Thursday, April 29, 2010

Good New Is Wherever You Can Get It

Via TPM

It's about fucking time this crook was put on trial. I had begun to think somehow it would get swept under the rug in The Republic of Texas. But it seems Tom Delay will finally be brought to trial.

DeLay Money Laundering Case May Finally Be Headed To Trial


Five years after he was charged with conspiracy and money laundering in an alleged scheme to funnel corporate money into the 2002 Texas elections, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay may soon stand trial after a ruling by a state appeals court cleared perhaps the final remaining obstacles in the case.

And his lawyer tells TPMmuckraker DeLay couldn't be happier with the state of the case.

"He wants to go to trial. He's been wanting to go to trial from the very beginning," says Dick DeGuerin, the high-profile Texas defense attorney who is representing DeLay. "There's no evidence by any stretch of the imagination that could convict him."


Yea right. We shall see if Delay's giddiness will hold. Al Capone was giddy too, also.

It's Not Easy Being An Obamunist

Senator Jeff Sessions is pre condemning the SCOTUS nominee to replace the retiring John Paul Stephens.



“He said that he wanted a judge who would consider the impact the decision would have on ordinary Americans,” Sessions (R.-Ala.) said in an interview with HUMAN EVENTS. “That’s a call to something other than the law and the facts. That’s a call to something more akin to politics than law. And so again I think the President’s presenting a troubling philosophy, and you have to assume that’s the kind of judge he’s going to nominate.”


Well, we can't have people in government worrying about ordinary Americans, now can we. /wingnut

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Another Leap From the Overton Window

The Republican National Committee launched a new website on Wednesday that accuses the president of trying to shred the founding purposes of the Constitution in profound and inflammatory ways, chief among them: nominating sex-offender defenders to high courts.


just speechless. Next thing they will accuse Obama of being a socialist, or maybe not even an American. George Bush gets to torture people and that's called patriotism. Obama, well what has Obama done to shred the constitution. Oh yea, pass universal health care for the country.

The State of Baby Jeevus

Virginia is in a mad dash to outwingnut Arizona, or so it seems.

After months of lobbying by conservative activists, Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has quietly reversed a policy banning Virginia State Police troopers from referring to Jesus Christ in public prayers.


I am not sure what constitutes public prayers for State Police Chaplains, but I am confident it means people having to listen to something they object to.

A Tea Baggers Lament

Take note liberals. This is what happens when you force ideological purity on your party and it"s candidates. Independent runs like Charlie Crist are going to make what was a sure GOP senate seat up for grabs by the democratic candidate or now a former republican one. That might well if he wins, decide to caucus with the democrats in the US Senate. Everything in politics is an action/reaction affair, and what seems the purest course to take often comes back to bite you in the ass.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist "is telling key financial backers that he's running for Senate with no party affiliation," the St. Petersburg Times reports.

The announcement is scheduled for 5 p.m. tomorrow in St. Petersburg.


I'd Vote For Her

Looks like Sarah Palin's beauty better is taking the road to politics. She is gorgeous and a Democrat to boot.

The woman who beat Sarah Palin for the beauty queen title of Miss Alaska in 1984 is aiming for the Legislature. Singer and actress Maryline Blackburn of Smyrna, now a 24-year resident of the state, will announce Thursday that she’ll mount a Democratic challenge to Republican incumbent Rich Golick for his House seat.

Blackburn was Alaska’s first African-American representative to the Miss America beauty pageant. Palin, the future GOP vice presidential nominee, was a flute player from Wasilla. She was named Miss Congeniality.


Sarah Palin Miss Congeniality. Wonders never cease.

Wingnuts Follow One Leader At A Time

via Political Wire

And interesting study from Harvard University showing left leaning blogs tend to have multiple front page authors, while right leaning blogs tend to only have a single author. This does not surprise me, as this seems only an extension of top down leadership needs of the conservative psyche. We saw it with lockstep following of George Bush for 8 years as well as GOP controlled congress during those years with folks like Tom "the hammer" Delay calling the shots and republicans always falling in line, even when what they were voting on did not seem all that conservative, such as the Medicare Drug Bill. You can also see it with their impressive message discipline with the media and elsewhere. The problem is however, when the leader they are following leads them down the Primrose Path like Bush and Delay. Democrats value multiple voices and individual opinion, that is a blessing in my opinion, and I wouldn't have it any other way. But it does have drawbacks in rallying public opinion on specific issues up for legislation whereby the multiple opinions tend to confuse the audience, or voters.

A Harvard study of political blogs finds that left-leaning sites "adopt more participatory technical platforms" and "more often use blogs as platforms for mobilization."
Meanwhile, right-leaning blogs are more frequently authored by just one person instead of multiple authors.


Monday, April 26, 2010

Confederate Tea Baggers. Point and Laugh?

I don’t laugh at them much these days, but I also believe that we live in a much different world, where layers from onions get peeled away much faster with our digital media. The GOP is a dying party imo, and like most things that die slowly, there are gasps of something like revival. There is a fail safe point for reaching back into the bowels of history to resurrect something like southern pre civil war ideology and trying to dress it up in populist drab for current times.
It is dashing and flamboyant in an American fantasist way of days gone by, where self sufficiently was real in day to day survival, but with that kind of independence, also came equal hardship. It is romance we are seeing with the American myth of exceptionalism via hardscrabble ways.
But underneath the southern brand of this myth was once long ago a reality built on the sweat and blood of hatred and forced labor. And ultimately. great tragedy for the American soul. They are playing a game with desperation, Mitch the bitch and the others, riding one last wave of white power and supremacy, that when the sheets get pulled away and what’s underneath found out, the country will recoil, and drive the last nail into the GOP and their last dance with the devil.
What comes after that, who the fuck knows.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Friday, April 23, 2010

When Crazy People Address the Asylum?

Back in 2007, students at Pat Robertson's Regent University were outraged when Mitt Romney, a Mormon, was invited to deliver the commencement address.

I wonder if we will see similar protests from students at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University now that it has been announced that Glenn Beck, also a Mormon, will be speaking at their graduation ceremony next month:

I did not know Glenn Beck was a Mormon. The stuff you learn on the internets.

via RWW.

How Dumb Are American Voters?

Here is how dumb.

A new Citizen Opinion/Democracy Corps poll shows "a significant drop in the proportion thinking the country is off on the wrong track and a rise in the number who think the economy is improving.
You would think that this would be good news for democrats, but you would be wrong.

However, the change in economic thinking "is not producing a change in political thinking. The Republican 7-point advantage on the economy is unchanged this month. There is no growth in people believing Obama's economic policies have produced a better economy."
 That's right. recent other polls show that the voters still blamed Bush and republicans for the economic downturn, and when dems and Obama take over governance and the economy improves as well as those thinking the country is more on the right track, they still won't give Obama and dems credit and prefer republicans on the issue of the economy. Go figure.


via Political Wire

The Awful Cost of War

This is so very sad and frightening. Being a vet, it breaks my heart to hear of the soaring numbers of US Veterans now attempting and committing suicide. Repeated deployments to a pair of meat grinder guerilla wars was bound to cause this sort of phenomena, as it did for decades after Vietnam and high numbers of GI's taking their own lives, while unable to re-adapt to civilian life upon return and to cope with their awful experiences fighting in a war.

18 veterans commit suicide each day


Troubling new data show there are an average of 950 suicide attempts each month by veterans who are receiving some type of treatment from the Veterans Affairs Department.

Seven percent of the attempts are successful, and 11 percent of those who don’t succeed on the first attempt try again within nine months.



No thanks to you George Bush and Dick Cheney, and all the other neo con cocksuckers that brought us Iraq, torture, and neverending war. May ye rot in hell for your sins.

via Army Times

Just a Bunch of Terrorist Loving Phony Soldiers.

Has to be considered a candidate for wingnuttery of the week, month, year and decade.

Yesterday, it was reported that the Army had rescinded its invitation to Franklin Graham to speak at a National Day of Prayer event at the Pentagon due to his past attacks on Islam.

And of course, the wingnut preachers and others chime in on this blasphemy and what it all means for America.

From Tony Perkins

The fact that he has theological differences with Islam, differences wholly in keeping with the teachings of the New Testament, and that he has expressed them publicly, is now being used by anti-Christian zealots in a manner offensive to the freedom of religion guaranteed by the very Constitution military leaders are sworn to uphold.

"This decision is further evidence that the leadership of our nation's military has been impaired by the politically correct culture being advanced by this Administration. Under this Administration's watch we are seeing the First Amendment, designed to protect the religious exercise of Americans, retooled into a sword to sever America's ties with orthodox Christianity.

"For those Christian leaders who have avoided the controversy of political issues, saying they just wanted to preach the gospel - this should be a wake up call!"

"anti Christian zealots". That's right Tony, so what's the problem since Obama was born in Kenya and is a stealth Muslim anyways, according to right wing CW.

And not to be outdone, the execrable Bryan Fischer from the American Family Association nutbags.

sees it as proof that our military has been taken over by "fundamentalist Muslims and homosexual activists":

Bottom line: you want to know who's now running the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy and the Marines and calling the shots where it counts? Fundamentalist Muslims and homosexual activists.

In fact, I'll predict that there will be a day of prayer at the Pentagon on May 6, and it will feature a Muslim imam, a homosexual clergyman, and no conservative Christians of any kind.

This is not your father's military. It's not even your father's country anymore.

via Right Wing Watch


Some Turds Can't Be Polished

A recent newsletter from the Republican Party in Medina County, Ohio, flagged by EMILY's List, contains a specific attack on Democratic Rep. Betty Sutton: "Let's take Betty Sutton out of the House and put her back in the kitchen."County GOP chairman Bill Heck told TPMDC that the newsletter was "an attention-getter" in terms of its political rhetoric. "I'm not sure that it was intended -- in fact I'm positive that it was not in intended to be sexist," said Heck. "In fact, it was speaking to the people of that district, and not intended to be a sexist comment."
"I mean, I have a wife that was elected twice to county office, and once was a judge. I've got two daughters," Heck added. "It was not authored by me, but it was published by the Republican Party of Medina County. We are just trying to get the attention of the voters.

Mission accomplished getting the attention of voters. They could have made the trifecta of stupid sexist remarks by including "Barefoot and Pregnant". Just all in good ole GOP boy fun.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

The Dunce Ticket For 2012 POTUS?

Jim Demint ponders a presidential run for 2012.

via Political Wire

Said DeMint: "Frankly, the people that I've seen here in politics I realize that I can hold my ground with any of them. There are a lot of changes I'd like to make in this country and I think Americans are going to be ready for someone to tell them the truth next election."




America elected George W. Bush twice, so any idiot has a chance, I suppose.

Peter Wolf (with Shelby Lynn) - Tragedy (live)

10,000 Maniacs - Hey Jack Karouac / Eat for Two

Who Are the Real Bastards ?

Sometimes the ravings of the right wing just leave one speechless. It is a cruel irony when a wingnut group calling itself The American Family Association declares kids born out of wedlock in this country are no longer worthy of social support and should be simply left to fend for themselves. Compassionate Conservatism it ain't.

via Right Wing Watch


The rate at which bastard children were born in 1963, when Lyndon Johnson launched the war on poverty, was seven percent. Meanwhile, we continue to maintain actual marriage penalties in our tax code, including the newly hatched monstrosity of health care reform. So we subsidize illegitimacy and penalize marriage, and we wonder why things get worse rather than better. And President Obama intends to zero out the one budget item devoted to strengthening marriage in low-income communities.


The place to begin? By reforming state and federal budgets so that we no longer subsidize immorality. It's time to communicate in policy and not just in words that in America, we expect you to save sex for marriage, to have children only within the marriage relationship, and that we will no longer force American taxpayers to fund the expenses of children they did not conceive and with whom they have no relationship and for whom they have no responsibility.


If you conceive children out of wedlock, we will expect you and your families to find a way to take care of the expenses involved in raising that child. In America, that child is your responsibility and no one else's. You may look for help to charities funded by private, voluntary, compassion-driven donations, but you may not look to government to force other Americans at gunpoint to take money out of their wallets and fork it over to you. We are no longer going to treat you as helpless little children; we are going to treat you as the responsible adults you can become. It's time to grow up.


Assholes. We will take out our anger at irresponsible adults on their "bastard children". That'll show em we mean business. Who are the real bastards in this country? Look no further than the nearest wingnut.

The War Between the States Is On

California set to put the brakes on Creationist crazy ass Texas textbooks.

From Texas Freedom Network Insider


The national backlash against the Texas State Board of Education’s politicization of history and social studies curriculum standards is gathering steam. Yesterday a California Senate committee approved a bill requiring that education officials report to legislators and the state’s education secretary any changes influenced by the Texas standards when they review textbook content.
California Sen. Leland Yee,  a Democrat who represents part of the San Francisco Bay Area, drafted the bill. In a press release from his office yesterday, Yee said:
“While some Texas politicians may want to set their educational standards back 50 years, California should not be subject to their backward curriculum changes. The alterations and fallacies made by these extremist conservatives are offensive to our communities and inaccurate of our nation’s diverse history. Today, California spoke with a bipartisan voice that our kids should be provided an education based on facts and that embraces our multicultural nation.”
Californians and other non-Texans are increasingly worried that textbooks written for the Texas market will make it into their states’ classrooms. That’s because publishers often write their textbooks to meet curriculum standards in Texas — which has a huge textbook market and a centralized adoption process — and then sell those textbooks to schools across the country.
At what point will Texas lawmakers finally realize that the State Board of Education is undermining the state’s reputation — politically, educationally and in the business world — across the country?


Wednesday, April 21, 2010

No Maverick, No More

John MCcain is not going to let JD Hayworth outwingnut him in his primary campaign.

McCAIN: "I would be very sorry that if some of that happens. And I regret it, but I also regret the -- really, it's not just the murder of (longtime Cochise County rancher) Robert Krentz. It's the people whose homes and property are being violated. It's the drive-by that -- the drivers of cars with illegals in it that are intentionally causing accidents on the freeway. Look, our border is not secured. Our citizens are not safe."

That's right. Illegal aliens are rampaging the country side in loony tunes Arizona, causing wreck on purpose, We who live in New Mexico have crazy Texas on one side, and now, even crazier Arizona on the other.


A Little Bit Scary

It seems our Supreme Court Justices are still a lttle thick when it comes to digital tech communications.

Perhaps President Obama should find a Supreme Court nominee who knows something about technology as DC Dicta points out how some of the current justices struggled with the subject during recent oral arguments.

"The first sign was about midway through the argument, when Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. -- who is known to write out his opinions in long hand with pen and paper instead of a computer -- asked what the difference was 'between email and a pager?'"
          Questions from other justices showed they didn't know much more.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Thickening Plot in the US Senate

The budget resolution being drafted by
Senate Democrats will include reconciliation instructions, according to
Democrats briefed on the matter.
The reconciliation instructions, which allow legislation to move through the upper chamber with a simple majority instead of 60 votes, will be included
          to ease the passage of deficit reduction measures, according to Democrats on
          the Senate Budget Committee.

But the reconciliation language could
also be used to pass the extension of expiring tax cuts, job-creation measures
and energy legislation, according to Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).
It could also be used for any number of legislative items on dems wish list, even a Public Option for HCR. So long as it is budget related. Good sign though that Senate dems are planning for the certainty that the GOP will block whatever they try to pass, no matter if it is good for the country, or not. Stay tuned






Monday, April 19, 2010

I Love the Smell of Irony In the Morning--Smells, like, - Victory!

The same can't be said of another event held just outside town today at Ft. Hunt National Park in northern Virgina. According to the Washington Post, protesters at the "Restore The Constitution" rally will take advantage of new gun laws signed by President Obama allowing the carrying of firearms in national parks to make an armed stand for liberty today.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

So Much For a GOP Tidal Wave In November

The Apple Dumpling Revolution, Too long in the oven? The faithful out in the countryside are not as pleased with the parties direction as Tea Partiers tell us.

Afternoon Obot Cafe

If you appreciate the intersection of traditional folk music and the ethereal female singing voice, then this tune could be for you. A little long at 11 minutes, but well worth it, especially if feeling stressed.

The Unthanks - Anache Gordon