti-Government views, it's unlikely that a Rethug-controlled Congress would pass such legislation, short of a 9-11 style attack perpetrated by a right-wing group. While the Government has the necessary tools to prosecute supporters of international terrorism under the "material support" rule, supporters of domestic terrorist groups aren't covered:
"The U.S. State Department designates international terrorist organizations to which it is illegal to provide 'material support.' No domestic groups have that designation, helping to create a disparity in charges faced by international extremist suspects compared to domestic ones.Recall that in April 2009, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a report (ironically initiated on Dumbya's watch) that warned of increased right-wing extremism after the election of the nation's first African-American President and that focused on anti-immigration and anti-gun control activism. The pushback on the report by Rethuglicans was fierce, and also by wingnut welfare recipients like Michelle Malkin and the hacks at the RedState blog. Bowing to political pressure, the DHS and the Administration shamefully backed off of the report instead of defending it and acting on the evidence of growing right-wing violent extremist activity.
A Reuters analysis of more than 100 federal cases found that domestic terrorism suspects collectively have faced less severe charges than those accused of acting on behalf of Islamic State since prosecutors began targeting that group in early 2014." (emphasis added)
One of their favorite skits involved Wally Ballou [Bob Elliott's character] interviewing a paperclip company tycoon who tackles “waste and inefficiency” by running a sweatshop of indentured servants. Employees, who earn 14 cents a week, are bound by a “99-year sweetheart contract” and imprisoned if they try to quit.
“How can anybody possibly live on 14 cents a week?” Ballou asks.
Goulding, as the industrialist, replies defensively, “We don’t pry into the personal lives of our employees, Wally.”If you've never heard them (or of them), here's a short radio piece that concerns a hobbyist (that's Bob's nasal voice) being interviewed by Ray ("Neil Clummer"), who keeps cracking up at Bob's dry delivery and the subject matter. Have some nice laughs to start the day ("... and find a good hobby!"). R.I.P.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans failed in their latest futile attempt Tuesday to kill President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, a Groundhog Day vote by the House that was solely an exercise in election-year political messaging. (our emphasis)The unintended messaging: "We're a bunch of cynical, nihilistic, plutocrat- enabling, hypocritical, vicious, dimbulb sociopaths. But you keep electing us, so we'll keep it up!"
