The Weather And Nat Silver

A meteorologist once explained that weather forecasts are never wrong because the weather forecast is the way things would happen if everything remained the same. In other words, forecasts are made with the best available data at the time. But one thing is for sure about American politics-- things change.



Democrats to Nate Silver: You're Wrong - NationalJournal.com:

Democrats aren't taking Nate Silver's latest Senate prediction lying down.

In an unusual step, the executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Monday issued a rebuttal the famed statistician's prediction—made a day earlier—that Republicans were a "slight favorite" to retake the Senate. Silver was wrong in 2012, the political committee's Guy Cecil wrote in a memo, and he'll be wrong again in 2014.

"In fact, in August of 2012 Silver forecast a 61 percent likelihood that Republicans would pick up enough seats to claim the majority," Cecil said. "Three months later, Democrats went on to win 55 seats..."

Lying Liars: Red State Women Edition

Red State Women: Propaganda for the 3rd Millennium:

Both sides of the aisle play games with the balance of truth and fiction; but for a society that holds itself to be the most advanced, a wave of propaganda has taken over the nation. Groups have taken to a new low in Red State Women, a political action group touting itself as a completely independent, woman led, action committee who pits woman against woman in the contentious field of Texas politics...

A Source Of Bigotry

Stacy Kranitz: The Rape of Appalachia — BagNews:

...Just 10 years after the War on Poverty was declared, Caudill saw that nothing was changing for the Appalachian people. After becoming the first person to successfully call attention to the dark reality of what was happening in Appalachia, Caudill’s thinking changed. He concluded that Appalachia could not be fixed because its people were broken. He came to believe that Appalachia’s gene pool had been watered down by inbreeding among what he called “dullards” who lived on welfare in remote mountain hollers (1). He concluded that poverty is “genetic in origin”(2) and invited the eugenicist William Shockley to his home in Kentucky Together they proposed to study poor eastern Kentuckians as part of a research project on inherited intelligence.Cash bonuses would be offered to participants in exchange for sterilization (3). The man, who proclaimed that Appalachia had been raped, now wanted to rape certain Appalachian people of their ability to procreate...

Evil Apple, Wage Suppresser

Revealed: Apple and Google’s wage-fixing cartel involved dozens more companies, over one million employees | PandoDaily:

Back in January, I wrote about “The Techtopus” — an illegal agreement between seven tech giants, including Apple, Google, and Intel, to suppress wages for tens of thousands of tech employees. The agreement prompted a Department of Justice investigation, resulting in a settlement in which the companies agreed to curb their restricting hiring deals. The same companies were then hit with a civil suit by employees affected by the agreements...

Flogging Kristol AND Maddow

Rachel Maddow Savages Bill Kristol, Ignores Liberal Blogs That Have Written About Him For Years | Crooks and Liars:

I don't want to take away from the fact that I'm really happy to see someone in our corporate media point out that Bloody Bill Kristol should not have a platform where he's allowed to push for more military interventions, to fearmonger and to lie about U.S. foreign policy (or any other subject he's asked about for that matter), to the point where, as our brother Charlie Pierce pointed out this week, he deserves to be shunned, and certainly does not deserve a platform on any of our so-called "news" networks -- I was disappointed to see MSNBC's Rachel Maddow ignore the fact the the criticism she gave of Bill Kristol for always being wrong about everything, has been written about and highlighted and mocked on progressive blogs like this one and others for years on end now....

Lest We Forget: Iran Contra Criminals

RIP Lawrence Walsh - Esquire:

Regular readers of the blog know that I am a little bughouse on the subject of the Iran-Contra scandal -- and especially on the fact that most of its principal architects -- including Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush -- were allowed to skate away from crimes that were an order of magnitude worse than the crimes that cost Richard Nixon the White House. Moreover, the utter lack of accountability in the wake of the Iran-Contra revelations was the seedbed for most of what has gone wrong with the balance of powers, American foreign policy, and the courtier media ever since...

The Poisoning Of Our Police Forces

Very thorough article.


“Why did you shoot me? I was reading a book”: The new warrior cop is out of control - Salon.com:

 ...Perhaps the best insight into the mentality the police brought to the DNC protests could be found on the T-shirts the Denver police union had printed up for the event. The shirts showed a menacing cop holding a baton. The caption: DNC 2008: WE GET UP EARLY, TO BEAT THE CROWDS. Police were spotted wearing similar shirts at the 2012 NATO summit in Chicago. At the 1996 DNC convention in Chicago, cops were seen wearing shirts that read: WE KICKED YOUR FATHER’S ASS IN 1968 . . . WAIT ’TIL YOU SEE WHAT WE DO TO YOU!...

Palin's New Talkin'

Sarah Palin Debuts Her New Southern Accent (Video) | Progressive Populist:

...Yee Haw! Sarah Palin has got herself another new show. And a Suthin’ drawl, y’all. We know her affection for all things redneck. She loves the Robertson family. (Or does she? They have actually established themselves as her competition as backward, hate and fear mongering “Christians”.) Did we mention she loves guns? She really loves guns. And dead things. And freedom. Has “The First Lady of the Outdoors” been palling around with racists like Paula Dean? What could possibly explain this promo where she slips in and out of a Southern accent the way Bristol slips out of her snow pants?...

Where The Snark Runs Deep

Georgia Pol Will Unmask These Brutuses, Iagos, Dastardly Villeins Who Plungeth Knives Unto His Back; Is Not Crazy:

Georgia state Representative Jason Spencer sat upon his mount, Puffikins, and narrowed his noble and handsome gaze upon the hills. He knew they came, and they would be legion. He planted his staff in the heather and sang a little song...

Startled

He just heard that the Carolina Panthers have cut Steve Smith.

Good Cold War

From Putin, a Blessing in Disguise - NYTimes.com:

There are a lot of people who seem intent on restarting the Cold War — in both Moscow and Washington. I am not one of them. But if we’re going to have a new Cold War, then I have one condition: I want a new moonshot.

The Space Race and the technologies it produced weren’t purely an offshoot of the U.S.-Soviet missile competition, but they were certainly energized by that competition. Well, if we’re going to go at it again, this time I want an Earth Race. I want America to lead in developing an energy policy that will weaken the oil-and-gas-autocracy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and, as a byproduct, produce the technologies that will mitigate climate change, make America a global technology and moral leader and ensure that the next generation can thrive here on Earth...

Gov. Wide Load Steps On Self Again

NJ Politics Roundup: Christie photo controversy, property tax law, and more | NJ.com:

New Jersey's acting attorney general and the head of the State Police on Wednesday ordered the State Police to stop taking photos of protestors at Gov. Chris Christie's town halls.

Earlier in the day, the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union called on the State Police to explain why they took pictures of protestors at Christie's most recent public forum...

Tedious O Insult

Obama has “too much golf, not enough work” - IrishCentral.com:

A former US Ambassador to Ireland has slammed President Obama for not appointing a new envoy to Ireland in over 15 months, saying he needs to play less golf and do more work...

Let's see: obstructionist GOP (click anywhere on this list); Bush vacations (click anywhere on this list). Some arguments are hardly worth the effort.

Epic Rant From Pierce

This Just In From Our Sociopath Bureau - Esquire:

"... monstrous, bloodthirsty fraud..."

That is just one tiny snippet from this fine flogging of one William Kristol, who so richly deserves to be flogged. hanged, drawn and quartered, burned at the stake. and buried in a crossroads with a stake through that empty place where his heart should be. You can read Kristol's new chicken hawking here if you're inclined to fill your mind with intellectual slop.

Crazy In NC: Imperial Utility Edition

GOP bill protects Duke's coal ash | The Asheville Citizen-Times | citizen-times.com:

Duke Energy was in a bind.

North Carolina regulators had for years allowed the nation’s largest power company to pollute the ground near its plants without penalty. But in early 2013, a coalition of environmental groups sued to force Duke to clean up nearly three dozen leaky coal ash dumps spread across the state, including the utility’s Lake Julian plant in Asheville.

So last summer, Duke Energy turned to North Carolina lawmakers for help...

Yet, The Majority Votes Idiot Often

Poll: Majority of Americans want government to reduce income gap – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs:

A majority of Americans surveyed believe the government should work to reduce the income gap between rich and the poor, according to a new national poll.

A CNN/ORC International survey released Wednesday indicates more than six in 10 Americans strongly or somewhat agree that the government should work to narrow that gap, compared to 30% who believe it should not...

Crimea Econ Shock

If History Is a Guide, Crimea’s Enthusiasm Might Wane - NYTimes.com:

...Aleksei A. Malashenko, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said Russian officials “will be shocked” with the challenges they face when trying to manage Crimea — reviving its economy, distributing money and influence among its ethnic groups, and trying to control the corruption that accompanies all big Russian projects. And, judging from precedent, the public’s euphoria will fade, he said...

Beating A Living Horse

I've been raising as much Hell about this as I possibly could since 1976. Come on, people. Help beat the horse.



Professors in homeless shelters: It is time to talk seriously about adjuncts - Salon.com: Here’s the thing, AWP.

...The percentage of teaching positions occupied by non-tenure-track faculty has more than tripled in the past four decades. According to the Adjunct Project, “Two-thirds of the faculty standing in front of college classrooms each day aren’t full-time or permanent professors.” The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that “the shadowy world of would-be academia is filled with people cobbling together five or six such teaching gigs at once. That’s possible because some 70 percent of college courses offered are now taught by adjuncts — part-timers who are paid a pittance and have no job security...”

Bad Citing

Paul Krugman hits Paul Ryan for using a “racial dog-whistle” - Salon.com:

...In his latest column for the New York Times, Krugman slams Ryan for his controversial remarks, describing them as a “racial dog-whistle” intended to pander to white voters who think liberals are primarily interested in taking their hard-earned money and giving it to undeserving minorities. Mocking Ryan’s subsequent claim that he was simply “inarticulate,” Krugman sarcastically writes that the House GOPer “even cited the work of serious scholars — people like Charles Murray, most famous for arguing that blacks are genetically inferior to whites...”

GOPer Knocks $1k Savings

Former New Hampshire GOP Chair Saves $1,000 A Month With Obamacare:

The former chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party will save $1,000 a month in premiums for his family's health care package after signing up for a new policy through the Obamacare exchange.

But Fergus Cullen said the savings aren't enough to turn him into a supporter of the new health care law. He said he anticipates higher out-of-pocket costs with his new Anthem-administered plan, and he's frustrated by what he sees as a lack of information about coverage options. His old plan, which was pricey but covered what he needed, was cancelled by his insurer because it didn't meet Obamacare regulations...

Lava For Haters

An open letter to the people who hate Obama more than they love America:

...Republicans can NOT win on the issues. They've got NOTHING. All they have is a divide and conquer class war that pits ignorant racist and bigoted people against the rest of us in a meaningless battle of wedge issues and the already proven to fail George W. Bush agenda again of tax cuts for the rich, deregulation, privatization and war profiteering and nothing else, so all they can do is blame black people, gays the government, anybody and everyone else for their own failings. The party of personal responsibility, my ass...

GOPers Shaft Docs

For a change, it's not women, children, veterans, gays, or the poor who are the target of Republican double-dealing.

Partisanship engulfs U.S. Congress effort to avoid doctor pay cut | Reuters:

A bipartisan deal in Congress to spare doctors from recurring Medicare pay cuts was in jeopardy on Thursday, as Republicans ignored protests from physicians and moved forward with legislation that would use the so-called "doc fix" to undermine Obamacare...

Ending Poverty

Paul Ryan’s worst nightmare: Here’s the real way to cut poverty in America - Salon.com:

...The difference is entirely the result of government social spending on the poor — mostly in the form of transfer payments, like public pensions, unemployment insurance, child subsidies and/or wage subsidies. Many other developed democracies start out with lots of poor people, just like the U.S. But the countries with big welfare states remove most of them from poverty. The American welfare state does lower the poverty rate — but not enough. The American welfare state is way too small to be effective in doing its job of lowering poverty.

We know, then, how to slash poverty in the U.S. It’s very easy. All we have to do is expand the American welfare state, not necessarily to Swedish levels, but at least to Canadian or British levels. If we restrain public and private health cost inflation, by adopting medical price controls (“all-payer regulation”) of the kind used in most other democracies to prevent price-gouging by pharma companies, hospitals and doctors, we can pretty much end poverty in America very quickly...

Call To Murder Liberals

U.S. Political News, Opinion and Analysis - HuffPost Politics:

Austin Ruse, president of the nonprofit research group Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, said on American Family Radio Wednesday that liberal leaders of “modern universities” should “all be taken out and shot..”

Issa Getting More Dem Flack

New Resolution Condemns Darrell Issa As 'Offensive':

...Nevertheless, the move highlighted the deep, lingering anger that Democrats feel for the Californian, who they believe has abused his role atop a committee meant to ferret out waste and abuse in the federal government. It was high-lighted even further in the way Democrats tried to proceed, with many holding up iPads and phones with pictures of Issa cutting off Cummings.

Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), who was presiding over the session, gaveled the reading of the so-called "privileged resolution" by Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) to a halt until members put their devices away, saying the display was a "violation of the House rules..."

Dems Win One For The Little Guy

Huge Victory for Democrats as Senate Republicans Cave on Unemployment Benefits:

Late this afternoon, Democrats scored a huge victory on President Obama’s agenda by getting Senate Republicans to cave on unemployment benefits that are paid for in part by effectively raising taxes on corporations. But heck, they’re paid for and that’s what Republicans said they wanted....

Further on...

...The AP also points out that the agreement ends jobless payments for those earning over $1 million. Republicans would rather try to make a “moral” argument for denying food to starving children than take a penny away from a millionaire, so it looks like poor John Boehner will be stuck between the tea and an election...

Say what?

Crazy In NC: Burr v. Canada Edition

Canadian doctor makes anti-Obamacare senator look like a buffoon - Salon.com:

Speaking before a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday, Dr. Danielle Martin, vice president at the Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, masterfully showed how to smack down a disingenuous politician’s misleading and misinformed questions with courtesy, intelligence and, well, facts.

In this instance, the role of disingenuous and ill-informed politician was played by North Carolina’s GOP Sen. Richard Burr, who decided to use his question time to imply that the Canadian healthcare system was bad because it led to Canadian doctors moving to America and rich people going to the U.S. to get complicated and expensive surgery. These were both good points — except for the fact that they were, as Martin made clear, completely wrong...

Spending Your Defense Dollar

Shrinking Size Of The Army - Why A Larger Navy And A Smaller Army Just Isn't A Good Idea - Esquire:

...So you see, putting our eggs in the Navy basket may be a bad idea since apparently as highly touted as our technology may be, it is demonstrably not good enough. The Chinese have demonstrated that they can get inside our most alert and capable screening force and come to the surface as a sort of international military signal for "Gotcha!" The practical implication is that they could sink that ship if they wanted to, even if the DF-21s did not get there first. What we need is a lot of little carriers, if we must have carriers at all, so that the loss of any one is not catastrophic. As my friend Jerry Hendrix says, "Buy Fords, not Ferraris," and he is spot on with that assessment...

Solving The Libertarian Puzzle

3 Things That Make Libertarian Heads Explode | Alternet:

Libertarians are proponents of a philosophy that embraces free-market ideology, limited government, and a certain form of individual liberty. They would like to take the government and drown it in the proverbial bathtub. Unfortunately, libertarians tend to ride on theoretical unicorns that don’t take them too far in the real world...(to the list!)

Brewer Says No To Re-Election

AFP: Hardline Arizona governor won't run for re-election:

Arizona governor Jan Brewer, known for her hardline stance on illegal immigration and a stand-up row with President Barack Obama, said Wednesday she will not seek re-election later this year...

CIA v. Senate

The Senate-CIA Blowup Threatens a Constitutional Crisis | Mother Jones:

This morning, on C-SPAN, the foundation of the national security state exploded...

With a lede like that, the rest had better be good. It is.

Russia: The Laws Of Blowback Heed No Borders

Russian Oligarchs Fear Economic Casualties if Ukraine Crisis Escalates - NYTimes.com:

...In private conversations, though, several people described high anxiety within corporations, especially about the prospect of any sanctions’ affecting banks. Large Russian corporations have significantly increased foreign borrowing in recent years, and 10 were negotiating loans when the crisis boiled over, said Ben Aris, the editor and publisher of Business New Europe. Financial sanctions could set off a chain reaction of blocked transactions, frozen accounts and bank closings. “Those oligarchs who are already having trouble would be completely cut off,” he said...

Calling BS To BS

Robert Gates Explains There Was Nothing America Could Do To Prevent Putin | Crooks and Liars:

While most of the Beltway media is lapping up Republican talking points against President Obama and the Russian-Ukraine situation, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates brought some much needed sanity to the discussion when he flatly rebuked Chris Wallace's assertions that Obama emboldened Putin to act and stated the obvious:...

Christie's Real Problem

Chris Christie's 2016 problem has nothing to do with a bridge - CBS News:

...This line of criticism isn't new. Christie has drawn ire from conservatives for years, and many saw his cozying up to President Obama in the wake of Hurricane Sandy as an intentional message that he frankly doesn't care. But if he's serious about 2016, conference-goers seemed to agree, Christie needs to realize: The bridge fallout may fade. His longstanding problem relating to the types of conservative activists who frequent such cattle calls will not.

"He's very liberal, in my opinion," proffered English Hinton from Florida. Though she said she'd opt for the lesser of two evils in the event Christie did secure the 2016 GOP nomination, she emphatically clarified she would never even consider voting for him in the primary...

Well, not really. Christie's real problem is that he was finally exposed for what he is to the voters who kept putting him in office (the same type who keep electing lunatics in the South): low information voters. In Christie's case. these voters came from the Democratic party; he lost the Democratic vote on a bridge too crowded.

Conspiracy Romper Room

Cannonfire: "Christian Concentration Camps"

 ...There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of similar websites. As Alex Jones has proved, an entrepreneur can make small fortune providing fixes for fear-junkies.

Visit the link above for a nice sample. (I love Joe's term "fear junkies"; I think I'll steal it.)

Fox News Jr. Blasted

Harry Reid to Politico: 'Get a brain,�OK?':

...In Reid's mind? He's just imagining the tea party took over? He just imagined it when Mitch McConnell said his top priority was denying President Obama a second term? (Which Politico reported on, btw.) He's just imagined all those bullshit amendments, every cloture vote required on every nominee—even those that end up garnering 100 affirmative votes? He's imagined the most filibusters ever forced? Politico reporters obviously don't spend enough time with C-SPAN2.The last thing Reid should be apologetic for is speaking the truth about Republican obstruction. And he really doesn't need to apologize for telling Politico reporters to get a brain.

Pierce Flames CPAC

The Crooks At CPAC - Esquire:

You have to hand it to the conservatives here at CPAC. They're a forgiving lot. They believe in second chances, even for felons. Why, just this morning, I heard a speech by a guy who sold missiles to a government that sponsored terrorism, lied about it, got convicted, and then dove like a scalded rat through a loophole. I watched a panel including a guy who, while working as police commissioner in New York, entangled himself in such baroque corruption that he ended up in the federal sneezer for 36 months. And, this afternoon, on a panel entitled "After Obama," we will be treated to the views of a guy who helped out a covert CIA agent, lied about it, got convicted, and then got pardoned...

A Burning Pot Question

Minister's daughter: Cannabis 'a gift from God' - CNN.com:

...In the meantime, patients like Curry, who have become staunch proponents of medical cannabis, are confounded by the debate.

"I don't get why the government can recommend narcotics, your doctor can prescribe you Percocet or Oxycontin and you can literally die if you take too much," said Curry. "But if you smoke too much pot you'll just ... fall asleep..."

Military Sexual Assault Bill Up Again

Military sexual assault bill heads for Senate vote - The Messenger: News:

Legislation to curb sexual assaults in the military by stripping senior commanders of their authority to prosecute rapes and other serious offenses is headed for a highly anticipated vote in the Senate...

Let's hope this bill has better luck.

The Daily Flashback: Russia Invades! (2008)

Flashback, 2008: When A Russian Invasion Made Fox News Shrug | Blog | Media Matters for America:

Fox News commentators have been rushing in to blame President Obama for the Russian military's excursion into Ukraine. It's because of Obama's "weakness" that Vladamir Putin has seized the military initiative, announced Sarah Palin...

From The Fainting Couch: Miss Lindsey Tweets Nonsense

How The Right Helped Sen. Graham Blame Ukraine On Benghazi | Blog | Media Matters for America

Ukraining It

What Are The Gobshites Saying These Days? - Esquire:

...Don't take it from me. Take it from foreign policy savant Marco J. Firefl...er...Rubio who, as part of his ongoing effort to apologize for having been empathetic for 11 seconds towards undocumented immigrants, dropped by Disco Dave's Disco Dance Party to say a lot of sentence-like things about how the shit's getting real in the Ukraine. Of course, we're not going to actual war. We are going to war rhetorically. We will fight them at the buffet tables. We will fight them in the Green Rooms. We will fight them in the studios. We will fight them in the think tanks. We will never surrender...

Dems Target Districts

DCCC taps 16 pols for 'Red to Blue' - Emily Schultheis - POLITICO.com:

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee named 16 new House candidates to its “Red to Blue” program Monday, aiming to offer support to top recruits in competitive races across the country.

Included on the list are Democratic candidates facing off against some of the DCCC’s biggest Republican targets: former Colorado state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, running against GOP Rep. Mike Coffman; Michigan Democrat Jerry Cannon, running against incumbent Republican Dan Benishek, and Gwen Graham, who’s challenging GOP Rep. Steve Southerland in Florida...

GOPer Hypocrisy, Part ???

Paralyzed GOP Lawmaker On Medicaid Opposes Medicaid Expansion:

More than a decade ago, Arkansas Rep. Josh Miller (R) was in a catastrophic car accident that broke his neck and left him paralyzed. Medicare and Medicaid paid the $1 million bill for his hospitalization and rehabilitation.

But this week, as the Arkansas legislature has debated continuing its privatized Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, Miller has remained steadfast in his opposition...

Foxer Says Something Right!

Fox's Shep Smith Mocks Media Coverage Of Clinton Documents Release | Blog | Media Matters for America:

While journalists examined thousands of newly released documents from the Clinton White House in search of salacious details, Fox News' Shepard Smith mocked the coverage as "beat-up-the-Clintons day again" before concluding that the documents show "Hillary didn't do anything..."

"Stopping Bad Ideas" --The GOP

Steve King wants ‘better obstructionists’ - Natalie Villacorta - POLITICO.com:

Rep. Steve King says the Republican Party needs to be “better obstructionists.”

“This country wouldn’t be in this angst that it’s in today if we had been better obstructionists when they tried to jam Obamacare at us,” the Iowa Republican said on CNN’s “New Day” on Friday...

King said that “stopping bad ideas” is his job, so long as Democrats are in control of the White House and Senate.

The mind boggles at the possible rebuttals for this fool.

GOPers Shaft Vets Again

Senate Blocks Bill Expanding Veterans Benefits - Senate Republicans Kill a Bill to Expand Veterans' Benefits - Esquire:

[Sen.Sandders] ..."Don't tell me that enabling a family to have a child is a political issue," he said. "When you have a 70-year-old woman taking care of her husband who had both legs blown off in Vietnam, and she's taking care of him 24 hours a day, don't tell me that's a political issue. I find it incredible that we had several Democrats come down to speak but very few Republicans, and then, when they did, I heard Iran sanctions and I heard Benghazi. Tell me what Benghazi or Iran sanctions have to do with caring for our veterans."

And thus it is that the sausage doesn't get itself made.

Getting Ugly In Crimea

Armed Standoff in Crimea as Ex-President Looks to Russia - NYTimes.com:

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine — Masked gunmen seized government buildings in the capital of the Crimea region of Ukraine, barricaded themselves inside and raised the Russian flag, raising the specter of a separatist rebellion that could tear the country apart...

Embarrassed By Poopy-Pants

Opinion: I'm embarrassed by Ted Nugent - CNN.com:

When did conservatives become prisoners to idiotic vulgarity? I ask that question as someone who self-defines as conservative and who is sick and tired of being embarrassed by Ted Nugent.

Last month the aged rocker called President Barack Obama a "subhuman mongrel" in an interview with Guns.com. That was bad enough, but what was just as shocking was the willingness of Texas GOP gubernatorial nominee Greg Abbott to keep him aboard his campaign...

GOPer Agonistes

Why I left the GOP

...My old Republican worldview was flawed because it was based upon a small and particularly rosy sliver of reality.  To preserve that worldview, I had to believe that people had morally earned their “just” desserts, and I had to ignore those whining liberals who tried to point out that the world didn’t actually work that way.  I think this shows why Republicans put so much effort into “creat[ing] our own reality,” into fostering distrust of liberals, experts, scientists, and academics, and why they won’t let a campaign “be dictated by fact-checkers” (as a Romney pollster put it).  It explains why study after study shows — examples here, here, and here – that avid consumers of Republican-oriented media are more poorly informed than people who use other news sources or don’t bother to follow the news at all...

Good Apple

I usually have nothing good to say about Apple but this time they're doing something positive.


Apple Urges Arizona's Gov. Brewer To Veto Anti-Gay Bill | TIME.com:

An Arizona bill passed last week that would allow business owners to deny service to gays and lesbians has made a lot of people angry. Now it looks like Apple’s CEO Tim Cook may be one of them. After the Arizona statehouse passed measure bill last Thursday, Apple urged Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to veto it, reports CNN Money...

Razing Arizona

"Razing Arizona": blog name of the day. And, oh, note that Arizona is east of the Mississippi and is not now nor has it ever been part of the Confederacy.

George Takei Calls For Arizona Boycott In Scathing Open Letter:

Following the passing of a controversial bill which allows Arizona business owners to turn away lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) patrons, "Star Trek" alum George Takei posted a scathing open letter on his blog calling for a boycott of the state itself if the law is enacted...

What You Already Knew

The real cause of income inequality - The Week:

...It's this devaluing of middle-class workers, says economist William Galston in The Wall Street Journal, that more than any other factor has created the cavernous income gap between the wealthiest 1 percent and everyone else. The implicit contract that created America's postwar economic boom — in which loyal, productive employees got big raises when the company enjoyed big profits — has given way to a new ethos. Nearly all profits go to executives and stockholders; workers get tiny raises at most, along with a cut in benefits. This philosophy, Harold Meyerson points out in The Washington Post, got its start in the 1970s and '80s, when American business "abandoned its earlier stakeholder model," in which workers were valued partners. In the current "shareholder model," the only goal is to maximize profits and stock value. Until corporations get consciences or workers get more leverage, the income gap will keep widening. Got that? Now stop whining, you ingrates, and get back to work.

Liberal Blindsight

I was beating this horse 20 years ago.


Cut Off Harvard to Save America - Bloomberg:

...I am no liberal and I'm not preoccupied with the consequences of income inequality. But I can't figure out why the liberal elite that purports to care about inequality isn't asking these questions: Why do we provide favorable tax treatment that primarily benefits these wealthy schools? Why not at least phase out tax preferences to donors and to schools with more than, say, a $200,000 endowment per student? Why allow schools that show legacy admission preferences the right to claim special tax privileges? 

Maybe many of these liberal leaders went to one of these highly endowed schools -- and want their children and grandchildren to have the same opportunity.

Evil Amazon

Worse than Wal-Mart: Amazon’s sick brutality and secret history of ruthlessly intimidating workers - Salon.com:

...Perhaps the biggest scandal in Amazon’s recent history took place at its Allentown, Pennsylvania, center during the summer of 2011. The scandal was the subject of a prizewinning series in the Allentown newspaper, the Morning Call, by its reporter Spencer Soper. The series revealed the lengths Amazon was prepared to go to keep costs down and output high and yielded a singular image of Amazon’s ruthlessness—ambulances stationed on hot days at the Amazon center to take employees suffering from heat stroke to the hospital. Despite the summer weather, there was no air-conditioning in the depot, and Amazon refused to let fresh air circulate by opening loading doors at either end of the depot—for fear of theft. Inside the plant there was no slackening of the pace, even as temperatures rose to more than 100 degrees...

Advice The GOP Should Ignore

Back to the past: Not a winning formula for GOP [Commentary] - baltimoresun.com:

...Kathleen Willey, Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones and the rest of those "wronged women" are not the key to electoral success for Republicans. Neither is a complete focus on bashing Hillary Clinton. It might make certain conservative Republicans feel good, but it won't win them the White House in 2016.

To quote a Republican icon, "Go ahead. Make my day."  Insure a Clinton victory.

Flogging The Confederates

I have serious reservations about the conclusions in this post, though I'm sure it will be accepted as Gospel by most liberals, especially those that forget the old saw about the winners writing the history. I've got a long essay in mind about the Uncivil War but for now, I'll let it stew. The South still lies about the Civil War - Salon.com: l

Bachmann's Two For One Insult

Michele Bachmann: U.S. not ready for female president, 'guilt' got Obama elected | syracuse.com:

...Bachmann, the only female GOP candidate in 2012's presidential election, says in a new interview that people "aren't ready" for a female commander in chief.

"I think there was a cachet about having an African-American president because of guilt," she told columnist Cal Thomas. "People don't hold guilt for a woman..."

With one breath, Crazier manages to insult two major voting blocs. Fight on, crazy warrior.

Flocking Together With Chickenhawk Ted

How Ted Nugent riles and divides - Katie Glueck - POLITICO.com:

...Democrats and Republicans alike see Nugent as a turn-out catalyst, in Texas and perhaps beyond. He outrages Democrats and mainstream Republicans — but he fires up a segment of the GOP base, which is so enamored of Nugent’s fiery anti-Barack Obama rhetoric and defense of gun rights that it can overlook the singer’s tawdry history. A case in point: Sarah Palin wrote on her Facebook page that if Greg Abbott “is good enough for Ted Nugent, he’s good enough for me!”....

Unintended (Anti-Labor) Consequences

VW may reconsider future in South | MSNBC:

...Osterloh, who is also on VW’s supervisory board, added, “If co-determination isn’t guaranteed in the first place, we as workers will hardly be able to vote in favor” of new production facilities in Southern American states.

That’s not exactly the outcome Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and his allies presented during the voting process last week...

Crooked Private Schools

Federal Lawsuit Accuses For-Profit Schools of Fraud - NYTimes.com:

...Her charges are part of a federal lawsuit filed by seven former employees against Harris and its parent company, Premier Education Group, which owns more than two dozen trade schools and community colleges operating under several names in 10 states. The suit contends that while charging more than $10,000 for programs lasting less than a year, school officials routinely misled students about their career prospects, and falsified records to enroll them and keep them enrolled, so that government grant and loan dollars would keep flowing...

No surprises here.

Kill This Monster

TransCanada Nebraska Ruling Seen as Delaying Keystone - Businessweek:

TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s Keystone XL pipeline route through Nebraska was ruled illegal by a state court judge in a decision seen as setting back the project by as long as a year as U.S. officials consider needed approval.

The ruling prolongs the approval process in Nebraska as the Obama administration reviews whether to approve the multi-state extension of the international project.

“This gives the U.S. State Department and Obama an out,” said Bob Schulz, a University of Calgary business professor, who predicted there will be an appeal of the ruling. “Why would they decide if they don’t have to decide? I think he’s going to push it back another year...”

Crazy In NC: Petty McCroy Edition

CHARLOTTE: After comment to Gov. McCrory, food store cook fired in Charlotte | State Politics | NewsObserver.com:

An employee at a Myers Park gourmet food store was fired after Gov. Pat McCrory’s security detail complained Sunday about a comment the worker made to the governor...

Yes, there's a gourmet food store that needs to be go out of business.

Toxic Ted Poopy Pants Causing Trouble

NRA's Toxic Ted Nugent Causes Campaign Problem For Texas Gov. Hopeful Greg Abbott | Blog | Media Matters for America:

Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott is facing criticism over his decision to campaign with National Rifle Association board member Ted Nugent because of the rocker's inflammatory attacks on women and racially charged commentary about President Obama...

1%ers Losing It

I am underwhelmed with sympathy.

5 signs that America’s super-rich are losing their minds - Salon.com:

Is it us, or have America’s ultrawealthy been sounding increasingly unhinged lately? Despite the fact that the wealth of the 1 percent jumped 31 percent from 2009 to 2012 while the other 99 percent of America saw a gain of only 0.4 percent, the rich are very upset, and they need to tell us about it. Maybe it’s all the talk about income inequality that’s gotten them so stirred up. Whatever it is, here are five signs that the zillionaires seem to be losing it...

Defending Former POTUS Clinton

Daily PUMA:

Mitt Romney's revisionist history regarding Bill Clinton needs to be thoroughly cleansed. Romney thinks that Bill Clinton embarrassed the country...

Great response by the Daily PUMA. Check it out here.

Clinton Has It Wrapped

Yes, Pundits, Hillary Has the 2016 Nomination in the Bag - The Daily Beast:

Handicappers in the presidential race abhor the opposite of a vacuum—a campaign two years out where one candidate seems to blot out the entire field. Thus a mini-chorus now rises, and may swell, questioning Hillary Clinton’s apparent lock on the 2016 Democratic nomination. It’s a predictable reflex, but in cold, hard reality, logic suggests that the lock is authentic, not just apparent. And in modern history, or virtually all American history, Hillary’s inevitability is unprecedented for a non-incumbent...

Governor Trump?

Governor Donald Trump? That’s what state’s GOP party chairs want to hear - Finger Lakes Times: News:

Yates County Republican Chairwoman Sandy King says Donald Trump will run for governor if Republicans back him...

The Democrats say: "Run, Donald. Run!"

Magic Mitt Flogs Bawdy Bill

Romney: Bill Clinton 'embarrassed the nation' | The Daily Caller:

Mitt Romney revisited Bill Clinton’s White House escapades during an interview with NBC’s David Gregory on Sunday, saying the former Democratic president “embarrassed the nation” and “breached his responsibility as an adult and a leader.”

The 2012 Republican nominee for president made the remarks while discussing the resurgence of talk surrounding Bill Clinton’s sexual dalliances with many women, including White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Led largely by Republican senator and 2016 presidential hopeful Rand Paul, Republicans have tried to put Hillary and other Democrats on the defensive, calling Bill Clinton a sexual predator who disrespects women...

When you have no issues, dredge the past. Two words for anyone wanting to use past political personal issues as campaign fodder: George Bush.

Union Pre-Busting

This is disheartening I can't even post a snippet. Tennessee GOP Threats Scare VW Workers And Stymies Union Formation

Drought Was Never A Problem In The South

Oh, so now it's a problem, but of course when the South languished in a decades long drought and Atlanta was almost out of water-- it was, well, bad, but nothing we can help you with.

Obama On California Drought: Climate Change Threatens The Nation:

Warning that weather-related disasters will only get worse, President Barack Obama said Friday the U.S. must rethink the way it uses water as he announced new federal aid to help drought-stricken California.

Obama drew a clear connection between California's troubles and climate change as he toured part of a farm that will go unsown this year as the state faces its worst drought in more than 100 years. Even if the U.S. takes action now to curb pollution, the planet will keep getting warmer "for a long time to come" thanks to greenhouse gases that have already built up, Obama said....

The Whining Rich

Tom Perkins: People with more money should get more votes (VIDEO):

For some reason many of the wealthy have been speaking out about feeling persecuted. Are these people living in a different world? It is the working poor and the working middle class that has afforded them the lifestyle they have.

It is not true that they work more or harder than the average American. What is true that the American economic system is designed to favor those who have chosen certain professions. Those benefits are extended with favorable laws that give them an inordinate advantage. Why does a stock broker or banker make more than an engineer? The engineer makes things. The stock broker moves money.

The only ones that should feel persecuted are the working poor and working middle class.

As billionaire Warren Buffet puts it, “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning...”

Biden Sees No GOP

Joe Biden: There is no Republican party� - NY Daily News:

A casually clad Joe Biden rallied House Democrats at a party retreat in Maryland on Friday - blasting the GOP for disorganization and affirming liberal allies that the country was with the Democrats.

The Vice President said “there is no Republican Party. I wish there were.”

"I wish there was one person you could sit across the table from and make a deal," he continued, about the competing factions of the GOP.

Another reason for Joe to stay out of the presidential race-- he cannot see the forest for the trees. The real GOP is alive and well and screwing the country at every turn while the Obama Administration either can't or won't see the shades of evil lurking in the jumble of GOP deforestation.

Cruz Plays Speed Bump

Did Ted Cruz just cost Republicans the Senate? - The Week:

Though the bulk of the Republican Party has no appetite for more economic brinksmanship, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) apparently does. This week, he demanded a cloture vote on raising the debt ceiling, which requires 60 votes to pass, thus ensuring that at least some Republicans would have to side with Democrats on the procedural motion...

Don't Believe Everything That Gets Drudged Up

Conservatives Revive Ridiculous Conspiracy Theory About Government Ammo Stockpiling | Blog | Media Matters for America:

...The contract, which actually called for the purchase of up to 450 million rounds over five years, would only provide the 100,000 law enforcement agents that serve DHS and its subsidiaries a maximum of 900 rounds per year, hardly an unusual figure for law enforcement agents who need to show proficiency with a firearm. According to DHS, the amount of ammunition purchased by the agency -- which comprises just a small fraction of the overall ammo market -- has actually fallen since 2010:...

Lying Liars Finally Admit Truth

Fox Host Finally Accepts The Truth About Benghazi Talking Points | Blog | Media Matters for America:

Without fanfare, Fox News host Megyn Kelly finally acknowledged that the network's campaign to sink Susan Rice's potential nomination to President Obama's cabinet was rooted in fundamental dishonesty...

MSNBC Troll At It Again

Daily PUMA: Krystal Ball is the latest Hillary Clinton Concern Troll, and yes, she works for MSNBC.: 29 year old Krystal Ball, who claims to have been a big Hillary Clinton supporter in 2008 (lol, to that), has voiced her "concern" in an MSNBC commentary that 2016 is just not the right year for a Hillary Clinton presidency. This is known as "concern troll" commentary, pretending to want someone but then sobbing as they explain why "it just can't be, sigh"...

Apparently, "the right year" will occur sometime after SOS Clinton is dead.

Oh No! Vette Terror

Corvettes fall into sinkhole at National Corvette Museum - CNN.com:

Eight Corvettes fell into a sinkhole that opened up beneath a section of the National Corvette

The horror, the horror.

Museum in Kentucky on Wednesday.

The sinkhole, about 40 feet wide and about 25 to 30 feet deep, appeared before dawn under the skydome section of the museum, said Executive Director Wendell Strode...

More B,B,B! Debunking

House Committee Report Is Latest To Refute Key Element Of Benghazi Hoax: No Stand Down Order Given | Blog | Media Matters for America:

A House committee report released Tuesday refuted claims that any stand-down order was given to prevent military support from reaching Benghazi, dismantling a central story in right-wing media mythology of a Benghazi cover-up.

The House Armed Services Committee report, released February 11, concluded that "There was no 'stand down' order issued to U.S. military personnel in Tripoli who sought to join the fight in Benghazi." As The Washington Post explained, the report further determined that "no U.S. military assets could have arrived in Benghazi in time to affect the outcome of the attack, according to committee staff members who briefed reporters on the report..."

Crazy In NC: Cold Moral Monday

Moral March on Raleigh Reaches Higher Ground - YouTube

Certainly one of the largest crowds to ever gather in NC.

Dems Avoiding O

Claire McCaskill: Democratic candidates don’t need Obama - Tal Kopan - POLITICO.com:

Democratic senators up for reelection in 2014 are reportedly staying away from Obama and choosing to not campaign with him while Republicans try to pin his policies on the perceived vulnerable candidates.

But McCaskill brushed off the reports, saying the Democrats still have a good chance of holding the Senate in November...

Crazy In NC: Duke Energy Corruption Edition

NC regulators shielded Duke’s coal ash pollution - The Washington Post:

Over the last year, environmental groups have tried three times to use the federal Clean Water Act to force Duke Energy to clear out leaky coal ash dumps like the one that ruptured last week, spewing enough toxic sludge into a North Carolina river to fill 73 Olympic-sized pools.

Each time, they say, their efforts have been stymied — by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources...

Clinton Endorsement By General

Petraeus: H. Clinton would be 'tremendous president":

It sounds like an endorsement -- an interesting one.

Former Gen. David Petraeus tells the authors of a new book on Hillary Rodham Clinton that "she'd make a tremendous president..."

Lynching Errors

Rich People Say The Darndest Things:

....Benmosche later described the metaphor as a "poor choice of words" in an email to The Huffington Post. For the record, more than 4,700 people were lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968, according to data made available by the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Not a single high-level executive has been prosecuted for their role in the most devastating recession since the Great Depression...

For the record, the first people lynched were white Southerners who backed the British during the Revolution. There's no account of their numbers. Lynch was one of many judges who were quick to condemn the Loyalists.

On The Creation Debate

In the Middle of a Ham on Nye Sandwich�|�Joe The Nerd Ferraro:

...Keep in mind that to be a Christian one only needs to follow Christ. He set 2 rules. Love God the Father and treat each other the way you want to be treated. No where does it talk about binding to a creation story. If you need to get more technical, a Christian needs to accept the Apostles' Creed -- no creation story. There are variations inside Christianity as to what gets you past the Pearly Gates. Some people take the predetermination route, others go for good works, and some of us are just hoping for the Grace of God. Still -- no adherence to the Creation Story of Genesis. Had Bill Nye used the overstepping of this sect of Christianity using the terms of Christianity, we could be looking at another 100 years of Creationists building fortresses.

When Will America (The GOPer Part) Catch On?

What do Republicans want? | MSNBC:

...The House GOP’s new debt-limit demands raise the powerful suspicion that its purpose these past few years, in playing chicken with government default, was never to limit government spending. It was just to mess with Obama. The strategy won Republicans spending concessions early on, but October’s government shutdown proved a complete fiasco for them. Now they’re just trying to show that they can get something—anything–out of Obama. What that something is scarcely matters. 

Soon after the October shutdown began, Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., blurted out to the Washington Examiner, “We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.” Now that lament is the official position of the House GOP. They want something in return for keeping the U.S. Treasury out of default. They’re no longer (and probably, deep down, never were) terribly interested in what that is. It’s a lousy bargaining position, and an even lousier justification for years of damaging equivocation about whether Congress would fulfill its responsibility to pay its bills.

Stewart OnThe CBO Report

Jon Stewart calls out GOP On CBO Report, Capitalism Trumps Family?:

...Jon Stewart is able to make a very serious and important subject funny. It is essential that the hypocrisy is not lost. It is important that every American understand that absent Obamacare they would still be tethered by an employer whose interests may not include theirs. Americans now have the freedom of choice. The employer/employee balance of power is improving. Now it is time for every American to engage. Employees must unionize to ensure complete and equal bargaining power. That is how the working middle class succeeds.

Sanders Flogs Kochs

Bernie Sanders Terrifies the Koch Brothers By Outting Their Role In the Government Shutdown:

Sen. Sanders put the blame for the government shutdown square on the Koch Brothers, “Let’s not kid ourselves. This shutdown is not something that just came about a couple of weeks ago through Ted Cruz. This has been planned by the Koch brothers and other very, very wealthy people from the day after Obama was reelected, and what their feeling is. Let us go to the extreme. Let us be prepared to shutdown the government, not pay the national debt. Let us use every ounce of leverage that we have. Even if it means catastrophic pain for America and the world, so long as we get our way...

Rev The Conspiracy Motors

Four Prominent Bankers Found Dead Within Six Days, All Ruled ‘Suicides’ | The Daily Sheeple:

What’s going on? Top officials from JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, and the Federal Reserve have all turned up dead over the course of six days...

Hat tip to Daily Puma's boss for posting this on Facebook.

Imprisoning Kids For Cash

Kids For Cash: Inside One of the Nation’s Most Shocking Juvenile Justice Scandals | Democracy Now!:

Today a special on "kids for cash," the shocking story of how thousands of children in Pennsylvania were jailed by two corrupt judges who received $2.6 million in kickbacks from the builders and owners of private prison facilities...

I saw this on an episode of L&O:SVU before it happened.

Biden Says Maybe To Run

Joe Biden: No reason not to run for president in 2016 - CBS News:

Vice President Biden can’t think of a reason to not run for president in 2016, but one way or another, he’ll decide by summer 2015 whether to wage another campaign for the White House...

I'll give you one: you won't win. I'll give you two: we don't want you.

ACA-Keystone Lies

R.I.P. Republican credibility: Why their latest blatant lies show they’ve given up - Salon.com:

We’ve long argued that the Republican Party is no longer a legitimate governing party. Never mind whether we agree with them on any particular policy issue, they are simply no longer a serious organization. 

 That fact was underscored again this week and over the weekend, in light of the release of two different official reports, one from the U.S. State Department on the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline project and another from the Congressional Budget Office on the economic outlook in light of the Affordable Care Act. 

Never mind whether you agree with the Republican position on either of those two policies. The fact that the party feels it necessary to blatantly lie about what’s in each of those reports, specifically with regard to “job creation,” in order to advocate for their own policy positions, underscores yet again that these are simply not serious people are worth being taken seriously anymore …

Mitch Polling Problem

Daily Kos: Another day, another sign that Mitch McConnell is in trouble:

Last we checked in on the latest polling in Kentucky's U.S. Senate election, just one point separated Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell from Democratic challenger and Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, proving that Kentucky is in serious danger of going blue this fall...

Little O Whining About Media

Pathetic O’Reilly Gets Taste of His Own Bullying Medicine, Whines About Obama Interview Criticism | Americans Against the Tea Party:

Faux News hoser and television personality Bill O’Reilly went on an epic tirade during an interview with Hugh Hewitt about the criticism he has been getting from other reporters about his handling of an interview he did with President Obama...

Idoler Running In NC

Clay Aiken running for Congress: What's 'American Idol' star's strategy? - CSMonitor.com:

Clay Aiken is indeed running for Congress from his home state of North Carolina. He announced his candidacy on Tuesday night after weeks of rumors that he’d try to oust incumbent Rep. Renee Ellmers (R) from her Raleigh-area 2nd District seat...

Footballer Backs Smith In TX

Emmitt Smith gives Wendy Davis committee $10K - Tal Kopan - POLITICO.com:

Team Wendy just landed an all-star running back.

Former Dallas Cowboys running back and NFL MVP Emmitt Smith donated $10,000 to the committee backing Wendy Davis’s campaign for Texas governor last month...

Deficit Decline

Deficit to Fall to $514 Billion in 2014, U.S. Budget Agency Says - Businessweek:

The U.S. will post the narrowest budget deficit this year as a share of the economy since 2007 as stronger growth helps boost tax revenue, according to the Congressional Budget Office...

A Point About Lawless Obama

The Gobshites Lose Their Nerve - What Are The Gobshites Saying These Days? - Esquire:

...The president is "lawless." He is acting contrary to the Constitution and in violation of his oath of office. If Ryan really believes this swill, then he has only one option, if he intends to keep his own oath to uphold the Constitution, and that is to begin impeachment proceedings forthwith. But he won't do that because he knows it's a political loser for his party, because it would mark him as Less Than Serious, and because he has plans for the future that don't include setting up his deck chair on the Lido deck of the S.S. Louie Gohmert. He wants to be able to use the scary words -- "lawless," "contrary to the Constitution" -- without taking them seriously enough to act on them. He is talking no other language except fluent Fund-Raising Letter. There is no bigger fake in public life than Paul Ryan and, yes, I think it's time again to consult Blog ethicist, Mr. Doyle Lonegan of New York City...

O Says "Not" To Other O

‘Not even a smidgen of corruption’: Obama downplays IRS, other scandals | Fox News:

President Obama, in an interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, tried to put behind him the scandals that have hung over his second term, suggesting his administration did not mislead the public on the Benghazi attack and going so far as to say the IRS targeting scandal had “not even a smidgen of corruption...”

Tea Bagging In CO

Colorado Senate race serves as test for Tea Party, GOP in another attempt to win chamber | Fox News:

The U.S. Senate race in Colorado this year is drawing national attention to see whether Republicans can avoid mistakes that kept them from taking control of the Senate for the past two elections...