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Saturday, August 7, 2010
Colbert on Tennessee Gov Candidate Basil Marceaux dot com
For Voters, it's all about electing someone who doesn't believe in Wisconsin!! Like Scott Walker, the guy who knows "right" and "wrong."
According to Scott Walker,
And only a Republican could get away with saying "We can make this a Wisconsin we can believe in again."
Anyone want to elect, as governor, a guy who doesn't believe in Wisconsin now? (remember Michelle Obama?)
"it's not about Republican or Democrat. It's not even ideologically about whether your on the right or the left.If you're a conservative,
it's about who amongst us, knows the difference between what is right and what is wrong (liberals lack that quality) and who will lead (authoritarian much?) and who will get out of the way (like anyone with an opposing view...and liberal Democrats).One party conservative rule would be so much fun.
And only a Republican could get away with saying "We can make this a Wisconsin we can believe in again."
Anyone want to elect, as governor, a guy who doesn't believe in Wisconsin now? (remember Michelle Obama?)
All I’m saying is “Sister Mary Ann Walsh is an ass.” More gay bigotry veiled by religious piety.
You really have to wonder how grotesque our God must be, aided and abetted by his often misquoted/misinterpreted “New Testament” son Jesus, to accept as true the crap his followers spread about him. Like Sister Mary Ann Walsh. According to Walsh:
Prop 8 overturned: "The law is an ass."In her over the top generalizations and sweeping bigoted conclusions, she writes:
The decision called California citizens' decision to define marriage as "irrational," which suggests that their decision was absurd and beyond the pale. What's really irrational is the judge's dismissal of marriage between a man and a woman - the basic bedrock of our society - as if it were some kookie idea.Yes, that’s exactly what federal Judge Vaughn R. Walker must have said, when he wrote that California's Proposition 8 "fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples."
The word “kookie,” referring to heterosexual marriages, must be somewhere in the 138 page ruling. If not, I’m sure that’s what he meant. But even then, how can anyone ignore public sentiment?
Even if it violated the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment guarantees of due process and equal protection? Sure, because God’s supposed idea of marriage overrules man’s petty laws.Sister Mary Ann Walsh: “What's irrational is his ignoring the will of the people…”
Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage, was spot on when he declared that "marriage is more fundamental and essential to the well being of society than perhaps any other institution.Yes, without religion, we never would have had this thing called “marriage.” Seems we’ve heard this argument before in the debate over which came first, the Ten Commandments or the ability of human morality to determine right and wrong.
The flying (monkey) Nun then made an error of her own, when she clearly misrepresented the Catholic church:
But who lying now…Judge Walker, in his decision, backed his bigotry with errors, including the misstatement that the "Catholic Church views homosexuality as sinful." The fact is, the Catholic Church sees homosexuality as a condition, an inclination in a person, something not intrinsically sinful. The church calls for pastoral support, not condemnation, for people with this inclination. The Catholic Church makes clear that it is homosexual activities it deems sinful, because it holds that all sexual activity belongs within marriage between a man and a woman. At the same time the Catholic Church opposes all unjust discrimination against gays and lesbians and abhors violence against them.
Excerpts from Vatican Document on Legal Recognition of Homosexual Unions (Nov 22, 2009): There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be “in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family”; “homosexual acts go against the natural moral law” and “[u]nder no circumstances can * * * be approved”; “[t]he homosexual inclination is * * * objectively disordered and homosexual practices are sins gravely contrary to chastity”; “[a]llowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children”; and “legal recognition of homosexual unions * * * would mean * * * the approval of deviant behavior.”
Repeat this Lie: Racism has Nothing to do with Tea Party or Conservative Politics.
See if you can see the "subtle" racism in each of the video clips below. Be careful, you might miss it....
Racism, example one:
Funny how this kind of stuff is coming from the conservative side of the aisle.
Racism, example two:
Racism, example one:
Funny how this kind of stuff is coming from the conservative side of the aisle.
Racism, example two:
How Smart are our Immigration Policies? Politifact has the Answer.
The U.S. gives highest priority to family members of citizens and immigrants with work permits (which are often known as green cards) under the philosophy that immigrants with family members in the U.S. are more easily integrated into American society. Over two-thirds of all immigrants enter the U.S. through family reunification. Humanitarian protection and employment-based immigration account for the other third of legal immigration.
Canada's system, on the other hand, takes a different approach. Although it permits immigration through family reunification and humanitarian protection channels, it primarily relies on a point system to determine who will be permitted through economic channels.
The point system is designed to encourage immigration by those who seem likely to make the greatest contribution to the Canadian economy. The system awards points based on criteria such as level of education, languages spoken, occupation and whether or not the immigrant has relatives in Canada. Only candidates with enough points can apply for a Canadian work visa.
So at the outset, the two systems were set up for very different purposes -- and encourage very different types of immigration.
Canada's system, on the other hand, takes a different approach. Although it permits immigration through family reunification and humanitarian protection channels, it primarily relies on a point system to determine who will be permitted through economic channels.
The point system is designed to encourage immigration by those who seem likely to make the greatest contribution to the Canadian economy. The system awards points based on criteria such as level of education, languages spoken, occupation and whether or not the immigrant has relatives in Canada. Only candidates with enough points can apply for a Canadian work visa.
So at the outset, the two systems were set up for very different purposes -- and encourage very different types of immigration.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Republicans bad mouth European countries, with their social safety nets, manufacturing success and low unemployment.
With the Republicans, the story is always the same; America is the best. 9.5 % unemployment, economic policies that crashed the global markets and white voters who hate having an illegal black president.
Do we want to be like socialist Europe? Chris Hayes tries to answer that.
Do we want to be like socialist Europe? Chris Hayes tries to answer that.
Protecting a religious tradition not in the Constitution. Civil aspects of marriage a government function offering legal rights.
While the right wing bigots give every excuse in the book why a gay judge shouldn't have decided this case, even thought straight judges preside over traditional marriages, conservative attorney Ted Olsen and liberal attorney David Boies break down the simple nature of the ruling...equality. Rachel Maddow conducts the interview.
The constitution says nothing about protecting tradition. The constitution says nothing about marriage. The constitution does require equal protection. Simple.
Marriage is a civil, governmental function, bringing with it certain legal rights. The choice of couples is perform that ceremony in a church, with the religious head of that church acting as a surrogate facilitator of the paper work. I'm only going by memory here, so correct me if I'm off on the church function processing the paper work.
The constitution says nothing about protecting tradition. The constitution says nothing about marriage. The constitution does require equal protection. Simple.
Marriage is a civil, governmental function, bringing with it certain legal rights. The choice of couples is perform that ceremony in a church, with the religious head of that church acting as a surrogate facilitator of the paper work. I'm only going by memory here, so correct me if I'm off on the church function processing the paper work.
RNC Continues to Scare Base, claiming: “This may be our last chance to save America.” Guess they’re about 10 years to late…?
On a platform of jobs, jobs, jobs, RNC chief Michael Steele utters the now horrifying name, "PELOSI," sending a shudder across the paranoid base of doom and gloomers convinced the Democrats are destroying America. It's time to burn the witch...
Steele unveils 'fire Pelosi' bus tour as RNC gathers Donning a red hat
emblazoned with the logo "Fire Pelosi."Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele told members of the committee meeting in Kansas City that he will embark on a national bus tour to rev up party energy in the weeks leading up to the November congressional midterm elections. As staff pulled a sheet off a picture of the red bus--with the words "Need a Job? Fire Pelosi!" on its side--Steele exhorted the 168 committee members to "Get on the bus!"
He spoke after the airing of a dramatic video, which opened with a narrator declaring "values that made America great are under assault by the most radical administration in American history" and concluded with Steele declaring "This may be our last chance to save America."
Ryan's Road Map "drenched in FlimFlam sauce"-Paul Krugman
I couldn't resist passing along Paul Krugman's entire commentary, since he's affirming everything I've been ranting about here, and points a finger at an overly fawning press for giving Ryan praise and respect for a Dickesian plan for America. Check out these important links for analysis, here and here.
You might have thought, given past experience, that D.C. insiders would be on their guard against conservatives with grandiose plans. But no: as long as someone on the right claims to have bold new proposals, he’s hailed as an innovative thinker. And nobody checks his arithmetic. Which brings me to the innovative thinker du jour: Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
Mr. Ryan has become the Republican Party’s poster child for new ideas thanks to his “Roadmap for America’s Future,” a plan for a major overhaul of federal spending and taxes. News media coverage has been overwhelmingly favorable; on Monday, The Washington Post put a glowing profile of Mr. Ryan on its front page, portraying him as the G.O.P.’s fiscal conscience. He’s often described with phrases like “intellectually audacious.”
But it’s the audacity of dopes. Mr. Ryan isn’t offering fresh food for thought; he’s serving up leftovers from the 1990s, drenched in flimflam sauce.
Mr. Ryan’s plan calls for steep cuts in both spending and taxes. He’d have you believe that the combined effect would be much lower budget deficits, and, according to that Washington Post report, he speaks about deficits “in apocalyptic terms.” And The Post also tells us that his plan would, indeed, sharply reduce the flow of red ink: “The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan would cut the budget deficit in half by 2020.”
But the budget office has done no such thing. At Mr. Ryan’s request, it produced an estimate of the budget effects of his proposed spending cuts — period. It didn’t address the revenue losses from his tax cuts.
The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center has, however, stepped into the breach. Its numbers indicate that the Ryan plan would reduce revenue by almost $4 trillion over the next decade. If you add these revenue losses to the numbers The Post cites, you get a much larger deficit in 2020, roughly $1.3 trillion.
And that’s about the same as the budget office’s estimate of the 2020 deficit under the Obama administration’s plans. That is, Mr. Ryan may speak about the deficit in apocalyptic terms, but even if you believe that his proposed spending cuts are feasible — which you shouldn’t — the Roadmap wouldn’t reduce the deficit. All it would do is cut benefits for the middle class while slashing taxes on the rich.
And I do mean slash. The Tax Policy Center finds that the Ryan plan would cut taxes on the richest 1 percent of the population in half, giving them 117 percent of the plan’s total tax cuts. That’s not a misprint. Even as it slashed taxes at the top, the plan would raise taxes for 95 percent of the population.
Finally, let’s talk about those spending cuts. In its first decade, most of the alleged savings in the Ryan plan come from assuming zero dollar growth in domestic discretionary spending, which includes everything from energy policy to education to the court system. This would amount to a 25 percent cut once you adjust for inflation and population growth. How would such a severe cut be achieved? What specific programs would be slashed? Mr. Ryan doesn’t say.
After 2020, the main alleged saving would come from sharp cuts in Medicare, achieved by dismantling Medicare as we know it, and instead giving seniors vouchers and telling them to buy their own insurance. Does this sound familiar? It should. It’s the same plan Newt Gingrich tried to sell in 1995.
And we already know, from experience with the Medicare Advantage program, that a voucher system would have higher, not lower, costs than our current system. The only way the Ryan plan could save money would be by making those vouchers too small to pay for adequate coverage. Wealthy older Americans would be able to supplement their vouchers, and get the care they need; everyone else would be out in the cold.
In practice, that probably wouldn’t happen: older Americans would be outraged — and they vote. But this means that the supposed budget savings from the Ryan plan are a sham.
So why have so many in Washington, especially in the news media, been taken in by this flimflam? It’s not just inability to do the math, although that’s part of it. There’s also the unwillingness of self-styled centrists to face up to the realities of the modern Republican Party; they want to pretend, in the teeth of overwhelming evidence, that there are still people in the G.O.P. making sense. And last but not least, there’s deference to power — the G.O.P. is a resurgent political force, so one mustn’t point out that its intellectual heroes have no clothes.
But they don’t. The Ryan plan is a fraud that makes no useful contribution to the debate over America’s fiscal future.
America according to Senate candidate Sharron Angle.
Will Nevada voters replace the Senate majority leader for a freshman Senator like Sharron Angle?
Do the real issues affecting all of us matter as much as the following issues pursued by Angle, as revealed in a new questionnaire she completed for the Associated Press? According to a questionnaire, submitted to the Washington-based Government is not God political committee by The Associated Press, Angle responded with these fringe gems:
Do the real issues affecting all of us matter as much as the following issues pursued by Angle, as revealed in a new questionnaire she completed for the Associated Press? According to a questionnaire, submitted to the Washington-based Government is not God political committee by The Associated Press, Angle responded with these fringe gems:
Can we then assume an elected government Representative or Senator will write laws based on their Christian religion, thus creating a state religion, forbidden by the constitution? What they don't seem to get is that it is a double edged sword.Republican Sharron Angle believes the clergy should be allowed to endorse candidates from the pulpit and opposes laws allowing gays to adopt children.
Angle would oppose making sexual orientation a protected minority in civil rights laws.
She affirms that students and teachers should be able to talk openly about religion in schools, including the right to "publicly acknowledge the Creator."
Angle accused Reid and Democrats in Washington of trying to "make government our God" by expanding entitlement programs. The “Government is not God” website says it supports candidates who oppose abortion rights and "stand firmly against the unbiblical welfare state that is destroying the spiritual and economic greatness of our nation."
Angle said she would vote in Congress to prohibit abortion "in all cases," and considers a fetus a person under the Constitution.
Angle favors laws to restrict the production and sale of pornography, and believes that federal involvement in public schools should end … (and) would oppose federal efforts to regulate private schools.
She said Thomas Jefferson is often misquoted and that he wanted to protect churches from being taken over by a state religion. The drafters of the Constitution "didn't mean that we couldn't bring our values to the political forum." Angle "believes it is improper for the federal government to use the threat of revoking tax exempt status against churches and pastors."
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Health Care Reform Adds 12 Years to Medicare's Solvency. Not if the Republicans can help it...
Uh oh, bad news is filtering down to the Republicans, who are planning feverishly with Rep. Paul Ryan, for the eventual demise of the New Deal. Health care reforms "repeal and replace" has now become more urgent:
NY Times: Medicare will remain financially solvent for 12 years longer than projected a year ago — until 2029 — because of the cost-cutting measures in President Obama’s recently enacted health care legislation, the program’s trustees reported on Thursday.
Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund should remain solvent until 2029, or 12 years more than projected in last year’s report, the trustees said. The long-term, 75-year shortfall for the hospital fund also is reduced, as are the projected costs of the separate Medicare Supplementary Insurance program.
Update, August 12, 2010: I thought this exchange over the above story on Facebook was relevent to the argument.
My crazy conservative friend:
Yet anther bill that was never read that went against the will of the American People... November .,.. I can see it from my house!
Me, the voice of reason:
Your point is...Republicans never read the bill? Since the Democrats wrote and negotiated the bill to passage, is it their fault the GOP decided it was "too long?"
Maybe conservatives should tell the kids not to read their assigned novels in school because of the page count.
And of course, saving Medicare for another 12 years is a bad thing. You forget, the Democrats ran on health care reform, got elected, by the will of the majority of Americans. Guess we should have all believed the death panel scare tactics like the now invisible "tea parties."
Turning public opinion against reform with complete bullshit should not be measure of "the will of the people."
House Passes Keep Your Guns in Bankruptcy Law. So it's okay to lose your house and ability to buy food, but not your guns?
This is so fundamentally bizarre, I can't believe someone came up with this legislation...now!!! Just a few minutes of research should have tipped off many of these unsuspecting lawmakers from acting like idiots and gun lobby lackey's.
Amid all the legislation approved by Congress this session, few could be so egregious and ill-timed than a bill passed last week that would allow people who file for bankruptcy to keep their firearms instead of turn them over to creditors.
Why would Congress go out of its way to make sure individuals, under the stress of bankruptcy, keep their guns, of all things? The answer is obvious, of course: the incredible strength of the gun lobby.
• In June, a California couple died in a murder-suicide and their 3-year-old son was shot multiple times after they missed house payments in 2009
and had filed for bankruptcy.• A Florida couple facing bankruptcy in 2004 died in a murder-suicide shooting earlier this year while their two young daughters hid.
• Another Florida family, a couple and their two 12- and 10-year-old children were shot to death in a murder-suicide last year, two months before a bankruptcy status hearing.
According to the National Violent Death Reporting System, financial problems precipitate more than 12 percent of firearm-related murder-suicides and suicides. That's not to say people facing bankruptcy must immediately surrender weapons, but it is absurd to exempt guns from the normal rules.
Strict Pocketbook Constitutionalists “need to totally disappear” gay-themed book in N.J.!!!
First, a quick look at the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…”
Technically, Congress didn’t order by law the “disappearance” of books from a N. J. Library and high school, but a conservative government bureaucrat did.
For a party so focused on “freedom and liberties,” and returning our nation to a bare bones constitutional foundation, they don’t seem to understand any of it. In the case below, it’s what you don’t know has disappeared won’t hurt you. USA Today:
The gay-themed book Revolutionary Voices, an anthology of first-person works by youths in New Jersey, has been quietly pulled from library shelves in Burlington County, N.J., and a high school … Jim Walsh of the Courier-Post writes … that the decision was made in the spring, but is triggering a bit of a furor now with the release of e-mails on the issue by county library director Gail Sweet.
In one of the released messages, Sweet asks a library employee, "How can we grab the books so that they never, ever get back into circulation? Copies need to totally disappear (as in not a good idea to send copies to the book sale).
" When another employee asks why the award-winning book was being removed, Sweet responded, "Child pornography."
The book was pulled from the county library and from the library at Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly after objections from Beverly Marinelli, a Lumberton woman and a member of the 9/12 Project, a conservative group founded by Fox News Channel pundit Glenn Beck.
Marinelli … has described the book as "pervasively vulgar and obscene."
Private, for Profit School Horror Stories from the GAO! Will Advocates Change Tune Now?
Even before the U.S. elects constitutional tea party politicians, who will finally do away with all public education and get government out of the way, private educators are already bankrupting students and wasting billions of taxpayer dollars in vouchers. But who's going to believe the Government Accountability Office anyway? Titled "For-Profit Colleges: Undercover Testing Finds Colleges Encouraged Fraud and Engaged in Deceptive and Questionable Marketing Practices," the private sector appears NOT to be the answer:
Advocates of school-voucher programs often wax eloquent about the benefits of the free market, explaining how in an open market, private for-profit schools will compete to provide the best education at the lowest cost. Some even argue against regulation of such schools, believing that market forces should be sufficient to drive out those that perform badly.
As it happens, we’ve been running a rather large experiment involving just that kind of arrangement. In 2009, 1.8 million students were enrolled in for-profit colleges around the country, up from just 365,000 just a few years ago. Most of those students are armed with what amounts to a government-funded voucher, in the form of federal student loans or Pell grants. Last year alone, students at for-profit colleges received more than $4 billion in Pell Grants and more than
$20 billion in federal loans.The Government Accountability Office has been investigating how well that money is being used. It sent undercover applicants to 15 for-profit colleges in six states and the District of Columbia, and found that “all 15 gave our applicants deceptive or otherwise questionable information about graduation rates, guaranteed applicants jobs upon graduation, or exaggerated likely earnings.” Four colleges recommended that students perpetrate outright fraud in applying for federal aid. GAO investigators also looked into the value that students were getting from for-profit colleges. What they found wasn’t any prettier:
“Programs at the for-profit colleges GAO tested cost substantially more for associate’s degrees and certificates than comparable degrees and certificates at public colleges nearby. A student interested in a massage therapy certificate costing $14,000 at a for-profit college was told that the program was a good value. However the same certificate from a local community college cost $520.”
One small beauty college told an undercover applicant that barbers can earn $150,000 to $250,000 a year. Another told an undercover applicant that “student loans were not like car loans because ‘no one will come after you if you don’t pay.’” As the GAO noted, “in reality, students who cannot pay their loans face fees, may damage their credit, have difficulty taking out future loans, and in most cases, bankruptcy law prohibits a student borrower from discharging a student loan.”
In fact, as the GAO found in a report a year ago, students at proprietary colleges are far more likely to default on their federal loans, costing the federal treasury billions and putting students who were trying to better themselves in a much deeper financial hole. Clearly, these schools aren’t producing the free-market educational nirvana that voucher enthusiasts envision … the schools have decided that the best way to build their business and put seats into chairs is through very aggressive marketing. GAO undercover students went on the Web to fill out forms suggesting that they might be interested in exploring certain degree programs.
The response was eye-opening: “Within minutes of filling out forms, three prospective students received numerous phone calls from colleges. One fictitious prospective student received a phone call about enrollment within 5 minutes of registering and another 5 phone calls within the hour. Another prospective student received 2 phone calls separated only by seconds within the first 5 minutes of registering and another 3 phone calls within the hour. Within a month of using the Web sites, one student interested in business management received 182 phone calls and another student also interested in business management received 179 phone calls.”
So yes, by all means, let’s abolish “government schools,” give parents vouchers and let the free market work its wonders on behalf of America’s children. What could go wrong?
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Angle: Will they let me fund raise in interviews and give me a web bump
Remember when political candidates brought their ideas to the voters and won or lost based on the quality of their vision and solutions?
For some candidates today, just raising money and getting a web site bump is all that really matters. Take Sharron Angle:
For some candidates today, just raising money and getting a web site bump is all that really matters. Take Sharron Angle:
Republican Candidate for Gov NY Carl Paladino Forgot Religious Freedoms
Chris Matthews brings out the worst in another Republican freak.
Republican Pocket Constitutionalists are Ready to rip a few Amendments out, starting with the Fourteenth.
Jonathan Turley adds a little sanity to the insane Republican rhetoric about repealing the 14th Amendment, or changing it dramatically. Is this what our nation needs as we struggle to pull ourselves out of the Great Bush Recession? More angry sidetracking. Keith Olbermann reviews the GOP's case for repeal, and their constructionist dislike for parts of the constitution.
Defending your "freedom and liberty?" What is that? What could that mean? Flagwaving empty rhetoric?
I couldn't resist this example of the vacuously pointless argument of defending our "freedom and liberty," at the expense of real ideas, and real solutions. Rachel Maddow interviewed two tea party protesters, who argued for their favorite candidate, and argued for Americans they thought would save our country and protect our "freedoms." Pure symbolism, pure empty rhetoric.
Tennessee Governor Candidate Marceaux: The Constitutions says "Bare arms against your government."
Tennessee governor candidate Basil Marceaux may not be the sharpest stick in the yard, but does at its basic level, prove the presence of the grunt "gun good" mentality inherent in the conservative mind. While many conservatives whine about a federal request that everyone have health insurance, or not receive a tax credit, Marceaux is willing to fine anyone who doesn't have a gun. Sounds similar, in a bizarre kind of way.
My guess is that many Second Amendment tea partiers would find Basil's logic bullet proof. And if you don't carry a gun, fork over $10.Appearing on WSMV-Channel 4 in Nashville, the 58-year-old war veteran swayed on his feet as he introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Basil Marceaux dot com," he said, although that is not his campaign's web address.
"Everyone carry guns. If you kill someone, though, you get murdered and go to jail," he said. "Vote for me and, if I win, I will immune you from all state crimes for the rest of you life."
He described his other political goals as including "removing all gold fringe flags", "stopping traffic stops" and "planting grass or vegetation" across the state.
Asked about his new celebrity, Mr Marceaux told the Times Free Press it was "fate".
He said: "I always knew it would happen because I'm sure everyone feels like me. It just takes guts."He said he was pleased with the national attention he was getting, even if the coverage has largely mocked him.
Marceaux: "After reading the Constitution, it says...we have a right to bare arms against our government...I might fine them ten dollars if they don't have...I'd have these little investigators out in the street with no power, and say, hey give, show your gun, and if they don't have one I'm gonna fine 'em ten bucks."
Amusement Park Offers Alien Attack, Where you get to Shoot Black Man Holding a Scroll Labeled “Health Bill.”
Jaw dropping hardly describes the latest offering at a carnival of horror.
Just how bad was the game? I hope you’re sitting down.The head of an eastern Pennsylvania amusement company, Irvin Good Jr., has yanked a carnival game in which players shot foam darts at an image resembling President Barack Obama. Good said his company, Goodtime Amusements, won't offer the game again. Good said that he voted for Obama and that the game wasn't meant to encourage violence against the president. He said the image was conceived and painted by a staffer.
"It was just a big, big mistake in judgment, and I feel sorry about it," he told The Associated Press. "I can't take it back, but I can try to make it better."
Any wonder 42 percent of Americans believe Obama is American?The game, dubbed "Alien Attack," featured a large painted image of a black man wearing a belt buckle with the presidential seal and holding a scroll labeled "Health Bill." Players could win prizes such as stuffed animals by hitting targets on the image's head and heart.
Kathryn Chapman, 55, of Medford, Mass., spotted the game and complained to Good. "What is the message you are sending kids, that if your views don't agree with somebody else's, shoot them? I just found it incredibly disrespectful and violent," Chapman said Wednesday. "And this was the president, the highest office in the country. It was absolutely appalling."
The Obama-themed game had been running since April. Good said he had received one other complaint about it before Chapman's.
Republican Agenda: Investigate Crooked Democrats and Obama, and Lock 'em up...oh, and Jobs, Jobs, Jobs.
Not enough diversions yet with illegal immigration, Shirley Sharrod, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the "controversial" Mosque near the 9/11 site? You ain't seen nothin' yet, if the Republicans take the House.
Republicans like Rep. Bob Inglis...R.I.P.
I never posted this...but what the heck, it does prove there were such things as "moderate Republicans" once. Outgoing Rep. Bob Inglis of South Carolina. I never thought seeing something like this, a reasoned articulate conservative, could be described as a breath of fresh air.
No Double Dip, Democratic Stimulus and Economic plan Working as of July, 2010.
Before Republicans get carried away with saving Americans from the commie Democratic agenda, let's get a reality check. This Upfront with Mike Gousha interview with Steve Jagler of Biztimes Milwaukee, recorded in early July, clearly shows the Democratic strategy and stimulus for the economy was having a really positive effect.
Of course state Republicans will attempt to take credit for the turn around if they're elected.
Of course state Republicans will attempt to take credit for the turn around if they're elected.
Free Market, Tax Cutting Cheerleaders David Stockman and Alan Greenspan say let the Tax cuts Expire...uh, now what?
Keith Olbermann (no matter what you think of him) demonstrates through video clips of Republican not making any sense defending keeping the Bush tax cuts, how hopelessly clueless and devoid of ideas the party is today. Their economic plan his a destruction trip down the road to ruin. Come to think of it, Paul Ryan has a "Road Map" for them...
Matthews offers two lessons on how to ask the "FOLLOW-UP QUESTION" until you get an answer.
As much as Chris Matthews deservses some criticism for his bad interviews, he also deserves praise and credit for actual "Hardball" follow-up questions few in the business ask.
These two interviews expose the conservative agenda as misinformed and strictly propagandist. Here Arizona State Rep. Rick Murphy spouts fact less, mindless partisan drivel about the constitutionality of the "Show me your papers" law, like; "You've got a federal bureaucrat with a lifetime appointment backing up a liberal administration..."
Matthews nails him as a "hopeless right winger." What Matthews should have mentioned besides a national ID card, is eVerify. Otherwise, no complaints.
Here's another great shot at Rep. Brian Bilbray, who is caught speechless when it comes to keeping the Bush tax cuts, despite the fact that it would increase the deficit.
These two interviews expose the conservative agenda as misinformed and strictly propagandist. Here Arizona State Rep. Rick Murphy spouts fact less, mindless partisan drivel about the constitutionality of the "Show me your papers" law, like; "You've got a federal bureaucrat with a lifetime appointment backing up a liberal administration..."
Matthews nails him as a "hopeless right winger." What Matthews should have mentioned besides a national ID card, is eVerify. Otherwise, no complaints.
Here's another great shot at Rep. Brian Bilbray, who is caught speechless when it comes to keeping the Bush tax cuts, despite the fact that it would increase the deficit.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
It's Obama's Fault...now.
Just how effective is the Republican propaganda in the "mainstream media" when it comes to selling the conservatives "Obama is destroying the country" point of view? Besides their 92 percent talk media domination, Fox News, and their one note platform, should we be surprised? (this is the right leaning Rassmussen poll after all)
Forty-eight percent of voters now believe that President Obama's policies are to blame for the bad economy, while 47 percent fault former President George W. Bush.
According to a new Rasmussen survey, Obama's 48 percent represents a three-point increase since last month, giving him a greater share of the blame than Bush for the first time since May 2009, when the question was first polled.
At that time, 62 percent of likely voters blamed Bush and 27 percent blamed Obama.
Auto Industry Gaining Momentum, even with Gas Guzzling Pick-ups. Lesson Learned? "Debbie Downer" Pundit Wrong!
Here's a taste of reality and an answer to why the auto bailouts worked:
Now is a good time to hear from Debbie "Downer" Mitchell from the UW School of Business, who is an expert on consumers and the auto industry. This is the second time I've feature her here. This is either another example of her "glass is half empty" approach to life, or an admission that she is a hack conservative whiner who should not be any where near an institute of learning. From WPT's Here and Now:General Motors and the Ford Motor Company said Tuesday that their sales in the United States rose last month and that the auto industry’s recovery appeared to regain some momentum ... G.M.’s sales were up 5.4 percent last month from a year ago, while Ford said its sales rose 3.1 percent.
Ford said it sold 50,449 of the pickups last month, the first time since March 2008 that its sales eclipsed 50,000.
G.M. said its sales were up 24.6 percent from July 2009, when it emerged from bankruptcy protection. July was the 10th consecutive month that sales of G.M.’s four active brands increased on a year-over-year basis; two of the brands more than doubled their sales from a year ago.
Gun Killings take away 8 Americans Freedoms and Liberties.
Our Second Amendment right to carry a gun, forget about that "well regulated militia" stuff, has taken 8 peoples freedom and liberty away. That's the price of freedom they say...
Freedom and Liberty example 1: At least seven people including the shooter were killed Tuesday in a workplace shooting in Connecticut...
Freedom and Liberty example 2: The morning after a masked gunman killed two people and wounded six more at a party, police in Indianapolis, Indiana ... at least one person got out of a car, put on a mask and fired what appeared to be an assault rifle at a crowd gathered at the party ... "at least 25-30 rounds from a high-powered rifle, so although eight people were shot, it could've been a lot worse."
"It makes you sick. And it makes you wonder, 'Why are people so bent on killing each other, shooting each other? For what?'" an unidentified neighbor told CNN affiliate WISH. "I don't know what's going on, what's happening in our neighborhood."
Sharron Angle: "...report the news the way we want it reported."
Here's an interesting look at the future of media in this country, especially if its eventual move to the extreme right continues, with Fox News offering this accidental peak behind the wizards curtain:
Nevada GOP Senate candidate Sharron Angle gave a revealing interview Monday to Fox News' Carl Cameron, in which she said that her campaign wanted the press "to be our friend."
"We wanted them to ask the questions we want to answer, so that they report the news the way we want it reported."
Fighting for "Freeload and Liberty," Conservatives Won't spend Hard earned Money on Health Care Insurance.
OPINION:
It's only just the beginning, but the frivolous lawsuits to stop health care reform in its tracks became a real possibility yesterday, when a George W. Bush appointed judge decided:
U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson (said), "While this case raises a host of complex constitutional issues, all seem to distill to the single question of whether or not Congress has the power to regulate -- and tax -- a citizen's decision not to participate in interstate commerce. Neither the U.S. Supreme Court nor any circuit court of appeals has squarely addressed this issue," Hudson wrote in his 32-page opinion.Think about it, if the conservative activist Supreme Court Justices decide against the interstate commerce argument for universal health care, not only will it call into question all interstate regulations but create an entire nation of "Freeload and Liberty patriots" getting emergency room health care from everyone else. Not only will they not feel the price increases the insured will be asked to pay, but it justifies the long held idea that emergency room treatment IS universal health care.
President Bush even said once everyone has access to health care simply by going to the nearest emergency room. It sounded crazy at the time, but the impact of that mind numbing revelation is taking root in the tea party movement, and the GOP's platform of repeal and replace.
I know, the thrust of the argument is really based on the overall idea that reform violated the constitution, and was example of government overreach. But not having to buy insurance is now part of being "free." Or a "freeloader" as like to call it.
What it really suggests is that buying health care insurance is great if that's what you decide to purchase, but in the big picture, isn't necessary if you don't feel like having it or can't afford it. After all, there's always the emergency room.
So far, the conservative activist Supreme Court is making these pocketbook constitutional scholars look good, a sad and disconcerting sign we're in for a dramatic shift in this country to the far right.
Amd as long as younger adults believe the rhetoric that they won't have Social Security and Medicare when they are older, as many Republicans continue to suggest, they won't fight to prevent these New Deal programs from being dissolved.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Republicans Set to Hold Up Middle Class Tax Cuts...and they're still in position to win?
Am I dreaming? It appears the Democrats have a PLAN...an offensive action against the Republicans in the run-up to the midterms. It's a good one. According to the WSJ:
A battle royale. After checking out the chart above, you'll notice only a slight increases in taxes under a million. The GOBP is willing to defend that?
So Democrats already are planning to turn the issue into a campaign theme—by blaming Republicans if the legislation fails. The looming battle over taxes and spending is likely to be a dominant one in Washington, stretching into next year, as the government begins to address chronic budget deficits.
"The Senate will move first, and it will be a test to see whether Republicans filibuster" to block the bill in a bid to also win tax cuts for higher earners, said Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, head of the House Democrats' re-election effort.
"If you can't get it out of the Senate, then you take it to the election," Mr. Van Hollen said in a recent interview. "You say to the American people that Republicans want to continue to hold middle-class tax relief hostage for an extension of tax breaks for [the well-to-do]. That will be the debate."
A battle royale. After checking out the chart above, you'll notice only a slight increases in taxes under a million. The GOBP is willing to defend that?
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