Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2011 - Pt. 2)

(Part One is here.)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Sean Inanity, for saying here that we should invade Kuwait and Iraq “to take all their oil” – Number One: he’s living in at least a ten-year time warp if he thinks these are valid options, and Number Two: If Inanity was conscripted to fight in an actual battle in an actual war, he would probably wet himself.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Columbus, Georgia’s ironically named “House of Mercy,” which, as noted here, is a private charity for the homeless that “refus(es) to serve gay and lesbian homeless people” (reminds me a bit of a bad SNL sketch, though it’s sad but true I know)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Not-running-for-reelection-in-2012 Dem Senator Holy Joe Lieberman said something here along the lines of “there’d be no place for JFK in the Democratic Party” today.

Actually, if we could, we’d welcome our 35th president with open arms. However, there definitely is no longer a place in the Democratic Party for Lieberman, nor has there been for some time (in addition to cheerleading the Iraq war and abrogation of the rights of innocent Muslims, there was Lieberman’s support of Catholic hospitals refusing to provide emergency contraception for rape victims, saying infamously that “"In Connecticut, it shouldn't take more than a short ride to get to another hospital”).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

For all the good he frequently does, President Obama gets it here for somehow, after all this time and reviewing the results from that stupid debt commission (which was a Repug idea, let’s not forget), STILL not getting it on Social Security (h/t Atrios).

Do Gooder of The Year Nominee

Governor Bully himself for appointing a Muslim judge to the New Jersey Superior Court (the bar is set low, I know, but we’re talking baby steps here)

Dregs of the Year (Possibly the Millennia) Nominee

Ultra-right-wing blogger Travis Corcoran, who praised the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords with a blog titled “1 Down, 534 To Go” here (throw this wingnut’s sorry ass in jail right now and spare us the expense of a trial – put him with Loughner…I’m sure they’d be pals)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Little Ricky Santorum here, for basically saying that Obama can’t be pro-choice because he’s black and is obligated to recognize the “civil rights of the unborn” (a repulsive, as well as legally specious, comment like this is what you would expect from someone who has faded fast in the field of Repug 2012 presidential nominees behind Romney, Palin, Perry, Cain, etc.)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Tulsa, OK Repug (!) Mayor Dewey Bartlett for saying here that the stim “worked,” and it’s unfair for U.S. House Repugs to attack it (thank you)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Seattle, WA Metro and County Executive Dow Constantine for deciding to cancel (after first approving) ads to appear on a dozen Seattle public buses depicting what a grassroots group called the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign claimed were Israeli war crimes here (memo to Constantine: the First Amendment applies to free speech even if it makes people upset – particularly so if people get upset, actually)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Defeated Repug U.S. House candidate Jesse Kelly here for wondering if he could run again for the seat of Arizona rep Gabrielle Giffords given her recovery from a gunshot wound to the head – Giffords defeated him last November of course (not a hint of common decency here from Kelly, who really should be one of the people trying to hide under a rock over his promotion during the campaign of target shooting to raise campaign funds)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Clarence Thomas of The Supremes, for not disclosing his wife’s income due to teabagger-related activities (hey now!) on his financial disclosure forms (this post from Think Progress describes how Scalito plays games with this requirement also – as usual, rules are for little people as far as this bunch is concerned…and Democrats, of course)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

This goes out to anybody who wrote to the Bucks County Courier Times in defense of The Beloved Mikey Fitzpatrick, saying he was where he should have been with Pete Sessions (or words to that effect) at that “reception” instead of at the swearing-in with “Man Tan” Boehner.

Fitzpatrick goofed royally. He and his pals should be adults and just admit it (sigh – see what I said above about Republicans and rules in the Thomas citation).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Joel Cheatwood, a senior vice president at Fix Noise (and if that isn’t a Dickensian name, I don’t know what is), gets it here for saying that ‘The Glenn Beck Program,’ probably above and beyond any on television, “has denounced violence repeatedly” in response to this post linking to a New York Times story today by Brian Stelter about Beck’s jeremiad of sorts against 78-year-old (nice) Frances Fox Piven.

And Beck “has denounced violence repeatedly,” huh?

Tell me another one (and here is more).



Dregs of the Year Nominee

CNN gets a mention for airing Moon Unit Bachmann’s SOTU response, which was opposed by both Democrats and Republicans (here).

This is because CNN has a longstanding romance with the Tea Party Express, the PAC (that put) on the Bachmann speech. Later this year, the network and the PAC (and potentially other Tea Party groups) are co-sponsoring a presidential debate between Republican candidates.

CNN should have no affiliation with any enterprise involving any teabagger group. It should go without saying that that should be the case, but unfortunately, it needs to be said.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Anybody who thinks this guy is some kind of expert on the budget...

The proposals by Paul Ryan and the U.S. House reps would privatize and ultimately gut Social Security and, once more, allow me to point out that Social Security has no impact on the deficit. And as for health care, the repeal advocated by Ryan and his party, according to the CBO, would cost about $320 billion (these and other Ryan falsehoods are exposed here).

If Ryan is an economics guru, then I’m a nuclear physicist (and as noted here, Ryan “voted for eight straight Republican budgets that increased spending by a staggering 50 percent”).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Ceridian Cobra Services (and the “Cobra” part is particularly apt), a Colorado health insurance company that dropped the coverage of Vietnam vet Ronald Flanagan because his wife accidentally underpaid their premium by two cents (heartless...here)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Arizona State Senator Linda Gray, who said here that Gabby Giffords was shot because abortion was legalized (God almighty, the citations have poured in for January alone – at this rate, it will take 20 "Do-Gooders and Dregs" posts to cover this crazy stuff!)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Don Imus, for calling Rachel Maddow the “worst kind of coward” and a “gutless, sniveling worm” here for not defending Keith Olbermann when he resigned from MSNBC (for the record, Maddow said it was between Olbermann and MSNBC, which is utterly true) – um, try commenting on stuff you actually know about, “I-man,” like making sexist, derogatory remarks to African American women basketball players and news announcers and spending what amounts to $3 grand a night for the kids at your cancer ranch (at least that’s what was on his tax forms at the time…and it gets federal tax exempt status? Sweet!)

Oh, and here is another smooth move by this dried up old weed (calling the attacks on CNN’s Anderson Cooper in Egypt “a stunt to gain publicity”...you mean, like your name calling directed at Gwen Ifill and the Rutgers women’s basketball team?).

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato who, tragically, was bludgeoned to death in January (here)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Repug Ohio Gov. John (“I Don’t Need Your People”) Kasich here (I might be tempted to buy his moronic excuse if it weren’t for the appalling lack of diversity in his cabinet – oh, but he was talking about State Senator Nina Turner’s political party, and not her race…sure he was)…

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Obama administration gets it here for a decision to withdraw a rule requiring employers to report musculoskeletal injuries to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (and a Do Gooder citation to National Nurses United for calling them out over it).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Moon Unit Bachmann gets it here for unveiling her teabagger plan to cut $400 billion in federal spending, including $4.5 billion from the VA.

You know what? At a certain point, I get so fed up with the antics of these clowns that I almost get to the point where I don’t care what they do anymore (almost). Instead, here’s what I think we should do; find a building somewhere big enough to put a billboard on top of it noting this crap from Bachmann (and do this for other wingnuts as they do nutty stuff too), and on the entire side of that building, list the names of the people who actually voted for this dingbat so it becomes a matter of public record (and if the ACLU wants to go ahead and sue, sure, go ahead…maybe a month after the billboard is put up and the names are listed).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Steve Kroft of “60 Minutes,” for all of the snide little tricks he tried to play on Julian Assange of Wikileaks in the interview Kroft conducted in January noted here

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Reagan judicial appointee Roger Vinson for voiding the entire health care law, or trying to, here (more here)

Do Gooders of the Year Nominee

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his investigators for this (i.e., busting the Tucson gun show dealers for not doing background checks...again, I wish he would be this good on OWS later, but sadly, no)…

Dregs of the Year Nominees

“Democrats” in the U.S. House Dan Boren of OK (of course), Mark Critz (PA), Nick Rahall (WV), Mike Ross (AR), and Heath Shuler (NC) get it for co-sponsoring Repug Chris Smith’s utterly monstrous “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” which somehow differentiates between “violent” and “non-violent” rape here (I hope I can never imagine the sickness of people like Smith who contemplate this stuff at all, let alone think it a fit topic for legislation).

(And for the record, Boren, Rahall and Ross all have daughters, Critz and his wife have two children – no information on gender that I can find – and Shuler and his wife have two kids named Navy and Island...uh huh...so you’re guess is as good as mine as to whether or not they could be directly impacted by this misery too.)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

“Country First” McCain (never points out which one, of course), for referring to the pro-Democracy movement currently engulfing the Middle East as a “virus” (here – sure he’d be singing its praises if Number 43 were still taking up space in An Oval Office, which, fortunately, he isn’t any more...and speaking of McCain and Dubya, I give you this, which is funny considering that, as noted here, McCain said Rummy “deserved our respect and gratitude”)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Federal Judge Keith Starrett of the Southern District of Mississippi, who threw out a challenge to the health care law here (he’ll probably get a fraction of the coverage that Vinson got for his bogus teabagger ruling, though…and most shocking of all, Starrett is a Bushco appointee!)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

The bar is set low here I know, but Repug U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss admitted here that “tax increases have to be part of the mix to reduce the deficit” (will never excuse his foul, disgusting attack on Max Cleland years ago, but credit where it’s due…and he damn well better not “walk it back” - of course, no word on whose taxes would be increased, I realize).

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Idaho Board of Pharmacy earns a dubious mention here; they basically ruled in January that it was OK for a Nampa pharmacist to refuse to fill a prescription ordered by a Planned Parenthood nurse (the scrip was for methergine, which is used to prevent or treat bleeding from the uterus…so basically, the board ruled that it was OK to run the risk that the lady who needed it would bleed to death).

OMG, it’s another attack of the dreaded “lady parts”! Quick, hide the kids!

People, this garbage isn’t going to change unless we start electing politicians who actually aren’t bought and paid for by the “pro-life” “values” crowd. Elect people who “walk the walk” on women’s issues like this (which really are family issues - doing the right thing, I mean), and then, when these idiotic laws are repealed and “conscience” providers still withhold vital medicines like this, throw said providers in jail.

More later...

Thursday Stuff

Here, K.O. tells us how Frank Luntz is trying to “spin” the Occupy protests on behalf of the GOP (ummm, call me a filthy, unkempt liberal blogger, but somehow I don’t think that’s going to be good enough anymore, based on this and this)…



…and kudos to MA Attorney General Martha Coakley for this (going after BOA, Wells Fargo, Citi, J.P. Morgan, and a few other financial miscreants in a statement announced today)…



...“Worst Persons” (turns out Irrational Spew received about a third of its funding from Big Pharma while it was criticizing Obama and the health care law…let’s see now, “conflict of interest” – drat, where is that dictionary again? Wonder why it's missing from the clip; Moon Unit Bachmann gets the runner-up for alleging it's the law for a man to marry a woman and vice versa...uh, no, and she was also guilty of this boo-boo; but Baby Newton Leroy Gingrich, the presumptive Repug nominee according to him, thinks it’s fine and dandy for school age kids to clean toilets – looks like he set the “wayback” for about a hundred years ago at least)…



…and when I think of the Repug presidential candidates on my TV and computer, this song comes to mind.

Doomsy's Do-Gooders And Dregs (2011 - Pt. 1)

Yep, it's that time again (getting a jump on some people with this, I'll admit, partly because posting will get flakier through the month), and I'd better start getting this wrapup for 2011 together because I have a lot of stuff; like last year, it will probably take me up to New Years Eve to get to it all, so here goes.

And what is the point of this, I hear you ask? Well, aside from this being my own obligatory “year end” list, I’m noting here a lot of stuff that I happened to come across during the year that I, for the most part, didn’t post about but wanted to comment on anyway. Doing this is challenging every year, but it's particularly challenging this year - if I make it to the end of these posts, I'll tell you why.

(And by the way, unacknowledged hat tips are probably owed here to Eschaton, Daily Kos, Think Progress, Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars, Balloon Juice, firedoglake, MSNBC, and a few other sites here - many thanks.)

“How About ‘Tempestt Rhadhami Is In The Kitchen With Allah’?” Citation (also heard of “Allah In The Family” – touché)

Katie Couric said here that “we need a Muslim ‘Cosby Show’” (and they’re off for 2011 – she would leave the “third eye” network later in the year)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee (and past winner)

Hangin' Judge JR of the Supremes gets it for waxing nostalgic here about what he thinks was a better time apparently, and that would be the Depression - should also contrast how many Obama/Clinton nominees have been confirmed versus Dubya's (but true to form, Think Progress beat me to it here).

Dregs of the Year Nominee

His World's Neal Cavuto, for claiming that "low corporate tax rates are good for the markets" when the graphic he presents onscreen says otherwise (here)

Do Gooders of the Year Nominees

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals in NYC gets it for striking down a 2008 FCC order fining 44 ABC-affiliated stations $27,500 each ($1.21M in total) for a 2003 episode of NYPD Blue in which a partial view of a woman’s breasts and buttocks appeared (the legacy of Janet Jackson and “the tit that wouldn’t die” from the 2004 Super Bowl...here).

I usually pile onto this bunch, but it’s nice to compliment them for a change.

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Dave Graham, a California homeowner who sued Bank of America in small claims court and won $7,595 from the bank after it burned him on a mortgage modification – as noted here…

Graham, who lives in Big Bear City, Calif., applied for a loan modification under the Obama administration's Home Affordable Modification Program, which is supposed to give eligible borrowers a "permanent" five-year modification if they make reduced payments during a three-month trial period.

Graham said his trial dragged on for 18 months. He said he made every payment until Bank of America told him in May that he didn't qualify for HAMP, and that he'd lose his home unless he paid about $7,000 to make up the difference between his normal monthly payments and the reduced payments he made during the trial period.

Basically, Graham got screwed over by BoA on HAMP and may lose his home anyway – “Skank of America” will probably appeal, but kudos to Graham for not taking this shit.

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Antonin Scalia of The Supremes for this (giving Roberts a run for his money, I see)…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Repug U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama – I think the question in the title here says it all…

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Our own U.S. House Rep from PA-08 Mikey Fitzpatrick, who missed his own swearing-in ceremony but found time to read his section of the Constitution in that idiotic sap that the Repugs gave to those zany teabaggers here (gee, Mikey, “President pro temporary”? That’s a new one!)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Former Bushie budget director (which should make him automatically unserious to any sentient being) and Indiana governor Mitch Daniels gets a nod; as noted here, he wants to raise the retirement age because younger people will “live to 100” because “they’ll be replacing body parts like we do tires” (of course, as Think Progress makes clear, the “pay no price, bear no burden” crowd is also enjoying longer life spans, while those life spans of everyone else are growing shorter – must be nice in Daniels’ ivory tower…please don’t feed the rabble, or they’ll only come clawing back for more...I guess the "Occupy" forces would prove this later, to their credit, though I hardly consider them to be merely "rabble")

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Obama Administration and FCC chair Julius Genachowski for approving the Comcast/NBC merger, for all the reasons noted here (I think these people need to open a dictionary and look for the term "public interest")

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao, who says here that he opposes judicial filibusters (as Think Progress points out here, he’s a flat-out liar)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The individuals who own the Symphony House condominiums in Philadelphia near the Avenue of the Arts (otherwise known as Broad Street) who, despite already losing in court, are trying to drive the Jamaican Jerk Hut restaurant out of business because they apparently have a problem with “live reggae music, which (the restaurant) offers to customers on the lot next (door) on weekends in spring and summer months“ (and the sad part is that they may succeed, since Jerk Hut owner Lisa Wilson says the lawsuit “has been killing our business” – h/t Atrios, noted here)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Freshman Repug U.S. House Rep Robert Hurt of Virginia, who wanted to repeal the health care law but (just like Steve King in Iowa) wanted to keep his own plan paid for by the government, of course, as noted here (Hurt is the scumbag who beat Progressive Dem Tom Perriello, so he merits extra special attention as far as I’m concerned...more here)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Steven Daglus, a Republican committeeman in Illinois who found 26 ways to trim the Arizona budget and thus provide Medicaid coverage to those in the latter state in need of organ transplants (and yep, somehow I’m sure the Arizona State football team will do just fine without financial assistance...here)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

The Kentucky state legislature gets a dishonorable mention; it would be the first state to pass a bill forcing women to see ultrasound images of the fetus before abortion procedures (Didn’t Oklahoma try something like this also? And I think any male member of the Kentucky “lege” supporting this should have ultrasound images taken of their penises that would be made available for public viewing…fair is fair - here)

Do Gooders of the Year Nominee

The History Channel, for deciding in the end not to air the trash JFK biopic by torture pornographer Joel Surnow (as I've said, if he wants to make a fictitious JFK movie, that unfortunately is his right, but sell it to Spike TV, USA, SHOWTIME or somewhere else...I think it ended up on Starz or SHOWTIME, one or the other - here)

Corporate Media Pundit Interaction Of The Year (So Far, And I Don’t Mean This In A Good Way)

Digby gives us the gory details here of an interview Wolf Blitzer conducted with Paul Begala and Mary Matalin about what supposedly constitutes a “minimum wage” inside the Beltway (h/t Atrios)

Do Gooders of the Year Nominees

The Egyptians Muslims who defended Coptic Christians in that country here, who were the target of terror attacks ("we live together or we die together"...powerful, courageous stuff – somebody alert Pete King, who’s no doubt continuing his propaganda against SCARY MUSLIMS!!! anyway...unfortunately, the "worm turned" a bit on this later in the year)

The Last Word, As They Say, On Obama v. Dubya on Jobs

Here

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Sarah Palin for this – see screen shot at bottom of post; thank God that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords recovered to a degree (and screw Palin’s condolences, by the way; try toning down your ultra-nutso rhetoric first)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominees

Bill Badger, Joe Zamudio and Patricia Maisch, bystanders in the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Federal Judge John Roll and 11 others who restrained alleged gunman Jared Loughner before he could reload (here – Judge Roll, who, as it turned out, just stopped by to visit Giffords at the place of the shooting, was killed, along with 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green)

Dregs of the Year Nominees

Palin aide Rebecca Mansour and conservative radio host Tammy Bruce for saying here that the gun sights on the map of “targeted” U.S. congressional districts, including that of Gabrielle Giffords, were “surveyors symbols” (yeah, “survey” this, wingnuts – h/t Eschaton)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Pundit Ross Douthat of the New York Times, who said here that “the attempted murder (of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords) is a potential gift to liberalism.” (I consider that remark to be an obscenity, much like his recent garbage about how JFK's "pay any price, bear any burden" wording during his inaugural was the same as Dubya's propaganda in the runup to the Iraq war)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Kristol Mess, for saying here that saying that criticizing Sarah Palin over the Arizona massacre that severely wounded Rep. Giffords is “McCarthyism” - particularly repugnant given that Kristol’s old man defended “Tail-Gunner Joe” as noted here.

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Ousted Dem U.S. House Rep Paul Kanjorski for standing up here to J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon (tells you how stupid the voters are who voted out someone advocating on their behalf...Kanjorski went too far on Lex Luthor Scott, though)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Repug U.S. House Rep Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who said here that accused Tucson, AZ shooter Jared Lee Loughner was the “liberal of liberals” (wonder if this woman bathes in the same toxic sludge that constitutes what passes for her thought processes?)

(And by the way, noting this, in a related vein, isn’t Judson Phillips the guy who said Keith Ellison shouldn't serve in the U.S. House just because he’s a Muslim? And by the way, I am continually impressed by Ellison whenever I see him speak on TV; highly knowledgeable on the issues that matter and articulate.)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Trent Humphries of the Tucson Tea Party, who blamed Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords here for her own shooting (at a point, you have to wonder what kind of a country we’ve become to produce life forms like this character)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Gotta love “Man Tan” Boehner for hosting an RNC party (a fundraiser, no doubt) here the night of the memorial service for Rep. Giffords and the other Tucson shooting victims (“hell no you can’t!”)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

CNN’s Erick (“Son of Erick”) Erickson, for claiming that Obama, while asking the country to observe a moment of silence for the Tucson shooting victims, is “accommodating atheists” here (tell me how long Erickson would last on CNN or anywhere else if he were a liberal…as if we’d have him)

Do Gooders of the Year Nominee

The Obama EPA under the direction of Administrator Lisa Jackson for, as noted here, revoking the largest mountaintop removal project for coal mining in its history in West Virginia – well done (here…get ready for the outcry from, among others, “Democratic” Senator Joe “Lock And Load” Manchin)

Dregs of the Year Nominee

Recently-sworn-in Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin, for screwing up the oath of office here (looks like Mike Fitzpatrick and Pete Sessions ended up having some company on this; that state deserves her …and oh yeah, blame “the weather” – good one)

Do Gooder of the Year Nominee

Retiring closer Trevor Hoffman, pitcher for the San Diego Padres – as SI’s Tom Verducci tells us here (bottom of page)…

He won the Lou Gehrig, Hutch and Branch Rickey Awards because of his humility and charity. (Here's one personal story about Hoffman's classy manner. After I once wrote a story about him, I received an all-time first from an athlete: a hand-written thank you note from him.) Hoffman was known for being the template of what a leader and teammate should be: unselfish and accountable. Such a legacy, beyond anything cast in bronze, is what truly should endure.

And for the record, Hoffman finished his career with a 2.87 ERA and 601 saves, and he pitched more games without winning the World Series than any right hander in history, as Verducci tells us – good luck to him (Hoffman, I mean).

More later...

Wednesday Stuff

Sure, why not give Fix Noise humanoid Megyn Kelly the "bird" one more time, as they say...

Megyn Kelly Pepper Spray Thanksgiving - watch more funny videos

...and ummm, yeah, it's the "daddy" party that's supposed to be fiscally responsible - sure (more here)...



...and I would call this more than a little bit of a giveaway by Baby Newton Leroy (may have to crank the volume)...



...and I decided to add this video because I felt like it - get it, felt?

Tuesday Stuff

I'm going to miss Barney Frank (here...not sure what's up with the spacing)...

…and even though I definitely don’t agree with, say, Bill Maher’s opinion on religion, after watching this clip, I can still understand it (as usual, Fix Noise opens up the right-wing “puke funnel,” as Atrios calls it, and pours the byproduct all over us…work with me on this, people)…

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

..."Worst Persons" ("J-Lo" and her Fiat commercial get the "bronze"...wonder what else was air-brushed or whatever into that ad?; Mann Coulter gets the runner-up...and how lame is it for a conservative to get bleeped on "Morning Joe"? Also, I think Keith means Wayland Flowers; but USA Ammo gets the top citation for its commercial telling us of the dictatorial threat of...Forest Whitaker? And I'm not completely sold on the goatee, for what it's worth)...



...and we lost this guy 10 years ago today.

Tuesday Mashup (11/29/11)

Some true hilarity from the New York Times here…Adam Nagourney told us last Saturday that California’s light rail project is a “boondoggle” (headline), was full of “brashness and ambition” and faced “what might seem like insurmountable political and fiscal obstacles” (paragraph 3); it would be finished “by 2033,” and “Republicans in Congress are close to eliminating federal high-speed rail financing this year” (paragraph 4); “‘Somebody please stop this train,’ The Washington Post wrote — while Republicans here have denounced it as a waste” (paragraph 5); “This will go down in history as one of the great white elephants in California history,” said Bob Dutton, the Republican leader of the State Senate. “It’s a boondoggle. The state cannot afford it.” (paragraph 6); and “The governor has enthusiastically embraced the plan, no matter that at 73, he seems unlikely to be around for a ribbon-cutting ceremony that is projected to be more than 20 years away” (paragraph 9).

Oh, and do you want to know what we learn in Paragraph 10? That the project is projected to generate about 100,000 jobs.

Talk about burying the lede…

Next, I give you more revisionist history from Ross Douthat (here, using the excuse of a new book by Stephen King on JFK to beat up our 35th president).

See, according to Douthat, JFK was “evasive on civil rights.”

Sure he was (from this 1963 speech)…

One hundred years of delay have passed since President Lincoln freed the slaves, yet their heirs, their grandsons, are not fully free. They are not yet freed from the bonds of injustice. They are not yet freed from social and economic oppression. And this Nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.

We preach freedom around the world, and we mean it, and we cherish our freedom here at home, but are we to say to the world, and much more importantly, to each other that this is a land of the free except for the Negroes; that we have no second-class citizens except Negroes; that we have no class or cast system, no ghettoes, no master race except with respect to Negroes?

I would say that JFK sounds amazingly “non-evasive” – here is more from Douthat…

(JFK’s) Churchillian rhetoric (“pay any price, bear any burden ...”) provided the (Vietnam) war’s rhetorical frame as surely as George W. Bush’s post-9/11 speeches did for our intervention in Iraq.

I consider that observation to be pretty much an obscenity. I honestly don’t recall any speech (certainly not this one) by JFK calling for pre-emptive war against a country that was wrongly alleged to sponsor the worst foreign-based terrorist attack that occurred on our soil.

For the record, here is exactly what JFK said (from here)…

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

Or course, as noted here, using any possible excuse, no matter how ridiculous, to fluff Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History is old hat for the Times’ quote-hire conservative columnist (he’s better than Bill Kristol, the guy he replaced way back when, but not by bloody much...two extremes of really bad as far as I'm concerned).

Continuing, former John McCain campaign advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin said the following (here)…

Faster growth is the key and will require a new, disciplined policy approach that does not allow social engineering, a green agenda, union activism or class warfare to trump the need for a vibrant private sector.

I guess there are a lot of ways to respond to the patent absurdity of that remark (our wonderful “job creators” in this economy are taking their sweet time about, I must say), but for starters, allow me to point out that Holtz-Eakin pushed for a corporate tax holiday that doesn’t create any actual jobs here, and earned a Paul Krugman smack down for making “shameful” assertions about health care reform here (and by the way, regarding Holtz-Eakin’s denigration of “green” jobs, it should be noted here that the U.S. exported almost $2 billion in solar technology last year).

Finally, I give you the following from Irrational Spew (here, on the subject of repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board, part of the health care law)…

Of course, Democrats like Barney Frank and groups like the NCPSSM don’t actually agree with Republicans on what needs to be done with regard to Medicare spending; they live in a fantasy land where Medicare’s $23 trillion in unfunded liabilities can be solved by eliminating “waste, fraud and abuse” (and massively increasing taxes).

(And by the way, I thought Krugman had some good stuff recently on supposedly "massively increasing taxes" here.)

Hmm, let’s see now…eliminating “waste, fraud and abuse.” Now which non-Mitt Romney Repug presidential hopeful spoke out about that?

Why, it would be none other than flavor-of-the-month Baby Newton Leroy Gingrich (here)…

As far as an alternative, Gingrich trotted out the same appeal employed by Obama/Reid/Pelosi — for a “national conversation” on how to “improve” Medicare, and promised to eliminate ‘waste, fraud and abuse,’ etc.

Yes, I know, file this under “blind squirrel finding you-know-what,” even though I seriously doubt that this will help Newt to win over his beloved “base.”

And speaking of Barney Frank, I want to wish the Massachusetts 4th-District democrat good luck in his future endeavors (he just announced that he won’t run for another term). Lord knows he’ll be missed, but he’s definitely earned the time to do what he wants.

Monday Stuff

The whole blogging thing is up in the air for a variety of reasons – I’ll keep you informed.

In the meantime, why in God’s name would Patrick Leahy sign onto a piece of crap like this…

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

…and I give you Willard Mitt Romney in his own words here…



…and yes, I’m actually including a Miley Cyrus tune here – good stuff, believe it or not…



…and I don’t know much about this guy, only that I like this video (a little retro actually, which is cool).

Saturday Stuff

“Attention Wal-Mart Shoppers! Pepper Spray on sale in aisle seven!”

Hey, I guess it worked so well on OWS that those smiley-faced bastards decided to try it on their customers too (more here, and no, this isn’t an episode of “Jackass” – what country am I living in again?)…



…and RIP Tom Wicker; I suppose I could find better clips since this pretty much features William F. Buckley from 1967 acting typically as a pompous ass trying to trap Wicker into admitting the dreaded “liberal bias,” but my point in presenting this here is to point out that Wicker, to me, was pretty much a no-BS guy who tried first and foremost to tell the story straight, and then just let the pundits make idiots of themselves trying to read levels of meaning or whatever into that - probably a clip out there on YouTube of Wicker on "This Week With David Brinkley," since he was good on that program also…



…and Iran-Contra hit the fan 25 years ago yesterday, by the way (a rather tongue-in-cheek "tribute" from "American Dad" appears below)…



…and as much as there’s a common thread between Wal-Mart and Iran-Contra, maybe this song tells us about it (or maybe not).

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

I got a kick out of this (courtesy of Pixdaus and Daily Kos).

...and it looks like The Onion does it again...


Obama Outlines Moral, Philosophical Justifications For Turkey Pardon

...and here's another holiday fave, with an intro by Seth MacFarlane at Stewie Griffin (and again, the captions make this hilarious as far as I'm concerned)...



...and here's more holiday fun...



...and I kind of liked this also (hat tip for this and The Onion to Daily Kos)...



...and here's a Thanksgiving message for those wonderful folks at the TSA.



Update: Definitely a hat tip to Atrios for this...

Wednesday Stuff

Kudos to retired Philadelphia Police Captain Ray Lewis for this...



...and for this...



...and here’s some Thanksgiving-related stuff (this tells us another subject about which Pam Geller knows nothing)...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

...and happy belated 70th birthday to Jesse Colin Young.

Tuesday Stuff

To me, the takeaway isn’t Obama’s “shout out,” if you will, to the protesters (which to me was exactly the right move, and I could tell because the right-wing sites went nuts over it…of course, stating support for exactly why “Occupy” is protesting and actually supporting its goals would be even better). The takeaway is the tone of annoyance from the generic corporate media hairdo introducing Obama – sorry the crowd isn’t full of elderly white people wearing funny hats and carrying racist signs, darling…



…and I give you Willard Mitt Romney, in his own words (Think Progress explains here)…



…and kudos to Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films…



…and this song pretty much sums up 2011 for yours truly so far.

Tuesday Mashup (11/22/11)

Now that the results of the deficit “super committee” have turned out to be an utter joke, I’d like to review one such “analysis” from the AP here before the final outcome was officially decided (more here)…

It was unclear where the talks would turn next, but the GOP proposal suggested the discussions had effectively moved into a range of savings far below the $1.2 trillion the committee has been seeking.

It also appeared Republicans were jettisoning a plan for $300 billion in higher tax revenue, an offer that had exposed internal GOP divisions when it was presented two weeks ago. It also has failed to generate momentum for a compromise among Democrats.

Umm…so, the Repugs basically won’t budge on those stinking and completely ruinous Bush tax cuts, thus proving that the supposedly learned opposition has apparently rejected the basic principles of mathematics – but it’s the Democrats who have “failed to generate momentum for a compromise.” Does anyone know what that even means?

It’s impossible to compromise with individuals who insist on living in their own utterly manufactured reality in which wars are paid for by the country we invade, the warmest prior decade on record means that we are in a period of supposed global cooling, and refusing to eliminate tax breaks for the richest 2 percent of earners in this country means that we are reducing our debt.

Next, I give you the following hilarity from Fix Noise “Democrats” Pat Caddell and Doug Schoen (playing catch-up with some stuff after being “out of the loop” yesterday)…

When Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson accepted the reality that they could not effectively govern the nation if they sought re-election to the White House, both men took the moral high ground and decided against running for a new term as president. President Obama is facing a similar reality—and he must reach the same conclusion.

He should abandon his candidacy for re-election in favor of a clear alternative, one capable not only of saving the Democratic Party, but more important, of governing effectively and in a way that preserves the most important of the president's accomplishments. He should step aside for the one candidate who would become, by acclamation, the nominee of the Democratic Party: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

And in case you were wondering, this indeed is a recording (here).

Oh, but Caddell is a “Democrat” all right (here), and isn’t it con-vee-nient that the firm of Penn, Schoen and Berland worked on Hillary’s campaign for president (as noted here)? More is here on this also.

Continuing, I give you J.D. Mullane in the Bucks County Courier Times last Sunday (here – he’s been churning out the dookey fast and furiously on “Occupy”; as I’ve said, being a moral scold is apparently in the job description if you secure employment through this newspaper)…

I admire people who work hard to acquire wealth honestly.

A content life isn’t derived from money, or from the tawdry spectacle of tearing wealth from others. Happiness, in the classical sense, comes from wells of human wisdom deeper than the shallows of Marxism.

Will my kids do as well or better than me? If they choose. The global economy isn’t rigged against them — or against any of those unemployed 20-somethings who inhabit Occupy camps across the nation.

Each of us takes our skills to the marketplace and the market rewards us.

I thought these comments were particularly hilarious (in an unintentional way) given the fact that the Philadelphia Inquirer published this article (which, curiously enough, I found in the "Opinion" section online) by investigative journalists Donald Bartlett and James Steele, in which we learn the following (about Apple’s offshoring of all their U.S. jobs)…

The move to China came about quietly and was little noticed at the time because of the way Apple went about creating its offshore presence. Rather than build plants that proudly displayed the Apple name, as it did in California and Colorado, the company turned to outsourcing firms that partnered with the Chinese to establish plants where the products are made. Apple's plants in mainland China bear the name of their Chinese contractor, but inside they are making Apple products. The arrangement is a convenient buffer insulating Apple from oversight of its offshore workplaces.

Apple production workers in Fountain and Elk Grove bought homes, sent their kids to school, shopped locally, saved for their retirement, and lived the dream, if only for a short time.

What's life like for Apple's workers in China?

Shenzhen is a throbbing megalopolis of 10 million an hour north of Hong Kong. Just outside the city is a massive fortress-like compound surrounded by walls and protected by tight security where guards at the entrance stop each vehicle and check the identities of occupants by using fingerprint-recognition scanners.

Within the walled city are dozens of factories, dormitories, support businesses, and an on-site television network, all humming round the clock. This is the Longhua Science & Technology Park, one of the most dense concentrations of high-tech manufacturing in the world. Owned by Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group, the largest manufacturer of electronics and computer components in the world, Longhua is home to as many as 300,000 workers.

They work in enormous factories, row after row of them bent over workstations that seem to stretch endlessly into the distance. They assemble iPods, iPhones, iPads, and products for other electronics-makers. Occasionally, photos surface showing workers, mostly young women, wearing spiffy white coats and caps, going about their work in what appears to be pleasant, well-lit surroundings, just as workers once did at Elk Grove and Fountain.

But that's the only similarity with Apple's former plants in the United States.

Workers at Longhua and other Foxconn plants in China work under grueling conditions - usually 10 to 12 hours a day, sometimes for seven days straight without overtime pay. They're not allowed to speak to one another on the job or to leave their workstations - not even to go to the bathroom - without permission from guards. Some of them perform repetitive tasks for up to 10 hours at a time without a break. Supervisors berate workers with foul language and warn that if they fall behind on production they will be replaced. Some have reportedly been beaten for mistakes they allegedly made on the assembly line. For all this they earn a little more than a dollar an hour at most.

These practices have been documented in numerous reports by a Hong Kong-based human-rights group, Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM). Of working conditions at one Foxconn plant making iPhones, SACOM concluded: "Workers frequently endure excessive and forced overtime in order to gain a higher wage. If they cannot reach the production target, they have to skip dinner or work on unpaid overtime shifts." SACOM calls Foxconn's Apple workers "iSlaves."

Most young workers live on-site in cramped high-rise dormitories near the factories, where as many as a dozen workers squeeze into small rooms with three tiers of bunk beds. Most of them are peasants in their late teens or early 20s who have been lured to the city in hopes of earning money for themselves and their families back home, only to find themselves yoked to brutal production schedules that can become unbearable.

We also learn from the Bartlett and Steele article (and I know this has been documented elsewhere also) that Chinese workers have taken to committing suicide to get out of their factory jobs. So what was the response of the company? To put up nets around the buildings and to encourage workers “to sign a statement promising not to kill themselves and to ‘treasure their lives’."

And that is what American workers have to compete against (oh, but “the global economy isn’t rigged against (U.S. workers),” is it, J.D.?

Wonder how much a know-it-all pundit earns in Hunan province these days?

And one more thing – I believe the Bartlett and Steele piece is important to counteract the Steve Jobs idolatry that immediately leapt into media hyper drive after his death. I don't completely blame Jobs for the work being offshored, but I do blame him for not speaking out about the myriad human rights violations committed in the name of manufacturing his products.

Finally, this tells us (as noted last night) that the Delaware River Basin Commission delayed a vote on natural gas “fracking” rules due to citizen outcry against this godawful process which poses a deadly threat to not just our groundwater, but also to our food supply.

But first, this message from one-time Bucks commissioner and natural gas industry-sycophant (and Tom Corbett’s lieutenant governor) Jim Cawley (here)…

“Energy equals jobs in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Cawley told a crowd of business owners and students at Bucks County Technical High School in Bristol Township on Friday.

…

“Pennsylvania has a challenge to continue to be good stewards of Penn’s Woods, but we also have an obligation to the truth, and that we put terms like ‘Rust Belt’ and ‘Brain Drain’ onto the ash heap of history,” said Cawley.

Natural-gas drilling supports 300,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, with an average annual wage of $74,000, he said.

“There’s a potential for hundreds of thousands more of those new hires,” said Cawley. “One of the best ways we can protect public welfare is by allowing the private sector to create family-sustaining jobs.”

It’s kind of a funny thing (“funny” strange I mean); when you read this, you find out that the actual number of industry jobs created in 2009 were about half of those originally estimated, with 37 percent of those going to out-of-state residents.

Meanwhile, Dem PA Rep Steve Santarsiero tells us the following (from the Courier Times story)…

On Friday, (Santarsiero, D-31), blasted the (Pa Chamber of Commerce) for not presenting a balanced range of views on Marcellus Shale gas extraction (the meeting was the fifth of nine forums scheduled on Marcellus Shale drilling).

Because environmental groups were not part of the forum, Santarsiero said he declined an invitation to participate.

“This is an important issue for the entire state,” he said. “Even though there is no Marcellus Shale in Bucks County, the fact of the matter is the proposed drilling in the Delaware River watershed has an impact, considering we get a significant amount of our (drinking) water from the Delaware River.”

Indeed. And by the way, Jim, I have a question.

Got a match (here)?

Monday Stuff

Kudos to Josh Fox, Debra Winger, and everyone who helped to make this happen (a long way from being settled, but progress)…



…and even though this tune from RT was aimed at our supposed financial geniuses on Wall Street, I still want to dedicate it to this alleged “super committee” anyway (still waiting for that “jobs” commission, Mr. President).

Sunday Stuff

Want to know why I can’t stand NASCAR? Here is a good reason for you.

Yes, saluting our veterans is always a good thing. But watch how quickly the Florida (figures) crowd pivots from recognizing Sgt. Andrew Berry to performing the truly gutless act of booing First Lady Michelle Obama and Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden (not really loud, but the boos are there).

Hey, if you don’t like the politicians, that’s one thing. If the President and/or Vice-President had been in attendance and they had been booed…well, that would have been a stretch, but I might have understood it. But booing the wives, who weren’t elected to a damn thing??

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! (and do I really need to ask what the reaction would be if this had happened to Laura Bush or Lynne Cheney?)...



...and here is my music dedication to the offending life forms.



Update: Oh, and by the way, I have to admit that I was shocked by Tweety’s performance on the season finale of “Real Time” recently, and I mean that in a good way; here is an excerpt, though he said other important stuff about the Cold War also (don’t worry – Andrew Sullivan was a total idiot and had nothing of consequence to bring to the discussion the whole night).

Saturday Stuff

Clearly, the UC Davis campus police here have a very different definition of what constitutes a threat than I do – bastards (more here, including calls for the resignation of Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi from the entire UC Davis faculty)…



Update 11/20/11: OK, FREEZE, MAGGOT! DROP THAT IAMBIC PENTAMETER NOW!!! (here)

…and oh yeah, I seem to recall learning about compassion, justice and basic human decency apart from what Former Senator Scumwad believes about suffering in the “Christian” tradition – have fun outpolling “someone else” in the Repug presidential candidates show, Little Ricky; does that count as another form of “suffering” also?…



…and the importance of the issue cited in this video should be self-explanatory – should be…



…and this song ran around in my head as I watched the despicable events unfold at UC Davis, particularly the line at the end about sending out the boys in blue – I supposed it also fits for the registered Dems/independents who decided not to vote the Tuesday before last, and no, I’m not going to stop “beating the drum” over that (sorry, no video).

Friday Stuff

Don’t be freaked out by the “frozen face” of former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich here – God, I wish he was in the Obama Administration (and in a related vein, as they say)…



…and “start spreading the news” indeed…



…”Worst Persons” (State rep Josh Byrnes of Iowa tries to call the unemployed “lazy,” parroting “Goodhair” Perry of course – nice try, asshat; a trio from Fix Noise get the runner-up for propagating the lie I noted earlier that the White House shooter was tied to the “Occupy” movement – I guess we’ll be trying to debunk this crap for as long as we’ve had to do the same thing about Al Gore supposedly saying he invented the Internet and Bob Casey, Sr. being denied the right to speak at the ’92 Democratic convention supposedly because he was “pro life”...sigh; but Moon Unit Bachmann really takes it for claiming that she supposedly hasn’t had gaffes during the presidential campaign…no, I’m serious, she actually said that – um, does this count too?)…



...and I just have one question; didn’t somebody make a movie out of this (I heard of having a “bang-up time,” but this is ridiculous...ba-dump!).

Friday Mashup (11/18/11)

I’ll be honest – though I of course support Patrick Murphy for PA Attorney General, I wasn’t sure what issue (or issues) he was going to run on. Well, as the Bucks County Courier Times noted in its “Thumbs Up” section today here…

To former Bucks County Congressman Patrick Murphy for the child safety measures he’s proposed in the wake of the Penn State child sexual assault scandal.

That still-unfolding mess centers on former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, who faces 40 counts of sexually assaulting eight boys over a 10-12 year time line. In addition to Sandusky, two college officials face prosecution for allegedly covering up the attacks and lying to a grand jury. While not charged, legendary football coach Joe Paterno and the university president have been fired.

Murphy’s proposal has four parts: establishing a secure, statewide criminal intelligence database for sex crimes against children; adopting stricter mandatory reporting laws; eliminating the statute of limitations on the sexual assault of children; and expanding and strengthening Child Advocacy Centers across Pennsylvania.

Murphy’s comprehensive approach deserves state lawmakers’ attention; in particular, his proposal for a mandatory reporting law. Fortunately, legislation already exists that would obligate anybody who witnesses a sex crime involving a child to report what they saw immediately. If nothing else, this measure needs to be on the books. It’s unconscionable that state law does not now require a witness to such an abominable act to do the right thing.

And for those looking for parallels to the Penn State and Archdiocese of Philadelphia scandals, this tells us the following…

Both are managed by male dominated-hierarchies. Both are revered by millions of people. And both allegedly dealt with accusations of sexual abuse of children internally, without going to law enforcement authorities.

To many victims’ advocates, commentators and others, the parallels between this week’s allegations about how Penn State dealt with reports of sex abuse and decade-old revelations about sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church are uncanny.

“It is really a striking and almost identical factual pattern that has emerged in the Catholic Church cases and at Penn State,” says Jeffrey Anderson, a lawyer who has represented hundreds of American abuse victims in lawsuits against the Catholic Church.

“The only difference is that two people have been fired at Penn State who were in revered positions,” says Anderson. “That’s in contrast to every diocese in the U.S where a cover-up has been revealed.

“Not one bishop, archbishop or cardinal has been fired or disciplined.”

Maybe not, but there has been progress, as noted in the Philadelphia Inquirer story from here…

Investigating clergy sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia was an exercise in frustration for the 2005 grand jury.

It identified 63 current and former priests credibly accused of molesting minors and lambasted the hierarchy for an "immoral cover-up" of the alleged crimes.

Yet no one was indicted.

The reason: Pennsylvania's statute of limitations had expired on assaults dating back to the 1960s, '70s, and '80s. "We surely would have charged them," the hamstrung panel wrote, "if we could have."

Since then, laws have changed - enough to crack open the church door to five criminal indictments.

(In February) following a new grand jury's recommendations, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office charged two priests, a defrocked priest, and a parochial-school teacher with raping and sodomizing two altar boys in the 1990s.

Even more surprising was the indictment of Msgr. William Lynn. Once Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua's secretary for clergy, he was charged with two felony counts of child endangerment for allegedly putting known abusive priests into contact with minors. Lynn had been excoriated at length in the 2005 grand jury report for similar actions, but was not charged.

The Inquirer story also tells us that the new language in the endangerment law “won’t hold up” in court against Lynn (we’ll see).

No sane person would ever believe that the Penn State and Catholic Church scandals were positive in any way. But as long as the Penn State scandal has occurred anyway, kudos to Murphy for proposing steps to deter such a scandal from ever occurring again (hopefully to prevent one also, but we’ll see), particularly ending the statute of limitations (opposed by the new head of the Philadelphia archdiocese, of course, as noted here).

Also, in the matter of the Penn State scandal, I thought this was a good post (h/t Atrios).

Next, I know I recent opined on Dr. Earl Tilford in the Courier Times about Iran and Syria, but it looks like former Bushie “Blow ‘Em Up” Bolton propagandized on that subject also here...

While we should have long since been pursuing regime change against the Assad family tyranny (in Syria), the unhappy reality today is that ousting Assad—or even aiding the dissidents with U.S. military force—is not something we should entrust to Barack Obama. The stakes are too high, the opposition too formidable, and the risks too great to allow him to exercise the commander-in-chief responsibilities in a possible confrontation with Iran. To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, we go to war with the president we have, and the incumbent is not fit for duty in the Syrian theater.

Got that? To take out Syria, we need to go after Iran. Hell yeah! U-S-A! U-S-A!

In response, I give you the following from that noted political pragmatist, George W. Bush, here (removing my tongue from my cheek)…

In order to express his contempt for the institution of the United Nations, (Dubya) revoked the ambassador to the U.N.’s Cabinet rank and then gave the job (with a recess appointment) to Bolton, the world’s angriest mustache. Bolton has so little respect for the U.N. that he refuses to even admit that it exists. (He also supports the removal of ten stories from the U.N. building. Despite this, he is on no terrorist watch lists that I know of.)

He is best known, among people who don’t spend their spare time endlessly rescreening Pamela Geller’s TV appearances on YouTube, as the guy who once angrily hurled a stapler at an underling’s head, just one of many examples of his incredibly unprofessional behavior.

He eventually turned out to be too much of a right-wing true believer for even the Bush administration, and by the end of Bush’s second term, Bolton and his ousted neo-con allies were sniping at their president in the press. “I don’t consider Bolton credible,” Bush said, which probably caused Bolton to contort his mustache into a comical frowny shape. (What was the president’s first hint that his U.N. ambassador wasn’t credible? His creepy, flirty relationship with Pamela Geller?)

“The world’s angriest mustache” – a veritable laff riot (and here is another Bolton gem).

Further, I should say something about last week’s Area Votes in Congress writeup even though the House decided not to take up space and do nothing was not in session (here).

In addition to voting to overturn Net Neutrality rules (failed), Pat Toomey was also responsible for the following…

Republican economic plan. Voting 40-56, the Senate on Thursday defeated a 28-point Republican jobs bill that would, in part, institute a balanced-budget amendment; reduce the top corporate and individual tax rates from 35 percent to 25 percent; repeal the 2010 health law and the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill; bar the federal government from regulating greenhouse gases associated with global warming; close an array of tax loopholes that benefit the wealthy and others, and give presidents a line-item veto. The plan was offered as an amendment to HR 674 (above).

A yes vote backed the GOP plan.

Voting yes: Toomey.

Voting no: Carper, Casey, Coons, Lautenberg, and Menendez.

Clean-air rules repeal. Voting 41-56, the Senate on Thursday defeated a measure (SJ Res 27) that sought to nullify the Environmental Protection Agency's newly implemented Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. The rule limits emissions from coal-fired power plants in 27 states that contribute to smog and soot pollution in downwind states.

A yes vote was to nullify the rule.

Voting yes: Toomey.

Voting no: Carper, Casey, Coons, Lautenberg, and Menendez.

And I think that deserves a viewing of the following video once more...



Oh, and I wonder if Toomey ever met with this person (though I’m sure I know the answer…here is a link to his Senate web site that was supposed to show a “slew” of constituent meetings based on the TP post, but I couldn’t find them...Update: And more Toomey deficit peacockery (word?) is on display here).

Continuing, Fix Noise told us here that the individual who fired two shots at the White House was from the Occupy movement (wrong!). However, that didn’t stop Laurene Pierce, President of the College Republicans at University of Texas, from supposedly joking about it here – particularly unfunny when you consider this.

Finally, I give you the following on OWS (with the latter topic leading a bit into this one)…

Many of the people at Occupy Bucks County were the same people who participated in Occupy Doylestown last month: Democratic activists, Quakers, practiced protesters. They carried signs that said “People before profits,” “We R the American Dream,” “Name 1 corporation that ever earned a Purple Heart.”

Among the new faces on Thursday was Jesse Goodrich, a 60-year-old retired engineer from Souderton. He said he found out about the rally through MoveOn.org and joined because “I’d like to be counted in one of millions of voices that have to be heard by Congress. The Republican Party does not speak for me.”

“They don’t speak for anyone but themselves,” Jean Mallock added.

Mallock, a 57-year-old unemployed mechanical assembler and forklift driver from New Britain Township, said she joined the rally — her first, she said — because she “believes it’s time for the common people to have a voice. Our government is controlled by millionaires and billionaires. The middle and lower classes have no power.”

Salaries are dropping and work conditions are getting worse, Mallock said, “and the Tea Parties and Republicans in Congress are blocking attempts to improve the situation.”

And from here…

Is the American Dream dying?

For Barbara Likens it is.

“I have children. My children are in their 20s. And I know they aren’t going to have the lifestyle that I’ve had. I’m blessed that my children are working, but my husband has not been working for three years. My husband works in the IBM mainframe universe, which is a dying art. It’s hard for him to find work. There are just not a lot of jobs out there and a lot are being outsourced. It’s about the American dream dying,” said the Lower Makefield resident.

She, like many who rallied at the Trenton Makes Bridge on Bridge Street in Morrisville as part of the “We Are the 99 percent” day movement on Thursday are appalled by the greed demonstrated by the wealthy and the lack of leadership from Congress with the economy.

With days until the Nov. 23 statutory deadline for the Congressional supercommittee to unveil its deficit reduction plan to trim at least $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years, Americans are taking to the streets. They are encouraging the committee to think about the working class, and less about the remaining 1 percent when formulating cuts.

“I do believe that those who have, in many cases, want to hold on to what they have,” Likens said. “That’s not to say that’s true of all. I mean, you have millionaires coming out saying, ‘I want to pay more taxes.’ Maybe it’s time that our elected officials listen to that. The underlying issue is greed. The best sign I’ve seen at a rally is: ‘Live the Golden Rule — Do unto others.’ And this day and age, many of us are too selfish to do that. I went and broke up with Bank of America because there were two executives who were getting $12 million for leaving, while that bank was laying off 30,000 people. That’s just not right.”

In spite of that, I give you the following from the Courier Times (a boneheaded “Thumbs Down” which, I suppose, had to balance out their smart “Thumbs Up” for Patrick Murphy)…

To the bedraggled Occupy forces in cities across the nation who are defying official orders to pull up stakes, fold up their tents and give the public spaces they’d commandeered back to the public. In some cities the Occupy protesters have tangled with police, leading to arrests and injuries.

The Occupiers made their point weeks ago. Their camps since have turned into tented slums that are attracting homeless people and criminals — if not rats. They’re a blight and they need to go. Said one judge in ordering the Occupiers to leave: People have a right to assemble, but not a right to camp out on public property. See ya.

I would first say in response that protests are supposed to be inconvenient; even with that said, the various Occupy groups around the country have given thought to this matter, with many applying for permits to peaceably protest. Here is a site providing information on how to do so in California.

(Also, let it be known that the “Occupy” movement helped people at The Daily Tucker here, even though that hack site has had not one good word to say about them. On top of that, I think this is another indirect endorsement of the group.)

However, after reading this, I have to admit that I’m concerned about the future of the group also. I have a feeling this is a minority opinion, but I believe the Occupiers are going to have to coalesce a bit more and become something of a political force, fielding candidates in local elections to start (I would love to see some “Occupy” candidates go after the “Bush Dogs” in Congress, but that may be too big of an initial step).

Yes, politics is a dirty, seamy business. Yes, the deck would be stacked against an “Occupy” candidate. Yes, there will probably be some “impurity” entered into the movement as a result. But like it or not, that is how you effect change for real in this country.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: the Repugs as they are now constituted represent virtually nothing that I believe in, but in 1964, they were flat on their backs in terms of presidential politics (I’m talking about the movement conservatives). However, they organized, getting their acolytes into academia, graduating law schools and ultimately into politics, to say nothing of into broadcasting and organizing through direct mail. It took them 16 years to kick off the ruinous conservative ascendancy, but they did it (helped in no small part by the candidate they were looking for at long last). And we are definitely the worse for it.

I don’t know if it will take that long for “Occupy” to become a political force (I hope not), but that is surely the next step. If we can’t get people into voting booths clicking those levers in accordance with the principles of the “Occupy” movement as whole, then it will all be for nothing.

Update: OK, I like where this is going (and big-time kudos to Ted Deutch for this).

Thursday Stuff

This happened on this date 38 years ago – compared to the clown parade of supposed Republican presidential candidates we have now, Tricky Dick looks like FDR (we would find out about “obstructing justice,” of course)…



...and I wonder if Joe Biden realizes how prescient he was in this speech about Internet freedom – and more importantly, I wonder how committed he is to backing up these great words (more here)…



…also, happy birthday to PA’s Republican U.S. Senator…



…”Worst Persons” (Bill Orally opens his pie hole about the “Occupy” movement, and hilarity ensues; “Goodhair” Perry goes cherry picking for quotes – I disagree with Keith saying that Number 44 was talking about the government, but I still think Obama makes a good point, though what has happened has more to do with greed than laziness; but Roger (“Lord Voldemort”) Ailes gets it for literally making stuff up about the Constitution, realizing his core audience will be too dumb to know the difference)…



Update 11/18/11: Not surprisingly, John Cole nails it on the "lazy" thing here...

Here’s how it works - Obama says something, Republicans completely lie about it, the media notes the lie is catching on without ever actually calling it a lie, the Democrats have to waste resources and respond to the lie, Republicans double down, this sucks the life out of everything else for a couple week, and in ten years this will be conventional wisdom that Obama called Americans lazy, just like Al Gore claimed to invent the internet and the rest of the bullshit that wingnuts have adopted as received truths (snow in November refutes climate change, the more you cut taxes the more government revenue you raise, if a bombing campaign does not make people like you it means you didn’t bomb hard enough or your targeting was off, liberals lost Viet Nam, waterboarding isn’t torture, etc).

Uh, yep.

…and I wish I had a nickel for every video I’ve ever seen beginning with somebody leaving, for what it’s worth.

Wednesday PM Stuff

I apologize to every living, breathing, multiplying life form in the entire universe for devoting a speck of time whatsoever to the human mistake that truly is Pat Buchanan (h/t Atrios), but I want to take the almost bile-inducing bigotry of what he says in this clip (sound only) and say something about it that might not come immediately to mind.

As Roman Catholic parents in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia who have occasion to come into contact with school-age kids attending classes with the young one (the “teenage one” just about now), Mrs. Doomsy and I have taken what is called “safe environment” training so that we have a much better idea to look out for occasions where kids could fall prey to sexual predators (of course, the need for such training is a whole other topic I don’t intend to get into now). And one of the points that is made loud and clear in the training is that homosexuality, statistically speaking vs. heteros, has nothing to do with the abuse scandal and gays do not pose this type of threat to kids (or much of any type as nearly as we can see).

That is one of the reasons why Buchanan is flat, dead wrong (though he actually does start to make a bit of sense until he gets to about 1:00, and then the metaphorical wheels completely fall off – to do something in response, read this - more here)...



...and on a somewhat less serious, but still important, note, I give you this (tells you just what some of the Bushies are up to now, and it also tells you how little Scalia and Thomas of The Supremes care about even the appearance of a conflict of interest)...

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...and oh yes, they're all still out there, and as much as I'd like to ignore them, I really can't (here)...

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...and with all of this other stuff, I'm kind of in the mood for a silly bit of fluff like this.