Godless liberal sickos win again

Great title, ain't it? If it's Wednesday it must be Morford on the culture war.

Your old-world grandmother will refuse to believe it. Your Southern cousin will likely shake his head like he’s throwing off lice, completely unwilling to process. Rick Santorum will, with any luck and God’s good graces, spontaneously combust. And of course, the NRA will shudder and reload in a panic because, honey, they’re afraid of everything.
...

And the Republicans lost.

The culture wars! What a silly idea. What a ridiculous and lopsided fight. All about gay marriage, women’s rights, pornography, censorship, “elitist” higher education, support for the arts, for science, immigration, the environment, legal marijuana, gays in the military, a black president, self-determined spirituality versus the deep poison that is organized religion.
...

On it goes. From environmental awareness to legal pot to abortion rights, movement is toward the progressive – or at the very least, away from the regressive (not quite the same thing, but in this climate, you take what you can get). Even many leading Republicans don’t want to discuss the classic cultural issues that defined them for so long, recognizing them as toxic to their future, realizing that the younger generations simply don’t believe in the harsh institutions and repressive dogmas of yore.
...

And of course, the South, despite flickers of progress in various college towns, remains as racist, anti-smarts, and gun-lovingly homophobic as ever. The good news? This used to be a problem. The South used to have enormous influence on culture and politics, acting as the genteel, racist heart of “real” America. But as the new rainbow constituency takes hold and a calm, intellectual black man enters his second term as president, that influence is waning; the South is now more isolated, emasculated, increasingly meaningless in the new America dialogue. This much we know: The South will not rise again. Ever. Praise.

I would like to see the South rise again. To its feet and walk out the door. It won't. It needs OUR money to survive. Flappin' their lips is the best they can do.

Please go enjoy the rest of young Mark's column. I think I'm in "good news" mode this week. So far. I'm sure it will change but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. It's been a long time coming.

The Real ‘60 Minutes’ Revelation

Michael Tomasky

But here, conservatives, is what you are missing and what you need to reckon with. Americans—except you—like these two people. Most Americans look at the pair of them—this black man who is still remote in some ways and this so-familiar woman who is now aging before us and allowing herself to look just a little frumpy—and feel reassured. Most Americans are cheering for them, and hence, most Americans probably wanted a softball interview. We have thus passed an important portal in American politics: Democrats are now the regular guys. Conservatives are the weirdos. (my em)

And your point is...?

The Republicans? It’s not just the extreme ideology. Of course it’s that, but it’s more. The whole shtick is old. Where once the Middle American ear may have been soothed by that low Cheney rumble belching out its grave assessments of the world situation, today it is accosted by all those caliginous Southern accents warning of socialism and collapse, and thinks: will these people ever shut up? Georgia Congressman Paul Broun told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week that Obama “upholds … the Soviet Constitution.” On any given week, I could fill a whole column, or two, with such nuggets. Enough already.

No shit. Waaaaaay past enough.

Conservatives, you can call me and others like me all the names you want, and you can whine about the evil CBS all you want. But Kroft and his network were actually in touch here with the pulse of the country, which wants Obama to succeed and Hillary to go have a nice long rest (and, maybe, get ready for 2016). Meanwhile, even Roger Ailes has gotten sick of Sarah Palin. Get the picture?

Here's the picture: I quote Colonel Shoup, who was the Commandant when I was in the Corps, in his assessment of the situation on Betio in 1943 and not a bad way of putting the slightly ascendant reality-based liberal/progressive/godless commies that we are:

On D+1 (21 November 1943) Col Shoup sent a message to divisional headquarters detailing the situation on Tarawa. This transmission has become one of the most famous of the war. Shoup radioed: "Casualties many. Percentage dead not known. Combat efficiency — we are winning."

As well we should. This country has been on the downslope since Reagan took office, and the Chimp threw it off a cliff badly enough that people finally noticed. The pendulum, if not swinging back the other way just yet, has at least stopped in its rightward arc.

Headline of the Day

Call the Waahmbulance! WaPo’s Chris Cillizza hurt GOP Sen. Ron Johnson’s wittle feewings

Heh. One would think that's the least of his problems after Hillary the Warrior Princess cut his balls off.

Makers, Takers, Fakers

Paul Krugman on the crux of the biscuit.

Republicans have a problem. For years they could shout down any attempt to point out the extent to which their policies favored the elite over the poor and the middle class; all they had to do was yell “Class warfare!” and Democrats scurried away. In the 2012 election, however, that didn’t work: the picture of the G.O.P. as the party of sneering plutocrats stuck, even as Democrats became more openly populist than they have been in decades.

As a result, prominent Republicans have begun acknowledging that their party needs to improve its image. But here’s the thing: Their proposals for a makeover all involve changing the sales pitch rather than the product. When it comes to substance, the G.O.P. is more committed than ever to policies that take from most Americans and give to a wealthy handful.
...

Why is this happening? In particular, why is it happening now, just after an election in which the G.O.P. paid a price for its anti-populist stand?

Well, I don’t have a full answer, but I think it’s important to understand the extent to which leading Republicans live in an intellectual bubble. They get their news from Fox and other captive media, they get their policy analysis from billionaire-financed right-wing think tanks, and they’re often blissfully unaware both of contrary evidence and of how their positions sound to outsiders.
...

Which brings me back to Mr. Jindal, who declared in his speech that “we are a populist party.” No, you aren’t. You’re a party that holds a large proportion of Americans in contempt. And the public may have figured that out.

Yes, yes we have.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

France Sends Troops to Mali
Hopes to follow Vietnam strategy by staying a few years then handing off operations to Americans.

Hmmmmm...

Study: Recent Elections Show Strong Link Between Racism And Political Preference
Most whites who hate blacks voted for Romney; most blacks who hate whites voted for Obama.

Sounds about right.

Virginia GOP Sneaks Through Redistricting Bill During Inauguration, Then Adjourns “in Memory of Stonewall Jackson”
And you thought the Civil War was over.

We may have to prove it to them again. Sigh.

Berlusconi Defends Mussolini For Supporting Hitler
Surprised others in attendance at Holocaust Memorial took offense at remarks.

WTF? Somebody should remind him how Il Duce ended up. Along with his bunga-bunga. Not the kind of "swinging" Berlusconi is used to...

"Minority Rule"

Old Fart Rants about Repug election rigging - "If ya can't beat 'em, cheat 'em".

Notable quote:

What a bunch of morons! The Republican Party, and its base, have degenerated into a pack of lying, thieving, anti-science, head-in-the-sand, backwards, vile, vulgar, evangelical, willfully ignorant delusional know-nothings with nothing to offer society but hate and divisiveness, especially since the Tea Party cockroaches infested Congress. They're a disgrace to America. Every one of these knuckle dragging idiots should be put on an inner tube and pushed out to sea. The depths to which the Republican Party has sunk in order to win elections is painful to watch and is a national embarrassment.

That ol' boy needs to come out of his shell and say what he really means. Heh.

Laissez le bon temps fool, eh?

Think Progress

Five Reasons Bobby Jindal Is Responsible For Transforming The GOP Into ‘The Stupid Party’

There's a paragraph on each one.

1. He permits Louisiana schools to teach creationism.

2. He allows state employees to be fired for being gay.

3. He has signed bills to intimidate women seeking abortions.

4. He seeks to dramatically cut taxes for the wealthy, increase taxes for everyone else.

5. He refuses to provide health care for Louisiana’s poorest.

There ain't enough lipstick to make the GOP pig look good as long as stupid is as stupid does.

Update:

El Rude-o weighs in.

When you live in Louisiana, you get used to a certain amount of Neanderthal savagery and brute stupidity. Sure, the education system is getting fucked beyond fucked and the state legislature thinks it's just jim-fuckin' dandy to teach that everything was created when an invisible sky wizard puked it all out, but, hey, how about that food? Sure, sex education is pretty much non-existent in a state where they have the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation, but, man, ain't that band playin' some hot zydeco? See? It's a trade-off. A state with a high sales tax, including taxes on food and clothing, lottery, and gambling, along with a state income tax, can't stay out of the red because tax cuts for rich people are so fucking important, so why not raise the sales tax even higher? It's what you get for wanting to laissez les bon temps rouler.

Other than teachers (who are really just terrorists with tenure, but, gosh, shouldn't they be armed?) protesting the shifting of public school funds to private ones run by churches and cults, there's been no real outcry against Governor Bobby Jindal and his merry band of GOP scum weasels in the legislature. But... [...]
...

Yeah, it's a cruel, cruel life in the Bayou State. But, hey, throw us some more beads, mister.

Thoughts on high capacity magazines

The United States won World War 2 and kept South Korea from being overrun by Communists with an 8-round magazine capacity. To wit:

After that, military magazine capacity went to 20 rounds in time for Vietnam and we lost that and every mostly unnecessary war since.

So ... if you want to lose every fight you get yourself into, go with large magazines.

Headline of the Day

Judge who ruled against Obama’s recess appointments has long list of ties to republican party shenanigans dating back to Oliver North

Fearless prediction: This ruling will be overturned and Obama's recess appointments will stand.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

Something a little different. I have pre-ordered this new album. If you order albums from Amazon, a lot of them now come with AutoRip which means you can download them while you're waiting for the physical CD. Pretty cool.

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell give the BBC an interview about their new duet CD Old Yellow Moon live Jan 21 2012. The good news for UK/Europe is that Emmylou says June 2013 is being lined up for a leg of the CD tour, I have left a couple of buffering stops in the video, I would normally edit these out but as it is an interview have left them in. Please click like and comment in the box below, thanks Ally.

Thanks to TakenAlsoAlso, UK.

Ho Hum...

Nothing much going on today that pops my cork.

The righties are going farther right. The ones that know what's going on are gaming the system to win with a minority. If ya can't beat 'em, cheat 'em.

Harry Reid snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Again.

Clinton and Kerry kicked the GOP House's ass. That was the bright spot of the week.

Ho hum...

You and me, Nuge

It's a slow day so pardon me for once again giving this asshole nobody space. It's Bob Cesca's fault. Heh. Many links at site.

Yes, Nugent not only threatened the president again, but he implied that he and his "buddies" would stage some sort of geriatric armed revolt if the president continues to push for new gun safety laws. I used the phrase "another chat" because this is the second time in less than a year that Nugent has popped off with some sort of not-so-subtle threat against the president. Rewind back to April, 2012 when Nugent said at the annual NRA Convention, "If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year." The Secret Service responded to that one by paying a visit to Nugent's compound. Oh, and you might recall how, at a concert back in 2007, Nugent said that Barack Obama can "suck on my machine gun."

Yes, one of the gun culture's A-list spokesmen -- and a Republican campaign prop.

A-list? Really?! Asshole? Anachronism? Anarchist?

So here's what he said at the SHOT Show last week via a Guns.com video attained by Media Matters:

I'm part of a very great experiment in self-government where we the people determine our own pursuit of happiness and our own individual freedom and liberty not to be confused with the Barack Obama gang who believes in we the sheeple and actually is attempting to re-implement the tyranny of King George that we escaped from in 1776. And if you want another Concord Bridge, I got some buddies.

Do we have to go over this again? Nugent and his buddies would be utterly wiped out. Full stop. Actually, they might as well be threatening to ride velociraptors into the White House, armed with magic wands and accompanied by Space Monkey Gleek. It's just that ridiculous. The whole notion of an armed revolt and secession from the United States failed miserably in 1865, and the revolutionaries at that time were headed by skilled West Point commanders like J.E.B. Stuart and Robert E. Lee who directed massive armies. These gun nutjobs today have -- who? -- octogenarian D-list electric guitar player Ted Nugent and a gaggle of his redneck disciples. Good luck, boys.

In fact, you know what? Bring it on. Seriously. I'd like to see Nugent try his hand at something like this -- to actually follow through on one of his kneejerk treasonous threats. But considering how he chickened out of the Vietnam draft, we can safely assume that Nugent prefers to only shoot at things that don't fire back.

Note to Nuge: Your "buddies" won't show up anyway, so I got an idea - you and me, Nuge. One on one. We're both old farts so it'd be even. No guns, just you and me. Oh, and a few TV crews to document you saving the nation from the likes of me.

Besides, it'll be fun for the country to watch you get your mouth shut once and for all - swollen shut for a while, anyway - by a godless commie fuck pussy liberal. One who also avoided the draft. By enlisting instead of shittin' his pants.

Update:

It occured to me that if Nuge's dick was as big as his mouth, he could be a porn star. Then it further dawned on me that he could be a porn star anyway. With that mouth he could take an even bigger porn star, if you get my drift. If he could find one that would stick it in a garbage hole.

Poll of the Day

From an article in the LATimes. It looks better there and you can vote if you wish.

Should the president's inaugural speech have included more "outreach" to Republicans?
Yes No
7% 93%

In other words, fuck 'em.

Republicans may have their finger on the faint pulse of an America that is passing away, but Obama’s inaugural address spoke to the emerging majority in this country. Perhaps that is really what Republicans found unsettling in the president’s speech.

The dinosaurs weren't too happy with the meteor either. RIP.

Obama 1; Netanyahu 0

There's a lot on the interwebs today about the results of Israel's elections. My favorite is Andy Sullivan's.

Bibi is still highly likely to be prime minister for a while, but also as decapitalized by his re-election as Obama was recapitalized by his. That leaves an opening. In my view, the president and next secretary of state should now lay out a detailed, mapped, two-state division that the US supports and present it to both Fatah and Jerusalem. If Jerusalem balks, the US should switch its vote at the UN to abstain on Palestinian statehood. If the PA balks, we'll discover something important about them: their willingness to sacrifice for a state alongside and at peace with a Jewish one. Hamas? Leave them out of it for a while, or open up a back-channel. But as Obama's power waxes and Netanyahu's wanes, it would be crazy not to seize the moment.

And that moment is defined by a core fact: the Israeli public is clearly not on the same page as America's neoconservatives right now, not as fixated on the same things they are, and more concerned about their own core well-being than geopolitics or apocalyptic family psychodramas. What the American electorate just told the GOP, the Israeli electorate just told its own far-right government: moderate or get out of the way (my em). Which could be put more simply.

Meep meep.

Heh.

Four more years, oh thank God

If it's Wednesday it must be Morford being grateful. Here's just the last three ¶:

Which leads us straight to perhaps the largest gratitude offering of all. It is a kind of stunned, dizzy appreciation for the now-permanent truism the Obama era hath ushered in, once and for all and never to be repealed. Do you know it?

It goes thusly: When all the old, clenched white males are, en masse, apoplectic, when all the clammy, bloated representatives of the Old Guard could not be more full of hate and resentment for the polyphonic, multicolored direction of the nation, when it is very possible the seeds of calmly chaotic diversity and deep intelligence Obama has planted will bear fruit for decades to come, this is how you know. This is the kind of evolution you want.

Don’t worry, there is plenty of time to complain, find flaw, hold presidential feet to the fire. But let us, just for a moment, be glad those feet are his.

Amen and no shit.

Headline of the Day

Fox & Friends: Obama’s Inauguration Day Happens To Be The ‘The Most Depressing Day Of The Year’

Bwahahahaha! Suck it, bitchez!

The first rule of firearm safety...

...is never point a firearm at anything you do not intend to shoot. Heh.

Trinidad and Tobago security guard accidentally shoots off his penis
...

The wounded man was taken to San Fernando General Hospital where he remains under guard. Authorities ran a trace on him and found that he did not possess a license for the gun he was carrying. He faces charges of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Boy, that's adding insult to injury. Ha!

Unfortunately, these types of accidents are not uncommon. The Digital Journal listed reports of accidental gunshot wounds to the penis and testicles in Arizona and Washington state, as well as an incident from September in Port Lucie, Florida in which a man cleaning a newly purchased gun at a party shot himself in the genitals.

There's a buncha links in that paragraph.

I think the point here is, carry the damn thing in a holster that will direct an accidental discharge away from your body. Except for right-wing gun nuts. My advice to them is carry it in your waistband right behind your belt buckle loaded and unlocked.

12 Ways Obama Smacked Down the Tea Party and the Right in Inauguration Speech

Tamped into a nice neat brick at Alternet.

Driving the message home were the hands of the Fates, who conspired to see the second inauguration of the nation’s first African American president fall on Martin Luther King Day, the national holiday whose very creation was opposed by so many who still today comprise the Republican Party’s right wing.

Yeah, that worked out pretty good. Heh.

1. Reminding the nation who won the Civil War. On the eve of Obama’s second inauguration, civil rights leader Julian Bond addressed a crowd of progressives gathered in Washington, D.C., at the Peace Ball convened by the activist restauranter Andy Shallal, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!, and a host of progressive entities. Bond spelled out the statistics of Obama’s 2012 victory for the crowd, noting that Mitt Romney’s voters were almost entirely white, and that the only states won by the Republican presidential candidate belonged to the old Confederacy.

“The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” the anthem of Union troops in the Civil War, long ago passed into the songbook of patriotic themes, and has been played during the inaugural parades of other presidents, sung on several different occasions by the very white Mormon Tabernacle Choir. But when the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, in all its multicultural glory, was tapped to sing the anthem not from a parade stand, but from the ceremonial podium, a different chord was struck, thanks to its context: the invocation that preceded it, and the president's speech, which followed it.

I got a big kick out of that. Poked the right-wingers right in the eye, that did. 'Bout fuckin' time.

4. Throwing right-wing rhetoric right back at ‘em. [...] To ignore the rhetoric of the right as it is deployed against him lends a sort of cover to the racism that is often implicit in it -- or the simplistic ridiculousness of it all. When Obama, as he has since his re-election, acknowledges and, yes, even repeats that language, he lets the rest of America know that he’s in on the joke, and he thinks it’s a pretty lame joke.

So that line about “the tyranny of a king”? Yeah, that was for the wing-nuts who paint the president as a tyrant in order to justify their call for his overthrow or the overthrow of the U.S. government. Later in the address, Obama, defending the social safety net, took on the right’s “producerism” trope, heard from pundits and politicians throughout Rightlandia, that America is populated by two kinds of people, “the takers” versus “the makers”.

8. Spanish is the loving tongue, amigos.

¡O Si! How d'ya say "heh" in Spanish?

12. Shining a light on voter suppression.

That is going to get worse before it gets better. If ya can't beat 'em, cheat 'em. Now the Repugs are trying to tie electoral votes to their gerrymandered districts. If they had been able to do that this time, Rmoney would have won and we'd be in the soup.

My main take-away from the inauguration was pretty simple: we're relatively safe from the forces of darkness for another four years, but we must be ever vigilant.

"I've Got Enough Crazy For All Of You" By Michele Bachmann

Goblinbooks

That's it. Obama took office, and the new Congress has been settling in for a couple weeks now. All those batcrap pro-life geezers like Todd Akin are probably still making scary rape comments, but they're doing it in their own paneled rec rooms. Newt Gingrich is trolling the talk shows where no one listens to him. Herman Cain and Rick Perry are like Amelia Earhart, only people actually looked for her. And Santorum's writing for a website. A website, do you know how pathetic and irrelevant that is?

If that includes blogs, yes, yes I do...

But Michele's still here. And don't worry children, because Michele will pick up that slack.

I'm a professional. You know this about me. And when my people need me I am ready to provide. And right now, it looks like what we need is extra crazy.

Oh fucking swell. Well, Crazy Eyes, you're just the person who can do it proud.

Going Joe McCarthy on Arab-Americans? I was warming up. Now we're going to talk about how the Amish secretly run MS-13.
...

Creationism? Nutty stuff about the Founding Fathers? We're going to have a national conversation on why Paul Revere's secret belief in Wicca almost destroyed this country, and how the truth needs to be taught in schools. We're going to halt the deficit by creating a cigarette-based economy like they have in prison. I will give half of my speeches entirely in my made-up angel language, and I'm going to bring a fully-automatic AK-47 signed by Jesus everywhere I go.

Oh wait. Now you're going to say that's how you lose elections. I can't govern or get things done by telling people global warming's a hoax and everyone east of Ohio's in a conspiracy, right? You people don't get it. The Republican party is not about governing, bitches. It's about sending chain emails and ruining next Thanksgiving. It's about bringing wicked-looking assault weapons to a rally and calling everyone Hitler. And most of all, it's about turning every crisis into a reality-show-style freakout over globalization and social progress and the fact that you have to dial 1 for English.

Michele is not on her way out. Michele's moment is on the track and headed into the station. And the whole country is going to get a big long ride on this crazy train before it's over.

Yawn. So what's new. I can hardly wait.

Health Care, Female Veterans, and the Rights of Us All

I owe ten years of sobriety to the VA. Go read El Rude-o's guest poster. It might be the longest post there yet.

Today, the Rude Pundit is giving over the joint to Navy veteran and health and disability activist Karen Vasquez, who also happens to be a longtime reader of this here blog. You can read her stuff all the time at The Mighty Turtle. Check this out. It's compelling, funny, and infuriating stuff:

Perspective is a funny thing. It’s shaped by our experience in the present, and those who came long before us in the past.

A woman not being considered a veteran in need of healthcare is in no way shocking, of course. Since the founding of this country, women have had trouble being considered anything other than property until recently. And more recent than you think. In the 1970’s, a woman could not purchase a car without showing she had permission from her husband. Pre-Roe v. Wade: A trip to the doctor for her lady parts required her to be accompanied by her mother or husband. Girls were told in one way or another that they were not in charge of their own bodies. If you find yourself thinking how this is relevant to veteran’s healthcare in the 1990’s, please slap yourself. Thank you.

I’m not going to bore you with my stories of public humiliation and degradation on active duty because I had a vagina. There are enough of those and many grislier than mine. I will dish a little: A certain Secretary of Defense who later went on to be Vice President once told me at a Submariner’s ball, “If they had girls like you in the Navy when I was your age, I would’ve joined.” Oh yeah, I’m sure all he needed was a pretty girl for him decline five deferments. Have another Coors light, Asshat.

Heh.

These are the same types of assholes that called me a "sick bay commando" and other assorted colorful names. They think they are being cute and funny. But they are only exposing themselves for as the ignorant fucks they are. Now, I call them ignorant fucks and not products of their environment because there comes a time in everyone’s life when we get to choose how to travel down life’s path. We can choose to travel with an open mind to nurture a life of change and growth though new information, or we can choose to travel with our heads up our ass in fear. Sometimes, an enlightened path is chosen after people spend years inside their own anuses. Something happens, they emerge, and they choose to be decent human beings. And some learn nothing from life experience and maintain an existence of ignorant fuckery that would insult a caveman.

There's a sentence in there that bears repeating: We can choose to travel with an open mind to nurture a life of change and growth though new information, or we can choose to travel with our heads up our ass in fear.

The crux of the stale biscuit we call "life in America" or "politics".

The short version: if we teach our sons and daughters we are all equal it will be so. Someday.

Word. Please go read the rest.

Headlines of the Day

Powell: Republican leaders should stop ‘idiot presentations’ from Palin and birthers

Good on ya, General. You'll mend your reputation yet.

Harvard scientist seeks ‘adventurous female’ to give birth to cloned Neanderthal

Have Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann been through the change yet? They'd be perfect!

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

OBAMA SWORN IN FOR SECOND TERM
Cites booming gun sales as sign of improving economy.

Poll: 64% of Republicans Think Obama Hiding Something About His Early Life
Like a decade of heavy drinking, or skipping his National Guard duties, or bankrupting a company, or DUIs that dad's friends were able to make disappear, or...

Wow, deja vu all over again...

Boehner's Office Vandalized by House Members of Tea Party, But Boehner Won't File Charges for Party Unity
Also because they're armed and dangerous.

Utah Smoothie Shop Charges Liberals More Than Conservatives
Tell them you're a nativist with an anti-semitic bent and your smoothie's free.

The guy actually said that all 3 liberals in his congressional district pay the extra buck without complaint.

Monopoly to Replace One Of Its Game Pieces
Will replace thimble with bong.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

Published on Jan 17, 2013
Another night of wonderful music at the Bluebird Cafe,Nashville, Tennessee
with Emmylou Harris, Ashley Cleveland, Pam Rose and Mary Ann Kennedy.

Thanks to nashvillehigh.

The Right’s Dangerously Bad History

Here's your history lesson for today. There will not be a quiz, only knowledge.

Robert Parry

More significantly, however, the American Right has inculcated in its followers a bogus idea of what the U.S. Constitution did. Typically, the Right’s founding narrative jumps from the Declaration of Independence in 1776 to the Constitution, which was written in 1787 and ratified in 1788. What is usually left out is the nation’s experience with the Articles of Confederation, which governed the new nation from 1777 to 1787.

By ignoring the Articles, the Right can pretend that the Constitution was written with the goal of establishing a system dominated by the states with the central government kept small and weak. That version of history then is cited to support right-wing claims that federal officials, such as Roosevelt and Obama, violate the Constitution when they seek national solutions to the country’s economic and social problems.

However, in the real history, the Framers of the Constitution, particularly George Washington and James Madison, were rejecting the structure of “independent” and “sovereign” states (with a weak central government or “league of friendship”) as established by the Articles of Confederation. The Framers had witnessed how that system had failed and how it was threatening the future of the newly independent nation.

Thus, Washington and Madison led what amounted to a coup d’etat at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Though their instructions were simply to propose amendments to the Articles and refer those suggestions back to the state legislatures, Washington and Madison instead threw out the Articles entirely and produced a dramatically different structure.

Gone was the language in the Articles about “sovereign” and “independent” states. Instead, national sovereignty was shifted to “We the People of the United States.” The new Constitution made federal law supreme and granted the central government sweeping new powers over currency and commerce as well as broad authority to act on behalf of the “general Welfare.”

Much more.

"Let's deal with this on a rational, intellectual level"

Yeah, like that'll happen. Heh.

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

Funny Gun Fails

In honor of "Gun Appreciation Day". It's all fun and games until somebody blows their foot off. Then it's really funny as long as it's not yours. Heh. Be sure to see the tuff guy at the end. Snort...

Via HuffPo.

The Unholy Trinity

Drugs, alcohol, and guns are not a good mix in the hands of dumbass bozos. Probably good "law abiding" NRA members too. Go read this. Video too. RIP, microwave oven...

Recreational assault weapons fire riddles Ohio home, narrowly misses officer

Update:

Mrs. G brought up the excellent point that drugs, alcohol, and firearms should only be trusted in the hands of professionals with all three like me'n Fixer. Heh.

Dysfunction Junction

Paul Begala on "Why the GOP resembles a failed state".

The textbook (OK, Wikipedia) definition of a failed state contains several elements, not all of which apply to a political party—such as maintaining a monopoly on violence, which, thank God, is not part of the job description for House Republicans. But other tests in the Fund for Peace’s Failed State Index sound as if they were written with Boehner’s bunch in mind:

“Mounting demographic pressures.” Republicans have lost ground among Latinos, Asian-Americans, single women, and younger voters. At this rate, in another quarter century they’ll be left with no one but Clint Eastwood and his chair.

“Delegitimization of the state.” That’s kind of the entire point of modern Republicanism, isn’t it?
...

“Rise of factionalized elites.” Are you kidding me? The country clubbers hate the Tea Partiers, the neocons hate the traditionalists, the libertarians distrust the religious right; this isn’t a political party, it’s Yugoslavia circa 1991.

Heh. The Repugs haven't done anything good for the country as a whole since Eisenhower built the Interstate system. The internal turkey-slap that's going on in the GOP isn't very good for the nation in the short term, although I think it will be in the long term, but the Bush Years showed we can survive anything, even if only barely, and it's sure as hell fun to watch! And, brother, we have it coming to watch these assholes tear each other to shreds!

Quote of the Day

From Obama to the NRA: Suck on This Executive Power by guess whom:

For those of us who think few things are more fun than watching conservatives lose their shit over something, yesterday was like Christmas, New Year's, and St. Blowjob's Day all rolled into one.

Yes, it IS great fun to watch the wingtards come unglued! Please enjoy the rest of his post.

You tell 'em, Barry!

Gleefully gleeped from I'm 2 seconds from slapping the SHIT out of a bitch ass Republican.

A few solutions to the "gun problem"

While I was looking for a 2nd Amendment to c&p so I wouldn't have to type it out, I ran across this:

On May 8, 1792, Congress passed "[a]n act more effectually to provide for the National Defence, by establishing an Uniform Militia throughout the United States" requiring:

[E]ach and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein, who is or shall be of age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years (except as is herein after excepted) shall severally and respectively be enrolled in the militia...[and] every citizen so enrolled and notified, shall, within six months thereafter, provide himself with a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack, a pouch with a box therein to contain not less than twenty-four cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball: or with a good rifle, knapsack, shot-pouch and powder-horn, twenty balls suited to the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound of powder; and shall appear, so armed, accoutred and provided, when called out to exercise, or into service, except, that when called out on company days to exercise only, he may appear without a knapsack.[99]

Heh. Lemme see ... white males. Check. Under 45 years of age. Exempts me and most of the guntard loudmouths. Check. Musket or firelock. What, no Bushmasters?! Well, OK, check. Twenty rounds? Hardly enough to go downtown. Harrumph. No knapsack is good. So's the bayonet.

I well understand the "white male" part, since the purpose of the militia was ostensibly to defend the government from outside invasion in the absence of a standing army which the Founders abhorred, but also for the more immediate danger from Indians who might resist white males bent on killing them and dispossessing them from their ancestral lands, and against slave revolts which might distress the white male economy of the time.

Remember, this country was built on genocide and slavery, so I guess this 'militia' approach worked quite well.

But I digress. Back to my original intent, no Founding Fathers/Constitution pun intended.

I think a large part of the 'gun control' problem could be solved with duct tape like every other problem. Strategically placed in mass quantities over the mouths of Whine LaPee-air of the NRA and others of his whinyass gun nut ilk. I don't know how much it would help the actual problem, but it'd be a lot more blessedly quiet. Those whiny loudmouth sonsabitches aren't the real problem with gun violence anyway. I won't go into the 'defending the country from the government' non-argument because it's just plain silly. Bushmaster, meet M-1 Abrams, A-10 Warthog, pissed-off Marine Private who would rather be in bed with his girlfriend (wouldn't we all? Heh.) instead of in East Dump Truck, Idaho, dealing with a bunch of fat old wannabes who just shit their pants when a real rifle was pointed at them, etc. etc.

I like guns, own several, and enjoy shooting them in a responsible manner. I think there are an awful lot of us who would just plain like to see the gun nuts STFU and quit making hollow threats which serve no useful purpose except theirs, which is fearmongering of the "The Sky Is Falling!" variety. Hey, we've got a government that can kick your ass without raising a sweat. Man up and deal with it. Yeesh.

The real problem is the deranged shooters who don't say a damn thing until they start working their trigger fingers in a school or mall or other public place.

In other words, you won't know I am going to shoot you until you are shot. That is the only heads up I am ever going to give on that subject.

Here's an idea I and others have had which might actually help.

A majority of the mass shooters appear to be young men, boys really, who are loners and estranged from society at least in their own heads which is where it counts. What's bothering them? What do they want?

They want to get laid like every other young man and can't, because they're shy or peer group outcasts or whatever. They're suffering from DSB (Dreaded Semen Backup) and find unacceptable outlets for their frustration. I'm not joking about this.

A good partial answer is safe, affordable, legal prostitution so they can let a few toads outta the bag and relax a little. I'm not joking about that either. I know our puritanical system full of anti-fun people would never permit that so I'm pissing into the wind but it's something to think about.

Why won’t you ever change?

If it's Wednesday it must be Morford on fear of change and how it fucks everything up. Also, since it's Wednesday, I think I'll change my socks...

It all comes to mind as I’m reading about how the NRA is right now sneering like furious, changeless trolls at the Obama administration, given how the latter is daring to propose stricter background checks on gun sales and a complete ban on all assault weapons.

Is it not amazing? Gun fanatics are furious that gun fanatics are being blamed for America’s gun fanatics problem. So cute.

The NRA, like any conservative group, reviles change. The NRA exists solely to enflame fear of the unknown, fear of Other, championing only ignorance and childish anxiety about the world. Their membership depends entirely on a lousy educational system and a visceral hatred of nuance. After all, the less intelligent and informed you are, the more dangerous the world appears, and the more you will desire a deadly weapon to compensate for what you lack in compassion and perspective. What, you calling me stupid? You calling me ignorant and racist and violent? Say it to my Glock.

The NRA, sadly, is far from alone. Did you notice the unmitigated shock and disgust the entire Republican party faced – and is still facing, every day – when it realized the American electorate had finally tipped away from its once-stable, white-male base? The timbre of the nation has permanently shifted, and the GOP is gnawing off its own fingers in panic.

Hmmmmm...that might actually create jobs, like when they need to take a leak or try to jack off with no fingers...

Most people, tragically, have no conception of the radical new, of true spiritual transformation, of seeing through our endless social constructs to the other side. Change as wild possibility has been drilled out of us by capitalism, gun lobbies, reality TV, Wal-Mart, politicians who have a vested interest in promoting stasis and preventing evolution, even going so far as to deny the latter exists at all.

If focus groups led the world, we’d have no iPhone. When you let numb groupthink rule technology, you get Microsoft. If you let conservativism rule, you get Mitt Romney, the Catholic Church, abstinence education, homophobia, sexism, monster trucks, the Iraq war, corporate groupthink, a sad, low-level hatred of anything that is not exactly like you. It’s not that stability or consistency are wrong. They can be quite wonderful. It’s that they’re just as much an illusion as anything else.

“Don’t ever change,” we write, naively, in our friends’ high school yearbooks. Oh my God. Are you insane? I can think of nothing I’d rather do.

I can think of nothing more futile to rail at or be afraid of. Change happens.

Although I DO think everything started downhill when they put the cams on top and did away with pushrods...

It's Time To Right The Colossal Blunder That Is The Iraq War

Charles P. Pierce. In your dreams, Chuck.

One of the more subtle benefits of the nomination of Chuck Hagel for Secretary Of Defense is that it has required in our political discourse that we re-litigate — or, arguably, litigate honestly for the first time — the sweeping criminal fraud that was the selling of the war in Iraq by the administration of George W. Bush. Remarkably, at least in the prominent arenas of public discussion, the "left" side of this debate is primarily represented by people who supported the criminal fraud at first — like Peter Beinart and, admittedly, Hagel himself — and who then soured on the whole business either because they saw what a massive blunder it was, or because they needed to obfuscate their own hysterical support of it in order to maintain their public credibility in a country that was realizing that they'd helped play it for a sucker. And hello to you, too, Andrew Sullivan.

Let us be clear. The Avignon Presidency's excellent adventure in Iraq was a fake from start to finish, planned long in advance of the 9/11 attacks and sold to the country on the basis of "evidence" that bordered on the risible. (Remember the Iraqi drones spraying anthrax up the Hudson?) More to the point, there were people who knew it at the time, who talked about it at the time, who yelled about it at the time, and who, at best, were ignored and, at worst, slandered and marginalized. Those voices are still on the outskirts of the conversation, as though the more right you were, the less credibility you had.

More.

Short of locking up everybody who perpetrated that clusterfuck, I would be happy with the symbolic gesture of locking up Dick Cheney and deny him the luxury of avoiding accountability for his war crimes by being allowed to die a free man.

Shorter: We're Screwed

Obama’s debt ceiling strategy hinges on GOP sanity

Liquid Alert Headline of the Day

Democrats Troll Republicans With Snarky List Of Retreat “Agenda Items”

Also on the suggested topics to be discussed: "How to increase our approval ratings: What root canals, traffic jams, cockroaches and head lice are doing right."

Well, for starters, three out of the four of them aren't standing in the way of progress...

Flu Vaccine Shortage Solved!

In case you're wondering why I hate right-wingers...

...here's the perfect example. Salon.

Gene Rosen sheltered six kids during the Sandy Hook massacre. Now he's become a target of conspiracy theorists
...

“I don’t know what to do,” sighed Gene Rosen. “I’m getting hang up calls, I’m getting some calls, I’m getting emails with, not direct threats, but accusations that I’m lying, that I’m a crisis actor, ‘how much am I being paid?’” Someone posted a photo of his house online. There have been phony Google+ and YouTube accounts created in his name, messages on white supremacist message boards ridiculing the “emotional Jewish guy,” and dozens of blog posts and videos “exposing” him as a fraud. One email purporting to be a business inquiry taunted: “How are all those little students doing? You know, the ones that showed up at your house after the ‘shooting’. What is the going rate for getting involved in a gov’t sponsored hoax anyway?”
...

What did Rosen do to deserve this? One month ago, he found six little children and a bus driver at the end of the driveway of his home in Newtown, Connecticut. “We can’t go back to school,” one little boy told Rosen. “Our teacher is dead.” He brought them inside and gave them food and juice and toys. He called their parents. He sat with them and listened to their shocked accounts of what had happened just down the street inside Sandy Hook Elementary, close enough that Rosen heard the gunshots.

In the hours and days that followed, Rosen did a lot of media interviews. “I wanted to speak about the bravery of the children, and it kind of helped me work through this,” he told Salon in an interview. “I guess I kind of opened myself up to this.”

The “this” in question is becoming a prime target of the burgeoning Sandy Hook Truther movement, which — like its precursor that denied the veracity of the 9/11 terror attacks — alleges that the entire shooting was a hoax of some kind. There were conspiracy theories surrounding the shooting from day one, but the movement has exploded into public view the past two weeks, and a Google Trends search suggests it’s just now picking up steam. It’s also beginning to earn the backing of presumably credible sources like a professor and a reporter.

Take your blood pressure meds or a stiff drink and go read the link in that paragraph. Grrrrrr....

The gist of it is that Obama staged the murders of 20 kids and six adults so he could go after the guntards' firearms.

I'm not going to "start shooting people" like that asshole in Tennessee said but if I change my mind I know where I'm going to start.

And when I'm done there won't be a right-wing problem.

Headline of the Day

Coulter: ‘Not a gun problem,’ U.S. has ‘demographic problem’ with non-whites

I think our demographic problem is too many loudmouth right-wing racist bitches, male and female.

Rude Live-blogs Prez's Presser

El Rude-o live-blogged the President's press conference this morning. My main take-away is that it was a good excuse to put whiskey in your morning coffee. Heh.

11:39: And we're off to the races. Obama says that we've got shit to do and we can do it if Republicans stop being such mind-boggling cocks about it.
...

11:44: "The debt ceiling is not a question of authorizing more spending;" it's about paying bills already racked up, he explains. Right-wing bloggers immediately tweet that it's about authorizing more spending. Right-wing blog readers immediately believe the lie rather than the truth.

It is written...

11:46: Says that Republicans in Congress have two choice: act responsibly or act irresponsibly. Does Obama remember the legion of dolts, crazies, and charlatans who make up the Republicans in Congress?

Do you mean the scaredy-cat weaklings who are afraid of being voted off the gravy train if they get primaried by the whackjob base? Yes, yes you do.

11:55: Does Obama understand that he needs to do something that's out there in order to catalyze a real debate on the debt ceiling? The right response on the debt ceiling is to say that the assholes in the GOP are hurting the country and he won't let that happen, so fuck them, let's go 14th Amendment or coin or something. Let 'em take him to court. Let 'em try to impeach. It's bullshit to say that it's up to Congress and believe that Republicans will do "the right thing" when they think the right thing is to fuck up the economy.
...

12:05: Irish coffee number two is even tastier than Irish coffee number one. The touch of Bailey's helps. Hello, afternoon.

12:07: Another gun question, this related to assholes buying more guns because they think Obama will send cut black men to take away the assholes' guns.

It's kinda ironic that the NRA was all FOR gun control when it was the Black Panthers who had guns. Heh.

12:32: Aaaand we're done. What did we learn? That Vice President Biden will make some recommendations on guns and that Obama won't negotiate on the debt ceiling.

In other words, that was more useless than this empty mug on the coffee table.

At least the empty mug made you feel better on its way to getting empty. Or it was a waste of good whiskey.

Everybody's crazy except me...

Do you think "they" are watching you? This guy has raised paranoia to an art form.

A letter I received from Jeff Boss:

“As I write this, I am in a tent on my bed to avoid the cameras that are all over my apartment. I have been chased around the world. I have survived over 1,000 attempts on my life.”

“It is Saturday morning, April 19, 2012. I currently have an NSA husband and wife crew living above me. All of the apartments on my floor have been filled with NSA agents. Mel in 24-C and his friend in 24-D have been recruited by the NSA. Also, Elaina the real estate broker, who owned the pug type dog, is NSA. All employees of the Galaxy Apartment building and its management team have been recruited by the NSA.”

“My microwave cannot be used because it is giving off microwaves outside of the oven. My cell phone is also giving off microwaves same as the oven. My computer and TV are also giving off these waves, along with my electric shaver. This frequency was used in the 1991 Gulf War to put so much fear in the Iraqi troop’s minds that over 100,000 surrendered.”

“I have a GPS chip in my tooth, credit card, and driver’s license. Whenever I go out I am tracked and followed by the NSA. I know you are thinking, why have I survived? Why haven’t they killed me yet? The reason is, I discovered the secret identity codes and use them nonstop to avoid being killed. The NSA has a secret identity sign to alert other agents that you are one of them. This is how I survive…”
...

Jeff was wallpapering Times Square with big photocopied broadsides when I first met him. He was clutching one that read: “JEFF BOSS WITNESSED THE NSA ARRANGE 911.”

Much more. Did I mention he's running for POTUS and Mayor of New York City?

Crazy as a loon and still saner than a Teatard.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

White House May Come Down Hard on Guns
A ban on sales of shoulder-mounted missiles to teenagers contemplated.

Artist Creates Clothes That Hide Wearer From Drones
They're flying off the shelves at Waziristan's Walmart.

Make up your own "fatass fatwa" jokes.

Ohio Family Complains of Flammable Tap Water
But pay their gas and water bills with one check.

Nobody Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
“I didn't expect it,” says Jerry Nobody, who never batted above .243, but tested negative for steroids.

No Death Star

TPM

The White House has officially responded to the ‘We the People’ petition to commit the US to building a Death Star. Best line: “Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?” Next best: “The Administration does not support blowing up planets,” which may represent a slight shift from the position of the previous administration.

Slight. Heh.

Full response after the jump …

If you are a Star Wars fan (1st 3 of course, the 2nd 3 suck wet monkey ass) DO NOT MISS the White House response. Especially if you have made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs...

Headline of the Day

Undercover 'supply sergeant' helped bring down Alaska militia

This militia will now be "well regulated" as per the 2d Amendment - in the Big House. Good.

Headline of the Day

Satanists organize rally in support of Florida governor Rick Scott

My sides, they hurt...

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

Check out the stage set!

Published on Jan 7, 2013
Artist: Emmylou Harris
Title: Together Again
Broadcast date: 13-3-1976
TV program: TopPop
Video rights: AVRO

Thanks to webportalavro, Netherlands.

Yawn...

Not much going on today. Same old, same old.

It's amusing to watch the guntards make the best case against themselves that crazy people shouldn't be allowed to own firearms. Heh. Keep digging, boys. Sharpen that shovel for ya?

The batcrap crazy wing of the Repugs continues to appear as if the real world around them really truly does NOT exist.

Things are going along OK. There's still the Friday document dump to look forward to!

Later. Wake me if anything interesting happens. Nah, don't.

They do?!

Nothing much going on today, but it is kinda fun to watch all the wingnut guntards go, er, ballistic. Heh.

Of much greater import is the revelation that women actually shit. Via Raw Story. Cut to the chase:

"When they pry my gun from my..."

The gent in the video diplomatically fails to mention that two of the biggest perceived "threats" to the nation in those days were Indians and slave revolts.

I think President Obama needs to offer Alex Jones the privilege of being first in taking up arms against the government just to show the rest of the wannabe Rambos how it's going to go for them. They can pry his gun from his still-smoldering hand. My money's on that he'd drop it and run as fast as could with a nice warm pantload. Heh.

Here's how it would really go when the government comes for your guns and don't worry, it's not going to happen except in paranoid fantasies: when the government knocks gently on their door with a tank cannon, 99% of people will see the handwriting on the wall and cough up the heaters. The morons who do not will simply die on the spot. Ask David Koresh.

Whether the Waco deal was right or wrong or an FBI overstep or whatever is not the issue here. What is pertinent here is that the outcome was certain and final.

A Message To The Tea Party From A Guy Who Urinated On A Power Line

Heh. At Goblinbooks.

Believe me, I know what is about to happen to you. You're going to wake up in an ambulance, and they're going to be wrapping your junk in enough gauze to outfit a museum wing of mummies. And why? Because you pushed things too far. Because you thought it would be fun to take a risk. To look tough and fearless. Maybe you had some friends egg you on, you know? Those people at the rallies look like they want you to put on a good show. I get that. Trev wanted me to do eight Jager-stands and climb onto that pole. Trev was nowhere around when the ambulance came and the EMTs couldn't stop laughing.
...

Because after you become the guy who burned his genitals peeing on a high-voltage wire... you spend a life widely known as the guy who burned his genitals peeing on a high-voltage wire. And believe me, they'll know. If you force the country into some kind of economic death spin, the president will try to put all the blame on you people. Is that completely fair? Maybe, maybe not. The point is, he'll be out there making speeches and looking serious, and you'll be out there with 80 year-old freaks dressed like Paul Revere, waving automatic rifles and yammering about the gold standard. Folks will figure out who was the grownup and who was the crazy son of a bitch who needs to lose the next three election cycles.

That's all well and good and let's hope they flash-fry their junk pretty soon. People who will acknowledge they are or support the Teatards is down to about 8%, but the Dead End Quarter is still running at about 30%. The title may be diminishing but the medieval ignorance is not.

Headline of the Day

America’s White Male Republican Evangelical Magical “Thinking” Racist Problem Is ALL of Our Problem

And your point is...?

Moderation is for hippies

If it's Wednesday it must be Morford on how wretched excess has become barely enough.

Where do you want to look? Popular culture? ‘Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo’ just earned record ratings by going to new extremes of trashiness, mental incompetence and borderline child abuse. Sports? Extremes of machismo, scandal and homophobia abound. Violence? Please. A teenager massacres 22 elementary school children with a rifle he swiped from him mom, and what’s the response? Let’s arm up even more! Meanwhile, the top-selling video games are screamingly juvenile, ultra-violent first-person shooters for 10-year-old males who never go outside and twitch themselves to sleep.

Extreme postures, extreme politics, dogmas, piercings, sex, degradations, styles, sounds, wealth, resource annihilation, antagonism – for millions, the message is clear: radical positions and hardcore reactions are the only thing that “work” anymore, that shock or inspire feeling or action, that get you noticed, make you money or get you your own embarrassingly awful TV show.

But of course, that all pales in comparison to the grand champion of extreme, hostile posturing, the GOP, who shamelessly take untenable positions on everything from the economy to God, rape to calling the president a Nazi. Science is a hoax! Gays are repulsive in the eyes of God! Rich people should never be taxed! You win, GOP. No one is better at taking the messy, wondrous tapestry of the human experiment and stabbing it with the ice pick of monochromatic fear. Well done. You’ve changed the conversation. For the worse.

It begets the ancient equation: Extremism implies disconnection. And more extreme = more disconnection. But the good news is, it also begets the opposite: more compassion, education, distinction, discretion, patience, quiet, inner focus also equal calm, stability, peace. Does it make sense? The old gurus only smile at your panicked expression: Why are you so freaked out by stillness?

This old guru laughs out loud at the funny parts and rages out loud at the bad parts. As far as the GOP goes, the funny is starting to outnumber the bad, and that's good. Actually, they're pathetic but that's funny to me.

Paul Krugman for Treasury Secretary

A no-brainer, but it'll never happen because Wall St. wants no-brainers...

Truthout

Some might raise issues about his personality or temperament. While it’s probably true that he can be abrasive, if personality was a critical issue then Larry Summers would be handing out fish parts to penguins in Antarctica rather than a leading contender to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve Board.

The major reason that Krugman is not on anyone’s short list is that he has been right about most of the important issues in economic policy over the last decade. The list where Krugman has been right and the Washington insiders have been wrong is a long one....

It is precisely this track record of being right on most of the key policy calls of the last decade that makes Krugman unacceptable as a candidate for Treasury Secretary. To be a serious candidate for this position it is necessary to have been wrong on most or all of these issues.

This should make the public very angry. Apart from what this says about the state of meritocracy in the United States -- we like to think that people advance for being right and get demoted or fired for being wrong -- there is the more important issue of what it says about the course of our economic policy.

If Krugman were Treasury Secretary we could envision a policy that was focused on creating jobs rather than reducing a deficit that exists almost entirely because of the downturn in the economy.We could also envision a policy that sought to tame the bloated financial sector with a speculation tax that would make much of the creative finance on Wall Street unprofitable. And, we would not have to worry that cutting Social Security and Medicare is the top priority for the Obama administration.

But, Krugman is not on the short list for Treasury Secretary. This list has the names of people who are much more acceptable to Wall Street who, by the way, have been wrong on almost everything important about the economy in the last decade. As a result, we should be very very afraid.

No worries. The government will continue to do all the wrong things for all the wrong reasons. Follow the money.

Hagel And The Neo-McCarthyites

The Daily Beast has an Open Zion blog. Who knew? An actual Israeli sounds off on Hagel as SecDef! Pretty good commentary on our right-leaning "special relationship" with "Israel" which is code for Bibi and Likud and warmongers and the "red heifer" crowd.

Which brings me to Sen. Hagel. I think it is time to acknowledge, bluntly, that certain major Jewish organizations, indeed, the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations—also, the ADL, AIPAC, the American Jewish Committee, political groups like the Republican Jewish Coalition, along with their various columnists, pundits, and list-serves—are among the most consistent purveyors of McCarthyite-style outrages in America today. Are there greater serial defamers of public officials in fake campaigns against defamation? Starting with Andrew Young and the late Charles Percy, and on to Chas Freeman and (now) Chuck Hagel, the game has been to keep Congresspeople and civil servants who might be skeptical of Israel's occupation and apologetics in a posture that can only be called exaggerated tact.

Fault Israel and you are accused of faulting Jews in our collective state, or, the same thing, overlooking the venality of our enemies—things only an anti-Semite would do and, of all times, in the wake of the Holocaust. This is not a charge anyone in public life wants to suffer or try to deny. My Israeli friends love that old Borsch-belt joke, that anti-Semitism means disliking Jews more than necessary. For American Jewish organizations, the very idea that dislike is ever warranted is proof of bigotry, like Philip Roth's early novels were proof of "self-hatred."

AIPAC et al know that if American politicians—and especially those fighting routinely for Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio—are not cowed by the fear of being branded as anti-Semitic they may not be embarrassed into backing Israeli actions ritualistically. Where is the shame and who is our Murrow?
...

Suffice it to say that Hagel is a man of independent judgment whose views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict track pretty much exactly with those of Haaretz. He was distinguished guest at J Street's first national conference. Nothing he's said has not been said by leaders like Ehud Olmert and intelligence chief Ephraim Halevy. Hagel is also a man, like George McGovern, who having served with distinction in the military knows the unknown dangers of resorting to military force without a clear diplomatic strategy and except as a last resort. So he refuses to speak glibly about using force against Iran the same way he refused to endorse war with Iraq. A Vietnam purple heart, he would in retrospect have engaged with the Viet Cong. Should he not now endorse engagement with the Taliban or Hamas, for that matter?

Why should this stance be thought anathema to Jewish organizations? Let's get real. The latter throw their weight around, presumably on behalf of us Israelis, but really on behalf of the Israeli right, whose orthodoxy and pathos they relate to more readily than to Israeli peace advocates (my em). The weight they have derives from their being able to hold American politicians to endorsing a "special relationship" with Israel, where special means unconditional, so that (as James Baker and Howard Dean discovered) even the desire for "even-handedness" is treachery.

Hagel had the brass to call this grass green: Congresspeople will tell you openly that AIPAC has become one of the most feared, and secretly loathed, presences on Capitol Hill. Hagel spoke with thinly veiled contempt—which he came by honestly—of efforts by the Israeli lobby to intimidate dissenting diplomats and legislators. Ah, but he spoke of the power of the "Jewish Lobby"—not the Israeli lobby—which was the opening the lobby's hallelujah chorus needed to brand him a bigot.

More. You'll read, you'll enjoy...

In fairness, even though I hate to because I hate the right-wing bastards, AIPAC is sitting this one out. They know it's futile and don't want to piss him off because they need a good relationship with the Pentagon.

Why Hagel Matters

President Obama nominated Chuck Hagel for SecDef today. I'm down wid it. So is Andy Sullivan:

According to various reports, Obama will nominate Chuck Hagel for defense secretary. Beinart puts the nomination in context:

What makes Hagel so important, and so threatening to the Republican foreign-policy elite, is that he is one of the few prominent Republican-aligned politicians and commentators (George Will and Francis Fukuyama are others, but such voices are rare) who was intellectually changed by Iraq. And Hagel was changed, in large measure, because he bore within him intellectual (and physical) scar tissue from Vietnam. As my former colleague John Judis captured brilliantly in a 2007 New Republic profile, the Iraq War sparked something visceral in Hagel, as the former Vietnam rifleman realized that, once again, detached and self-interested elites were sending working-class kids like himself to die in a war they couldn’t honestly defend.

To my mind, this is his core qualification. Unlike so many of the lemmings and partisans of Washington DC, Hagel actually called out the catastrophe of the Iraq War as it happened. The neocons cannot forgive him for exposing what they wrought on the nation and the world. For good measure, he has a Purple Heart and has served in combat. Not easy to say about most of the Iraq War armchair warriors and war criminals.

Which is to say, as Chuck Todd said this morning, this nomination is about accountability for the Iraq War. All those ducking responsibility for the calamity - Abrams, Kristol, Stephens - are determined that those of us honest enough to resist, having supported in the first place, be erased from history. Or smeared as anti-Semites. Or given that epithet which impresses them but baffles me: "outside the mainstream". Rephrase that as - after initial support - being "outside the Iraq War mainstream" in DC - and you have a major reason to back him. [...]

Greenwald's view:

All of the Democratic alternatives to Hagel who have been seriously mentioned are nothing more than standard foreign policy technocrats, fully on-board with the DC consensus regarding war, militarism, Israel, Iran, and the Middle East. That's why Kristol, the Washington Post and other neocons were urging Obama to select them rather than Hagel: because those neocons know that, unlike Hagel, these Democratic technocrats pose no challenge whatsoever to their agenda of sustaining destructive US policy in the Middle East and commitment to endless war.

Kristol fumes:

You can go read what that pansy-ass non-serving neocon warmonger has to say if you want to.

The language! We're not talking about dislike of people. We're talking about dislike of the mindset that got us into the Iaq War. We're talking about dislike of those who refuse to take moral responsibility for anything and actually believe, with the blood of tens of thousands on their hands, they have some right to question a veteran with two Purple Hearts. They need a reality check: Obama won the election, not Romney. It says a huge amount about the Greater Israel lobby that they assume that national elections in no way should impede their usual control of Middle East policy in Washington. Just showing them that the battle to retrieve our democracy from lobby groups is worth something.

And Hagel is not anti-Israel. Kristol is anti-Israel, having fanatically supported this Israeli government's suicidal behavior, and the toxic, illegal social engineering on the West Bank that will render Israel either a non-democracy or a non-Jewish state. [...]

And that is the real opportunity of this nomination. At the hearings, we can see McCain's vision versus Hagel's, and see the difference between a man who refuses to adjust his global mindset after Iraq and a man who has had the strength and character to do so. So many Americans are likely to agree with Hagel over military restraint, diplomatic patience, and cutting defense bloat. The reason the Greater Israel lobby is in such a froth is that the weakness of their arguments could be publicly exposed - by a Republican. And there isn't enough AIPAC money and intimidation to stop that happening.

Please read the rest.

I like Hagel because he may be the man who can tell Israel to cool its jets or go down the memory hole.

Did I mention Hagel was an enlisted man? Enlisted men can tell the fucking Generals shit that someone who never served wouldn't have the balls to. And they fucking need it.

The word I am getting is that Hagel will be confirmed as SecDef pretty easily despite all the moaning and kvetching from the warmongers. Good.

Headline of the Day

The Guardian Wants Paul Krugman To Be The Next Treasury Secretary Of The United States

I'm down wid it!

Oh, the irony

Ironic Times

Conservative Mormon Senator Mike Crapo Arrested for Drunk Driving Makes Never Being Arrested Again for Drunk Driving His New Year’s Resolution
Gambling, whoring must wait until 2014.

Heh. Good resolution for a politician - do it, just don't get caught at it.

Confirmed: Asteroid Won't Hit Earth in 2040
Thirty-year mortgages once again available.

3D Printers Will Soon Be Capable of Printing Human Organs
Promising immortality, assuming you have the right ink cartridge.

Pot Vending Machines Coming Soon to Washington, Colorado
Look for them as soon as you've settled at your new address in either state.

From "New Laws For 2013":

Fast Food Order Time Limit Statute (Spokane): Stoned patrons of fast food restaurants must place their order in “a timely fashion” or relinquish their place in line.

Autonomous Vehicle Restrictions (San Jose): Driverless vehicles barred from drive-in movie theaters, outdoor churches, drag races.

Hmmmmm. There are implications for NASCAR there. Think of the money the France family and all the teams could save...then again, driverless cars might mean spectatorless grandstands. They'd still be OK on TV.

Flight NAACP 105

This was just posted on YouTube a few days ago. I remember it from my days at Camp Lejeune in '65-'66. It was on the jukebox in a saloon in Swansboro NC. The bars in Onslow County were closed on Sunday so we went up there to drink beer. Your basic asshole racist white Marines would play this if a splib* Marine came in. Maybe they thought it was a good joke. It wasn't. I have told people about this record and they didn't believe me. I think it is of some historical interest. Times have changed, thank God.

Rebel Records is still going as a Bluegrass and Americana label but I don't think this is in their catalog any more. I sure hope not.

Thanks, I guess, to TheErrol1975, Sweden.

*From the Urban Dictionary:

In the mid 60's, while in the Marine Corps, the term splib was used commonly among black and white marines. It was not used in a pejorative way by either blacks or whites but as a "hip", descriptive way of identifying a person, usually a male, of the negro race, such as in the phrase "splib dude". Likewise the descriptive and non-pejorative term "chuck" was used to describe a white person, however it was also used to describe the Viet Cong (VC), such as in "Victor Charlie", "Charlie" or just "Chuck" In fact, one might get vanilla or chocolate creme filled cookies that were included in the field "C" rations. These were commonly referred to as "chuck" or "splib" cookies.

The important thing about the word "splib" was that no offense was intended and none was taken. It was a good word. "Negro" was too formal, "nigger" was out of the question in mixed company, and "black" and "African-American" were not in use yet. I have no idea what the origin of "splib" is, but I've heard that it's an acronym. If you know, please tell me.

"Chuck" bothered no one either.

Maybe I can find the other Rebel record I remember from that jukjebox - "Cajun Ku Klux Klan". In the rest of the United States, folks have a hard time believing such shit actually existed. Trust me, it did. Still does too, if you know where to look for it. There are still a lot of racist assholes.

None Will Dare Call It What It Is

Paul Krugman

For the reality is that our two major political parties are engaged in a fierce struggle over the future shape of American society. Democrats want to preserve the legacy of the New Deal and the Great Society — Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — and add to them what every other advanced country has: a more or less universal guarantee of essential health care. Republicans want to roll all of that back, making room for drastically lower taxes on the wealthy. Yes, it’s essentially a class war.

Started by the Repugs at the behest of their 1% Masters about thirty years ago and which they have been winning up 'til now until Dim Son gave the game away and nearly wrecked the joint. It is only called "class war" when WE fight back.

But the G.O.P. retains the power to destroy, in particular by refusing to raise the debt limit — which could cause a financial crisis. And Republicans have made it clear that they plan to use their destructive power to extract major policy concessions.

Now, the president has said that he won’t negotiate on that basis, and rightly so. Threatening to hurt tens of millions of innocent victims unless you get your way — which is what the G.O.P. strategy boils down to — shouldn’t be treated as a legitimate political tactic.

It should be treated - and called - as what it is - Repug Terrorism, a criminal act by the criminal class. This, of course, will make them whine "the liberals are victimizing us!" like when you deck a bully. They can say what they want as long as they bleed and hurt and quit doing it.

Yeah, like that'll happen.

Democrats Send ‘Tea Party Membership Cards’ To GOP Freshmen

TPM

Democrats aren't the only ones sarcastically rolling out the red carpet for the other side's incoming class. The NRCC sent out "offical lap dog kits" for freshman Democrats emblazoned with corgis on Thursday, claiming they would teach them how to graduate from "Nancy Pelosi's obedience school."

All right you people. You've had your little digs at each other. Knock off the cheap shit and get to work.

Yeah, like that'll happen. Yeesh.

The New Year is starting well

The Brain has been following this for a long time and I am pleased to report:

Tom DeLay Sentenced To 3 Years In Prison

The piece was misdated so I had to corroborate it elsewhere or I'd have posted it prior to now. Go read about how Hot Tub Tommy thinks he's being penalized for his "politics".

No, jackoff, you're being penalized for committing crimes. Oh yeah, your politics suck too.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

The spectacular finale to the 2012 Americana Music Association awards ceremony, held in the historic Ryman Auditorium in September. Such a privilege to be there to witness so much incredible talent in this all-star finale tribute to Levon Helm.

Led by Levon's daughter Amy Helm and his former Levon Helm Band-mates Teresa Williams and Larry Campbell, the trio are joined on the Ryman stage by guest vocalists Emmylou Harris, John Hiatt, Alabama Shakes front-woman Brittany Howard and Bonnie Raitt, with stunning support from Richard Thompson, Jim Lauderdale, Darrell Scott, Buddy Miller, and more.

Worth a watch!

Thanks to MissOhio1000, UK.

Shopping Day

Over the mountains and through the woods to Costco we will go! Spa day for the pup and breakfast for us. Big day out! See yas!

Slow day...

Not much going on today. Although we bid a "don't hitcherself in the ass with the door on the way out" farewell to the worse-than-worthless 112th Congress, the nearly-as-worthless 113th is being sworn in (or "at". Nothing much changes in that joint.).

The highlight of that clusterfuck was when, and I have no cite for this as yet, some fucking moron nominated cashiered colonel and Teatard spewsman former rep Allen West for Speaker. That fuckin' idiot from Texas, Gohmert, and one other actually voted for him. You think coffee coming out your nose is irritating? I was eating breakfast and I'm still picking sausage outta my nose hairs!

Update:

The other vote for West was the fuckin' idiot from Georgia, Broun. Figures.

I think we need a song of faith and inspiration. Right now.

Thanks to kendeb52 and a tip o' the Brain to Jersey Guy.

Even Better Headline of the Day

Rachel Maddow's Surge Is Fox News' Worst Ratings Nightmare

Ahhhhhhh....

Every day, I thank God for making her gay. If she was straight I'd run away from home for her. That would not only ruin my home life but I'd be in the hoosegow for expressing my true love, known to the squares who run the system as "stalking".

Headline of the Day

Peter King near tears, threatens to quit Republican Party for blocking Sandy relief

Yeah, that was pretty shitty, but what did you expect? There's no profit in helping people.

Note to Petey: You're one of the assholes di tutti assholes, but I don't blame you for threatening to quit over this. You're pretty much famous for spewing shit so I don't think you will, but please, please, please don't become a Democrat.

The good, hard spanking of 2012

If it's Wednesday it must be Morford going on about things we learned in 2012. Or not.

What a year it was. Did we learn anything? How about…

Bet on the Nazi socialist Kenyan
Is it not refreshing? Is it not all kinds of wonderful to be reminded that all the spittle-flecked hate and hissing resentment in the world still can’t defeat intelligence, wisdom, flawed but honest integrity?

Behold: The GOP’s relentless, shameless four-year onslaught of racism, birtherism, isolationism and gross antipathy, during which they called the president everything from a communist to a Nazi to a fundamentalist Muslim, failed to rally sufficient numbers of the undereducated and the paranoid to nosedive the nation back into a sinkhole of conservative bile. It was easily the most methodical, coldblooded personal attack in modern political history, and it failed ugly. Hugs all around.

Much more. Last ¶:

We know everything and nothing. Our deepest space probes have travelled the equivalent of a single millimeter in a room five trillion miles wide. We still don’t know why whales sing. We have no idea what the dolphins know, how the brain functions, what love actually is, or why anyone likes Adam Sandler movies. Every mystery solved launches five intriguing new questions. Every wonderful leap in technology invites more serious inquiries about our lost humanity. We are either on the cusp of total madness or total illumination. The Great Ascension and the Great Collapse are one and the same, depending on what you’re wearing. Please dress accordingly.

Jeans and a flannel shirt have served me well and will see me nicely through the Enlightenment or the Collapse, thank you.