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.)
Oh, and by the way, while one political circus packs up and leaves Tampa and a new one makes its way to Charlotte, I think we should all keep in mind the fact that the planet is still melting, and we still need to do something about that, assuming it is still possible (and leave it to al Jazeera to do the reporting that actually matters)...
Hey, if the Repugs are going to twist that “you didn’t build that” quote, then the Dems should be able to take advantage also (and for more, Matt Taibbi, in typical fashion, delivers here)...
...and I was kind of in the mood for this, so here it is (just felt like changing things up again a bit).
“The Man From Bloomfield Hills” – nice job by Moveon.org…
…and more avoidance by Willard Mitt is on display here (though I must say that, though I support Number 44, it takes more than a bit of chutzpah to try and tether Romney to Afghanistan, which Obama owns exclusively at this point)…
…and by the way, how did Iraq war cheerleader William Kristol, of all people, end up as the corporate media arbiter of political etiquette when it comes to all people, places and things related to the military (here)…
…and I probably shouldn’t like this because Bob’s voice is almost completely gone, but I do – are you looking for a good old fashioned “boy meets girl then loses girl then finds girl and they end up happily ever after” video? Well, this ain’t it.
Welcome to the Republican Party, Clint (here…very “non-PC” language follows)…
Update 9/20/12: And in a case of life imitating art, I guess the chair is as empty as this idiot's head; the same goes for that loser in Virginia also (here).
…and gee, THANKS, GOVERNOR BREWER (here - maybe she should have a talk with Michael Moore)…
…and time to rebut that “good Christian” Paul Ryan again…
…and this goes out to the Wisconsin U.S. House rep.
It’s been a few days since I finished compiling the list of the 31 U.S. House Republicans opposed to health care reform, and I wondered what the next step should be. I mean, pointing out that these people fundamentally are frauds and charlatans is a nice, therapeutic exercise I know, even if it ended up being waaay more time consuming than I thought it would.
But how do we actually get rid of them, I wondered?
With that in mind, I did a bit of research and came up with a list of Democratic challengers for not quite all of the 31 that, as far as I know, is as firm as can be expected at the moment (I think there’s a question about William Smith, and the Dem primary won by Harold Whitfield was being recounted the last I checked). Also, I say “not quite all” because Boehner, Broun and Gohmert don’t have Democratic challengers (I couldn’t find any – if there are brave souls out there taking them on that I don’t know about, please leave a comment to that effect). I also hacked around with some HTML a bit and came up with the table format; the incumbent names are linked to the prior posts the same way they were during the countdown, and the challengers are linked mainly to their web sites, but also a Twitter page and a blogspot home page also.
I wish to emphasize that I know nothing about almost all of the challengers, but maybe (if you’re “represented” by any of the 31) it might be a good idea to learn more about these folks (and, if you’re so inclined, to chip in with some coin to help them out). And I’m not going to pretend that trying to knock off the incumbents isn’t going to be a mammoth exercise in some (maybe even most) cases. But that journey of a mile begins with a single step, as they say (or something).
John Fugelsang gives us a dose of reality for the corporate media BS currently oozing out of our flat screens (hat tip to one of my senior correspondents for this one)…
Update 8/30/12: And I'm sure this made "the baby Jesus" cry too.
…and I think this song has a lot more to do with the reality we know than the nonsense currently playing out in “the state of Lex Luthor Scott.”
(In case it's hard to read, I should point out that some single-digit-IQ'd life form(s) spray painted a hammer and sickle on the front of the new Obama campaign office in Doylestown, Pa.)
The link to the signup tomorrow is here (and if you really want to extend a middle-digit-on-high to the perpetrators of the vandalism, click here and make a contribution).
Now, for a change of subject, get a load of this asshat being interviewed – the miners weren’t required to attend the Romney event, but attendance was still “mandatory”? And of course, in case anyone didn’t want to attend but just show up to the mine to work, the mine was closed for “safety reasons”? And according to “federal law”? Really??
And in the matter of “payment,” this Rob Moore idiot says, “well, according to FEC law, we couldn’t pay them to attend the event.” The question has to do with payment for the job the miners weren’t allowed to perform because they had to attend Romney’s photo-op,you slug!!
…meanwhile, Rachel Maddow brings us a Tampa edition of “Debunktion Junction” (the last minute is a real hoot given the fools and frauds dispensing methane there this week)…
…at long last, it is indeed time to name the #1 U.S. House Republican opposed to health care reform, and that would be this guy…
…Steven Arnold King of Iowa’s 5th Congressional District.
And why Steve King, I hear you ask?
Because he gave us the following quote (from here, including this of course)…
“King added that he’s thinking about introducing a bill, which if it became law, would repeal everything Obama has signed into law,” reports The Messenger, a local newspaper in Iowa. Such an extreme proposition would certainly do away with the biggest Republican bugaboos like Obamacare and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, but King’s “reset button” bill will come with many more casualties…
Indeed. As Think Progress tells us, King’s bill would eliminate the Bush tax cuts once and for all (which would be fine with me, by the way), defund the military, relax southern border security, strip medals of honor from 9/11 first responders, and cancel plans to honor The Sainted Ronnie R (which would also be fine with me).
Basically, until the recent nonsense with King’s fellow looney tune rep Todd Akin and his “legitimate rape” episode (which King, of course, defended, probably for no other reason that because Akin was intruding on his crazy turf), I would have considered King a “slam dunk” as the U.S. House Repug most likely to be wrapped in a straight jacket and carted off Hannibal Lecter style from the chamber because he’d lost what’s left of his mind (which may yet happen anyway).
And as noted here, isn’t it accommodating of King to make himself timely in the news again as I’m putting this post together?
I’m not sure if it’s fair to say that King is the craziest individual in the U.S. House, since the Repug field is so wide and deep in that department (and what a commentary on the American voters who send these life forms slithering back to Washington every two years, by the way). He may have the edge over people such as Moon Unit Bachmann and Louie Gohmert in that, according to my unofficial tally, he has introduced more crazy actual legislation than those two (I mean, it doesn’t take a genius to say something dumb in public, but it takes someone maybe only slightly more advanced to structure his or her craziness into something that could potentially acquire the force of law). And King has done that, noted in some of the following lowlights:
King said here that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was “boring” (SOPA had other problems, but we’re sorry King was somehow uninterested…he gets paid too much money to be “bored” by stuff like this).
He introduced a resolution to defund health care along with Bachmann here – and then voted “Present” on his own amendment (unbelievable).
Here, he measured the worth of workers in soybeans (typical for a lunatic).
King called, basically, for a return to McCarthyism here.
King, of course, has no problem trying to legislate regarding the health care of women, though, of course, he doesn’t want any law passed that affects his body (here), which I’m quite sure is bereft of any sign of intelligent life.
What passes for King's thought process here is that employers shouldn’t have to hire gays and lesbians because they shouldn’t be told who to discriminate against, or something.
King tried to destroy food safety regulations not just in California, but all over the country, here.
He wanted Obama’s uncle to testify on Capitol Hill here – God only knows why.
King suggested states have a right to ban contraception here
.
Oh, and did I tell you that King is a “birther,” of course (which is also noted by TMI below)?
King also falsely claimed the number of uninsured would increase under “Obamacare” here.
He also said unemployment is caused by “a nation of slackers” here (and what a trifecta in the pic, by the way).
He also claimed that the Romney team comes to him for advice, supposedly, here (I’m sure Willard Mitt wants to put some duct tape over King’s mouth for that).
Here, he says some Americans just don’t need health care (maybe he should give up his own to try and prove his point).
I guess King is trying to "triple down" on the stoo-pidhere regarding his thoroughly baseless charge against Huma Abedin, wife of former Congressman Anthony Weiner and aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
This tells us about King’s “English only” bill, which is another typically moronic idea.
This tells us, among other things, that one of King’s hometown newspapers actually tried to take back its endorsement of him in his 2010 election campaign against Matt Campbell (yep, we’re talking a whole other level of wingnuttia here).
So with all of this in mind, please allow me to present the following...
Here, he compared upgrades of light bulbs on Capitol Hill to tactics of the former Soviet secret police (o-kaaayyyyyy)...
...here is a TMI report on King (I give Rachel Maddow and Kent Jones credit for trying to interject some humor, though I find King funny in no way, shape or form)...
...and K.O. basically makes a plea here to the vertebrate life forms who continually send King back to Washington over and over again.
And so there you have it, people. That is my report on 31 U.S. House Republicans who have done their best to obstruct health care reform (with Dems Dan Boren and Mike Ross thrown in as a bonus). Some of them, including Boren and Cliff Stearns (Update 8/29/12: "Mean Jean" Schmidt too), won’t be returning to Washington next year – we already know that. However, I would ask that you please keep all of this in mind as you vote early and often, I’m sure, all over the country this November.
Update 9/6/12: As Kent Jones said, Steve King isn't finished (here).
Update 9/8/12: Willard Mitt tells us something about himself by the company he keeps, and I don't mean that in a good way (here).
Update 10/23/14: He's assuming he'll get there to decline meeting them - I wouldn't be too sure (here).
Oh, and here’s one final musical number dedicated to the person at the top of the list.
