Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2011 - Pt. 10)

(Back after a bit of a hiatus...Part One is here, Part Two is here, Part Three is here, Part Four is here, Part Five is here, Part Six is here, Part Seven is here, Part Eight is here, and Part Nine is here...some bad words in this post, by the way, but they're mostly quotes.)

The “So Who Exactly Does That Make You Then? Jumpin’ Jesus On A Pogo Stick?” Citation Of The Year

Repug U.S. House Rep Mike Kelly of PA compared President Obama to Pontius Pilate here.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

“Man Tan” Boehner for calling an extension of the middle class payroll tax cut “chicken shit” here (besides shaking down fat cats for dough, I always wondered if Boehner was a subject matter expert on anything else, and now, I think I know…and it’s a huge understatement to say that this would bite Boehner in the ass later)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Politifact, for this (God, I get so sick of everyone bending over backwards in the name of trying to establish fake Democratic “equivalency” when the Repugs pull stupid crap)...

…more here…

…and a “Dregs within a Dregs” citation to Bill Adair of Politifact for this in response (RJ Eskow explains why here).

Update 12/24/11: And on the subject of fake equivalency, I give you this good column from Professor Krugman.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Poor Pizza Man Herman Cain earns a raspberry, not for suspending his campaign (which was inevitable, given the revelation of a long-running affair), but for blaming the media for doing so.

Oh sure, it was the fault of “the media” that you shoved a woman’s face into your crotch and asked her if she wanted a job (as one of my senior correspondents reported, did you know that Cain’s full name is an anagram for “Reach in Man”?).

And let’s think about what this says about Not Your Father’s Republican Party, by the way; Cain can be an abuser of women, and that apparently was OK enough for him to continue his campaign, but the moment word breaks of an adulterous affair, he has to quit…just a bit of a head scratcher there for yours truly.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Dr. Erik Fleischman for this (h/t Atrios) – basically, this monster performed “rib-cracking CPR” on a pregnant mother in Tanzania and called his partner who involuntarily tied the woman’s tubes (making her pretty much sterile) “a hero” (and as the Feministe post tells us, Fleischman is pretty well connected, though that doesn’t make him any less of a utter pariah)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Ross Douthat of the New York Times for the stupefying, doctrinal idiocy of this column from earlier in the month, including the following (if you guessed that Douthat is making fun of liberals again, you win a free subscription to The Weakly Standard)…

Yes, Occupy Wall Street was dreamed up in part by flakes and populated in part by fantasists. But to the extent that the movement briefly captured the public’s imagination, it was because it seemed to be doing what a decent left would exist to do: criticizing entrenched power, championing the common good and speaking for the many rather than the few.

The union rallies and the Keystone demonstrations, by contrast, represented what you might call the decadent left, which fights for narrow interest groups rather than for the public as a whole.

The Wisconsin protests didn’t defend American workers’ right to bargain for their fair share of company profits, as traditional union protests have. They defended government employees’ right to negotiate with elected officials over the division of taxpayer dollars — a recipe for profligacy that even liberal icons like Franklin Roosevelt and the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s George Meany once opposed.

This is flat-out bullshit, and the fact that Bill Keller and “The Old Gray Lady” allowed it to see print is a travesty (and publishing a right-wing lie at fifty other right-wing sites doesn’t magically change that lie into the truth, by the way).

As noted here (for about the zillionth time in the blogosphere – and yes, I still hate that word), Governor Hosni Mubarak Walker created his own budgetary distress by shoveling money out the door in the form of tax cuts for his friends. Then, crying poor mouth, he demanded that his state’s public employee unions give up their rights to collectively bargain so he could impose “austerity” (which, as noted here, was an utter con anyway). And THAT is why the protests took place.

Continuing…

Likewise, the Keystone protesters haven’t been defending “the interests of wage-earning Americans,” to borrow the historian Michael Kazin’s description of the historic purpose of the American left. They’ve been harnessing the power of the Democratic Party’s wealthy environmentalist donors to actively kill off American jobs.

Uh, no – as Think Progress tells us here…

...in late October Republican Gov. Dave Heineman (NE) called a special session of the state legislature to address his citizens’ concerns posed by the pipeline, and soon after the Republican-controlled legislature voted to reroute the pipeline so as to avoid the Sand Hills region and the Ogallala Aquifer. It is interesting to note that although TransCanada originally was strongly resistant to alternate routes for the pipeline, after the Nebraska vote the company is already working to find a new one.

Jane Kleeb, who testified today on behalf of BOLD Nebraska, further explained the position of Nebraska landowners in her testimony:

While the permit process may seem like it is taking too long, we still have no proposed route in Nebraska and no study on how tar sands affects our land, water and health. Additionally, if this oil is meant for the United States, then please make an agreement stating as much. Pass a bill saying the oil is for US consumption. It is hard to rationalize how a pipeline carrying oil across our nation to an unknown final destination can be in our national interest. We all know TransCanada and other tar sands companies need to get their oil to various ports in order to sell it to the highest bidder. In the end, we assume all the risks and none of the rewards.

Do you know how long it took for me to find the information I linked to above from HuffPo and Think Progress? About five minutes (oh, and by the way, Chunky BoBo, Heineman is a Republican).

But of course, why would Douthat try to do something like that let it get in the way of trying to propagate yet another bogus narrative about Democrats?

I think I said, earlier in these posts, that Douthat was better than Kristol Mess, who he replaced.

I now realize that that’s kind of like arguing that walking pneumonia is better than a migraine.

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Repug presidential nominee Jon Hunstman for telling “The Donald” what he can do here."here (the latter was due to “moderate” the 372nd GOP candidates debate earlier this month, though he ended up backing out…Huntsman basically said that it isn’t serious to have Trump moderate much of anything, though I don’t consider the GOP field to be really that “serious” either)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Fix “Business” for asking if The Muppets are “anti-corporate” here (just stop, OK?)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Drudgico, for naming Puppy Dog Eyes And Watch Him Steal Granny’s Medicare And Social Security Paul Ryan “health care policy maker of the year” (as Hunter at Daily Kos sez here, “Politico proves that in D.C., awards are not given on actual merit, but on what The Village cares about.” – uh, yep.)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

An eight-year-old boy known only as “Elijah” who told Moon Unit Bachmann here that “my mom is gay and she doesn’t need fixing” (appropriate in a season in which we sing “a little child shall lead them”)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Obama Administration earns a dubious citation yet again, this time for overriding the Food and Drug Administration's recommendation to make the contraceptive Plan B available over the counter. The drug is currently available to women of all ages by prescription and over the counter to those who can prove they are at least 17 (here and here).

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius claims she is overruling the FDA because the company that asked to sell it over the counter didn't produce evidence that girls under 17 "can understand the label and use the product appropriately."

As the writer at In These Times noted, “By that logic all over-the-counter medication should be banned because people under 17 might buy it.”

OK, Mr. President, let’s talk. Just you and me for a second, OK?

Listen to me carefully; I’ll say the words slowly so there’s no misunderstanding (yes, you are a smart man, but apparently you have a bit of a mental block in this particular area).

Conservatives…will…never…support…you.

It doesn’t matter how many ridiculous positions you take like this one on “values” issues in an attempt to placate them. And no, it’s not as if they’ll dislike you because you’re African American (though that’s a bonus for their purposes, I’ll admit).

It is merely because you are a Democrat.

So let’s stop this idiotic garbage which, in point of fact, does nothing but alienate further the people who did more to elect you than anyone else.

(And by the way, there has been definitely more blame aimed at Sebelius for this, as noted here, but as far as I’m concerned, the problem on this issue starts with Number 44.)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The 14 Repug U.S. Senators who spoke out against filibusters under Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History, but apparently have no trouble with the filibuster while that “Kenyan Muslim socialist” is in the White House, as noted here (more great stuff from Think Progress)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Jim Matthews (brother of Tweety), who, as I type this, is still a Montgomery County, PA commissioner despite his recent arrest for lying to a grand jury, as noted here (he was replaced by Joe Hoeffel as chairman, Hoeffel being a far better public servant)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Recently retired Chief of Police in West Goshen, PA Mike Carroll gets credit here; he appeared in a full-page ad that appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times on December 8th criticizing Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick for his vote in support of HR 822, “a bill that would force PA to accept concealed carry permits from every other state, even if a carrier is too dangerous to be granted a permit under our own laws,” as Chief Carroll told us (more is here).

I’ve said a few times that our police and emergency medical personnel have to “get in the game” more when it comes to standing up to the NRA, because not enough private citizens will and waay too many politicians would wet themselves before they did that themselves. This is a perfect example of what I’m talking about (Is it fair to add that burden to those who serve us so bravely? No, but that’s the reality.).

Thank you, Former Police Chief Carroll (and of course, Carroll was later subjected to wingnut umbrage in the Courier Times as a result, which Carroll should wear as a badge of honor).

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

I know I’ve given President Obama a few Dregs citations here (including the one a minute ago), and I believe they’re deserved (particularly on issues of state secrets and the fact that, with the recent Defense Authorization, American citizens can now be subject to capture and “rendition” without a court order), but let’s not forget that, with all of the infantile political garbage taking place in Washington, just about entirely because of the Repugs, he has stood tall as someone who has advocated for the consumer financial protection bureau (blocked by the Repugs), the middle-class payroll tax cut (blocked by the Repugs before they finally caved), the jobs bill (blocked by the Repugs), appointing Dr. Donald Berwick to head Medicare and Medicaid services (blocked by the Repugs - he got in as a recess appointment before he had to step down), properly funding the infrastructure bank (blocked by the Repugs…anybody else besides me starting to see a pattern?), and he has even expressed his support for the “Occupy” movement here.

And though I don’t think that, by itself, trumps all of the other Dregs citations, it definitely counts in his favor and comes fairly close.

Update 1/2/12: It should be noted here that President Obama issued a signing statement to the Defense Authorization Bill saying he "will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens" (nicely done, Mr. President).

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board for this (this foul ad never should have aired in the first place)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Baby Newton Leroy Gingrich gets a citation for calling the Palestinians an “invented” people who want to destroy Israel here (again, real hard for me to feel sympathy for the Palestinians since they continually turn to bad actors like Arafat and Hamas for “leadership,” but I don’t see much serious from “Bibi” and his crowd either, particularly on “right of return” and those damn settlements)

Update 1/3/12: And speaking of Baby Newton Leroy, I think this is absolutely precious (hat tip to one of my senior correspondents).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

The amount of wankerific garbage generated by John Harwood of the New York Times is virtually endless, so I have to pick my spots carefully; here, he said the following recently…

In part, these decisions reflect every president’s obligation to take up some fights but not others, to gratify core supporters most of the time but selectively challenge them in the name of reaching a wider audience. President George W. Bush roiled his base on education, Medicare and bailouts while doggedly advancing conservative goals on taxes and national security.

Concerning Dubya and “national security,” I give you the following (if I didn’t know better, I’d swear Harwood was on hallucinogenic drugs when he wrote that – and yes, I’m going to keep reminding him of that because, no, he has not apologized, nor do I expect him to at this point).

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Former Reaganite Bruce Bartlett for this, including the following...

“Basically we’re still stuck in the situation we were three years ago and we haven’t made any progress at all except that our problems are much worse because of political reasons, because we now have a crazy party in charge of one of the Houses of our Congress and they won’t allow anything to happen because it’s in their vested interest to make things worse,” Bartlett explained in his typically exasperated way. “Plus they have a theory that is completely nuts…. I’m very depressed....The most we can hope for is that a complete crazy person like Newt Gingrich gets the Republican nomination, the Republicans lose so badly that they lose control of the House and don’t get control of the Senate and then maybe in a year we can finally talk about doing something rational...”

Actually, there are a lot of people in this country who don't have a year to wait, but I'll give Bartlett points for speaking truth to stupid anyway.

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The National Lawyers Guild (which, otherwise, seems to be a commendable organization) recently held a phone conference at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia with convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal (who also, astonishingly, is a “VP” of the group) on the occasion of the commutation of Abu-Jamal’s death sentence to life in prison (basically, untold sums of money would have been spent to retry Abu-Jamal and try to obtain a death penalty verdict, but Philadelphia DA Seth Williams – wisely, I think, and with the blessing of Maureen Faulkner, the widow of Officer Daniel Faulkner, who Abu-Jamal murdered – decided not to retry the case and accept the life sentence instead).

Why the National Lawyers Guild treats Abu-Jamal as anything besides pond scum is something I cannot imagine (and as much as I hate to give Mikey the Beloved credit for anything, I have to give him a Do-Gooder citation for writing a letter in protest to the NLG, as noted here).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Scott Bennett, a 45-year-old resident of Brookville, PA, who had an obituary published for his mom so he could get bereavement time from his job; the problem was that his mother was still alive, which he apparently knew (here...I can appreciate how important it is to hang onto a job and to cover yourself when asking for time off, but this move is still ridiculous)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Russell Simmons here, for buying up the remaining ad time for the program “All-American Muslim” that was dropped by Lowe’s after the hardware giant panicked when (presumably) their customers decided they didn’t like the program because the Muslims weren’t portrayed as bloodthirsty terrorists (and definitely a Dregs citation to Lowe’s, a store that I otherwise have patronized…and yes, I’m rethinking that)

…and with that in mind…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Lowe’s CEO Robert Niblock along with all of the other corporate numbskulls who pulled their advertising from the program “All-American Muslim” as noted here, under pressure from a typical “values” group because the Muslims weren’t SCARY enough, I guess (and a Do Gooder citation to all of the companies who kept their advertising on the program, basically telling the group of hateful bigots called the “Florida Family Association” to stick it, as opposed to Niblock and company who utterly caved)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

PA State Senator (and my own, sadly) Chuck McIlhinney for this (re: “voter fraud”)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

No, this isn’t a misprint – Crazy Tom Coburn gets it for this (uh – thanks?)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

Robert Pear and Jennifer Steinhauer (and really, by extension, Bill Keller) for the following propaganda from the New York Times (here)…

WASHINGTON — Defying a veto threat from President Obama, the House on Tuesday passed a bill extending a cut in Social Securitypayroll taxes for 160 million Americans for another year. But the Democratic majority in the Senate vowed to reject the measure because of objections to other provisions, including one to speed construction of an oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast.

The 234-to-193 vote set the stage for negotiations between the House and the Senate that were likely to continue into the weekend.

The vote was a victory for Speaker John A. Boehner.

Really, New York Times? A “victory”?

After you get through about ten or so paragraphs of Republicans boilerplate and self-congratulation in this supposedly hard-news story, you learn the following…

…Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts, said the bill was “loaded up with goodies to mollify the extreme right wing that is in charge of this House.” And the No. 2 House Democrat, Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, urged his caucus to vote no.

“This is a partisan bill sticking a finger in the eye of those who disagree with the policies included, simply for the purpose of energizing a small political base in their party,” Mr. Hoyer said.

Republicans “included things that clearly are unacceptable to the president,” like the (Keystone XL) pipeline, Mr. Hoyer said. “They know this is not going to pass the Senate.”

Want to know more about Boehner’s supposed “victory”? The following was larded up on the bill sent to the Senate with no hope of passage (from here)…

…whether to bar the District (of Columbia) from spending tax money on abortions for low-income women. Also at issue are whether to include language to reverse a decision by Obama to make it easier for Americans to visit relatives in Cuba and whether to include a provision to block new standards for incandescent light bulbs.

Joan McCarter of Daily Kos considers all of this “stupid, Republican ideological shit,” and I completely agree. But as far as the Times is concerned, this is still a Boehner “victory” (though I grudgingly have to admit that this is a “victory” also for Boehner and company, though definitely not for the “99 percent,” as noted here - yet another "cave" by the Democrats).

And funny, but I cannot recall any similar “victories” by the Democrats (at least, as reported by the Old, Gray Lady) when they legislated against the petulant, idiotic will of Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History.

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Vermont (ugh) chapter of fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon gets a dubious mention here; it has been suspended for passing out a survey to its members that asked questions including, “If I could rape someone, who would it be?”

Which is particularly appalling in light of this…

…and all of which, sadly, is timely in light of this…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Joseph Amendola, the attorney for former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, who has been accused on multiple charges of rape of young boys, for saying here that those decrying Sandusky should call 1-800-REALITY; in addition to being an idiotically snide remark, that is also the number for a gay phone sex line (of course, we already know that Sandusky is almost too monstrous for words and deserves every little bit of what awaits him in prison)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Obama AG Eric Holder for this (I asked about this earlier – good for him for following up)

I'm not sure if I'll finish this up next time or not, but I'll give it my best shot.