Saturday Stuff

I think this is basically a good report about Willard Mitt’s bumbling on the world stage and the fact that he would be “George W. Romney” on foreign policy and other matters, but I think it’s dangerous for anyone to assume that Romney would be a pacifist – I can definitely see him doing something stupid overseas, if for no other reason than to try and prove that he’s tougher than he ever will be…

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

And it’s that time again…

#17, David Schweikert
#18, Virginia Foxx
#19, Pete Sessions
#20, Charlie Dent
#21, Cathy McMorris Rodgers
#22, Chris Smith
#23, Todd Akin
#24, Buck McKeon
#25, Kristi Noem
#26, Hal Rogers
#27, Lou Barletta (Two bonus selections: Boren and Ross)
#28, Paul Broun
#29, Mary Bono Mack
#30, David Dreier
#31, Marsha Blackburn (including backgrounder)

…so that brings us to #16 on the list of U.S. House knuckleheads opposing the Affordable Care Act, and that would be Phil Gingrey of Georgia, who said here that the GOP’s resistance to extending the payroll tax cut last December was their “Braveheart moment.” He also lambasted President Obama for “African Americans for Obama” (though the GOP, of course, are no strangers to such outreach groups…umm, is there an actual issue here? And I guess this was OK anyway).

Rachel Maddow and Kent Jones got the goods on Gingrey a little while ago here (what a total asshat)…

…and I thought this was another clever Mark Fiore clip…

…and this tune is becoming a personal favorite (sorry, no video).

Friday Stuff

I think I’m close to half way on this thing (why do I create so much work for myself, I wonder?)…

#18, Virginia Foxx
#19, Pete Sessions
#20, Charlie Dent
#21, Cathy McMorris Rodgers
#22, Chris Smith
#23, Todd Akin
#24, Buck McKeon
#25, Kristi Noem
#26, Hal Rogers
#27, Lou Barletta (Two bonus selections: Boren and Ross)
#28, Paul Broun
#29, Mary Bono Mack
#30, David Dreier
#31, Marsha Blackburn (including backgrounder)

…so that brings us to #17 on our list of U.S. House Repugs opposing health care reform, and that would be David Schweikert of Arizona.

This guy doesn’t pop up on the political radar, as it were, too often, but when he does, he usually makes a doozy of an impression. Here, he called for “offsetting” hurricane aid (but not by “offsetting” tax cuts for the “pay no price, bear no burden” bunch of course), and here, he emerged as a “closet birther” (and of course, here is the obligatory anti-HCR link).

And OK, so Schweikert doesn’t like the fact that Obama is trying to get a “stay” on Arizona’s “illegal to be brown” deportation policy (here), but he’s trying to do it by getting Congress (the legislative branch) to tell the Department of Homeland Security (the executive branch) what they can and can’t enforce…I would really like someone to present evidence to me of a Congress that ever impinged upon the rights of the executive branch like this under a Republican president. Go ahead and look – I’ll wait.

As noted in the video, though, Schweikert really made a name for himself by preying on homeowners with “underwater” mortgages (here); what an absolute gem of a human being, my fellow prisoners…

Update 8/2/12: Gee, I wonder if the hot, dry air in that state is affecting one of Schweikert’s fellow reps, as noted here (Flake was endorsed by Jon Kyl for the latter’s seat, which should tell you absolutely nothing good).

…and it’s yet another summer weekend, people – so let’s KICK IT!

Thursday Stuff

Gosh…ummm….welcome to the fight, Billo (?????) – still trying to wrap my head around this, as it were (here)…

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

…and it’s that time again – you know the rest, right?

#19, Pete Sessions
#20, Charlie Dent
#21, Cathy McMorris Rodgers
#22, Chris Smith
#23, Todd Akin
#24, Buck McKeon
#25, Kristi Noem
#26, Hal Rogers
#27, Lou Barletta (Two bonus selections: Boren and Ross)
#28, Paul Broun
#29, Mary Bono Mack
#30, David Dreier
#31, Marsha Blackburn (including backgrounder)

…so now it’s time to turn to #18 on my list of U.S. House Republicans opposing the Affordable Care Act.

And I have to tell you that I really wanted to include Virginia Foxx of North Carolina higher up on the list, maybe closer to the top 10. However, this woman’s words and actions are so utterly repellant so frequently and across such a wide swath of topics that I thought I needed to address her sooner.

You see, today (here – and speaking of Aurora), she used the recent mass shootings in a movie theater to plea for civility, more or less, while the Repugs try to pass a regulatory “reform” bill on behalf of those poor, oppressed “job creators” whose widdle feelins are just so, so hurt by that mean, nasty Kenyan Muslim socialist in the White House that…well, gosh darn it…they just have to respond by hoarding unprecedented amounts of wealth (here).

Continuing (as noted here), Foxx also dumped on students who have run up debt to pursue a college degree (and, of course, she’s the chair of the House Subcommittee on Higher Education…let’s see, “empathy,” “empathy”…I just know I left that dictionary somewhere – oh, and is this really a surprise?). She also added an “anti-gay” amendment to a House Defense Appropriations bill here, and claimed here that the GOP “led the fight for civil rights” in the 1960s (uh, no).

Also, as Rachel Maddow points out here, Foxx said the health care bill “masqueraded” as a tax increase, which of course is more of a threat than al Qaeda as far as she concerned…

...in addition, Foxx mentioned a Thomas Sowell column about health care reform, which apparently had nothing to do with HCR, but she prefaced it by saying that Sowell was “also an African American,” or something (gee, invoking Obama’s race just a little bit? Ya’ think?)…

…and if that isn’t an excuse for this video once more, I don’t know what is (this woman is truly a horrible monster – how life forms in this country can actually vote for her is something that I pray I never understand).

Update 8/20/12: Somehow, I forgot about this truly choice item from Foxx, calling Tucson shooter Jared Loughner the "liberal of liberals" (I'll just let that remark lie there and fester by itself without any further comment).

Update 5/19/21: Wonder if Foxx will be going near metal detectors again any time soon (here)?

Update 8/6/21: She would have been better off just keeping her mouth shut altogether (here).

Wednesday Stuff

I guess he’s “movin’ on up” for real now – RIP, Philly cat Sherman Hemsley…



…and I could call this, sadly, a pretty good “ROI” for ALEC and the Koch Brothers (and in the matter of voter ID laws by state, I give you this)…

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

…and it looks like we’re into the “teens” with that little thing I’ve been doing for the past couple of weeks…

#20, Charlie Dent
#21, Cathy McMorris Rodgers
#22, Chris Smith
#23, Todd Akin
#24, Buck McKeon
#25, Kristi Noem
#26, Hal Rogers
#27, Lou Barletta (Two bonus selections: Boren and Ross)
#28, Paul Broun
#29, Mary Bono Mack
#30, David Dreier
#31, Marsha Blackburn (including backgrounder)

…so that brings us to #19 on our list of U.S. House Repugs trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and that would be Pete Sessions of Texas.

After he and Mikey the Beloved pulled that idiotic swearing-in stunt in January 2011 (where they thought they could get sworn in to Congress by watching the ceremony on TV as opposed to attending in person), Sessions got absolutely owned by a Republican in favor of “Obamacare” (here), though that obviously didn’t influence Sessions one bit in his call to repeal the supposedly “job-killing” health care law (here - warning: wingnut alert!)

Though, as K.O. points out here (and God, do we need him on the air, though the “suits” won’t let that happen I’m sure, at least not until after the election at the earliest…love to be wrong), Sessions has had trouble getting his story straight on other issues as well, earning him a "Worst" nod…



…and here’s a wild and wacky video for all the kids watching at home.

Tuesday Stuff

I suppose you know what comes next, don't you...

#21, Cathy McMorris Rodgers
#22, Chris Smith
#23, Todd Akin
#24, Buck McKeon
#25, Kristi Noem
#26, Hal Rogers
#27, Lou Barletta (Two bonus selections: Boren and Ross)
#28, Paul Broun
#29, Mary Bono Mack
#30, David Dreier
#31, Marsha Blackburn (including backgrounder)

…so that brings us to #20 on our list of U.S. House Republicans opposed to health care reform, and that would be Charlie Dent of our own beloved commonwealth.

And Dent was just sooo cozy with “Man Tan” Boehner here, making a joke about how he wanted to really be on the House Appropriations Committee but ended up on the Ethics Committee instead (what a “laff riot”). And as noted here, Dent introduced a bill to remove U.S. citizenship from admittedly bad actors who want to do harm to this country (uh, don’t we have, like, courts and trials and judges and juries to determine that sort of thing? Or am I just a pointy headed liberal for noting that?).

Oh, and Dent was all “humuna, humuna, humuna” a year ago when confronted by constituents here about taxes and oil subsidies (what a truly dedicated public servant)...



…and in tribute to The Jim Henson Company for this, I thought I’d present the following with The Eternal Lena Horne (appropriate to follow Dent with a cartoon, I suppose :- ).



Update 7/26/12: I would say that this is taking the matter a little too far (h/t Atrios).

Monday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

RIP Sally Ride – among her other accomplishments, I remember her great work on the panel investigating the Challenger disaster…she didn’t take any crap from the Morton Thiokol suits or other bureaucrats; she definitely will be missed…

…and working our way ever forward, I give you this…

#22, Chris Smith
#23, Todd Akin
#24, Buck McKeon
#25, Kristi Noem
#26, Hal Rogers
#27, Lou Barletta (Two bonus selections: Boren and Ross)
#28, Paul Broun
#29, Mary Bono Mack
#30, David Dreier
#31, Marsha Blackburn (including backgrounder)

…and that brings us to #21 on our list of U.S. House Repugs opposing health care reform (with some truly preposterous charges, it should be pointed out) and that would be Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state – here, Tweety tries to pin her down, as it were, on why the House didn’t include same-sex couples in reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (just smile nice for the cameras and keep repeating your idiotic drivel over and over)…

…and I realize that absolutely nothing in this video is illegal, but I still think it sends quite a message…

Update 12/6/12: Another shining moment from McMorris Rodgers here - not!

Update 12/18/13: And bless McMorris Rodgers and her pointed little "Republic" Party head for this.

Update 1/31/14: No word on whether or not her nose grew in response to this.

…and given the fact that we basically live in “Fortress America” thanks to the NRA, I think this tune is appropriate (sorry, no video).

Sunday Stuff

Moving right along, as they say…

#23, Todd Akin
#24, Buck McKeon
#25, Kristi Noem
#26, Hal Rogers
#27, Lou Barletta (Two bonus selections: Boren and Ross)
#28, Paul Broun
#29, Mary Bono Mack
#30, David Dreier
#31, Marsha Blackburn (including backgrounder)

…and that brings us to #22 on our list of U.S. House Repugs opposed to the health care law (here), and that would be Chris Smith of New Jersey.

I have to admit that I was snookered by Smith for a little while because of his professed commitment to human rights. However, it doesn’t take a lot of digging to discover how truly misogynistic and awful Smith really is, as was the case here in the bill he introduced in the House (soon after the ruinous Repug reign began in that body) redefining rape as somehow worse if it were “forcible” (as determined by who exactly, I wonder?).

The exchange below between Smith and Dem Rep Jackie Speier of California really tells you all you need to know, and kudos to Speier, by the way (Bill Clinton once said that abortion should be safe, legal and rare; that should be the last word, but if it were, life forms like Smith would see their careers in alleged public service come to an end, which can't happen soon enough for yours truly)…

…also, we need more Americans to show some actual guts on the issue of gun violence, kind of like Bill Moyers does here…

Update 7/23/12: This is probably a "rope-a-dope" move by Irving's Boy, but he still deserves credit for it.

…and if the horror in Aurora isn’t enough to make you want to gag, I’m sure this will…

…and I offer the following without comment.