Not a Good Ad

POSTED BY JHW22

So, in the let's be civil and responsible atmosphere of the post-Tuscon shooting era, this Facebook ad is a major FAIL. By the way, if you click on the link, you'll see a weird page that offers not just a free copy of Human Action by Ludwig von Mises, but also a lot of great information about gold from First National Bullion and coin. WACKO!

Oh, Grow Up!

POSTED BY JHW22

I just watched Joan Rivers on Lawrence O'Donnell (no link as of yet) and I will paraphrase it this way:

I think Obama needs to "get to work"; not go to Nantucket while telling Americans to go to the Gulf Coast; while in a recession not send your wife and her forty friends to Europe; I hate the "death tax."

OK, although some of that is fair criticism (the Obamas COULD have vacationed in Louisiana but there are reasons pro and con for that debate), some of Joan's criticism is incorrect and catty (the forty friends in Europe for example). She said she voted for Obama but her rant sounded almost like Fox talking points to me.

When she said she is against the "death tax" I knew she was a victim of right-wing spin. She went down the "I worked hard for my money" path. And that, aside from sounding like a Fox guest, made her sound like the biggest bitch (which is a totally appropriate term for a woman who made a career using that word) in stretched skin. Let me see: she thinks she worked so hard for her millions and wants her daughter to get it all and she's mad that her daughter will have to pay too much in taxes. Is that right? Well, hmmm... if JOAN worked hard for the money then you can't say Melissa worked hard for the money simply by being her daughter. If you think freedom from taxes is correlated to work exerted, then estate taxes aren't the car you should be chasing because the worker is dead and the recipient just sat there inheriting money.

Now, early in Joan's career she did work hard. And I am sure she puts hours into her current career. But excuuuuussse me, but earning millions while insulting clothes and hair does not, in my opinion, equal hard work that should be free of any taxes when given to her daughter -- who did even less hard work while doing the same lame-ass job simply because she's your kid.

You make millions of dollars, spend a huge chunk of that on your face and then you want to whine to me that your no-talent daughter has to pay taxes on the chunk you've left her? Hey, Joan: GROW UP.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Here's the video.

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Serve Your Full Term, Please

POSTED BY JHW22

Unless you are an elected official running for another elected post, or unless you are appointed to another position by someone in an elected post, I think it's pure crap to QUIT a job you were elected to do. And no, I am not talking about the Half-the-Term/Double-the-Standards Governor.

For Representative Jane Harman (D-CA) to leave Congress to work for a think tank is unacceptable to me. I don't care what party she is in, how she leans or whether I agree with her on issues or not. I do not like that people donate to campaigns only to see the money wasted on a partial term. I do not like that a state has to now fund and coordinate a special election -- especially when the state is broke. The least she could do is wait until another election is taking place. Or hell, she could afford to pay for the special election SHE is causing. If I could write laws, I would say that anyone who chooses to leave an elected office to get a better paying job must pay for the special election and refund a prorated amount to all the donors who helped get them elected.

Just sayin'.

EDIT: I meant to add:

"Hell, Gabby Giffords is still serving and she got shot in the head! THAT is loyalty and dedication and service."

The Obama/O'Reilly Super Bowl Interview

Maybe it's because of my Bill O'Reilly bias, but when did it become acceptable to ask a question of the President of the United States, and then constantly interrupt him during his answer? To me, it just shows O'Reilly has a subconscious disrespect for the office and for Obama in particular.

O'Reilly also comes off as an unserious "journalist" when he uses phrases like, "Those are tough guys, the Muslim Brotherhood" and "Mubarak knows a lot of bad things about us, rendition and such... I'm worried that he might go off the reservation." Yes, heaven forbid the American people might find out the truth of the criminal activities the government has been involved in.

"Does it disturb you that so many people hate you?" Not at all a serious question considering the President's 50% approval rating at the moment. Yes, even higher than St.Ronnie's rating at the same point in his tenure. Maybe the people who watch BillO hate Obama, but 2 million people does not a country make. And flailing and missing with a question about whether the President knows football and what a blitz is, as if he were going to catch him floundering and show Joe Average Football that Obama is an elitist who'd rather play cricket or polo than know the rules of American Football, was just pathetic.

What Obama should have said: "Yes Bill, I know what a blitz is. I also know what causes the tides."

Green Bay Packers Win Super Bowl XLV

Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers winning Super Bowl XLV, defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 in an exciting game. While the Steelers made a valiant comeback after a couple of turnovers leading to 14 points, Pittsburgh's 18 point deficit was too much to overcome.

S#*! Sarah Palin Says (Egypt Word Salad Edition)

Does it amaze anyone else that Tea Party darling Sarah Palin is usually a week late to comment on the goings on of the world, and even when she has all that extra time to prepare, still cannot come up with a coherent sentence?

On the situation in Egypt -

Sarah Palin: “Remember, President Reagan lived that mantra trust but verify. We want to be able to trust those who are screaming for democracy there in Egypt, that it is a true sincere desire for freedoms and the challenge that we have though, is how do we verify what it is that we are being told, what it is that the American public are being fed via media, via the protestors, via the government there in Egypt in order for us to really have some sound information to make wise decisions on what our position is. Trust but verify, and try to understand is what I would hope our leaders are engaged in right now. Who’s going to fill the void? Mubarak, he’s gone, one way or the other you know, he is not going to be the leader of Egypt, that that’s a given, so now the information needs to be gathered and understood as to who it will be that fills now the void in the government. Is it going to be the Muslim Brotherhood? We should not stand for that, or with that or by that. Any radical Islamists, no that is not who we should be supporting and standing by, so we need to find out who was behind all of the turmoil and the revolt and the protests so that good decisions can be made in terms of who we will stand by and support.” 

On President Obama’s handling of the crisis in Egypt -

Sarah Palin: “It’s a difficult situation, this is that 3am White House phone call and it seems for many of us trying to get that information from our leader in the White House it it seems that that call went right to um the answering machine. And nobody yet has, no body yet has explained to the American public what they know, and surely they know more than the rest of us know who it is who will be taking the place of Mubarak and I'm not real enthused about what it is that that’s being done on a national level and from DC in regards to understanding all the situation there in Egypt. And in these areas that are so volatile right now because obviously it’s not just Egypt but the other countries too where we are seeing uprisings, we know that now more than ever, we need strength and sound mind there in the White House. We need to know what it is that America stands for so we know who it is that America will stand with. And we do not have all that information yet.”

Once again, those that espouse freedom and the spread of democracy are all good with it, until they realize they might not like the outcome.

Shorter Palin: Hey, let's support the protestors - that is of course as long as they accept a leader that's okay with us. If they happen to vote in the Muslim Brotherhood, then fuck that democracy shit.

And let me take this opportunity to disagree with the President again.  I have no idea what's going on behind closed doors because I'm not privy to that information, but it's Obama so how can I go wrong with satisfying my wingnut base by disagreeing with everything he does? Why should it matter that the leaders of the GOP are praising Obama's handling of the situation? I'm going rogue, baby! That's how I roll!

Holy shit, this woman is an imbecile.

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Winning the Future through American Innovation

Rush Limbaugh is a Moron Too

The King of Conservatives, the Overlord of Oxycontin, the Viscount of Illegal Viagra, Rush Limbaugh was caught off guard and completely stumped when a caller challenged him and asked why former President Ronald Reagan, who was pro-amnesty, raised taxes eleven times, "cut and ran" from Lebanon and negotiated with terrorists, is considered a Conservative hero.

Limbaugh was dumbfounded - he stuttered, he stammered, he froze - and the only thing he could come up with was to question the "silly notion" that Reagan raised taxes, the most obvious and provable of the caller's accusations.



Well, I suppose to keep one's ample ass in comfort, one has to keep pulling the wool over the rubes' eyes.

Sean Hannity is a Moron

But we knew that already.

Rand Paul Plays on the Third Rail

Paul defended his call to end to all foreign aid -- including the $3 billion the U.S. gives to Israel every year.

"I'm not singling out Israel. I support Israel. I want to be known as a friend of Israel," Paul said, "but not with money you don't have. We can't just borrow from our kids' future and give it to countries even if they are our friends."

..."I think they're an important ally, but I also think that their per capita income is greater than probably three-fourths of the rest of the world," Paul said. "Should we be giving free money or welfare to a wealthy nation? I don't think so."

Welfare? *Sigh.*

While I'm willing to praise Rand Paul for his bluntness on Israel (seems like more politicians should be worried bout the well being of the US before Israel - I'm looking at you, Joe Lieberman) he's going after them for the wrong reasons. It isn't purely a financial issue - although it probably is for Paul, who also wants to cut the Department of Education by 83%.

GOP Backs Off "Forcible Rape"

HuffPo: House Republicans announced Thursday that they are taking a step back from a particularly controversial passage of a piece of anti-abortion legislation that many had criticized as a dangerous redefinition of the acts that constituted "rape."

"The word 'forcible' will be replaced with the original language from the Hyde Amendment," a spokesman for Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), one of the sponsors of H.R. 3. The "No Taxpayer Funding For Abortion Act," told Politico.

Well I guess that's good. But here's an interesting quote (emphasis mine):

The bill’s authors, including Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), say it’s not their intent to change the way the exemption is applied.

“The language of H.R. 3 was not intended to change existing law regarding taxpayer funding for abortion in cases of rape, nor is it expected that it would do so,” Lipinski told Talking Points Memo in a statement.

Two things: If they never intended to change the exemption, why did they use a questionable phrase? And if there's already "existing law regarding taxpayer funded abortion," which they didn't intend to change, please enlighten me on what this law actually does except reiterate what's already in the books and perhaps cons the rubes into thinking that Republicans actually achieved something with this redundant bill?

John Bolton's Bomb Iran Du Jour

Raw Story: Former US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said the ouster of embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak would speed the timetable for an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

... "I don't think there’s much time to act. And I think the fall of a Egyptian government committed to the peace agreement will almost certainly speed that timetable up."

Bolton chided the protests in Egypt last week, saying that "the real alternative is not Jefferson democracy versus the Mubarak regime, but that it’s the Muslim Brotherhood versus the Mubarak regime, and that has enormous implications for the US, for Israel, and our other friends in the region."

Ah, yes. They all love spreading democracy... until they realize they might not like the outcome.

And so goes Bolton's latest excuse for bombing Iran. Unrest in Gaza? Bomb Iran. George W. Bush leaving office? Bomb Iran. Protests in Egypt? Bomb Iran.

I wouldn't be surprised if Bolton also said that the consistency of his poached eggs at tomorrow morning's breakfast would speed the timetable for an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. "If they're not runny enough, there'll be hell to pay,"said Bolton as he picked the crumbs of toast out of his mustache.

Cartoon of the Day

Holy Crap!

NOAA: