Gosh, it looks like Mikey The Beloved won’t attend a public forum any more where the media or recording devices are present – oh yeah, and Kathy Boockvar also (as Mikey’s PR service “reports” here).
Seriously.
How about this then, Mikey – is it OK…
…or this…
…or this…
…or this…
Click here to support Kathy Boockvar and help to erase the mistake that too many voters in PA-08 – in their iron-headed, Teahadist stupidity – made two years ago.
(Gee, I wonder if Mikey is a bit skittish because of this video – the part where he accuses President Obama of treason is between 4:16 and 4:20)…
Also, I know I’m really late any more to all of the dustups in the “blogosphere” (still hate that word), but this tells us that yet another attempt to paint President Obama as a ZOMG BLACKETY BLACK SCARY MUSLIM BLACKETY BLACK ACORN ACORN ACORN SCARY KENYAN SOCIALIST WEALTH REDISTRIBUTOR!!!!! turned into an epic fail.
Yes, this is yet another pointless, stupid right-wing contrivance. However, I think something else needs to be pointed out here.
And that is the fact that, by manufacturing this garbage, our fellow conservative methane dispensers are showing a thorough and utter lack of any regard whatsoever for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Should the victims of Katrina be remembered with the reverence of the 9/11 victims? I don’t think it’s possible to answer that question, because any loss of life is a tragedy. However, what unites both catastrophes to me is the fact that our government failed in different ways to protect those among us who they were elected to serve (and yes, I’m thinking of Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History when I say that).
Was Obama being a bit of an opportunist by giving his speech that the wingnuts have turned into a cause célèbre? Probably. But at least some politician was trying to speak truth to stoo-pid when it came to trying to rebuild the “Big Easy.”
With all of that out of the way, I’d like to offer this one more time, in the probably vain hope on my part that the next time anyone tries to score political points over Katrina, they’ll crawl back under their respective rocks instead.
…and changing the mood more than a little, here is my reaction to this story :-)...
…and speaking of TV personalities, one of the most iconic of all began his run as host of the “Tonight” Show 50 years ago today (this clip pre-dates that, actually – Marilyn Monroe had been dead for about a month, sadly)…
…and everywhere I go, I keep reading and hearing the same thing that I’m sure you read and hear also, namely, something along the lines of “well, just wait until the debates,” particularly the first one between Romney and Obama, and then that will decide the election.
And why is that, exactly? Could it be that there are actually people out there who are waiting for that occasion to make up their minds? Are there that many people in this country who are that dense that they somehow can’t grasp what’s at stake in this election?
(I know, if I won’t like the answer, don’t ask the question.)
Yes, I support Obama for a lot of reasons, but still, this song captures how I feel about the “debates” (actions speaking louder than, and all that).
God, is Willard Mitt Romney just a bit of a self-entitled prick, or what (here)…
…and I hope his comments at that Boca Raton fundraiser haunt him until the day he dies (here – which hopefully won’t be for a long time, I wish to emphasize)…
…also, I give Lawrence O’Donnell (and Jim Webb too, of course) credit for continuing to push the issue of Romney’s advocating of someone else fighting in Vietnam besides him while he frolicked in France instead (here)…
The next time you hear someone say that Islam is nothing but a “gutter religion” or whatever – well, ask them to watch this video (here)…
…and by the way, how hilarious is this? TPM put together a reel of clips showing Repugs telling Todd Akin to GET THE HELL OUT of the Missouri Senate race, but apparently based on this, all is forgiven (and God, how pathetic is Dennis Miller anymore?)…
…and I give you yet another Repug acting just a bit too candid in front of a camera and a microphone here (and to help Tammy Baldwin, click here)…
…and happy birthday to Bryan Ferry, formerly of Roxy Music.
I really hadn’t planned to say anything about what apparently was the blown call in the Green Bay Packers/Seattle Seahawks football game last night, but I thought this was an interesting piece of “world” news from Yahoo.
In addition to the fact that the replacement refs are scabs, the games shouldn’t be watched because the NFL is thus marketing an inferior product.
The only things Roger Goodell and the owners understand are asses in the seats at the home games and eyeballs watching the TV screens. Until that changes, nothing else will.
Now, to switch subjects – this is a quick video, but a meaningful one...
...and enigmatic Canadian pianist Glenn Gould would have been 80 today (time for a bit of culture).
…and I know I gave it to Kathy Boockvar yesterday for her wishy-washy sort-of endorsement of the Affordable Care Law, but apparently, she gave an interview recently with the oh-so-august-in-their-imaginations editorial board of the Bucks County Courier Times, and she said things that were a lot more in line with what a Dem is supposed to think and feel and believe, IMHO (no oil company subsidies; get our military out of Afghanistan – depending on what the brass has to say...conditional, I know, but pragmatic; and raising the top-tier tax rate to 39 percent – here, and to help Boockvar, click here).
And of course, since we’re talking about Gary Weckselblatt and Mikey the Beloved’s PR factory, they pointed out moments when they asked her questions and she didn’t know the answers (honestly can’t recall our Longtime Bucks Resident Good Catholic Father And Former Eagle Scout PA-08 rep getting that kind of treatment). They also pointed out how many times Boockvar has run for office and lost.
Now why does that sound familiar...
…and here is a message to Willard Mitt from one of the “47 percent” (here)…
…and what the hell is wrong with that man anyway (here – h/t to Jed Lewison for the pic).
Yes, I know we’ve beaten the “Mitt Romney screwing the proverbial pooch at the Boca Raton fundraiser” thing to death, but I still thought Chris Hayes had some interesting comments about it here (probably the best argument for the moment for public financing only of campaigns)…
…and happy 60th birthday to Richard Nixon’s “Checkers” speech, probably the first bit of political theater for the TV age…keep in mind that it worked…
…and I don’t know about you, but I need a laugh (though Tricky Dick was kind of humorous in that speech…hat tips to Time and Buzzfeed), so…
…and happy 63rd birthday to Bruce Springsteen (and I give you one of the best expressions of populist rage set to music I’ve ever heard).
There’s a reason why I frequently refer to the Bucks County Courier Times as Mike Fitzpatrick’s PR operation. It’s because that’s exactly what that newspaper is, and they proved it again yesterday.
They ran a headline with a look of consternation on Fitzpatrick’s face (supposedly from fighting for his constituents again, I guess, or so they’d have us believe), and the “news story” at the top of the front page had to do with the supposed revelations of the latest Congressional Budget Office report on the health care law.
And of course, this “story” served up the usual demagoguery from Mikey The Beloved…congressional Democrats in the prior congress supposedly railroaded the bill to the White House…etc. (some of which was also refuted here)…
The (CBO) revision, 50 percent higher than a previous projection of 4 million in 2010, amounts to a broken promise, Fitzpatrick said.
In his first campaign for the White House, Obama pledged not to raise taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 a year and couples making less than $250,000.
The budget office analysis, however, found that nearly 80 percent of those who’ll face the penalty would be making up to or less than five times the federal poverty level. Currently that would work out to $55,850 or less for an individual and $115,250 or less for a family of four.
The average penalty in 2016 will be $1,200, according to the CBO.
(By the way, I assume that, outside of the CBO notation, all of this comes from Mikey himself, since there really is no other attribution implied.)
OK, so let’s back up here – what’s 50 percent higher than 4 million, boys and girls?
Yes, 6 million, that’s right!
Which is 2 percent of the total population of this country.
Yep, 2 percent, people.
Think Progress tells us that and much more here, including the following...
…the revised 6 million figure does not mean the health care law puts a strain on the middle class. In fact, Obamacare will provide millions of families with large tax credits to help make health care more affordable for them, and the penalty will only be leveled against those Americans who choose not to purchase insurance even though they are able to afford it.
It should be noted that the Courier Times “story” does indeed include a quote from the Obama Administration that corroborates the 6 million, 2 percent figure. Of course, it’s noted in PARAGRAPH 14 after the reader gets a heaping helping of Mikey’s partisan whining first (talk about burying the lede!).
Also, as noted here, part of the reason for the CBO adjustment is because of cuts to Medicaid that the Affordable Care Law may or may not make up (And the governors of which political party are primarily responsible for those cuts? The answer is here). Also, here is more on the Repugs' years-long effort to kill health care reform.
The Courier Times piece also notes that the Kathy Boockvar campaign was contacted over this, and here is the response…
Fitzpatrick’s opponent in the November election, Democrat Kathy Boockvar, was unavailable for comment Thursday.
Now it’s possible that there could have been a scheduling conflict of some type, and that might have been the reason why there was no official response from the PA-08 Dem challenger. However, the Courier Times also tells us the following…
Following the GOP’s summer repeal vote, (Boockvar) said rather than repeal the measure, “let’s fix the law we have. Let’s make sure it’s affordable for individuals and small businesses alike. Let’s make sure that this law best carries out its purpose, making sure the most Americans have health care coverage as soon as possible so our children and our neighbors never have to rely on emergency rooms for their health care.”
That’s not exactly the full-throated defense that the Affordable Care Law deserves, Ms. Boockvar. As far as I’m concerned, it isn’t even close.
Basically, why am I the one communicating the utter absurdity of the latest fit of pique from Fitzpatrick and his willing accomplices at the Courier Times instead of you (oh, and in another tricky move by Mikey’s PR service, they perpetrated this fraud on a Friday, and since the paper doesn’t publish on a Saturday, this was the running headline for two days on the news stand copies all over Bucks, not just one).
Of course, I’m talking about the same alleged newspaper that ran full-page Fitzpatrick ads for weeks two years ago and ended up giving two candidate endorsements, one for Fitzpatrick and former rep Patrick Murphy, as opposed to a single one that reputable print publications do…wonder if they’ll extend Boockvar the same favor? Do I need to ask?
This is a picture of Gary Weckselblatt, the author of this utter dreck.
Here is a link to job postings at Pottery Barn (Williams-Sonoma is the parent company).
Weckselblatt knows how to do the rest (and for more of the reality point of view here, Ezra Klein tells us the following - more here)…
…and here is a tune for the occasion (haven’t featured anything from the ‘80s for a little while – about time).
Update 9/23/12: I may be putting on my tin foil hat here, but I’m wondering if there isn’t something much more organized at work than I first suspected.
You see, being a Roman Catholic, I attended services today, and of course today is “Respect Life Sunday.” So the priest celebrating Mass tells us about the importance of the election coming up, and naming President Obama by name, criticizes him for supporting abortion, gay marriage and forced sterilization (the latter of which, by the way, is an urban legend, as noted here).
Oh, and after the homily ends, half of the congregation applauds (registered Republicans, I’m sure).
And to put the cherry on the icing on the proverbial cake, tables were set up in front of the church so congregants could fill in voter registration forms when they left Mass.
I realize there is quite probably no illegality whatsoever in what I just described. But given that the Church enjoys tax-exempt status and really isn’t allowed to “officially” (wink, wink) endorse one political party over another (again, on the heels of the Courier Times doing their part with Mikey)…
Well, let me put it this way; no incense was used today in church because it wasn’t a high holy day (which happens for Easter services, among other occasions), but to give out the proper amount of it to purify the premises from the rankness of its political cronyism, they would have had to turn the entire grounds into a fog bank.
Update 10/4/12: Oh, and by the way, about a week after this took place in church, we received a solicitation from our parish saying more money was needed for building repairs, and $500 was listed as a "suggested family contribution." I was tempted to tear up the letter and send it back with a 2012 Obama bumper sticker included - I may yet do that.
The Bucks County Courier Times allowed Mikey the Beloved (that upstanding Catholic former Eagle scout and supposed paragon of integrity, let's not forget) to whine some more today about how he supposedly is a protector of Social Security and Medicare (here); in response, I give you this video...and as far as Mikey supposedly being a “protector” of Romney-RyanCare (or, to be more precise, Romney-Ryan-MikeyCare), I give you this…
…and sure, why not let Jon Stewart have a whack at the Romney presidential campaign piñata…
…and changing the mood more than a little bit, this is so disgusting that it's hard for me to talk about it, so I'll just put up the video instead (it features that Murphy guy again, and "No Corporate Tax Pat" Toomey being typically slimy)…
…and I give you a member of the “47 percent” with a message for Willard Mitt…
Update 9/19/12: Oh, so now the "47 percent" are "parasites" (h/t Atrios). Awesome indeed!
…and I’ve tried to stay away from Jon Stewart not because he isn’t great, which he is, but because I don’t find most of what’s going on to be particularly funny, though it rocks that he basically rips “Baghdad Dan” Senor a new one here…
Another day, another insert-foot-in-mouth-and-turn moment from Willard Mitt Romney (hat tip to Atrios for this, the latest from Think Progress is here, and here is more about the individual hosting the event where Romney told us what truly lurks in his coal-black heart)…
…all of which makes what he has to say in this video even more unintentionally hilarious (more here)…
…and from the ridiculous (but still important) to the sublime, I give you this; happy 225th birthday to the U.S. Constitution…
…and Ethan Clay is my new hero for this (figures that the “suits” are mad at him) – here is a song in his honor (sorry, no video, only Tom’s mug).
I thought Ezra Klein produced some interesting historical context here on how diplomacy in the Muslim world really is a bipartisan issue…and yes, you may be shocked to learn that Dubya deserves credit for actually doing something right (here, and I thought this was interesting also on this issue – I continue to be impressed by Rep. Keith Ellison)…
…and I’m bringing back this report from Memorial Day 2010 or thereabouts as a reminder that, while the U.S. House Repug “leadership” can take a two-month vacation, as noted here (oh, but that time will really be devoted to “constituent service,” wink, wink), they’ll trip all over each other to try and deny that benefit to the rest of us (something else to keep in mind on November 6th… - and by the way, this report is another reason to support this guy)…
…and this clip goes out not just to Todd Akin, but Paul “Rape Is ‘Another Method Of Contraception’” Ryan (here)…
…and I guess this is a tongue-in-cheek selection – no line that Akin and his disgusting pals including Mikey the Beloved won’t cross (haven’t heard a word of reproach towards Akin from our wet noodle PA-08 rep…love to be wrong, but I haven’t seen it).
Let’s “set the wayback” for the benefit of Willard Mitt Romney, OK (answering this); here is his response to the British burning Washington during the War of 1812...
“Well, this is what happens when President Jefferson and Secretary of War Madison apologize to the British and let them 'impress' members of our Navy for their own.” (Read this to find out that Jefferson and Madison did no such thing).
Here is Romney’s response to the commencement of The Civil War in 1861...
“I’m shocked that a Republican president would allow the Army of the Potomac to commence fire in a southern state in an effort to illegally seize federal property.” (Read here to learn that the South fired first at Fort Sumter).
Here is Romney’s response to the assassination of President James Garfield in 1881...
“This is a sad day for our country, but it’s not hard to see how passions can be inflamed when a president fails to reach out to formerly secessionist elements, to the point where someone acts lawlessly.” (Read here to learn, among other things, that Garfield’s assassin, Charles Guiteau, wanted an ambassadorship from Garfield, believing that he was responsible for the election of our 20th president, with Guiteau not giving a damn about the South in the Civil War, though the state of Guiteau’s mental faculties was definitely an open question).
And finally, here is Romney responding to the World War I veterans of the Bonus March of 1932...
“It sickens me that insurgent, liberal elements have led some in our military to seek a government handout when we can least afford it.” (Read here to learn that the World War I veterans marching on Washington sought compensation due to them since they could not find work during the Great Depression; in accordance with a 1924 law, they were not due to receive their money until 1945...the law was eventually changed in 1936 so they could receive their payments early).
No, I don’t suppose all of this is particularly clever on my part. However, I’m trying to come up with new ways to express my disgust with Romney, having exhausted all the old ones, so please bear with me on this (maybe he was better off actually ignoring foreign policy, and kudos to Chuck Todd and Lawrence O’Donnell for holding him accountable – there is indeed a historical context in which presidents have to act, a fact that utterly escapes the former Massachusetts governor)...
Update 9/13/12: And speaking of history lessons (here)...
...and Steve Biko died 35 years ago today (for more info on Amnesty International, click here...the rest is indeed up to us).
Offered without comment – I don’t believe any is necessary…
(Also, sorry to profane the memory of this day with media/political crap, but in response to this, I give you this, particularly egregious on Cheney’s part when you consider this…more in the spirit of this day, I give you this.)
…and consider this my way of saying “F.U.” to those who attacked us, scratchy vinyl and all (from the Columbia years…I read people who were actually upset that bin Laden was supposedly unarmed when he was killed – I seem to recall about 3,000 people who were also mostly unarmed about 11 years ago today).
To me, this was easily the highlight of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte last week – a highly unoriginal observation, I realize...here is all of former President Clinton’s speech...
...and Slash and Myles Kennedy keep cranking out rockin’ little numbers like these.
I have to admit that I was feeling a bit pleased with myself for this recent post in response to the 31 (at a minimum) votes to repeal the Affordable Care Law, in which, in response, I highlighted 31 U.S. House Republicans (and two Democrats) who I thought were most at fault for this utter waste of time and taxpayer money. And putting all the posts together, while a time-consuming and sometimes exhausting exercise, was something that I thought was beneficial.
However, it recently occurred to me that that’s not really going to do much in pursuit of what I believe is a bigger goal, and that is to return the U.S. House to the Democrats (or short of that, to cut into the Republican majority…besides, is Hal Rogers actually going to lose?).
So I did a bit of looking around and came up with this list of races in which control of the House could be decided, and I did the same thing I did with the 31, only with a bigger and broader group. I tried to put the Republican candidates in what I believed was an appropriate light on one hand, while including web site or other contact information for their Democratic challengers on the other.
Now I can imagine the response of “there you go again, Doomsy, trying to smear Republicans any way possible.” Well, it may shock you to know that I included complimentary information on three of them; Robert Dold for standing up for Planned Parenthood, Scott Tipton for standing up for wind power, and Richard Hanna for standing up to the Teahadists. But don’t worry – there’s plenty of other stuff to use against the rest of the list (including Hanna and Tipton, though I must say that Tipton’s challenger Sal Pace doesn’t exactly “light it up” in his interview with Ed Schultz…it should also be noted that I really couldn’t find anything on David Rosa in Texas or David Hernandez in California – I’ll admit that this list may be a bit inexact). Also, it’s likely that there are races on this list where the Repug incumbent is actually better qualified that the Democratic challenger.
The issue that matters, though, is control of the House, and if sending some less deserving Dems to Washington helps return us to the majority, so be it, as a certain Speaker said in another context (besides, who’s to say that some of these folks won’t grow into the job, in the name of the “greater good”?).
So, with that somewhat windy pretext out of the way, here is my list of the DCCC-targeted Repug U.S. House candidates and their challengers (Note: Some Republicans are challengers also in races where an incumbent isn't running or redistricting has taken place):
Today, we fight the corrupting influence of ALEC, the Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson, and on and on, but in an earlier day, the primo right-wing sugar daddy was this guy, and the Repugs (and probably some Dems too) paid homage to him…not saying this as a tribute to Moon by any means, but just acknowledging the history…
…and remember when the Repugs used to be the “daddy party” according to our corporate media? Funny, but I’m not hearing that any more (Rachel Maddow should get an Emmy, a Cable Ace award or something for the last minute and a half in particular)…
…and this actually isn’t a bad report on the American Jobs Act until the “White Ho” starts editorializing at about 1:42; as noted here, the report is a year old…just like the American Jobs Act is a year old, while “Man Tan” Boehner and Eric Cantor continue to sit on it and let it gather dust…I’ll remember that the next time I hear wingnut caterwauling about how one of their pet causes or personages “deserves an up-and-down vote”…
…oh, and speaking of jobs, Mikey The Beloved’s PR factory allowed him more room to peddle his garbage here (“the threat of high taxes creates uncertainty for job creators, along with the Supreme Court’s ruling on ‘Obamacare’ that creates a burden for middle-class families, blah blah blah”…we’ve heard it from you a hundred times before, Mikey – it was bullshit then, and it’s bullshit now – try sucking on this...and to help Kathy Boockvar, click here)…
…and that’s probably an appropriate transition to this tune – RIP Joe South.
Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews (who has been kicking butt lately, for anyone who’s noticed) bring us a depressing, but important, history lesson concerning the awful 112th Congress (and something neither mentioned, which is just as bad, are the stalled judicial appointments)...
Gee, I wonder what position Willard Mitt (Etch-A-Sketch, Weather Vane) Romney was taking here (great stuff, included in a film tribute to Ted Kennedy at the convention tonight)...
...and I heard be “proved it all night,” as the song goes, again in these parts (here...this is loud!).
Looks like that sleazy weasel Eric Cantor needs to pay a trip to the Karl Rove-Frank Luntz GOP Messaging Factory (‘humuna humuna humuna” – and speaking of Virginia’s congressional mistake, I give you this)...
As we know, Willard Mitt Romney promises nothing except “the ownership society” on steroids (here).
However, I want to digress for a minute and focus on That Upstanding “Catholic” man Paul Ryan for a second.
This, to me, was a hell of a catch by Paul Slansky at HuffPo; did you know that rape is a “method of conception” according to Mr.-Puppy-Dog-Eyes-With-The-Shiv-In-His-Pocket?
And, by the way, that supposedly is "an improvement over what we have now" according to Ryan? WHAAAA????!!!
Actually, the exact quote when asked by the brainless corporate media stenographer about rape and conception (and DEAR GOD, CAN THE REPUGS PLEASE JUST ALL SHUT UP ABOUT THIS??!!) is “the method of conception doesn’t change the definition of life” (witness the vile, right-wing conservative framing in response to a question about a horrific attack of sexual violence, as if the woman is nothing more than a vessel to incubate the embryo until it forms as a fetus and the woman conceives).
I believe no other conservative politician since The Sainted Ronnie R has managed to make a career out of making the most despicable misstatements of fact and/or opinion besides Ryan. The faux earnestness of his expression while he utters this contemptible garbage is a nauseating travesty unto itself…
Update 9/4/12: And speaking of Romney/Ryan, insert your own caption for this one, comrades!
Update 9/5/12: That "fine, Christian man" strikes again (here).
…and changing topics, I guess this is appropriate for the holiday (Prog Rock lives! I just wish that damn screen would stop flipping! And yes, I also thought of Spinal Tap as listened to this.)
Gosh, it looks like Mikey The Beloved won’t attend a public forum any more where the media or recording devices are present – oh yeah, and Kathy Boockvar also (as Mikey’s PR service “reports” here).
