Thursday Mashup (7/8/10)

Gosh, whaddaya know? It’s time for more “Foto Funnies” with J.D. Mullane of the Bucks County Courier Times (here).

I’ll give you a hint, J.D. – it’s two “Ns” (and referring to her as a "rat" - nice).

And yes, I wish the Obama White House had done more on jobs to date also. But before anyone dumps on Number 44 too much, remember that his predecessor oversaw the worst record of job creation in about 60 years (here), so anything Obama did (or didn't do) was bound to be an improvement.

Also, the “Doughy Pantload” strikes again (here); see, Jonah Goldberg tries to bring teh funny over Iran’s ban on the “mullet”…

Ban tofu and the New York Times letters section will light up with outrage.

Ha, ha, ha.

In response, this tells us the following…

Tofu is (a) good source of protein. Also, it is a (remarkable) source of calcium, zinc, vitamin B and iron. Countless researches (sic), clinical trials and laboratory investigations have demonstrated the wonderful advantages of consuming soy and soy products.

The health benefits of tofu are numerous and far-reaching, the chief benefits being protection against cancer and averting cardiovascular disorders.

And that’s something that at least some of Goldberg’s audience should consider, given this item which tells us that “more than 30 percent of the South is obese.”

I guess that's why Goldberg didn't crack wise about banning "Little Debbie."

Also, the New York Times opined today here about the recess appointment by President Obama of Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, stating in part the following…

Dr. Berwick’s major credential for the job is that he leads the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, a consulting group that promotes measures to improve the quality and safety of health care while reducing its costs. He has been enormously successful at getting health care professionals and institutions to work together to reform their practices — exactly what the agency needs.

His appointment is backed by the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association and scores of other health organizations and patient advocacy groups. He has been endorsed by three predecessors who held the same job in Republican administrations.

Of course, the recess appointment by Obama has met with the typical right-wing umbrage over Dr. Berwick's past praise about "socialized medzin'," as noted in this Hill article with the odious Max Baucus joining the opposition chorus (considering that Baucus did his best to derail health care reform by trying to suck the life out of it before it emerged from his Senate Finance Committee, he really has no room to talk about health care reform, or much of anything else for that matter).

And for anyone out there harrumphing over the recess appointment of Dr. Berwick (which brings the Obama total to 15), here is information on recess appointments by A Certain Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History.

Finally, this Courier Times story tells us the following…

Congressman Patrick Murphy and candidate Mike Fitzpatrick agree on one thing: Arizona has the right to protect its border with Mexico since the federal government has failed to do so.

This is disappointing, but not surprising, as is the claim from Fitzpatrick that "the current administration has defunded chief operations of our border security."

Uh huh – as noted here by The Hill…

…the House last week passed the fiscal year 2010 Supplemental Appropriations Bill, which includes $700 million in border security funds, including $50 million to deploy National Guard troops to the border states.

Oh, and by the way, I have a message for “Dems” Ann Kirkpatrick, Harry Mitchell and Gabrielle Giffords; STFU. As I noted here a couple of days ago…

The Obama Administration has exceeded Bush Administration efforts on border control. Last year saw the highest number of people ever deported: 387,790, up from 116,782 in 2001 and 349,041 in 2008. Thus far this year, some 185,887 people have been deported, a record pace that, if maintained, will nearly double the number of deportations in 2010 to 604,133. The Administration has also doubled the number of agents assigned to the Border Enforcement Security Task Force and tripled intelligence analysts along the Southwest border.

I realize that it’s not good short-term politics for a Dem to attack the “illegal to be brown” law in Arizona and advocate a path to citizenship for illegals (pay a fine, get in line – makes sense to me), but I’m sorry – Patrick Murphy really should know better here.

As the New York Times tells us once again (here)…

As the Justice Department points out in its complaint, the Arizona law will divert resources from the government’s pursuit of dangerous aliens, including terrorists, spies and violent criminals. It will harass authorized immigrants, visitors and citizens who might not be carrying their papers when stopped by the police. It will ignore the country’s cherished protections of asylum and will interfere with national foreign policy interests. (Already several Mexican governors are refusing to meet with their American counterparts in Arizona, a sign of the diplomatic disarray produced by the law.)

The courts have repeatedly made these fundamental ideas clear. A federal court in 1997 struck down Proposition 187 in California, which would have denied social benefits to illegal immigrants and turned state employees into enforcement agents because it was pre-empted by federal authority. (Appeals in the case were dropped.) The Supreme Court has said federal authority can pre-empt state law when the federal interest is dominant and where there already exists a system of federal regulations. The government has done a poor job enforcing its immigration rules, to say the least, but they do exist, and clearly fall under what the Constitution calls “the supreme law of the land.”

We do not have comprehensive immigration reform in this country because of Republican obstruction, pure and simple (goaded on by right-wing hate radio). That is so even though Obama’s predecessor supported a policy of not prosecuting illegals for violating immigration law, and instead receiving eligibility to apply for "green cards" and eventual U.S. citizenship without penalty if U.S. employers are willing to give them jobs (here).

But you’d better not call that policy “amnesty,” you dern li-bu-ruul (that’s not the way it’s done in Texas, I suppose).

And I wish Murphy (and any other Dem who supports Arizona’s law) luck in trying to mobilize a Latino vote for the fall. Also, this will win no support among the wingnuts, who, sad to say, will despise Murphy anyway.