The GOP, So Sensitive!

This could be another episode of Pot and Kettle Theatre.

MSNBC's Harris-Perry apologizes for mocking Romney over black grandchild | Fox News:

The laughing starts almost immediately in the MSNBC segment...

Latin Pot

Uruguay may have started a marijuana legalization storm in Latin America - Quartz:

...The strongest impetus for change, though, is likely to depend on the outcome of Uruguay’s experiment. Long recognized as one of the region’s least violent nations, Uruguay had seen both drug use and drug-related crime increase in the country in recent years. It decided that it would rather elbow drug lords out of the market than chase them down with guns. If that gamble pans out, the rest of Latin America will more seriously consider following suit.

Lest We Forget: Unions

The “middle class” myth: Here’s why wages are really so low today - Salon.com:

Let me tell you the story of an “unskilled” worker in America who lived better than most of today’s college graduates. In the winter of 1965, Rob Stanley graduated from Chicago Vocational High School, on the city’s Far South Side. Pay rent, his father told him, or get out of the house. So Stanley walked over to Interlake Steel, where he was immediately hired to shovel taconite into the blast furnace on the midnight shift. It was the crummiest job in the mill, mindless grunt work, but it paid $2.32 an hour — enough for an apartment and a car. That was enough for Stanley, whose main ambition was playing football with the local sandlot all-stars, the Bonivirs...

Dumb And Dumber In America

Age of Ignorance by Charles Simic | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books:

...Even regional history has gotten a short shrift. Students who come from old New England mill towns, as I have discovered, have never been told about the famous strikes in their communities in which workers were shot in cold blood and the perpetrators got away scot-free. I wasn’t surprised that their high schools were wary of bringing up the subject, but it astonished me that their parents and grandparents, and whoever else they came in contact with while they were growing up, never mentioned these examples of gross injustice. Either their families never talked about the past, or their children were not paying attention when they did. Whatever it was, one is confronted with the problem of how to remedy their vast ignorance about things they should have already been familiar with as the generations of students before them were...

GOP Relighting Benghazi

Lawmakers push back on New York Times Benghazi report | MSNBC:

Republican House members pushed back against a New York Times article that reported local militias, not al Qaeda forces, were behind the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that killed four Americans...

A Liberal Journey

Why I fled libertarianism — and became a liberal - Salon.com:

...A month before the 2012 election, I changed my party affiliation to Democrat. I am a very late bloomer, that it took me so many decades to develop my own values. I was thirty-nine.

I don’t think regular Americans have any idea just how crazy libertarians can be. The only human corollary I can offer is unquestioning religious fervor, and hell yeah, I used to be a true believer. Libertarians think they own the word “freedom,” but it’s a word that often obfuscates more than enlightens. If you believe the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe quote “None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free,” then libertarians live in a prison of their own ideology.

Christie Beats Clinton

Latest Poll Finds Christie, Clinton in Presidential Deadlock - Government - Warren, NJ Patch:

... A hypothetical presidential election between Christie and former U.S. Senator, Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton would be a tossup if the election were held this year, according to a new CNN/ORC international survey, cnn.com reports...(sic)

Let's hope not.

Lest We Forget: Wellstone And The Liars

Conservative media invoke Wellstone memorial smear in predicting politicization of Kennedy's death | Research | Media Matters for America:

Paul died on October 25, 2002, when his plane went down in Northern Minnesota. Sheila; their daughter, Marcia; his driver, Will McLaughlin; two other close aides, Tom Lapic and Mary McEvoy; and two pilots died with him. Four days later, C-SPAN, along with almost every Minnesota TV and radio station, carried a hastily-put-together memorial service for Paul, Sheila, Marcia, Will, Tom, and Mary. I was there. It was a beautiful memorial, sometimes incredibly sad, sometimes funny, sometimes rowdy, and sometimes political. Some people watching on television were offended. Some people were moved. But the right saw an opening. They took moments out of context, lied about the rest, and used it as a political club to attack the Democrats. It won them the Senate election in Minnesota and probably in Missouri, which means it gave Republicans control of the Senate.

This chapter is a case study of how the right lies and viciously distorts. It is the story of how the right-wing media repeats its fabrications until they echo into the mainstream press. It is a story of pure cynicism in pursuit of power. It is the story of how the lying liars took the death of my friends and invented a myth that changed the 2002 elections. [Pages 178-179]

Clinton and Spelling Collide

I can't get much going right now. Don't know how long the recovery process will take, but for the moment, posting is going to be light.

DD Rights

GOP congressional candidate: ‘Duck Dynasty star is Rosa Parks of our generation’ | The Raw Story:

Illinois Republican congressional candidate Ian Bayne sent an email to supporters today in which he declared that embattled Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson is the “Rosa Parks of our generation...”

Bill O Wants You To Pray For Rich

Bill O'Reilly Warns That Rich People Are 'In Danger,' Asks That You Pray - The Wire:

Fox News' demure 8 p.m. host Bill O'Reilly took a serious moment on Wednesday night to warn the country that rich people are in imminent danger, because one time a lottery winner got murdered. Yes, the myth of the embattled rich is back, thanks to the news peg of a half-billion-dollar Mega Millions jackpot...

Youe Daily Pope

Pope Francis trashes the ‘prosperity gospel’: Pompous Christians are ugly pagans | The Raw Story:

 “It is an ugly thing,” he said, according to Vatican Radio, “when you see a Christian who doesn’t want to humble himself, who doesn’t want to serve, a Christian who struts about everywhere: it’s ugly, eh? That is not a Christian: that’s a pagan!”

Boosting SS

How Elizabeth Warren Upset the DC Establishment's Plans to Weaken Social Security | Alternet:

When Senator Elizabeth Warren came out for increasing Social Security last month it set in motion a remarkable turn of events. For over a decade the only discussion of Social Security by the Washington power types was over how much to cut it and when. The extreme left position was that current spending was about right.

Senator Warren changed the debate when she endorsed a bill proposed by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin that would index retirees' benefits to an index that more closely tracks the cost-of-living of seniors. The bill also would raise benefits by roughly $70 a month. As a result of Warren's prominence in national politics, and the fact that raising Social Security benefits is actually quite popular, the Washington insider types were forced to take the idea seriously...

Fixing Education

In another of the long line of articles, posts, and sermons about our education system, the NYT restates the obvious, thus ensuring the obvious results: nothing --the same results we have had for 30 years when the string of annual banal writings on the subject are trotted out like migrating lemmings. An annual pointing of fingers ritual at those responsible for this mess (the 1%) might help, but teachers make a far less frightening target than those with real money and real power.

Why Students Do Better Overseas - NYTimes.com:

...In a recent survey by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a global policy organization, adults in the United States scored far below average and better than only two of 12 other developed comparison countries, Italy and Spain. Worse still, the United States is losing ground in worker training to countries in Europe and Asia whose schools are not just superior to ours but getting steadily better...

Christie Has Bridge Problem

Chris Christie Bridge Controversy Expands As Senator Calls For Federal Review:

New Jersey traffic jams have hit the nation's capital. On Monday, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) asked the Department of Transportation to look into why officials in New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) administration abruptly shut down access lanes to the busiest U.S. bridge in September and caused massive traffic jams, a move that some Democrats have characterized as political retribution...

Libertarian Lies

Cannonfire:

...But Schiff's whole premise is a lie. If Walmart workers were given a living wage, prices wouldn't go up 15 percent. Prices would go up ONE percent.

And even that rise would be mitigated if Walmart curbed executive compensation. During this country's most prosperous period -- the three decades following WWII -- the executive class earned a lot less and workers took home a much larger share of the economic pie...

The Weekly Right Wing Idiot Quote List

10 worst right-wing moments of the week — white Santa edition - Salon.com

Scholars Say "No" To Israel

Scholars’ Group Endorses an Academic Boycott of Israel - NYTimes.com:

An association of American professors with almost 5,000 members has voted to endorse an academic boycott of Israeli colleges and universities, the group announced Monday, making it the largest academic group in the United States to back a growing movement to isolate Israel over its treatment of Palestinians...

I think this is more significant than you think.

SS Discussion Has Changed

Take that, Paul Ryan! Elizabeth Warren beats back Social Security plot - Salon.com:

...Until recently, in discussions of the future of Social Security the Overton Window was positioned to exclude any discussion of raising, rather than cutting, Social Security benefits. For the last generation, the range of permissible opinion with respect to the program — which most Americans depend on for nearly all of their income in old age — ranged from conservatives who wanted to abolish Social Security altogether, to press-anointed “progressives” and token Democrats who merely wanted to cut Social Security benefits. The option of maintaining scheduled Social Security benefits, and paying for them with higher taxes, was considered unworthy of discussion by the guardians of Overton Orthodoxy, both in the press and in the two major parties. As for expanding Social Security benefits — why, that’s crazy talk!...

Palin Snark

Amazon.com: Joel Cruz's review of Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the...: One reads this book and one can only say, "Palin!", November 18, 2013v By Joel Cruz

This review is from: Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas (Hardcover)

Finally! At long last someone has said what has needed to be said. One brave soul has trumpeted it from the rooftops. Forget about the Iraq War with their hundreds of thousands of innocents dead. Remove your mind from worrisome drone strikes hitting children and families in Afghanistan. Our returning soldiers--battered, maimed, wounded in every human way possible, and now, most likely jobless, could not have returned from a more glorious conflict than the War on Christmas. This annual melee, swift on the heels of the Satanic orgy of demon-worship and candy corn that is Halloween, should be front and center on the radar of every God-loving, red-blooded American. While women line up for their holiday abortions and those godless gays don their stylish gay apparel, Mrs. Palin has reminded us that the fight for Christmas is the fight for our very souls...

Hospital/Surgery Fri.13th

I hope to have another post.

GOPer Budget Hate

John Boehner: Conservative Groups' Reaction to Budget Deal Is 'Ridiculous' - NationalJournal.com:

House Speaker John Boehner went off on outside conservative groups Wednesday morning for pushing against the new budget deal.

"They're using our members and they're using the American people for their own goals," he said. "This is ridiculous."

Several key conservative groups are against the sequester relief within the new budget deal...

Comment Of The Day: Skippy-Saudi Edition

9/11 Link To Saudi Arabia Is Topic Of 28 Redacted Pages In Government Report; Congressmen Push For Release


matthewcarmody

• 10 hours ago

Just one family of oligarchs helping another family of oligarchs. And don't expect any honesty because national security to this treasonous bunch means keeping the American people in the dark about how the Bush family has been involved in treason since before old Prescott's conviction for trading with the enemy in 1942.

Bush knew what was coming and he did nothing to stop it but he sure did move with deliberate speed to get Saudis and bin Ladens out of the country without being available for questioning by the FBI. No more Bush family members in the White House whether it be a distant cousin or whatever.

Rich Kid Gets Off Murder Because He's Rich

Everything wrong with America in a nutshell.

Ethan Couch Sentenced To Probation In Crash That Killed 4 After Defense Argued He Had 'Affluenza':

A 16-year-old avoided spending time in prison for killing four people in a car accident in June after the judge bought his lawyers' argument that he was the victim of wealth...

The Sad End Of Sears Randism

Ayn Rand-loving CEO destroys his empire - Salon.com:

... Instead of enhancing Sears’ bottom line, the heads of various divisions began to undermine each other and fight tooth and claw for the profits of their individual fiefdoms at the expense of the overall brand. By this time Crazy Eddie was completely in thrall to his own bloated ego, and fancied he could bend underlings to his will by putting them through humiliating rituals, like annual conference calls in which unit managers were forced to bow and scrape for money and resources. But the chaos only grew...

Gay Death And Dying

GOP Dave Agema's Rant: Gays want ‘free medical because they're dying’:

...What is obscene is Dave Agema’s account of gays at American Airlines where he worked. He claimed that a gay person would claim another as a lover to get medical benefits. “Folks, they (gay people) want free medical because they’re dying (when they’re) between 30 and 44 years old,” he said. “To me, it’s a moral issue. It’s a Biblical issue. Traditional marriage is where it should be and it’s in our platform. Those in our party who oppose traditional marriage are wrong...”

No Low Flags In Pickens SC

Flag Lowering Debate - WLOS News13 - Top Stories:

President Obama's decision to have American flags fly at half staff creates some controversy.

Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark posted on his Facebook page that only Americans should be honored with flags at half staff. There is no specific law requiring that. The president, governors and other leaders can make the decision on when to lower flags in someone's honor...

WSJ Wants Unemployment Cut

...because you just can't kick a dog enough when it's down.

WSJ Uses Positive Jobs Report To Push GOP Toward Unemployment Benefits Cut | Blog | Media Matters for America:

The Wall Street Journal used a positive jobs report to urge Republican lawmakers to block an extension of unemployment benefits, ignoring the ongoing need for extended benefits and the harm that cutting them would have for the ongoing economic recovery...

An UnACA Horror Story

When does lying about Obamacare become immoral and evil?:

...There are many stories detailing the plight of the poor whose only recourse is the emergency room. They get to the emergency rooms only to be stabilized and not really diagnosed in detail. Generally, not until it is too late do they get care at a point when it is most expensive and deadly. One of the most gut wrenching stories was detailed by a Galveston, Texas medical student where she literally watched a patient die over a few months. The patient died not because they could not help his cancer, but because he was uninsured...

Newt And Mandela

Newt Gingrich To Conservatives: 'What Would You Have Done?' - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic:

I think this is a fairly noteworthy statement from Newt Gingrich on Mandela's passing that should get some airing. Gingrich is addressing the rather disgraceful response to Mandela's passing that we've seen in some quarters:...

Warren Flogs Ed Department

Elizabeth Warren: Education Department Shouldn't Be A 'Lapdog':

...Warren, a member of the Senate banking and education committees, also said it was “shocking” that the department had not yet recovered some $22 million in allegedly improper payments made to Sallie Mae despite a 2009 recommendation from the department’s inspector general that it recover the debt.

“The Department of Education needs to be aggressive in watching out for students, not for profit-making loan servicers,” Warren said. “They’re there for our students, not to help loan servicers make a profit...”

Van Shooter Fired

New Mexico officer in van shooting is fired - Houston Chronicle:

The New Mexico State Police officer who fired shots at a minivan full of children during a chaotic October traffic stop has been fired, a spokesman with the law enforcement agency said Friday.

Lt. Emmanuel Gutierrez, a State Police spokesman, said he confirmed with State Police Chief Pete Kassetas that Officer Elias Montoya was no longer employed by the department. Montoya's termination was effective at 5 p.m. Friday...

Well, that's a start. How about a reckless endangerment charge? And what about the other two "officers"?

Fixing SS Is Simple

To Fix Social Security, Some Democrats Want To Lift Wage Cap : NPR:

...But that does not seem to faze Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The Massachusetts Democrat has gotten a lot of attention for a speech defending Social Security that she delivered last month on the Senate floor.

"With some modest adjustments, we can keep the system solvent for many more years, and we could even increase benefits," Warren says...

On GOP Defections

The GOP Is Losing Candidates Left And Right | Firebrand Progressives:

Just recently, Charlie Crist left the Republican party to run for Florida’s gubernatorial race as a Democrat. Now, he is joined by the Republican candidate for North Carolina’s third district, Jason R. Thigpen, and Texas Judge Carlo Key. Why? It comes down to a matter of principles. The party pushing for “Values Voters” has misunderstood which “values” people have, and these candidates do not want their names associated with the political mess that is today’s GOP...

O Attack Too Low For Even Wingnuts

Disgusting Liberal-Hating Facebook Page Posts Fake Photo of President Obama Inappropriately Touching His Daughter | Progressive Populist:

In what might be the sleaziest, hateful, and most detestable stunt ever pulled in the name of political warfare, a barely-human clod-brained jackass did an amateurish alteration of a photo taken of President Obama and his family leaving a grocery store. The altered photo shows President Obama with his hand down his daughter Sasha’s pants....

If you want to look at this obvious fakery, click on the link. While you're at it, can you imagine Obama in a bait shop, which what the place looks like-- it even has a "fishing tackle" sign.

Child Labor Making A Comeback In Maine

GOP Governor Wants 12-Year-Old Kids to Work - Cheaply (Video) | Progressive Populist:

Paul LePage, (Republican and need you even ask?) Governor of the great state of Maine is advocating changing child labor laws.

LePage seeks to loosen regulations currently in place. Now, students must be 16, enrolled in school and passing a majority of their classes to be able to get a job. If all conditions are met, those teenagers can obtain a work permit from the Superintendent of Schools.

The Governor wants to blow past all that falderal and have 12 year olds get the permits directly from the Department of Labor...

Economic Death Dance

Simply Left BehindThe Non-Rapturist's Guide To The Galaxy: Bad Economic Data:

...People will cut back. They have to.

After all, we’ve pulled every trick out of our asses to keep on keeping on: two-income families, with second jobs. Fewer kids. More credit. We the people are out of options, and the only one left to us is to drastically cut back in purchasing power.

Diapers Going For Guv?

Vitter eyes Louisiana governor's mansion | MSNBC:

Republican Sen. David Vitter is eyeing the Louisiana governor’s mansion, and he’ll decide over the holidays whether he will launch a 2015 bid.

The GOP senator said in an email to supporters on Wednesday he would weigh whether to launch a campaign over Christmas with his family,..

Gay Rights Gain in HI

Same-sex weddings begin in Hawaii:

Same-sex couples are taking advantage of Hawaii's newfound aloha for gay weddings.

Six couples tied the knot early Monday, shortly after midnight, when a new law allowing same-sex couples to marry took effect...

This Weeks Con Crazy Quotes

10 Outrages and Crazy Statements by Right-Wingers This Week: Pope Provokes Free-Market Freakout | Alternet: