Friday, September 16, 2011
I tell you what ...
I'm no fan of Carville but considering what he accomplished with Bill Clinton (and Bill is still reaping the benefits of his association with Carville), I'll grant him his expertise in the field and I'd certainly take his political advice over the current crop of White House advisers.
We been saying most of this shit for 2 years now, but we're just "dirty fucking hippies". Carville is a pro and his advice makes far more sense than whatever the fuck Barry's doing.
People often ask me what advice I would give the White House about various things. Today I was mulling over election results from New York and Nevada while thinking about that very question. What should the White House do now? One word came to mind: Panic.
We are far past sending out talking points. Do not attempt to dumb it down. We cannot stand any more explanations. Have you talked to any Democratic senators lately? I have. It's pretty damn clear they are not happy campers.
This is what I would say to President Barack Obama: The time has come to demand a plan of action that requires a complete change from the direction you are headed.
I don't know how else to break this down. Simply put:
...
We been saying most of this shit for 2 years now, but we're just "dirty fucking hippies". Carville is a pro and his advice makes far more sense than whatever the fuck Barry's doing.
Great thanks to David Dayen for the link.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Christ ...
Our Idiot King is making a fool of himself, and us, across the pond. Now, it's bad enough he acts like an idiot here, but the people in Europe already think we're idiots. Now they'll know we are.
I wonder if they asked him, off the record of course because the Brits have something known as tact, mostly, about his affiliation with the bomb throwers in Northern Ireland. You know, known terrorists. Just saying.
God, what an asshole.
Rep. Peter King was asked by the UK Parliament what kind of facility Guantanamo Bay is. This was after describing it as a vacation destination for prisoners. He was asked to justify how America could torture them and then call enhanced interrogation. It was just a little bit uncomfortable. He shrugged it off and said it wasn't really that bad because our military trains with it and hey, if torture saved lives it was all worth it. Usually that's the type of justification that you might hear someone from the Pinochet regime invoke.
...
I wonder if they asked him, off the record of course because the Brits have something known as tact, mostly, about his affiliation with the bomb throwers in Northern Ireland. You know, known terrorists. Just saying.
God, what an asshole.
Headline of the Day
Apocalyptic GOP Is Dragging Us Into a Civil War
IMNSHO it will start when some probably right-wing extremists show that they can wrest the "monopoly on violence" away from some police department in order to impose their own rule on some citizenry somewhere. That's as opposed to simply using the police to do the same thing while they "serve and protect" the Masters Of The Universe.
It will be a battle for control over the forces of evil on the right. It will be a civil war I can live with. Us lefties can shoot at both sides. Watch out for the crossfire. Heh.
Update:
Think I'm kidding?
The 11 craziest things in Rick Perry’s ‘Fed Up’ manifesto
...
1. Wresting power back from the federal government is the battle of our time.
I rest my case.
Quote of the Day
Dirty Harry via Blue Girl:
...
"These people who are making a big deal out of gay marriage?" Eastwood opined. "I don't give a fuck about who wants to get married to anybody else! Why not?! We're making a big deal out of things we shouldn't be making a deal out of."
"They go on and on with all this bullshit about 'sanctity' -- don't give me that sanctity crap! Just give everybody the chance to have the life they want."
...
Inevitability?
Riffing off Gord's post yesterday, I add a paragraph from BooMan about PA's attempt to change the way electors are appointed:
Personally, and I have an inkling Gordon feels the same way, I think the discourse in this country has been so poisoned by the conservatives over the past 10 years that there is probably no way back from the brink. There is certainly not enough political courage in the GOP to put an end to it.
That said, there has to be an end. The country can't be divided for so long and still survive. The only way I can see it ending is for the GOP to be destroyed. I only see one way to do that*.
We can't go on with this stalemate. We can't go on with one political party willing to destroy the country, to let uninsured Americans die, to wreck our economy purely for the political and financial gain of a small minority. The GOP is that party and what they're doing amounts to treason.
When the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many, we are no longer living in America**. When one political party can claim it is best to turn over the Treasury to the moneyed few at the expense of our old, sick, and infirm, they are no longer a political party but more a domestic enemy. America is a country of, by, and for the people, not a support system for the rich and corporations.
There are 400 people in this country who are doing quite well while a quarter of our people are either in, or close to, poverty. These 400 people (and their political puppets) have become, in effect, royalty. The Rule of Law no longer concerns them, the welfare of their fellow Americans is not even a thought. 250 years ago we fought a war against that type of system, where the rich and powerful rule with impunity and the poor are left to beg for the scraps of their largess. I have a very bad feeling it's going to come to that again unless the American people wake up.
As long as we consider the GOP a "negotiator in good faith" (I'm talking to you Mr. Obama and the rest of the Dem leadership), as long as the news media gives their ideas, that get crazier and crazier by the day, equal weight as sound policy, as long as we pretend the GOP wants "what's best for America", we are doomed to continue in this cycle until something snaps. There's enough fuel out there***, it only takes a spark.
If you think the "Arab Spring" couldn't happen here, you're sadly mistaken. When people are hopeless enough, when people are desperate enough, they will do anything they have to in order to survive. The rich might have their secure compounds with mercenaries and technology, they might control the armed forces (though I doubt you'd get many who were willing to fire upon their fellow Americans en masse) and the police (they will kill as many of us as it takes) but if it all goes south it will be little comfort. They will still be the first up against the wall. They are fat targets and nothing will stop tens of millions of starving, desperate people.
Unfortunately, when the dust settles, there will be little of the America we recognize, maybe nothing at all.
*And that, of course, is treating them like traitors and terrorists which, probably, will end in a civil war.
...
What we might see is a real effort by the Republican Party to take advantage of their control of state governments to change the rules in a way that the Democrats will be unable to match. Retaliation is not possible because the Dems do not have total control of the government in any red states other than West Virginia and Arkansas. How many congressional districts is Obama likely to win in those two states? Left unsaid in the above excerpt, is that making such a move would reduce Pennsylvania's importance down to roughly the level of New Hampshire. The award for winning the state would only be two Electoral Votes, and the fight beyond that would be over only two or three swing districts. Maybe Obama could carry eight congressional district instead of six, and wind up splitting the delegates 10-10. Either way, the Republican would have pocketed ten to twelve delegates they would have otherwise lost. Repeat that in several other sizable states and suddenly it becomes quite likely that a Republican candidate could win the presidency while getting absolutely thumped in the popular vote.
It's a recipe for civil war, but I guess that's where we're headed anyway, right?
Personally, and I have an inkling Gordon feels the same way, I think the discourse in this country has been so poisoned by the conservatives over the past 10 years that there is probably no way back from the brink. There is certainly not enough political courage in the GOP to put an end to it.
That said, there has to be an end. The country can't be divided for so long and still survive. The only way I can see it ending is for the GOP to be destroyed. I only see one way to do that*.
We can't go on with this stalemate. We can't go on with one political party willing to destroy the country, to let uninsured Americans die, to wreck our economy purely for the political and financial gain of a small minority. The GOP is that party and what they're doing amounts to treason.
When the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many, we are no longer living in America**. When one political party can claim it is best to turn over the Treasury to the moneyed few at the expense of our old, sick, and infirm, they are no longer a political party but more a domestic enemy. America is a country of, by, and for the people, not a support system for the rich and corporations.
There are 400 people in this country who are doing quite well while a quarter of our people are either in, or close to, poverty. These 400 people (and their political puppets) have become, in effect, royalty. The Rule of Law no longer concerns them, the welfare of their fellow Americans is not even a thought. 250 years ago we fought a war against that type of system, where the rich and powerful rule with impunity and the poor are left to beg for the scraps of their largess. I have a very bad feeling it's going to come to that again unless the American people wake up.
As long as we consider the GOP a "negotiator in good faith" (I'm talking to you Mr. Obama and the rest of the Dem leadership), as long as the news media gives their ideas, that get crazier and crazier by the day, equal weight as sound policy, as long as we pretend the GOP wants "what's best for America", we are doomed to continue in this cycle until something snaps. There's enough fuel out there***, it only takes a spark.
If you think the "Arab Spring" couldn't happen here, you're sadly mistaken. When people are hopeless enough, when people are desperate enough, they will do anything they have to in order to survive. The rich might have their secure compounds with mercenaries and technology, they might control the armed forces (though I doubt you'd get many who were willing to fire upon their fellow Americans en masse) and the police (they will kill as many of us as it takes) but if it all goes south it will be little comfort. They will still be the first up against the wall. They are fat targets and nothing will stop tens of millions of starving, desperate people.
Unfortunately, when the dust settles, there will be little of the America we recognize, maybe nothing at all.
*And that, of course, is treating them like traitors and terrorists which, probably, will end in a civil war.
**Even St. Ronnie the Senile knew that.
***Link added after the fact thanks to DCblogger.
So tell me ...
Again how compassionate Christians are? I must have learned about a different Jesus:
Yeah; whatever happened to "in sickness and in health, until death do us part"?
I'm completely, unequivocally, sick of God's mouthpieces.
And, while we're debating "what would Jesus do", it seems atheists are some of the most charitable people out there*.
Update:
And just another couple thoughts:
1) With all the caterwauling the Jesus people are doing about the "sanctity of marriage" in relation to the gays, this says to me they're more concerned about gays getting married and less about preserving a loving bond between two people, straight or gay.
2) These Jesus people are (almost all) big supporters of the GOP cause. According to Ron Paul, the churches should take care of the sick and debilitated:
Seems to me, judging from Pat Robertson's compassion, a lot of people are gonna be dropping dead in the streets. You know, just like Europe.
...
Finally Pat Robertson has come out on the side of the suffering - just like Christ. Those suffering with having a wife who's no longer up to snuff.
Asked what a man should do whose wife has Alzheimer's, an increasingly decrepit Pat Robertson says, "I know it sounds cruel but if he's going to do something, he should divorce her and start all over."
...
Yeah; whatever happened to "in sickness and in health, until death do us part"?
I'm completely, unequivocally, sick of God's mouthpieces.
And, while we're debating "what would Jesus do", it seems atheists are some of the most charitable people out there*.
Update:
And just another couple thoughts:
1) With all the caterwauling the Jesus people are doing about the "sanctity of marriage" in relation to the gays, this says to me they're more concerned about gays getting married and less about preserving a loving bond between two people, straight or gay.
2) These Jesus people are (almost all) big supporters of the GOP cause. According to Ron Paul, the churches should take care of the sick and debilitated:
...
So to avoid government involvement in health care, we can assume that Paul, the Tea Party, and the GOP support making evangelical churches pay the health care costs of their uninsured members? Imagine how much less money John Hagee and evangelical churches will have to spend on tax-exempt political activity when they're saddled with hospital bills under the Tea Party/GOP health care policy.
Under this libertarian, Tea Party approach to health care, the admission process at our hospitals would go as follows:
Hospital Admissions Clerk: What source of payment do you have?
Uninsured Christian: I have no insurance.
Hospital Admissions Clerk: What church do you attend?
I can see how this comports to the libertarian, "leave me alone" worldview.
...
Seems to me, judging from Pat Robertson's compassion, a lot of people are gonna be dropping dead in the streets. You know, just like Europe.
*Great thanks to our pal Skippy for the link.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Feinstein, Petraeus Say Wartime Contractors Must Go
Halle-fuckin'-lujah! TPMDC:
I have two main problems with war contractors and the people who don't oversee them: one is shoddy builders who build showers (at top dollar plus) that electrocute soldiers. The other is "private security forces" aka "mercenaries", again at top dollar plus, who fuck with the locals and then leave the area just prior to the arrival of the real soldiers and Marines who catch the retaliatory shit for them.
Easy. Declare them a "free fire zone". The troops'll fix it.
Be sure to read the 'comments'. Examples:
Amen.
In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the intelligence community hired thousands of contractors as a matter of convenience and expediency. However, contractor abuses, typified by Blackwater's infamous actions in Iraq, demonstrated just how dangerous it can be to outsource military and intelligence-gathering functions, especially capturing and interrogating detainees.
Feinstein argued that the crucial parts of intelligence operations - the collection, exploitation and analysis of information - are "inherently governmental functions that should be done by government employees at one-third less the cost per employee."
One week into his new role as CIA director, David Petraeus testified Thursday that contractors are at the top of his list of potential cuts in the new era of belt-tightening.
I have two main problems with war contractors and the people who don't oversee them: one is shoddy builders who build showers (at top dollar plus) that electrocute soldiers. The other is "private security forces" aka "mercenaries", again at top dollar plus, who fuck with the locals and then leave the area just prior to the arrival of the real soldiers and Marines who catch the retaliatory shit for them.
The Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan in late August issued a report recommending that the Pentagon phase out its use of private security contractors or find a way to ensure that their presence on the battlefield does not put soldiers in harm's way.
Easy. Declare them a "free fire zone". The troops'll fix it.
Be sure to read the 'comments'. Examples:
Defense contractors love Republicans for protecting them from oversight.
...
"One week into his new role as CIA director, David Petraeus testified Thursday that contractors are at the top of his list of potential cuts in the new era of belt-tightening. "
Watch how fast the GOP forgets to listen to the commanders. Blink...oops...you missed it....
...
Eisenhower, FDR and Churchill to name a few would be in strong agreement with Petraeus and Feinstein. It is high time that we ended the concept of WARS 'R' US that Cheney, Rumsfeld and Whatshisname unleashed on the world.
Amen.
Amodei Keeps NV-02 In GOP Column
This doesn't mean much, no loss, but in light of the Repugs' House win in Israel New York, I thought I'd throw it in.
TPM
Basically, NV-02 is the whole fucking state except for Lost Wages:
Amodei (Basque?*) is a stone Teabagger because that's the way the U.S. version of the Undertaker Wind is blowing these days, but he was for raising taxes before he was against it.
*When someone has an unusual name in Nevada that ends with a vowel, it usually is. Lotsa sheep in NV on more than one level. It's no big surprise they elected someone historically well-versed in fucking them.
TPM
Republicans have won Tuesday’s other special election, in Nevada’s second congressional district, with Republican former state Sen. Mark Amodei winning the GOP stronghold. This following on top of Republican Bob Turner’s upset win in the historically Democratic stronghold of New York’s ninth district.
To be clear, this is a historically Republican district, the reddest in the state. It voted for John McCain by less than a one point margin in the 2008 Democratic wave, but before that it voted 57%-41% for George W. Bush in 2004. And even Sharron Angle, the disastrous GOP Senate nominee in 2010 who blew a solid pick-up opportunity for the party against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, carried the district by a 50%-43% margin.
Basically, NV-02 is the whole fucking state except for Lost Wages:
Nevada's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district occupying all of Nevada outside of Clark County, and some parts of Clark County.
Amodei (Basque?*) is a stone Teabagger because that's the way the U.S. version of the Undertaker Wind is blowing these days, but he was for raising taxes before he was against it.
*When someone has an unusual name in Nevada that ends with a vowel, it usually is. Lotsa sheep in NV on more than one level. It's no big surprise they elected someone historically well-versed in fucking them.
Headline and Quote of the Day
GOP Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett Proposes Rigging The Electoral College For Republicans
Because in the GOP’s America, We the People can elect anyone we want, so long as they are a Republican.
From a 'comment':
What's the next thing they are going to propose? You can't run for office if you're a democrat.
They're working on it. One-party rule, not 'governing', rule, is the goal.
How to be ...
"The adult in the room." Really? A paper clip? Really?
...
If I were the President, I'd wait for the first Republican to open his mouth about this, then get before the cameras and have a talk about how petty the Republicans have become, that they've actually reverted to criticizing paper clips. Americans are unemployed and the GOP is worrying about paper clips. Then I'd crow about how the paper clip is a made in America product and how even though the GOP may mock it, Obama is proud to support an American success story as ordinary as the simple paper clip (and people will chuckle and think the President is the adult in the room).
The reason why ...
I associate less and less with my Conservative acquaintances:
If you consider yourself one of these people, than I really can't consider you a friend. You can't pick your relatives (that's why we all have at least one crazy conservative in the family we have to put up with), but you can pick your friends. I choose not to associate with such hateful, bigoted, bloodthirsty people.
Applause lines:
- The uninsured should be left to die.
- Said uninsured parents should have daughters who die unnecessarily of cervical cancer.
- A Fed Chairman who tries to fulfill his mandate by reducing unemployment is guilty of treason.
Boo lines:
- Muslims are not collectively responsible for 9/11.
- The children of illegal immigrants should not be denied the chance to go to college.
- We should not pass an extraordinarily regressive tax cut.
If you consider yourself one of these people, than I really can't consider you a friend. You can't pick your relatives (that's why we all have at least one crazy conservative in the family we have to put up with), but you can pick your friends. I choose not to associate with such hateful, bigoted, bloodthirsty people.
Yay!
Via Montag:
Ted Kennedy smiles.
Former White House financial reform adviser Elizabeth Warren will officially launch her campaign for U.S. Senate from Massachusetts on Wednesday, challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Scott Brown, a source close to Warren told TPM on Tuesday.
“The pressures on middle class families are worse than ever, but it is the big corporations that get their way in Washington,” Warren said in a statement. “I want to change that. I will work my heart out to earn the trust of the people of Massachusetts.”
...
Ted Kennedy smiles.
It's about time ...
A certain demographic decides where their allegiance lies. Are they Americans or citizens of another country? Are they perfectly willing to help wreck this country to protect the reputation of another?
Were it a Republican district (like NY-03 on Long Island) I wouldn't say a word, but in a staunchly Democratic one, at this extremely polarized time in our history, I wonder just how deep their conviction to this country is. It seems the Jewish people of NY-09 give a higher priority to the welfare of Israel than they do to the health of the nation they live in and are citizens of.
It looks to me like they are quite willing to turn their backs on the principles they've held for 50 years because of some perceived disrespect (some of us would posit the President only told the truth) to a nation they don't live in. Quite willing to add another voice for those who would roll back the rights many of you fought for (right next to the blacks) all those years ago in Selma and the other cities in the South. Quite willing to add another voice to those who would take away womens' rights, though many of you were at the spearhead of the cause. Quite willing to turn your backs on what you believe because some corporate hack panders to and manipulates you. It's disgusting.
Israel is not American soil. Israelis do not pay taxes or vote in America. Israel contributes nothing to this country, only takes.
Where else in your history have you ever had the rights and freedoms you do in America? Where else in your history were you accepted as you are in America, allowed to rise to the top of society without persecution? Do you think the Republicans will spare you when it's time to find a new scapegoat for what is wrong with this country when more of their policies fail? Do you think they will spare Israel? How quickly we forget.
So I ask the people of NY-09; are you Americans or not? I want to know because yesterday you turned your backs on everything you say you believe in, in order to "send a message" to the President. What are you gonna do next November, when the choice is between Obama and Rick Perry? I want to know that too, because Perry, like Turner, will tell you anything you want to hear. I'd really like to know how deep your convictions run.
And just an addendum: Ed Koch is a senile, self-serving old fool who should never be taken seriously.
And a note to the Democratic leadership: Maybe you shouldn't have thrown the Wiener under the bus so quickly.
...
Turner put Weprin on the ropes with a focused campaign message that positioned the race as a pure referendum on President Obama, who has grown very unpopular in the district. With the prominent backing of former New York mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat, he devoted particular attention to Israel, where he told Jewish voters upset with Obama’s handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that they could send a message to the White House with an upset Republican victory. The district is about one-third Jewish, many of whom are ultra-Orthodox. On Tuesday, Turner’s campaign decorated his headquarters with an American and Israeli flag, taking care to put each at equal height.
...
Were it a Republican district (like NY-03 on Long Island) I wouldn't say a word, but in a staunchly Democratic one, at this extremely polarized time in our history, I wonder just how deep their conviction to this country is. It seems the Jewish people of NY-09 give a higher priority to the welfare of Israel than they do to the health of the nation they live in and are citizens of.
It looks to me like they are quite willing to turn their backs on the principles they've held for 50 years because of some perceived disrespect (some of us would posit the President only told the truth) to a nation they don't live in. Quite willing to add another voice for those who would roll back the rights many of you fought for (right next to the blacks) all those years ago in Selma and the other cities in the South. Quite willing to add another voice to those who would take away womens' rights, though many of you were at the spearhead of the cause. Quite willing to turn your backs on what you believe because some corporate hack panders to and manipulates you. It's disgusting.
Israel is not American soil. Israelis do not pay taxes or vote in America. Israel contributes nothing to this country, only takes.
Where else in your history have you ever had the rights and freedoms you do in America? Where else in your history were you accepted as you are in America, allowed to rise to the top of society without persecution? Do you think the Republicans will spare you when it's time to find a new scapegoat for what is wrong with this country when more of their policies fail? Do you think they will spare Israel? How quickly we forget.
So I ask the people of NY-09; are you Americans or not? I want to know because yesterday you turned your backs on everything you say you believe in, in order to "send a message" to the President. What are you gonna do next November, when the choice is between Obama and Rick Perry? I want to know that too, because Perry, like Turner, will tell you anything you want to hear. I'd really like to know how deep your convictions run.
And just an addendum: Ed Koch is a senile, self-serving old fool who should never be taken seriously.
And a note to the Democratic leadership: Maybe you shouldn't have thrown the Wiener under the bus so quickly.
Obama, get your Dick (Cheney) on
If it's Wednesday, it must be Morford.
With that, er, ag major 'goat in hand' visual firmly in your mind, I bid you go read the rest.
Bottom line: Despite all his power and formidable intelligence, Obama seems to have no real capacity to deal with, you know, morons.
...
To say this is the most shamelessly weird, unscrupulous right wing in modern history doesn't seem to adequately capture how far Boehner & Co are willing to go to undermine and sabotage Obama's presidency. They will insult and demean their own constituents, yank insurance from children, hold the world economy hostage, cost the nation hundreds of billions, hobble the FAA, endanger lives, eat their young. And it's not even an election year yet.
...
To put it bluntly: Obama needs a Dick.
Cheney, that is. One to call his very own.
Of course, what he (or she) wouldn't have is a twitch of remorse when it came time to, say, casually mention to Anderson Cooper that Michelle Bachmann once drunk-dialed him in the middle if the night searching for her suitcase full of oxytocin, or that he once saw Rick Perry stroke a goat at the county fair just a little. Too. Intimately.
With that, er, ag major 'goat in hand' visual firmly in your mind, I bid you go read the rest.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
An interesting comparison
Another review of The Dick's book. By Dan Schnur, LATimes, who is no Librul. 1st and last ¶:
In the movies, the bad guy always gets his in the end. In real life, he remains free and makes $millions. Pretty much puts the lie to "higher moral plane".
In the 1990s military courtroom drama "A Few Good Men," Marine Col. Nathan Jessup, as played by Jack Nicholson, faces down an inquisitor who challenges the measures Jessup believed were justified to protect the nation's security. "You want the truth," he thunders, "You can't handle the truth!"
Jessup was ultimately found guilty in a military trial, while Cheney was instead judged by a court of public opinion. This book is both men's appeal, leaving us with difficult and troubling questions regarding the balance between the sober necessity of our physical safety and the higher moral plane of our democratic ideals.
In the movies, the bad guy always gets his in the end. In real life, he remains free and makes $millions. Pretty much puts the lie to "higher moral plane".
I knew if I lived long enough...
...Doughy Pantload would bring a smile to my face. In this case by going off on the Repug presidential field.
The Repugs ain't near as happy with their clown lineup as I am. Heh.
The Repugs ain't near as happy with their clown lineup as I am. Heh.
Quote of the Day
Me, in comments on Gord's post:
... When a Fascist movement is too stupid to become Nazis, they become Talibans.
This one takes the fucking cake
First the applause over Goodhair's 234 executions, and now
God damn, I hate those 'bagger bastards.
Update:
See my comment above. And they're stupid as well for believing Bush's agenda-driven nonsense.
Tea party audience cheers letting the uninsured die
God damn, I hate those 'bagger bastards.
Update:
Ron Paul was booed at the CNN/Tea Party Republican debate on Monday night after saying that al Qaeda did not attack the United States because “we’re free,” but because of U.S. military operations in the Middle East and the nation’s “unfair” treatment of Palestinians.
“This whole idea that the whole Muslim world is responsible for this and their attacking us because we’re free and prosperous, that is just not true,” he said, eliciting some cheers from the crowd.
But as he continued, the cheers were drowned out with boos.
See my comment above. And they're stupid as well for believing Bush's agenda-driven nonsense.
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