Broadway Carl

Hard Work?

2012-01-27T20:30:00.003-05:00

POSTED BY JHW22

When the Republicans take aim in their class war against Democrats, the middle class and the working class, one of their favorite weapons is the all-too-familiar:

Tax increases punish hard work

We're to believe that the more a person makes, the harder they must have worked to earn it. Never mind the fact that laying roof tiles in 105 degree Texas heat doesn't earn a guy a million bucks. Apparently it's not as hard as going to board meetings and country club meet and greets. So a guy who owns his own roofing company and does a lot of the work himself pays a good chunk of his income in taxes. Shame on us for taxing that guy so high.

But more shame on us for wanting to tax Mitt Romney so high. Because, gosh darn it, he has so much money, he MUST have worked so gosh darn hard for it.

Take 2010, for example. Mitt worked hard. Why should he pay higher taxes as some kind of punishment for his hard work?

What? What's that you say? Mitt didn't actually work for that income? You mean his income came from a company he USED to do work for and some investments?
Well, my dad decided to retire early when he was laid off and now he works every day investing. He reads, researches, plans, has the coolest spreadsheets in the WORLD. So I'd say he works hard.

What? What's that you say? Mitt didn't actually control his investments? He pays a trustee to make all the investment decisions for him?

WHAT?! So, we're not supposed to punish hard work with higher taxes? Well, then hell! Mitt has been paying someone else to do the work of making him money off of him not working. So, seems to me the "punishing hard work" excuse don't float here.

My Family

2012-01-25T22:25:00.008-05:00

POSTED BY JHW22

I'd like to take a moment to share something about my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. They are a working class couple in a rental house, used cars and with a life filled with conquered demons and baggage they faced head-on. They work hard, play hard and enjoy their lives today. They are in their forties and love heavy metal and tattoos. They don't take life too seriously but feel passion for animals, their great friends and family and each other. If you passed them on the street, you might not think they were someone you could learn politics from. But you'd be wrong.

Now, I have my issues with the Occupy movement. There are some things that piss me off. But the one thing I will always be grateful to the movement for, is that it made my SIL and BIL take notice. These are two insightful, curious people. They ask great questions and make considerate connections. They started following Occupy and even attended a protest or two. And then the Facebook posts started coming regularly: links to articles, questions about what they'd heard somewhere, LGBT support links, criticisms of Bachmann.

And it kept coming.

My sister-in-law was a rising lioness. She wasn't shy about her thoughts and she challenged people to pay attention. We have chatted about issues and she trusts that I will have an honest discussion with her. I trust that she's paying attention.

And the other day, she posted this on Facebook

I voted! (for my dist rep) PLEASE HERE ME OUT! I hate politics, but after occupy, questions surfaced, so the last year I have become more informed because I believe solidarity makes changes happen, I ask my trusted informers when I get confused, they help me understand (you all know who you are and I thank you!) VOTING MATTERS! as my SIL helped me understand (and I ended up changing my party)... in reality, there are 2 parties, and usually 2 candidates, no matter how many are in the line up, you know one of the 2 will win, therefore doing a "write in" or voting for a small party candidate is not productive because it doesn't really count against the "worse of the two evils". You may not be on board 100% with either of the 2 at election time, but out of those two you know which one you DO NOT want. THIS YEAR IS VERY IMPORTANT! IT WILL MAKE OR BREAK THE SHIT HOLE WE ARE IN NOW! Get registered if you are not, be a grown up and be an American... YOUR VOTE DOES COUNT!

My favorite part was when she brilliantly discussed the consequences of write-ins and third parties. That is insightful. And this is from a woman who just started paying attention. Can you imagine what a powerful citizen she will be in November?

And last night, they watched the State of the Union and my BIL posted this on my Facebook page

Loved the speech of the Union tonight - Obama sounded like one of us Protesters - Tax the Rich and Save the Poor :) 30 percent tax for everything over a Million dollars a Year :) Someone is Listening :)

See that? A guy who wouldn't normally be paying attention, watched the State of the Union. He's listening and he knows Obama is listening.

I love my SIL and BIL. And I am proud of them. And I am so glad they are on our side.

We have an untapped resource out there. There are people who will vote FOR their best interests, and ours, if they are given a reason to pay attention. And once they start paying attention, we will see a fierce advocacy take hold. Many of their friends spoke up on my SIL's post the other night. They feel empowered, they know the value of a vote. We need to make sure we reach out to the people in our lives that haven't been paying attention and see if they're ready to start.

Politics is intimidating. There's history and all kinds of twists and turns and chaos and confrontation. Why would anyone want to start paying attention to this crap? People shy away. But Barack Obama is the right President for these people. He is thinking of them in his policies. He just needs them to know it and to stand with him. Let's help them feel less intimidated and welcome them to the dark side.

Politifact Can't Be Trusted

2012-01-25T20:26:00.001-05:00

This is so disappointing. I was a regular reader of Politifact and linked to them on many occasions as a reference in previous posts. But no longer. Something happened between their inception and the present day that has caused them to skew their fact checking - you can call it opinion management - to avoid the dreaded "liberal bias" label.

Here is a fact, perfectly stated by President Obama in his State of the Union Address last night:

In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than three million jobs. Last year, they created the most jobs since 2005.

Those are the numbers. Plain and simple. But for some unfathomable reason, Politifact originally labeled this statement as "Half-True" then upgraded it to "Mostly-True." And for what reason? After all, it's a simple statement. It's either true or it's false. How can it possibly be half-true? I'll let Paul Krugman explain:

...Unfortunately, Politifact has lost sight of what it was supposed to be doing. Instead of simply saying whether a claim is true, it’s trying to act as some kind of referee of what it imagines to be fair play: even if a politician says something completely true, it gets ruled only partly true if Politifact feels that the fact is being used to gain an unfair political advantage.
...fact-checking should be about checking facts — not about trying to impose some sort of Marquess of Queensbury rules on how you’re allowed to use facts. Aside from undermining the mission, this makes the whole thing subjective — notice that Politifact wasn’t even analyzing what Obama said, they were analyzing their impression about what he might have been trying to imply.
... in practice this turns into a partisan affair. The simple fact is that in today’s US political scene, Republicans make a lot more factual howlers than Democrats. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is. Yet Politifact wants to be seen as nonpartisan. If it just stuck to the facts, it could say look, we’re just reporting the facts. But having defined its role as something that goes beyond checking facts to saying whether the facts are being used in some “proper” way, it then finds itself under pressure to be “even-handed”, which ends up meaning making excuses for Republican falsehoods and finding ways to criticize Democratic true statements.

Combine this ridiculousness with their 2011 Lie of the Year, and Politifact is Politi-shit. They are supposed to be objective arbiters of statements and they are either true or false. But they've decided to be subjective and my only conclusion is because they're afraid of being labeled a left leaning organization because Republicans are less truthful.

Just in the latest debate Newt Gingrich was asked the following:

Moderator: You've talked about the millions of jobs created by the Reagan tax cuts. If tax cuts create jobs, why didn't the Bush tax cuts work?

Here is the beginning of Newt's answer. Hold on to your seats:

Well, the Bush tax cuts, I think in a period of great difficulty, with the attack of 9/11, actually stopped us from going into a much deeper slump. I think we would have been in much, much worse shape, and I think most economists agree, that in 2002 and '03 and '04 we'd have been in much worse shape without the Bush tax cuts.

What. The. Fuck.

Newt Gingrich actually said the Bush tax cuts, that added a $1.8 trillion to our national debt, stopped us from going into a deeper slump?! I'd like to have a list of "most economists" to which Newt referred. What planet does this motherfucker live on? I'll tell you where - he lives on the planet where people get million dollar credit accounts from jewelry stores and make millions by being the consummate Washington insider.

And how did Politifact rate that whopper of a statement? It wasn't worth mentioning. But a completely truthful statement was rated at best "mostly true" for fear of appearing left leaning.

I rate Politifact's objectivity, Pants on Fire.

President Obama's State of the Union Address - January 24, 2012

2012-01-25T15:50:00.002-05:00

State of the Union Tonight

2012-01-24T20:09:00.000-05:00

This one is going to be interesting.

Please forgive my lack of posting - burning the candle at both ends eats away blogging time. I'll take notes as best I can and comment on the SOTU in a future post. I'm expecting President Obama to open up a can of whoop-ass... at least I'm hoping he will. Sit back with a beer and enjoy it.

Early Entry for Headline of the Year

2012-01-21T21:41:00.000-05:00

Worst. Psychiatrist. Ever.

2012-01-21T15:22:00.001-05:00

I'm guessing if you lined up 100 psychiatrists and asked them the same question, only Fox News' head shrink Keith Ablow would come up with such a ridiculous answer, the other 99 would demand to see his credentials and recommend revoking his license.

How else can you explain Ablow's amazing analysis when he comes to the conclusion that Gingrich might make a better president because of his infidelity? And if three women fell in love with him, then why not the entire country? You know, because Newt's such a Svengali.

1) Three women have met Mr. Gingrich and been so moved by his emotional energy and intellect that they decided they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with him.
2) Two of these women felt this way even though Mr. Gingrich was already married.
3 ) One of them felt this way even though Mr. Gingrich was already married for the second time, was not exactly her equal in the looks department and had a wife (Marianne) who wanted to make his life without her as painful as possible.
Conclusion: When three women want to sign on for life with a man who is now running for president, I worry more about whether we’ll be clamoring for a third Gingrich term, not whether we’ll want to let him go after one.

Really, "Doctor" Ablow? I have no such worries.

But witness the analytic mind at work. It may be working at an insane asylum, but working nonetheless, complete with bullet points, assumptions that Marianne Gingrich wanted to punish Newt, and his "logical" conclusion.

Before you think this is a satirical piece, just remember that Ablow is part of Fox News Channel's "Medical A-Team." That's got to be worth something, right? My guess is that he's the Howling Mad Murdoch of the group. He continues:

4) Two women—Mr. Gingrich’s first two wives—have sat down with him while he delivered to them incredibly painful truths: that he no longer loved them as he did before, that he had fallen in love with other women and that he needed to follow his heart, despite the great price he would pay financially and the risk he would be taking with his reputation.
Conclusion: I can only hope Mr. Gingrich will be as direct and unsparing with the Congress, the American people and our allies. If this nation must now move with conviction in the direction of its heart, Newt Gingrich is obviously no stranger to that journey.

Yes, because we all know that Gingrich is so truthful in his political life, he was reprimanded and fined for ethic violations during his tenure as Speaker of the House in the 90's. (And a Happy Anniversary to you on that one, Newt.) And it looks like the "great price he would pay financially" comes in the form of Tiffany's charge accounts.

But don't stop there, read the rest. I'm sure you'll have a good laugh, but keep a barf bag near you just in case.

I pity the fool that follows Ablow's psychiatric advice.

UPDATE: A previous version of this post mentioned Ablow insulting Marianne Gingrich's looks which was a misreading on my part. He is actually comparing Callista Gingrinch's attractiveness to... Newt's!

Must Reads

2012-01-21T13:15:00.000-05:00

Marcus Cederstrom: What if Tim Tebow were Muslim?

Digby: Straight Up Racism, No Dogwhistle Necessary

Ezra Klein: Who will get the ‘Recovery Presidency’?

Andrew Sullivan: How Obama's Long Game Will Outsmart His Critics

Robert Reich: The Romney Tax Loophole

Ruth Marcus: Mitt Romney’s miserly concern for the poor

E.J Dionne: Republicans keep moving Obama to Europe

Our blast from the past comes courtesy of loyal reader Chris U. who wants to remind us all of Newt Gingrich's political past, sans revisionist history.

John E. Yang: House Reprimands, Penalizes Speaker

President Obama's Weekly Address - January 21, 2012

2012-01-21T12:41:00.000-05:00

America is Open for Business

In Follow-Up to the Newt Affair

2012-01-20T21:29:00.004-05:00

POSTED BY JHW22

Ooops, I probably shouldn't have called it an affair. I might hurt Newt's feelings and make him go all nukuler on me.

But, anyway, here's this.

h/t Rick Parry on Facebook.

Why Am I Not Surprised?

2012-01-20T19:38:00.003-05:00

Gingrich flatly denied [Marianne Gingrich's] story and attacked ABC News at Thursday's GOP debate. He said, "Every personal friend I have who knew us in that period says the story was false. We offered several of them to ABC to prove it was false. They weren't interested because they would like to attack any Republican."
On Friday, ABC senior vice president Jeffrey W. Schneider said that Gingrich's account was "just not true." He said in a statement, "His daughters were interviewed for our 'Nightline' story last night and we sought interviews with Gingrich or surrogates very aggressively starting Tuesday morning. We would have been happy to interview anyone they put forward."

At this point, who are you going to believe? If what Gingrich said was true, he would have been accommodating in at least having someone fight back the open marriage allegation, but the better political road would be to claim it's a witch hunt and blame the media. How very Herman Cainsian of him.

Etta James Dies at 73

2012-01-20T12:08:00.000-05:00

NY Times: Etta James, whose powerful, versatile and emotionally direct voice could enliven the raunchiest blues as well as the subtlest love songs, most indelibly in her signature hit, “At Last,” died Friday morning in Riverside, Calif. She was 73.
Her manager, Lupe De Leon, told The Associated Press that the cause was complications of leukemia.

I Really Tried

2012-01-20T10:29:00.002-05:00

I took a deep breath, grabbed my remote and tuned in to CNN last night to watch the latest Republican debate. Normally, when I flip these things on in passing (the GOP debates, I mean) it's just to make sure something miraculous hasn't happened and they started debating in truths rather than whatever fantasy world they live in. But alas, that moment never comes.

Well, while still not living in reality, this night had the makings of being different. After all, Rick Perry had bowed out just that morning and now the GOP Nomination Clown Car was down to four. Newt Gingrich's second ex-wife, Marianne, accused him of wanting an open marriage after he began an affair with his now third wife, Callista. And after two weeks of recounting Iowa caucus votes, we found out that Rick Santorum actually beat Mitt Romney, but since Iowa takes its voting so seriously and eight precincts worth of votes went missing, the recount will never be complete, so we'll never really know, will we?

I knew I was in for a long night when the first question out of the gate was directed at Newt and the open marriage accusation. And an angry, defiant Gingrich went after moderator John King for having the gall to ask such a question at the debate, blamed the media for attacking him and "protecting Barack Obama" and the crowd lapped it up and went along for the ride.

And I think that's what disgusted me most about this South Carolina debate - the audience was chomping at that red meat like there was no tomorrow. They were cheering Gingrich's "fuck you" attitude while simultaneously forgoing their Christian conservative selves in support of a thrice married, twice divorced, serial adulterer. Let alone the hootin' and hollerin' when Newt once again chose to go after welfare recipients (you know, because there are no white people on government assistance) to appease the blood thirsty crowd who'd left their torches and hoods at the coat check.

Somewhere along the line I felt my blood pressure rise and decided my health was more important than a futile exercise. I noticed the time was 8:36pm EDT, probably the longest I've sat through a GOP debate this season... and actually the first time I consciously tried. But to tell you the truth, besides the Newt opener and Santorum claiming victory in Iowa, the rest is a blur. It's hard to concentrate when you have blood boiling in your eyes.

Santorum Won?!

2012-01-19T11:26:00.001-05:00

Well where the hell does this put the GOP presidential nomination race? It would seem that after a recount of the Iowa caucuses that gave Mitt Romney a slim eight vote victory shows that Rick Santorum actually won with a 34 vote edge. And it's still a clusterfuck.

Republican officials indicated Santorum finished ahead of Romney by 34 votes on Thursday. The Des Moines Register reports that votes from eight precincts will never be counted, however, and therefore the ultimate tally remains inconclusive.
...Officials found inaccurate counts in 131 precincts, including one that had an error by 50 votes, the Des Moines Register reported on Thursday.
Chad Olsen, the party’s executive director, told the Register that the results showed "a split decision." The final tallies, exempting the eight precincts that will not be tallied, were 29,839 for Santorum and 29,805 for Romney, according to the Register.

Boy, the Republican party is in such disarray that they can't even rig their own elections properly. And now what happens in South Carolina? With a couple of days left and Newt Gingrich's negative carpet bombing of Romney cutting his poll lead in half, anything can happen when you combine the fact that the GOP still can't stomach Newt.

One more thing: after this complete debacle in which the votes of eight precincts will never be counted, and errors exposed in practically every other precinct, can someone please explain to me why it is that we give a shit about Iowa?

Rick Perry Throws In the Towel

2012-01-19T11:12:00.000-05:00

Texas Governor, GOP gaffe machine and Jethro Bodine doppelgänger Rick Perry is announcing he is dropping out of the race for the Republican nomination. Nothing like quitting while you're behind.

Reports say he will endorse Newt Gingrich.

SOPA & PIPA are Personal for Me

2012-01-18T09:36:00.002-05:00

POSTED BY JHW22

Technically, SOPA is on hold in the House. PIPA is moving forward in the Senate -- there is a vote whether to discuss it or not, next week. There is a whole other bill in the Senate that is similar.

As a business owner who sells my own creative/intellectual property online, I am torn in two by all of this. I want my designs protected in a reasonable way. At the same time, I sell via sites that I need to be open for business 24/7.

The intent of the bills expand protection from existing laws to encompass international theft of intellectual rights. It's really about getting current with the global reality.

As a business owner who is effected either way by these bills, and as a social media user, my hopes are these:

1) All of Congress adjusts the language to protect free speech and deal with the new realities of how people communicate and share, while ensuring that the people who design/create aren't treated as donors. People who create for a living don't do it for free. Their work is less tangible than a couch or a saw blade or a shirt and therefore do need special consideration. However, the protection of the creative can't come at the cost of the very tools we use to sell.

2) American citizens, journalists and websites must stay CURRENT with the language of all these bills at each stage. Something that annoys me is when we, as a whole, keep yelling about a bill AFTER the language is changed. We lose so much when we don't keep up with changes and keep fighting about language that doesn't exist anymore. The process of passing a bill is longer and more complex than people have the attention span for. If this issue matters, people need to make sure they know what they're talking about at each step. Yelling about version one when we're already on version three is stupid.

3) I hope people will avoid letting the bad parts of any bill blind them to the good parts that are workable. We don't always need to throw a whole bill out. Sometimes we just need to re-work it. Maybe we need to re-work it a lot, but sometimes, that's all that's needed.

A must read, seriously.

2012-01-17T20:43:00.004-05:00

POSTED BY JHW2212

If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you must read this article in the Guardian. Jonathan Freedland has nailed so many points like no one I've read.

Here's a tease:

The Republican shift is now towards an anti-government fervour that recalls the militia movement of the 1990s, convinced that every Washington move – even a plan to expand healthcare – is motivated by wickedness and constitutes a step towards tyranny. In that context, any action to thwart the government beast is justified. Such ideas were always around on the lunatic fringe, but they have entered and now dominate the Republican mainstream. Today's Republicans are less like a traditional political party and 'more like an apocalyptic cult'. There is a bitter irony here, that the party that insists it is conservative and patriotic now threatens the centuries-old political system that lies at the core of the US's national identity.

Perry Shows Off Alamo Boots

2012-01-17T10:57:00.002-05:00

Seriously? (1:38 mark.)

I know the man is a joke, but if you want to be taken seriously for the highest office in the land, maybe you would think about wearing a pair of regular dress shoes, you goddamn shitkicker.

Hey, Y'all, Let's Move!

2012-01-17T10:18:00.002-05:00

POSTED BY JHW22

I get annoyed by Republicans and their "personal responsibility" meme because so often, they preach it while they completely avoid living it. So often, the meme is really just a spiteful response to reasonable ideas. And at times, it's used in response to issues that aren't applicable to a single person. For example, smoking in public. It's NOT a personal responsibility issue when MY lungs are filled with YOUR smoke. See? See how personal responsibility sounds great but isn't realistically implemented because YOU have an impact on ME. My personal responsibility to not smoke is moot because your personal responsibility is to say, "Fuck it. I have the right to liberty and freedom and any shit I want to do because I'm a damn American". But, no. The idea of personal responsibility stops at your skin. Like it or not, your choices effect others. So, if you make poor choices that effect me, I DO get a say.

The underlying problem, as I see it, is that the element of spite is there in almost every single issue where Republicans try to encompass themselves with some make-believe shield of "I wanna and you can't stop me". Not locking a gun away from your kids just to spite gun control advocates. Turning on every light/appliance/TV in your house on Earth Day or driving an old truck that can't pass inspection to spite the clean air advocates. Choosing to feed your kid total crap to spite Michelle Obama.

At some point, the revered "personal responsibility" is replaced by spite.

So, what does a 60-something year old woman's eating habits have to do with personal responsibility or spite or me? If she eats poorly, how does that effect me?

Well, when that 60-year-old woman's entire career is built on eating unhealthy foods and enabling you, me and every obese person in America to eat unhealthy, then her personal responsibility crosses a line into either denial, enabling, greed, pride or all of the above.

Paula Deen was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. How long ago she was diagnosed, we don't know. But the scuttlebut is that she has known for quite a while and didn't disclose it. So, how does that effect others? Because she may have knowingly allowed people to keep eating in ways that cause serious harm to their bodies, that put a strain on the health care industry and that, in turn, effects the cost of health care for everyone. Not to mention the effects it has on a whole new generation of kids who have been taught that their personal responsibility is to eat more butter. These kids will have a much harder time re-learning how to eat.

I have NO CLUE what party Paula Deen votes for. I have NO CLUE if she is a "personal responsibility" Republican. But she is a perfect example of the abuse of the thinking that what you do only effects you. No, Ms. Deen. It effects millions of people when you promote a lifestyle that actually harms people. If you knew you had this food-related disease, why did you choose to pretend your role in society was irrelevant? Could you just not accept it? Could you just not figure out how to adapt your reality to the image you created? Could you not see the "personal responsibility" you had to your fans?

And through all of this Americans with spite and denial and pride, Michelle Obama has been educating kids and families about eating and exercising in realistic and healthy ways. She has been vilified for educating people. Her "personal responsibility" has been to set a good example of enjoying foods that aren't great for you -- in moderation. She has never said all Americans should eat only salads. But people despise her for suggesting we think and take personal responsibility for our health, and the health of our kids.

So, here we have two women. One who is beloved for her image of unhealthy. And one who is derided for her image of healthy. And yet, I imagine many of the same people who criticize Michelle Obama will come to the quick defense of Paula Deen.

So, you know what? Personal responsibility and spite don't mix. And in this case, it may actually kill someone.

Sully Gets It

2012-01-16T20:59:00.006-05:00

POSTED BY JHW22

I know, I know. Andrew Sullivan comes with baggage. But for the last four years, he has made more sense than not, and far more sense than many people in all parties. Like him or not, Andrew Sullivan GETS President Obama. And it was nice hearing someone say what many of us have been saying for years. So, thanks, Sully. It was a pleasure having you express reality so clearly.

You can watch him on Hardball

or read his insight in Newsweek.

I would like to add, that when Chris Matthews asks why the Obama team doesn't shout his accomplishments, they do. The media just misses it, ignores it, or doesn't get the significance.

Thanks to The Obama Diary for getting this online so fast!

And There Goes the Sane One

2012-01-15T21:53:00.003-05:00

POSTED BY JHW22

Jon Huntsman is withdrawing from the campaign in the morning.

OK, Republican friends, this guy was your most mature, sane, reasonable candidates. I have been telling you for years that your party was slipping from your grip. Do you realize that this man would have given Obama, and America, an honest, fair challenge to hear and think about?

If I were a Republican, I'd be really sad for my party. As an American, I am really sad what the Republican party is doing to America.

Cartoon of the Day

2012-01-15T18:50:00.000-05:00

(H/T Bob Cesca)

An Open Letter to Arthur Brisbane

2012-01-14T22:45:00.001-05:00

Here is my response to Arthur Brisbane, New York Times' Public Editor after his piece, "Should The Times Be a Truth Vigilante?" If you haven't read it yet, although I don't know how you may have missed it with all the hullabaloo about it, please follow the link.

Dear Mr. Brisbane:
"[Our readers] worry less about reporters imposing their judgment on what is false and what is true."
This line most struck me in your piece as an interesting take on what you feel is "judgment" as opposed to journalism. I was always under the impression that a reporter's job was not only to report on the facts of what they witnessed or heard, but also to distinguish between what is truth and what isn't.
The Mitt Romney example you put forth regarding his repeated accusation of President Obama "apologizing for America" is a perfect example. But let's take it one step further and ask the following: What if Mitt Romney had said that President Obama goes around the world insisting that the sky is green? Is the reporter bound to play stenographer and simply repeat the quote, or is he obligated to research the truthfulness of that quote in an effort to paint a more accurate picture? Facts are facts, opinions are opinions and lies are lies. The phrase "imposing their judgement" implies the reporter is giving their opinion and facts are secondary and inconvenient.
Maybe there is a difference between journalism and investigative journalism, but there shouldn't be. I would imagine a reporter wants to be as accurate as possible, and if that means researching to prove the subject of their story truthful or not, then in my opinion, that's what the job must entail. Otherwise, anyone can be a reporter simply by recording and transcribing an event.
Thanks,
Broadway Carl

And to me, that's the long and short of it. An entire online industry was born to fact check what journalists don't. Poltifact, Media Matters, FactCheck and others are watch dogs to what politicians, pundits and talking heads pass as news, but even some of them are now afraid to be labeled as biased toward the liberal end of the scale and try to play it down the middle. This was clearly evidenced by Politifact's 2011 Lie of the Year, calling the Democrats' accusation that the Paul Ryan economic plan would end Medicare as we know it, a falsehood.

Anyone looking at Ryan's plan would come to that conclusion - simply keeping the "Medicare" name while making the program an inadequate voucher system does not mean Medicare equals Medicare. I could shit in a box and gift wrap it, complete with a "Medicare" label on it. Does that make it Medicare? But I digress.

I agree with Tweeter @Shoq that the conversation is an important one, but I also understand the blowback when such a question need be asked, and that a reporter fact checking someone he/she is covering would be categorized as "truth vigilantism." There are still a majority of the population who rely on the fourth estate for their daily news. They assume what they read in major newspapers is fact. Opinion should be left in the editorial pages, but front page news must deal with the facts and be accurate. And I believe that it is the responsibility of the reporter to research the subject and double check the accuracy of the subject's statements.

Must Reads

2012-01-14T15:17:00.001-05:00

Extreme Liberal: The Truth About ObamaCare!

Stephanie Cutter: Romney's Economic Record: Profit at Any Cost

John Cook: Fake Economist Ben Stein Sues Company for Discriminating Against Global Warming Deniers

Catharine Smith, HuffPo: White House Will Not Support SOPA, PIPA

Matt Taibbi: Everything You Need to Know About Wall Street, in One Brief Tale

President Obama's Weekly Address - January 14, 2012

2012-01-14T12:42:00.000-05:00

Helping American Businesses Succeed

Talk About a Circle of Death!

2012-01-11T20:06:00.000-05:00

This is strange... and a little sad.

Beijing (CNN) -- Microsoft is investigating a report that workers at a Chinese plant that makes its Xbox game systems threatened mass suicide in a pay dispute, according to a statement issued Wednesday by the company's Hong Kong office.

How bad does the workplace has to be for this kind of situation to develop? Another feather in the cap for unregulated free market capitalism. I'm not an anti-free market guy by any means, but I also don't appreciate a smaller piece of the pie for those who actually make the pie.

Dumbass Quote of the Day

2012-01-11T19:41:00.000-05:00

“It’s astounding to me that the president is claiming these are recess appointments and within his authority, when Congress was not in fact in recess. These appointments are an affront to the Constitution. No matter how you look at this, it doesn’t pass the smell test. I hope the House considers my resolution as soon as we return to Washington so we can send a message to President Obama.”
—Rep. Diane Black (R-TN)

...As soon as we return to Washington from where, you goddamn moron? If the house is in session, shouldn't you be there?

Look, I'm not saying that they aren't technically pulling the "pro forma" stunt that Harry Reid did when George Bush was in office, but Democrats also didn't block every fucking confirmation vote the way the current 112th Congressional Republicans are obstructing every Obama nomination because they don't have the balls to put it up to a vote.

(H/T Chris U.)

Compare This To Standardized Tests

2012-01-07T21:32:00.000-05:00

What. The. Fuck?!

Third graders in in Gwinnett County, Ga., were given math homework Wednesday that asked questions about slavery and beatings...
...Another math problem read, "If Frederick got two beatings per day, how many beatings did he get in one week?"
Another question asked how many baskets of cotton Frederick filled.

Oh, those silly, Georgia teachers, with their slavery beating and cotton picking questions. I suppose Frederick received the beatings for not filling enough baskets of cotton.

Must Reads

2012-01-07T16:00:00.001-05:00

Zerlina Maxwell: Critics Say “Obama Could Rape A Nun” And Still Get Support

Muskegon Critic: Yeah, Cuz I'm The A$^hole.

Bob Cesca: Ron Paul Is No Friend to Progressives

Arthur Delaney: Dems Fire Back At GOP Proposals To Drug Test Jobless: 'You Pee In The Cup'

Jim Wright: Everybody’s So Different, I Haven’t Changed

Eugene Robinson: Romney’s not-a-mandate

Dana Milbank: Mitt Romney out of control

Jason Sparks: Cenk’d

President Obama's Weekly Address - January 7, 2012

2012-01-07T12:45:00.001-05:00

Continuing to Grow the Economy in the New Year

Confession Time For Santorum

2012-01-06T12:46:00.003-05:00

When I was growing up, I was told lying was a sin and since you have to confess your sins in the Catholic faith, I'm waiting for Rick Santorum to head for the nearest confessional.

A few days ago, GOP Presidential candidate Rick Santorum put his foot in his mouth by saying “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money.”
Santorum allegedly made the controversial comments when discussing welfare in an interview Wednesday night with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, but he maintained that people misheard the word "black" when he stumbled on a word.
“I looked at that, and I didn't say that. If you look at it, what I started to say is a word and then sort of changed and it sort of - blah - came out. And people said I said ‘black.’ I didn't," Santorum said while smiling away.

He said, "blah?"

Sounds like Newt Gingrich a few months ago: "Any ad which quotes what I said Sunday is a falsehood."

Oh, Rick. You can't have it both ways. Either you meant "black" to demonize the have-nots and push the the welfare queen meme (as if there aren't poor white people in this country) or you meant "poor." Either way, you're frothing up the base in an "us again them" class warfare mentality. But for a "blah" candidate, maybe he did say "blah."

Recess Par-TAY!

2012-01-04T21:13:00.000-05:00

This is what happens when Republican opposition is only for reasons of trying to cripple the government under the Obama administration, be it the Consumer Protections Bureau, or the National Labor Relations Board to establish a quorum, or an ever growing number of vacancies in the federal judicial system (101 and counting). So enough is enough.

President Obama touched off a fierce election-year confrontation with Congressional Republicans on Wednesday, defying their deep opposition to appoint Richard Cordray as director of a new consumer protection agency and fill three labor board vacancies.

Whine all you want, Republicans, but refusing to even meet to vet or discuss nominations for positions to make the gears of government run is a bullshit move, and you can just fuck off.

“I refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer,” Mr. Obama said, adding, “I am not going to stand by while a minority in the Senate puts party ideology ahead of the people we were elected to serve.”

Oh, and there's also this:

"Despite the inevitable conservative complaints that President Obama is engaged in some kind of massive overreach by recess appointing Richard Cordray as the nation’s chief consumer financial protection watchdog, the truth is that Obama has used his recess appointment power very sparingly. After today’s appointment, President Obama will have made a total of 29 recess appointments. By comparison, George W. Bush made 171 recess appointments; Bill Clinton made 139 recess appointments; George H.W. Bush made 77 recess appointments; and Ronald Reagan made 243. When you divide these numbers by the number of years each man spent in the White House, it reveals that Obama is far and away the least likely president to invoke this power."

So yeah, fuck off, hypocrites.

Trump Takes Credit For Santorum and Bachmann

2012-01-04T15:44:00.001-05:00

Say what now? Donald Trump hasn't been in the headlines for a week or so? Well, he'd better do something about that! We wouldn't want to forget about him, would we? So how about taking credit for Rick Santorum's frothy surge in the Iowa caucus last night?

Does Trump mean the debate that he backed out of because no one would be subjected to his idiocy? That debate? The one that didn't take place? I suppose that goes for Newt Gingrich as well, who was the first to accept Trump's invitation but came in fourth with 13% of the vote.

But not to leave well enough alone, he then explained why Michele Bachmann sank in the polls.

Ah, of course the reason Bachmann dropped in the polls wasn't her outlandish, gaffe prone rhetoric. Or that she would chest thump with Iran. It's because she denied The Donald and refused to kiss his debate ring. It has to be the only reason.

How many times in her life must Ivanka have uttered the phrase, "Daaaaaad... You're embarrassing me!!!"

Eight Votes

2012-01-04T15:10:00.000-05:00

Oh, to be a fly on the wall of Romney campaign headquarters... What must they be saying behind the scenes after watching the results of the Iowa caucuses and realizing that they ended up in a statistical dead heat with Rick Santorum? Not Newt Gingrich. Not Ron Paul. Not Even Michele Bachmann or Rick Perry. RICK SANTORUM!

After Mitt Romney spent the equivalent of about $113 per vote compared to Santorum's $1.65 in the state, Mitt won the caucus by eight votes. EIGHT. He is so despised by the Republican establishment and the average GOP voter at large, that he can't even win the Iowa caucus in commanding fashion. He's been the perennial second place choice over Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, Perry... hell, even Donald Trump was a front runner topping Mitt in early polls. But Romney has always been the bridesmaid, never the bride... until last night. And it was a shotgun wedding.

To put things in perspective, basically after four years of Iowa campaigning, Mitt did no better than he did in 2008. Actually, he did do better. He gained a total of 66 votes since 2008 when he finished in, you guess it, second place.

Eric Cantor Reveals His Phoniness

2012-01-02T19:51:00.001-05:00

What a way to ring in the New Year!

If you watched 60 Minutes Sunday evening, you treated yourself to a "Get to know the real Eric Cantor" propaganda interview conducted by Lesley Stahl. In it, Cantor wanted to show you his personal side, complete with the family portrait, faded photos of the young couple soon to be Mr. & Mrs. Cantor in love, and a few tidbits of information courtesy of Cantor's son. He likes rap music, like JayZ and Lil' Wayne. (...Yeah, right.)

What turned out to be a complete sabotage and revealed Cantor to be a fraud was when Stahl asked Cantor about compromising, just as his "hero" Ronald Reagan had to do on occasion.

Who else was just as shocked as I was when hearing Cantor's press secretary yelling from off camera to dispute the fact, THE FACT, that Ronald Reagan actually raised taxes during his presidency? He exposed Cantor for the fraud we all know he is on national television. Did he think that 60 Minutes would edit that section out of the piece?! An interview at Cantor's home with his wife at his side, and his press secretary hanging on every word and making sure they don't violate Lord Norquist. Even Weeper Boehner came across better in his 60 Minute interview.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T00:00:00.002-05:00

Look! An INSANE Republican Candidate!

2011-12-31T16:21:00.000-05:00

No, not all of them... just lil' ol' Newt Gingrich for this:

"[Sarah Palin] is certainly one of the people you would look at [as a running mate.] I am a great admirer of hers, and she was a remarkable reform governor of Alaska. She's somebody who I think brings a great deal to the possibility of helping in government and that would be one of the possibilities. There are also some very important cabinet positions that she could fill very, very well. I can't imagine anybody that would do a better job of driving us to an energy solution than Gov. Palin, for example. Tell her that she would certainly be on the list of one of the people we would consider."

If ever there was a wingnut pander in the face of free falling poll numbers, this is the mother of all panders. Sarah Fucking Palin, Newt? Seriously?

The only other thought that comes to mind is that Gingrich is purposely sabotaging his campaign because he never really wanted to be President in the first place. This was all a ruse to increase his exposure for the latest book sale. It's all about money for Newt, and since his child labor law schtick didn't implode his candidacy, you know because the current GOP voting public has gone bats hit crazy, why not throw Palin into the mix?

(H/T Chez Pazienza)

Look! A Sane Republican Candidate!

2011-12-31T14:54:00.001-05:00

If he had any shot of gaining in the polls, speaking the truth blew it.

Jon Huntsman made one thing abundantly clear after a campaign stop in Portsmouth on Friday – he has no doubt that Barack Obama was born in America.
"The president was born in the United States – end of conversation," Huntsman said.

It's a shame he's polling at 11% in the state in which he's been putting all his eggs.

Must Reads

2011-12-31T14:41:00.001-05:00

E.J. Dionne: Obama: The conservative in 2012

Greg Sargent: Mitt Romney’s Casual, Effortless Falsehoods

Charles P. Pierce: "Appearing to Be a Racist" — a Strategy Still

Bob Cesca: What Does Ron Paul Stand For?

Andrew Roberts: You’re No Thatcher!

Emily S. Rueb: Violet the Red-Tailed Hawk Is Dead

JM Ashby: He Didn’t Write The Newsletters? And His Book?

President Obama's Weekly Address - December 31, 2011

2011-12-31T12:47:00.000-05:00

Working Together in the New Year

Quote of the Day

2011-12-30T15:26:00.001-05:00

Here's another Ted Sorensen quote to stick in your back pocket the next time someone uses the right wing "class warfare" jab, from "Why I Am A Democrat."

"Democrats have no wish to turn millionaires into paupers. Indeed, they do not object to the rich getting richer, particularly when their creative talents, energetic efforts, and sound investments enlarge the national pie for everyone to share... What Democrats dislike is the rich getting richer at the expense of everyone else, particularly those whose labor in helping to enlarge the pie but who receive a smaller piece in return."

Read this book!

Romney Son A Birther?

2011-12-30T15:10:00.000-05:00

They just won't let it go.

Appearing in New Hampshire as a surrogate for his father, Matt Romney suggested to a group of voters that Mitt Romney would not release his tax returns until Barack Obama released “his grades and his birth certificate."
[Responding to the question of whether Mitt Romney will release his tax returns, Matt Romney said,] "He has not said that he will not do it. He has also not said that he will. It’s a matter of time until that issue comes up because I think everyone has to get a chance to do that. So I don’t know the answer to that. I’m not sure he knows the answer to that. But he will do everything that he needs to do. He’s certainly not afraid of anything. Hiding anything. I heard someone suggest the other day that as soon as President Obama releases his grades and birth certificate and sort of a long list of things then maybe he’d do it."

Where do I begin?

1- President Obama has released his birth certificate.

2- If he's going to represent his father, Matt Romney should know what his father said regarding the release of his tax returns just last week.

“I will provide all the financial info, which is an extraordinary pile of documents which show investments and so forth.”
“But you won’t do the tax returns?” asked Chuck Todd, host of “The Daily Rundown.”
“I don’t intend to release the tax returns. I don’t,” Mr. Romney responded.

3- Nothing will sink a national campaign faster than giving any credence to Birtherism. Even your dad thinks it's silly, Matt.

And now, as I write this post that I haven't had time to publish yet, Matt Romney has already apologized for his comment, albeit via Twitter:

One of Mitt Romney's sons is expressing regret for a joke about President Obama's birth certificate.
"I repeated a dumb joke," Matt Romney tweeted today. "My bad."

I suppose the Romney campaign has no tolerance for idiotic talk... just your average flip-flopping.

Dumbass Quote of the Day

2011-12-30T14:25:00.000-05:00

“If you graduate from high school, you get married before you have children, and of course you work — that’s sort of a given, you have to work — you do those three things, there’s a 2 percent chance you’ll be in poverty."
~Rick Santorum, campaigning in Iowa.

Someone should let Rick Santorum know that poor people get married too. And oh, yeah, screw same sex marriages, those people deserve to be in poverty, right, Rick?

My Pet Peeves of 2011

2011-12-30T12:38:00.003-05:00

POSTED BY JHW22

The media breaking that OBL was killed before Obama had a chance to tell us.

The GOP cutting government jobs then uses those job losses as proof that unemployment is Obama's fault.

People who have STILL not read the NDAA bill and STILL think Obama is going to personally lock them up in concentration camps indefinitely. The biggest part of the pet peeve: I'm not talking about Michele Bachmann and Victoria Jackson. I am talking about people who think Glenn Greenwald, Cenk Uygur, et al, have told them everything they need to know.

The 9-9-9 Plan.

I'd say Rick Perry, but as my governor, he's my pet peeve every year.

The fact that Glenn Beck lives near me now and I fear I may see him at my favorite chicken fried steak restaurant some day.

The Supreme Court Justices who think it's OK to hob-nob with players in extremely significant and controversial cases they will hear just in time for an extremely significant election.

Not being able to trust journalists/pundits I used to be able to count on for fair perspectives. Reporting on Obama is increasingly lacking in the full perspective by many people I USED to think presented better information. Makes me wonder if they tell the whole story on other issues. That doubt is why I stopped watching them for the most part.

The words: caved, grow a pair, grow a spine, get tough, etc.

Hyperbole, in general. Even when I use it.

Historical low public opinion of Congress makes a blanket statement of members who are actually very good and doing their jobs. It bothers me that people like Sherrod Brown, Debbie W-S and others, are graded in the same clump as Louie Gohmert and Eric Cantor.

Americans who blame Obama for the GOP's obstinacy. Because he said he'd try to change the tone, he was apparently the only one expected to work toward that.

Newt and Calista Gingrich using the Presidency as cover for their money-raising scheme.

Mitt Romney for being a dud. He could at least bring some fun to his campaign so disliking him would be more like disliking an opposing football team and less like disliking a plain, gray rock that tripped you.

Speaking of football, and this is really not a pet peeve because it's far more than that: football coaches who allow violence towards kids. Whether they personally committed the violence or didn't do anything to help prevent more.

I just realized, it's hard to distinguish pet peeves from really bad shit this year. So on that note, I think I'll end my pet peeves list and start preparing my "Hopes for 2012" list. Better energy.

Happy New Year, Y'all!

Brain Dump

2011-12-28T22:25:00.004-05:00

POSTED BY JHW22

It's been a while since I posted and I have a million thoughts swimming in my head. So, since Broadway Carl is nice enough to give me the key, I thought I'd let myself in and dump all these thoughts and be done with it. So, here goes:

Rick Perry says that when he's the President, he'll "shut down" the border (with Mexico) within 100 days. I love how the anti-Big Government guy says that when he's Big Government he'll do what he couldn't do as Medium Government. And if he were President and if his replacement as Governor didn't want Big Government coming into the state, then what? See, there's a problem when you always say Big Government is bad and that states are the shiznit. And then you, as the Big Gun of The Big Shiznit State, can't shut the shiznit down without begging the Big Government to do it for you. And all the while you've been wanting Federal employees to get a freeze/cut in pay or lose their jobs altogether and or lose some of their benefits. Oh, wait, those same people you want to lose their jobs or pay are the very people the Big Government needs to send into your big shiznit state. So, how's that gonna work for ya? Good thing we'll never find out.

*****

Speaking of Rick "Keep Big Government Out -- Until I am Big Government" Perry, he wants to force rape and incest victims to be blocked from accessing abortions. Now, in some ways, at least this is consistent. I never understood how someone who said the SANCTITY OF LIFE was so damn precious that a piece of tissue was the essence of life, could then throw in a moral exception for rape or incest. Either you think that baby is more sacred than its mommy or you don't. So in that regard, his revelation (a week before a really important campaign trip) at least is consistent with his SANCTITY OF LIFE ideas. But here's the problem. Rick Perry hasn't been raped and impregnated. Yes, there are women who are raped who give birth and give their babies to loving families. Or there are women who are raped and choose to make something good of something horrible. And those women raise their children with love and respect and no angst whatsoever over the conception trauma. If I met a woman like that, I would bow to her in awe. A woman like that would have to be kind and loving and selfless in her love for her child. That, as a mom myself, is commendable. But what about the women who are held at gunpoint, and cut with knives and left for dead after being raped by more than one man? The women who lock themselves away from the outside and jump at the sound of the mail truck outside. What about the women who can barely move on with life, let alone nurture a growing child inside. A child she may not consider a child because she doesn't think life begins at conception. What about that woman? Those women? Let's honor the children of rape as survivors. Let's be glad they had a chance at life despite the first step in getting them here. But let's not ask every woman to be strong enough to get through nine months if she can't even get through the first nine days.

******

Riding on his tour bus with his wife and Wolf Blitzer, Mitt Romney was saying that Obama has been so bad for the economy, yadda, yadda, yadda. Then he did something that makes me scream. You see, one of my biggest pet peeves about politicians is when they make definitive statements (like "Obama has been bad for the economy") yet, when CBO data is presented to them to show the opposite (like Wolf did to Romney) they say, "I'll take a look at that, but...". NO! If you've formed an opinion about Obama's policies, you should ALREADY have read the CBO data. The CBO data is one of the most trusted, accurately processed data in the country. PERIOD.

******

My last thought of the evening is about Rachel Maddow screaming for days about us needing a ticker-tape parade. I had to stop listening because it bothered me so much. Do I want to show our appreciation for the troops? YES. But before we spend a lot of money on confetti and road closures, can we make sure each man or woman coming home has a job? Or a home? Can we make sure their medical needs are met? And before we have a big celebration, can we wait until every troop comes home from that OTHER war? That other war that many who have come from Iraq may very well be shipped off to soon. Can we show we respect the men and women who have fought these long wars by DOING MORE than a parade? Please?

And considering Rachel is the only major media person I have heard saying this for days, you can imagine who popped into my head today when I heard all these damn GOP candidates complaining that Obama hasn't thrown the returning troops a parade. Thanks Rachel. Thanks a frickin' lot. This is why I get frustrated with Rachel. As much as I adore her, she drives me crazy. Why can't some of that "we want a parade" energy be directed toward giving us phone numbers and websites of resources where we can help returning troops and their families. I am sure many troops would LOVE a parade. Let's just wait until we can have it for all of them, and until we've done everything else for them that we can. Okie doke?

****

Disclaimer: this was a quickly-typed brain dump so screw it if there are typos. You get my points or you don't.

Our Voting Reality

2011-12-28T08:44:00.000-05:00

I just came across a Facebook post linking to a Glenn Greenwald article titled, "Vote Obama – if you want a centrist Republican for US president." Knowing Greenwald's work, I declined to read the Guardian article. But I did rebut my Facebook friend who'd commented on his post with, "I've been saying this all along."

My response: "Sure, you can say that. But if you DON'T vote Obama, you'll have an extreme right wing conservative Republican to take his place. And you'll have no one to thank but yourself."

The reality is that, whether we like it or not, we participate in a two party system.

I picked up a book that everyone should read, but unfortunately it's out of print. Still, look for it on Amazon or a used book store... maybe even the public library. It's called "Why I Am A Democrat" written by Ted Sorensen. The same Ted Sorensen who was President John F. Kennedy’s special counsel, adviser and speechwriter. And the main reason why I responded to my friend the way I did, was eloquently written by Sorensen just 11 pages into his book, published in 1996, at the height of the Newt Gingrich controlled House of Representatives. Substitute a name here and there, and it could have been written yesterday. I'm including it here because no amount of paraphrasing can do it justice. (Emphasis mine.)

...I have always deemed it an obligation of citizenship to cast a vote for that better major party candidate, however deeply disappointed I may have been for some of his positions or actions and however skeptical I may have been about any likely improvement.
I understand why many people find voting the lesser of two evils objectionable. But it is necessary to remind ourselves that voting for a third-ticket candidate with no reasonable prospects of victory can only help the "more evil" of the two major candidates become President.
Nor are the two presidential candidates ever equally "evil" - or equally "good." Any voter who reads or listens with care can discern important differences in how they would behave in moments of crisis and in whom each would appoint to high office, important differences in how each would lead and would react to the failures and frustrations of leadership. In some election years, these differences may seem small and the choice unappealing. But a choice must be made.
Moreover, Independent candidates - with or without temporary tailor-made third parties - who say they are "above" politics or who substitute personal piety and pleasing platitudes for hard decisions on controversial political issues are usually either naive or hypocritical and would almost certainly be doomed to failure in the Oval Office. Deadlocks and delays in Washington and the inadequate response to knotty problems like the decline in family economic security are not simply the result of failed personalities, waiting to be reminded by personal strength and charm. I do not want to be "rescued" from politics by a white knight unable or unwilling to balance a ticket, make a deal, form a coalition, compromise a policy, trade a favor, and displease a lot of people. Politics, with all its need for reform, is still the fiber with which democracy is woven, the grease that enables the wheels of government to turn, the cement that binds a diverse and disparate country. Most members of Congress will not long listen to a President who constitutionally lacks the legal authority to lead without them and politically lacks the practical tools to lead with them.
If an independent or third party candidate - or, worse yet, several of them - did in fact win enough states to block an electoral vote majority, for either major party nominee, the President would be chosen by the House of Representatives on a one state, one vote basis, a surefire route o an undemocratic, bitterly divided process that would leave the winner with a faint mandate and a fragmented nation.
There is still another option for disaffected voters: stay home on election day in order to send a message of protest. But that "message" is not distinguishable from those sent by 100 million others, most of whom are not protesting or disgusted or disillusioned, but simply too busy or lazy, too ill informed or unconcerned, too tired or far from home, to go to the polls. Disappointed protesters failing to vote, only help the candidate whom they would most protest, while increasing within their own party the proportionate influence of those who disappointed them.

So with respect to all the Greenwalds and the Hamshers, et al, the choices are not the same. Listen and read what President Obama is talking about. Listen and read what the prospective Republican nominees are currently talking about. How can you say they're both the same?

Can we please stop with that "both sides are the same" meme? Look at any of the Republican candidates and ask yourself if any of them would have repealed DADT, passed health care legislation, ended the Iraq War, passed consumer finance reform, and the myriad of other things that have been accomplished under President Obama's watch. It's a no-brainer, folks.

Crazy Lady

2011-12-27T22:12:00.000-05:00

Just read and shake your head in amazement.

Former "Saturday Night Live" actress Victoria Jackson, working on confidential information she as a web talk show host has special clearance to obtain, has claimed that the United States is being overtaken by radical Muslims bent on bringing the nation under Sharia law.

Yes, Virginia. There IS a Santa Claus!

2011-12-27T21:08:00.003-05:00

Nebraska "Democratic" Senator Ben Nelson is retiring.

The 70-year-old conservative Democrat, whose seat is being heavily targeted by Republicans in 2012, said in a statement that "while I relish the opportunity to undertake the work that lies ahead, I also feel it’s time for me to step away from elective office, spend more time with my family, and look for new ways to serve our state and nation."
"Therefore, I am announcing today that I will not seek re-election," he said. "Simply put: It is time to move on."

This story is being spun as a blow to Democrats, with Republicans needing to net four seats to regain control of the Senate in 2012. But really, if you look at Nelson's voting record, is this other than good news for Democrats? Nelson may have a "D" after his name, but on the big votes he could not be counted on.

Gingrich View on Confederate Flag

2011-12-26T12:50:00.000-05:00

Does Gingrich think South Carolina should fly the Confederate flag on its capitol? I'll give you one guess.

“I have a very strong opinion. It’s up to the people of South Carolina.”

Why would anyone be surprised with his answer? After all, this is an "historian" who wrote a trilogy of alternate history novels in which the Confederacy won the Civil War. But hey, at least he's against slavery.

Must Reads

2011-12-24T15:30:00.003-05:00

Benjamin Wittes: NDAA FAQ: A Guide for the Perplexed

Chris Chase: Braylon Edwards Gave 79 Students $10,000 for College

The Rude Pundit: Politifact and The Lie of The Lie

Justin Rosario: A Very Merry Fox Christmas: Obama’s Christmas Card Just Isn’t American Enough

Tom McMahon: Merry Christmas, Middle Class! House Republicans Just Voted To Raise Your Taxes By $1,000

Dana Milbank: Braveheart Republicans? Or false-hearted?

Eugene Robinson: Which Candidate Should Answer That 3 a.m. Phone Call?

BooMan: Wanker of the Day: Charles Krauthammer

Dino Grandoni: Perry's Latest Oops Moment: 'Kim Jong the Second'

Jonathan Chait: When Did Liberals Become So Unreasonable? - If every Democratic president disappoints, maybe there’s something wrong with our expectations. Tough love from a fellow traveler.

President Obama's Weekly Address - December 24, 2011

2011-12-24T08:21:00.000-05:00

The President and First Lady Thank our Troops for their Service this Holiday

Dumbass Quote of the Day

2011-12-23T14:34:00.003-05:00

“I’ve talked to enough members over the last 24 hours who believe that, ‘Hey, we don’t like this two month extension [but] if you can get this fixed, why not do the right thing for the American people, even though it’s not exactly what we want.”
~John Boehner, Speaker of the House, explaining why House Republicans decided to cave on the temporary extension of the payroll tax cut after painting themselves into a corner.

As one of my readers posited regarding the bold text above, "Let's mull that over for a minute."

"...Why not do the RIGHT THING for the American people, even though it's NOT EXACTLY WHAT WE WANT?" For someone who's fond of using the phrase, "We're here to do the people's work," he sure has a tendency to disregard what the people actually want.

Fair and Balanced (The Brent Bozell Is a Racist Edition)

2011-12-23T11:34:00.001-05:00

Judge for yourself:

Bozell appeared on Hannity as part of the show's weekly "Media Mash" segment to talk about purported mainstream media failings. After listening to a clip of MSNBC host Chris Matthews saying that Newt Gingrich "looks like a car bomber," Bozell responded:
BOZELL: How long do you think Sean Hannity's show would last if four times in one sentence, he made a comment about, say, the President of the United States, and said that he looked like a skinny, ghetto crackhead? Which, by the way, you might want to say that Barack Obama does. Everybody on the left would come forward and demand he be fired within five minutes for being so insulting towards a leader of the United States.

Really? Well, that skinny, ghetto crackhead took out Bin Laden, something the previous dry drunk, coke head couldn't do. ...See how easy that is? And disgusting?

I Can't Believe This Is Still Going On

2011-12-23T11:24:00.002-05:00

What a waste of time and money.

The so-called birther movement was dealt another legal blow Thursday when a federal appeals court tossed out a lawsuit challenging President Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship and his eligibility to serve as commander in chief...
...The lawsuit was filed in 2009 by 40 plaintiffs, including conservative activists Alan Keyes and Wiley Drake, who ran for president and vice president respectively as members of the American Independent Party against Obama in 2008.

Alan Fucking Keyes. This is just disgraceful. What was that thing about frivolous lawsuits they constantly harp about?

Just Say "Oops" and Get Out (The House GOP Payroll Tax Cut Fiasco Edition)

2011-12-22T21:03:00.000-05:00

What the hell happened? How is it that the Republican "We'll-Slit-Our-Wrists-Before-We-Raise-Taxes-All-Hail-Grover-Norquist" Party found themselves on the wrong side of a tax cut issue?

House Republicans have privately offered up the terms of their surrender on the payroll tax cut, pending sign off from their notoriously unwieldy caucus...
...After conceding for weeks, the Dems finally said this far and no further — and actually meant it. You read that right.

And there is the crux of the issue. For the last year, Republicans decided that to defeat President Obama in 2012, they were going to be the Party of No, even on issues with which they agreed. They would grind the gears of government to a halt, economy and the American people be damned, just to regain control of the White House with whatever clown du jour would rise to the top of the GOP primary elections.

And for a while it worked. The President, whether you agreed with him or not, would make compromises with the intransigent Republicans because unlike them, he wasn't prepared to throw his fellow Americans under the bus. Some called it "pragmatism," some called it "caving." Either way, President Obama never stopped trying to make it work. He never walked away from the table, unlike others.

But there's a problem when you go all-in on every hand. Eventually, your bluff is going to be called. You can't have the winning hand every single time. And the pot the House Republicans eventually lost is any possible credibility with the voting public. What they could possibly have been thinking in their push to kill the payroll tax cut is anyone's guess. Perhaps it's Obama Derangement Syndrome kicking in at such a high level, they believed their own bullshit that anything the President says or does must be a bad thing, therefore it must be opposed. Even if it means rejecting issues and policies that the GOP has historically been in favor of.

So today they thought better of it and they've finally decided to fold a hand, but wagered too much in the process. Time will tell how much this will harm their chances in 2012, but judging by Congressional Republican approval ratings, my guess is that they're in for a rude awakening come November.

Let The Feeding Frenzy Begin

2011-12-21T21:15:00.000-05:00

When the Wall Street Journal... the Rupert Murdoch owned, conservative Wall Street Journal is shaking its head at the John Boehner "led" House of Representatives (AKA Lord of the Flies), you know you're in trouble.

The GOP leaders have somehow managed the remarkable feat of being blamed for opposing a one-year extension of a tax holiday that they are surely going to pass. This is no easy double play...
...At this stage, Republicans would do best to cut their losses and find a way to extend the payroll holiday quickly. Then go home and return in January with a united House-Senate strategy that forces Democrats to make specific policy choices that highlight the differences between the parties on spending, taxes and regulation.

Now I don't really agree with this op-ed's point of view as to why the House GOP should cut their losses, but they certainly got it right in that Boehner and Co. have painted themselves into a corner, and should retreat and live to fight another day. Sometimes you have to know when to fold your hand. But for some reason, they think seem to think the best strategy is to go all-in every time. The problem with that strategy is that eventually, someone is going to call your bluff.

Cartoon of the Day

2011-12-21T20:20:00.001-05:00

Just Say "Oops" and Get Out (The Romney/Osama Bin Laden Edition)

2011-12-21T18:53:00.000-05:00

Via Political Wire:

"I do not concur in the words of Barack Obama in a plan to enter an ally of ours... I don't think those kinds of comments help in this effort to draw more friends to our effort."
-- Mitt Romney, quoted by Reuters in 2008, on the United States entering Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden.
"I think other presidents and other candidates like myself would do exactly the same thing."
-- Romney, in an interview on MSNBC earlier today, downplaying credit for Obama for ordering the raid in Pakistan that finally killed Osama bin Laden.

Another Example of Boehner Leadership (Kill C-SPAN Edition)

2011-12-21T14:23:00.000-05:00

How cowardly can the House Republicans and House Weeper John Boehner get? Cowardly enough to prevent as vote on the Senate payroll tax holiday that passed with huge bipartisan support, adjourn for the day completely ignoring Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer at the podium... and then cutting off the C-SPAN feed.

“We regret, Mr. Speaker, that you have walked off the platform without addressing this issue of critical importance to this country,” Hoyer added.
Moments later, the mic appeared to cut out. A few seconds after that, the video feed switched away from the House floor to a still image of the Capitol Dome. It appears someone in House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) office cut the feed, as C-SPAN tweeted afterwards: “C-SPAN has no control over the U.S. House TV cameras – the Speaker of the House does.”

Transparency, indeed.

Go To NewtGingrich.com

2011-12-21T12:42:00.000-05:00

You'll like what you'll see.

Gingrich owns Newt.org, but NewtGingrich.com is controlled by someone with very different motives.
The website alternately redirects to a slew of websites with negative association to Newt: from the homepage of Tiffany, to the Freddie Mac homepage, to negative news articles about his campaign.

Try it: NewtGingrich.com

So, hey, come up with a Plan B

2011-12-20T15:26:00.005-05:00

POSTED BY JHW22

Within hours of Secretary Sebelius denying an application to make a morning after pill available, over the counter, to girls under 17, women's rights groups went ape shit on their fellow woman's rights advocate. Ignoring their own previous appreciation of Secretary Sebelius' years of advocacy and ardent support of reproductive rights, she was enemy number one and she was playing "politics".

I called bullshit right away.

My take has always been that the ball was dropped by the FDA and the pharmaceutical company, NOT Secretary Sebelius. It's easy to blame her because she did the hard thing. But the anger should be directed toward the folks who rushed the data and the application.

The same people who acted as if the FDA was infallible should be SCREAMING about Yaz. We can't say the FDA is perfect on this issue and condemn them for allowing women, like my friend, Heather, to suffer a stroke because of her reproductive choices.

I also found the cries of her playing politics extremely hollow when just days prior to her being accused of playing politics, she denied a grant to Catholic Bishops because they didn't provide access to family planning centers in their human trafficking resource program. As someone who cares a great deal for programs to combat and aid victims of human trafficking, this hurt my heart. But I completely understand that women victims of trafficking need full access to full health care. How does the Secretary who was willing to make that Solomon choice, suddenly become the enemy playing politics?

The issues the Seretary faces aren't easy. They are going to piss someone off. To accuse her of playing politics because you don't like the choice she made is lame and ignorant of complexities.

I think the real politics were being played by women's rights groups who focused so much on one aspect, that may have inadvertantly caused harm to the very girls they are trying to help.

This issue can be resolved if the women's groups put the politics aside and make every decision thoroughly and with great care and foresight. I commend Secretary Sebelius for keeping the bigger picture in mind despite being accused of playing politics. No women should play any part of a political game at the sake of the girls.

And if I lose my feminist card for this, so be it. I'll go with my plan B and join a group of logical people who care that the girls are spoken up for in more ways than one.

A Small Price To Pay

2011-12-19T14:56:00.001-05:00

So once again, Weeper of the House John Boehner shows his toothless bite when it comes to bringing his side of the aisle in line for a vote not to raise taxes. Yes, you read that correctly, NOT TO RAISE TAXES.

The Senate came together to pass a two month extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance by a bipartisan vote of 89-10, and while that may not be an ideal situation, it staves off an automatic increase on taxes for 160 million Americans when the current payroll tax cut expires, hardly something to sneeze at in the current economic state of affairs. But that wasn't good enough for Tea Party Republicans who rejected the bill.

“When we met last week, Speaker Boehner requested that Senator McConnell and I work out a compromise,” [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid said, referring to the minority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. “Neither side got everything they wanted, but we forged a middle ground that passed the Senate by an overwhelming bipartisan majority.”

Well, that was last week, Senator Reid. This week Boehner's got new marching orders from the extreme right.

This may be easy for me to say, but if having taxes raised (yes, Republicans are sitting idly by and breaking the Norquist code of raising taxes at any cost) is what needs to happen to make the general public aware of how intransigent the current Republican Party has become, and the result is a mass termination of House GOP jobs via the 2012 election, then it's a small price to pay for progress.

The House is currently in session to have another vote by 6:30pm which Boehner expects to fail. The system isn't broken. The Republican Party is broken.

Must Reads

2011-12-17T15:30:00.000-05:00

Michael Gerson: The Problem with Gingrich’s Simplistic Attack on Sharia

Robert Reich: Wall St's Latest Shameless Ploy to Fleece You

Spike Dolomite Ward: 'Obamacare' to the Rescue and A Message to 'Obamacare' Haters [The Reply]

Steve Benen: The Competition to Reward the Wealthy

Benjy Sarlin: Meet The 22-Year-Old Who’s Driving Romney Crazy

Paul Krugman: Depression and Democracy

Christina Wilkie: Mitt Romney's Slogan Used By Ku Klux Klan, Anti-Immigrant 'Know Nothing' Party

Michael Tomasky: Could Obama Be Headed for a Landslide?

Renee Dudley: SC Gov. Haley Dictated Health Panel Finding - Outcome ordered before committee met

Andy Brownfield and Julie Carr Smyth: Speaker John Boehner's Staff Influenced Ohio Redistricting, Documents Show

Linda Greenhouse: Rock Bottom

Matt Miller: What Wyden-Ryan Hath Wrought

Al Franken: Why I Voted Against the National Defense Authorization Act

President Obama's Weekly Address - December 17, 2011

2011-12-17T08:33:00.000-05:00

Honoring Those Who Served in Iraq

Joe Arpaio Under Investigation for Racial Profiling

2011-12-16T16:39:00.000-05:00

From the "No Shit Sherlock" news desk, here comes a shocker!

Sheriff Joe Arpaio's boundary-pushing foray into Arizona's immigration enforcement over the last six years met its most bruising criticism when the U.S. Justice Department said the lawman's office carried out a blatant pattern of discrimination against Latinos and held a "systematic disregard" for the Constitution...
"We found discriminatory policing that was deeply rooted in the culture of the department, a culture that breeds a systematic disregard for basic constitutional protections," said Thomas Perez, who heads the Justice Department's civil rights division.

My only question: What the fuck took you so long to figure that one out?

Christopher Hitchens Dies at 62

2011-12-16T16:23:00.000-05:00

NY Times: Christopher Hitchens, a slashing polemicist in the tradition of Thomas Paine and George Orwell who trained his sights on targets as various as Henry Kissinger, the British monarchy and Mother Teresa, wrote a best-seller attacking religious belief, and dismayed his former comrades on the left by enthusiastically supporting the American-led war in Iraq, died on Thursday in Houston. He was 62.
The cause was pneumonia, a complication of esophageal cancer, Vanity Fair magazine said in announcing the death...

Just Say "Oops" and Get Out.

2011-12-15T18:51:00.000-05:00

Mark Meckler, the founder of a major tea party organization, was arrested Thursday at LaGuardia Airport for gun possession, law enforcement officials said.
The Queens District Attorney said Meckler was carrying a pistol and had a California permit, but not one for New York, authorities said.
Meckler allegedly told authorities he carries the pistol "because he gets threats."

...Yeah. Because everyone knows who Mark Meckler is. This isn't an Obama rally, Mr. Meckler, it's New York City, you shithead.

Job Creators!

2011-12-15T14:13:00.005-05:00

Kim Kardashian just dropped $65k to outbid a gang of serious jewelry nuts for 3 unbelievable jade and diamond bracelets that used to belong to Elizabeth Taylor ... TMZ has learned.
Taylor's entire collection of rare and expensive jewelry was auctioned off in NYC this week for a whopping $116 MILLION ... and Kim was one of the bidders.

Can anyone tell me how many jobs Kim Kardashian creates? Or anyone else who decided to drop millions on a dead actress's jewelry? But a 1.9% tax increase to those making over $1 million a year in order to continue a payroll tax cut for 160 MILLION people is unacceptable. Got it.

(H/T JHW22)

Nothing Says "Presidential" Like a Twitter Fight

2011-12-14T14:38:00.002-05:00

[Donald] Trump took to YouTube on Wednesday to criticize [Rosie] O'Donnell's new show on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). Trump called O'Donnell's show a "complete and total disaster." He also attacked MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell and said that his show was "failing." Trump then tweeted the video, with the message "#trumpvlog Same last name, same bad ratings- @lawrence and @rosie....."
O'Donnell tweeted back and attacked Trump's self-proclaimed wealth. "How many billionaires sell ties and have crappy non reality shows - none - go back to selling snake oil - #bankruptmuch?" O'Donnell tweeted.

How many presidents or presidential contenders do you suppose would tweet something like this?

And to think this schmuck was actually leading the Republican field in the polls at one point. Oh, and here's why Trump lashed out at Lawrence O'Donnell:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Trump Pulls Out of Debate

2011-12-13T18:03:00.000-05:00

Badgerhead Donald Trump has decided that he's not going to moderate the Newsmax debate. His excuse? He doesn't want to "give up his right to run as an independent candidate" which we all know is bullshit otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to it in the first place.

Face it, Republicans: this thing was a joke from the beginning and why have a debate when no one is showing up? The only Trump whores were front runners Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum (who really has nothing to lose) and The Donald didn't want to be in a position of not being able to fire anyone. You can't use your tag line if there's no one in the room.

Fair and Balanced, My Ass

2011-12-13T13:55:00.000-05:00

Okay, Fox newsies. What's wrong with this picture?

Yes, that's right! It seems that in Fox World, 8.6% unemployment in November 2011, is visually equal to 9% in October 2011, and actually higher than 8.9% and 8.8% in February and March 2011. Sure, I suppose you could just read the numbers, but why do that when Fox can show you a handy-dandy chart showing unemployment under the Obama administration hasn't improved? Me like pretty colors.

(Via Bob Cesca)

The Country of Solynda

2011-12-12T10:29:00.002-05:00

I've been searching high and low in my atlas and can't seem to find Solynda.

CNN Political Ticker reports that Perry campaigned in the Hawkeye State, stopping in Ames. He focused on energy, taking shots at the Obama administration's handling of government spending.
"No greater example of it than this administration sending millions of dollars into the solar industry, and we lost that money," Perry said. "I want to say it was over $500 million that went to the country Solynda."

Did he mean the "company" named SolynDRA instead of "country"? No matter. He even got the name wrong. The man is an idiot.

Photo of the Day

2011-12-10T16:06:00.000-05:00

What is this? A "terrorist fist jab"? Boy, that Obama is some elitist, huh?

Thanks to JHW22 for the heads up.

Must Reads

2011-12-10T15:23:00.027-05:00

John Converse Townsend: An Army of Giant Rats Unearths Peace in Africa

Eugene Robinson: Republicans’ Reality TV Politics

Capital Times Editorial: A Year Later, Walker Rail Blunder Looks Even Worse

Bob Cesca: Occupy The Internet

Pat Garofalo: Perry Admits His Tax Plan Slams Low-Income People And Lets The Wealthy Pay Nothing

Digby: Guess What? Stephen Colbert Isn't Really Conservative

President Obama's Weekly Address - December 10, 2011

2011-12-10T12:38:00.000-05:00

Ensuring a Fair Shot for the Middle Class

The Best "Fuck You" Ever

2011-12-08T21:33:00.002-05:00

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania on Wednesday said Obama's policy toward radical Islamists "has been nothing but appeasement."

When asked about the accusations that his foreign policy is timid and amounts to a policy of "appeasement," The President responded:

"Ask Osama bin Laden and the 22 out of 30 top al-Qaida leaders who have been taken off the field whether I engage in appeasement. Or whoever is left out there, ask them about that."

BOOM! goes the dynamite.

President Obama Speaks on the Economy

2011-12-07T14:47:00.000-05:00

December 6th, 2011 - Osawatomie, Kansas

Trump to Obama: Call Me

2011-12-07T14:41:00.000-05:00

You can file this one in the "Who The Fuck Do You Think You Are?!" folder.

Harry Morgan Dies at 96

2011-12-07T14:26:00.000-05:00

NY Times: Harry Morgan, the prolific character actor best known for playing the acerbic but kindly Colonel Potter in the long-running television series “M*A*S*H,” died Wednesday morning at his home in Los Angeles. He was 96. His son Charles confirmed his death, saying Mr. Morgan had been treated for pneumonia recently.

Here We Go Again

2011-12-07T09:02:00.000-05:00

It's the holiday season, so that must mean it's time for Fox News to cry about the fictional War on Christmas. Jon Stewart brilliantly deconstructs.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Some Days It's Hard To Be a Mets Fan... Today More Than Usual

2011-12-06T21:46:00.006-05:00

I received a solicitation email from the New York Mets today to purchase season tickets. I had previously been a season ticket holder until last season. Now they want me back and decided to ask me after letting Jose Reyes go to the Florida Marlins less than two days earlier.

My first thought was, "Are you fucking kidding me?!"

Here's my response:

Date: December 6, 2011
To: Christopher Leuth, Account Executive, NY Mets
From: Broadway Carl
Re: "We Want You Back" Email

Thank you for your email introduction and your information video for the upcoming 2012 New York Mets season. And as a lifelong Mets fan, I must say I'm impressed by your presentation. It's probably not very easy for you to be an account executive for the Mets these days. I know it's certainly not easy being a fan.

I am frankly a bit surprised, shocked really, at the timing of this email with the wounds so freshly open less than 48 hours after the news that the Mets organization didn't think twice about letting Jose Reyes, it's best player last season and arguably the best leadoff hitter in the league, go to a division rival without a fight. The fan base is at best, not happy, and at worst, in a rabid rage over this most recent example of insouciance.

That Mets management would think it's a good idea to release this email soliciting prospective season tickets buyers while they recover from its latest collective bloody nose shows the ineptness with which this organization has been run over these past few years and just proves how out of touch it is to its fans, regardless of how many surveys and online forms are filled out.
And what's really galling, what hurts the most as a fan of the New York Mets for the last four decades, is the dishonesty with which the organization treats its fans.

We're not stupid. We know that financially, things have been tough on the ownership. We know the Wilpons took a hit with the Madoff ponzi scheme and that they're not out of the woods yet. We know the new stadium was a big expense. We know that the organization was extended a loan from MLB to meet payroll. And we know that all these factors were going to hurt the team competitively. And yet, we were continued to be sold a bill of goods.

Instead of being honest with a loyal following, what were we told? We were told that we'd stay competitive just as soon as the contracts of certain players were shed. We were told that the contracts of Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo, Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez were a drag on the payroll. So Perez and Castillo were released. Beltran and Rodriguez were traded. And overall, the fans understood the trades because they thought your organization was looking to the future in the upcoming Reyes free agency eligibility. The fans thought that although your bosses were shedding on one side, it was all in preparation for a resigning of Reyes, the 2011 NL Batting Champion, the first batting champ in the history of the New York Mets.

But no. We couldn't even match the Florida Marlins' offer. The Marlins! The second worst team in 2011 attendance didn't even struggle to outbid a franchise in one of the biggest markets on the planet. Yet you want me to financially commit to season tickets, when your own management won't commit to a legitimate attempt to put a competitive team on the field.

Now we are hearing stories that the new drags on the payroll are David Wright, Jason Bay and Johan Santana. Well, where does it end? This isn't the Pittsburgh Pirates. This isn't the Kansas City Royals. This is the New York Mets. NEW YORK.

Still, I don't envy your position. And I hope you don't work on commission. But please convey this message to your supervisors, their supervisors, even the ownership: My love for the Mets will never waver. I live and die with every pitch. And I'll consider purchasing tickets on a regular basis when the team is sold to a viable owner.

Give Romney Credit/Dismiss Huntsman

2011-12-06T19:14:00.003-05:00

Mitt Romney has decided to skip the Donald Trump debate on December 27th. Regardless of his reasons, you have to give Romney credit for not falling into the trap of kissing the Trump ring. According to reports, the only candidates committed to attend the Trump debate are Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich... although there is plenty of time for Mitt to flip-flop on his decision.

In other news however, what seemed like the only other "reasonable" Republican nominee decided to give a little reach-aroud of the right wing nutjobs by casting doubt on the science of global warming. No, really.

"The scientific community owes us more in terms of a better description or explanation about what might lie beneath all of this," [Jon Huntsman said], "but there's not enough information right now to be able to formulate policies in terms of addressing [global warming] overall -- primarily because it's a global issue. We can enact policies here, but I wouldn't want to unilaterally disarm as a country. I wouldn't want to hinder job creators during a time when our economy is flat."

Not enough information? So much for the "reasonable" one.

Down Goes Cain! Down Goes Cain!

2011-12-04T13:56:00.001-05:00

Seriously, Republican voters? Is this what it took?

Yesterday, Herman Cain announced that he was suspending his campaign.

“As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul-searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign,” Mr. Cain said at a rally in Atlanta, surrounded by supporters chanting his name. “Because of the continued distractions, the continued hurt caused on me and my family, not because we are not fighters. Not because I’m not a fighter.”
...With his wife, Gloria, at his side at the Atlanta rally, Mr. Cain said the accusations of sexual harassment and of a 13-year affair were untrue. “I’m at peace with my God,” he said. “I’m at peace with my wife, and she is at peace with me.”

In yet another example of the death of the Republican Party, the Sociopath Who Would Be President fell to earth not because of his stellar foreign policy, not because he jokes/doesn't joke about electrocuting illegal immigrants crossing the border, not because of his video game economic plan, not due to his lack of knowledge on China's 47 year old nuclear program, not even because he didn't have the first clue on what the hell was going on in Libya. No, it would seem that the only thing that took down Herman Cain was Herman Cain.

The wingnuts can forgive stupidity when it comes to running the country, but not when it comes to various cases of sexual harassment claims and an alleged 13-year extramarital affair. That is of course, unless you're Newt Gingrich.

The difference between Cain and the thrice married, serial adulterer Gingrich, is that if you admit you're wrong, even if your explanation is complete bullshit, all is forgiven. But every indicator suggests Cain has never and will never admit to doing anything wrong.

Must Reads

2011-12-03T13:32:00.001-05:00

Tommy Christopher: Michael Moore Still Flogging Tinfoil Smear That President Obama Is Behind Occupy Evictions

Charles P. Pierce: The Carterization of Barack Obama

Gawker: Here’s Herman Cain’s Hilariously Stupid Facebook Foreign Policy Map

Jamelle Bouie: Ignoring the Obama Presidency

Rick Ungar: The Bomb Buried In Obamacare Explodes Today-Hallelujah!

Justin Elliott: Obama Cracks Down on Abuses by Big-City Police Departments

Alexandra Petri: Donald Trump Moderates the Newsmax GOP Debate We Deserve

Steve Benen: ACA Shrinks "Doughnut Hole" For Seniors

Elliot Spitzer: A Secret Scandal

President Obama's Weekly Address - December 3, 2011

2011-12-03T11:57:00.000-05:00

Extending and Expanding the Payroll Tax Cut

Republican Party: YOU'RE FIRED!

2011-12-02T20:42:00.000-05:00

There is no possible chance that Saturday Night Live can continue to satirize Republican politics anymore. They may as well just show footage of actual Republican politics. Why do I posit this?

[Donald] Trump confirmed to MSNBC’s Tamron Hall a New York Times report that he'd helm a GOP debate on Dec. 27.
“I was asked to do it by a number of people, including some of my friends that are Republicans, strong Republicans,” Trump told MSNBC. He has signed on to be a moderator at the debate, which will be held in Iowa and is hosted by Newsmax, a conservative website and magazine. It will be broadcast on Ion Television, a cable network.

Parody is dead. Satire is dead. The Republican Party of yore no longer exists. These debating monkeys need not extol the name of Ronald Reagan or Abraham Lincoln anymore. Reagan couldn't get elected in this generation of what passes for the Republican Party. He'd most likely get booed off the debate stage for his stances on immigration (amnesty) and taxation.

The idea of The Donald moderating something that is supposed to be at least semi-serious like a GOP presidential debate is beyond all hope of rational thinking. But I must admit, I don't know if I can miss this one. I hope my cable provider carries Ion Television, whatever the fuck that is.

Donald Trump? Seriously?

A "Government Takeover" It Is NOT

2011-12-01T20:34:00.002-05:00

A few days ago, a couple of my colleagues asked me what I thought about the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare). Both of these colleagues are what I consider to be liberal to progressive Democrats and what they ultimately were questioning was where I stood in the government mandating that everyone buy health insurance from a private entity.

I believe they had no problem adding some coin to the coffers for a health care plan we could all enjoy, but I had the sense that they were kinda pissed about the fact that we'd still be purchasing said health insurance from private corporations. Wasn't this some kind of ethical breech of liberal conduct? Don't we hate corporations and why are we lining their pockets?

After explaining my position (it's a good first step in the right direction), we all nodded and went our separate ways. So imagine my surprise when about 10 days later I was perusing through my Twitter feed and found someone mentioning PolitiFact's "Lie of the Year" for 2010 was this:

PolitiFact editors and reporters have chosen "government takeover of health care" as the 2010 Lie of the Year. Uttered by dozens of politicians and pundits, it played an important role in shaping public opinion about the health care plan and was a significant factor in the Democrats' shellacking in the November elections.

Now, the person tweeting this probably wasn't aware they were tweeting last year's Lie of the Year, but it's worth a second look and it goes to show you how this discussion hasn't faded away. Everyone, both on the left and the right, especially with the clown car full of GOP presidential nominees who are vowing to "repeal Obamacare on Day One," are still discussing this issue.

Now, Mitt Romney may want to repeal a health care law that is based on his own Massachusetts health care law (including the mandate to purchase insurance), but if he were ever to be in that position, and for the good of the country I hope not, he'd have to have a complicit Congress to revote and reject ACA. You can't just declare a law null and void because you don't like it - and the fact that ACA has helped millions of people who weren't eligible for insurance previously due to preexisting conditions will make it difficult for members of Congress to deny that new privilege to their constituents.

So sure, this first step towards a country where health care can be available to all Americans may not be exactly what progressives wanted, but know that it's not a final step. Just as Social Security's first round excluded farmers for example, ACA will need to be tweaked over the coming years to make it fairer and more affordable. It will happen, but it will take time. Rome wasn't built in a day. But no, thank you Frank Luntz. A "government takeover" it's not. If only that were true, we actually might be better off.

Patrice O'Neal Dies at 41

2011-12-01T15:31:00.000-05:00

We lost a very funny man this week.

"The comedian, known for his sharp and often shocking social commentary, died following complications from a stroke at the age of 41."

Bachmann's Back!

2011-11-30T20:28:00.000-05:00

After what seemed like an eternity of Herman Cain coverage and the Newt Gingrich resurgence, I started to feel the lack of Michele Bachmann ignorance stories in the forefront. But now I finally I feel like a kid who's awakened and pulled up his pillow to see a thick stack of hundred dollar bills where his tooth once sat.

In light of the British Foreign Ministry pulling all U.K. nationals out of the British embassy in Tehran after students stormed the building in protest, GOP presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann told a crowd in Waverly, Iowa, today that she would close the U.S. embassy in Iran.
...Bachmann applauded the U.K.’s move, adding, “That’s exactly what I would do [if I were president]. We wouldn’t have an embassy in Iran. I wouldn’t allow that to be there.”

Good thing Bachmann wouldn't allow it since the U.S. hasn't had an Embassy in Iran since NINETEEN-FUCKING-EIGHTY and the Iranian hostage crisis. And this GOP presidential dimwit nominee is on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. ...INTELLIGENCE!

Oh Michele, how I've missed you so.

Quote of the Day

2011-11-30T20:07:00.000-05:00

"I think there's a lot to be said for keeping your own counsel. You can't buy it back. You can't buy your privacy back. 'Ooh, I want to be alone. 'Fuck you. We've been in your living room. We were at your birth. You filmed it for us and showed us the placenta, and now you want some privacy?'
It is a career; I'm not being cynical. And why wouldn't you? Look at the Kardashians, they're worth millions. Millions! I don't think they were that badly off to begin with, but now look at them. You see that and you think, 'What, you mean all I have to do is behave like a fucking idiot on television and then you'll pay me millions?'"

~Actor Daniel Craig

Fa, La, La, La Ratatat

2011-11-30T11:30:00.003-05:00

POSTED BY JHW22

Because nothing puts the Christ back in Christmas like a semi-automatic. Or a fully automatic, for that matter.

Sorry. Oops.

2011-11-29T20:33:00.002-05:00

Rick Perry: "Those who are going to be over 21 on November 12th, I ask for your support."

Boy, that's a lot of "Constitutional Amendment" talk from someone who doesn't know what the 26th Amendment is. And that Election Day in 2012 is November 6th, not the 12th. At least he got the month right. Cream of the crop, these GOP nominees, huh?

Cain "Reassessing" His Campaign

2011-11-29T15:21:00.003-05:00

After yet another woman came forward to accuse Herman Cain of a 13 year affair, Herman Cain has decided to reassess his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination. What the hell is wrong with this guy? There's something sociopathically wrong with Cain - he continues to say he's done nothing wrong. And what does his lawyer say in his defense?

...this appears to be an accusation of private, alleged consensual conduct between adults - a subject matter which is not a proper subject of inquiry by the media or the public. No individual, whether a private citizen, a candidate for public office or a public official, should be questioned about his or her private sexual life. The public’s right to know and the media’s right to report has boundaries and most certainly those boundaries end outside of one’s bedroom door.

Really? Tell that to Bill Clinton.

Talk about non-denial denials! What's to reassess. He should just quit while he's behind and hire a divorce lawyer who'll hopefully perform better than his current one.

Also, remember Herman Cain's old fundraising radio ad? The one where he goes after every black racial stereotype including "cheating on your wife"?

I wonder if he's rethinking that one.

Oh, and as an aside, I wonder if Ann Coulter is still defending Cain with her "our blacks are better than their blacks" intellectual argument?