Totally Random Let's All Stay Sane Moment

Aug 31st, 2011

I am really looking forward to Fall in America's Midwest. It is my favorite season. You may also be excited for the changing colors, the groovy coats coming out of closets and the fine crispness of the air only found in September and October. All this said, I don't think anyone is as psyched for the season as author Colin Nissan. He also gets a nomination for the year's best headline:

"I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to get my hands on some fucking gourds and arrange them in a horn-shaped basket on my dining room table. That shit is going to look so seasonal. I’m about to head up to the attic right now to find that wicker fucker, dust it off, and jam it with an insanely ornate assortment of shellacked vegetables. When my guests come over it’s gonna be like, BLAMMO! Check out my shellacked decorative vegetables, assholes. Guess what season it is—fucking fall. There’s a nip in the air and my house is full of mutant fucking squash."

Read more HERE

Closed Mind Vs Open Mind

Aug 31st, 2011

Here's an interesting virtual exchange. It is a sort of "what if?" As in, what if born-again, bible-thumper Stephen Baldwin were to debate Richard Dawkins? I do think it's important to note for my readers that I am actually a person of faith. I am also not an idiot. Science exists. Sorry.

Naked Racism

Aug 31st, 2011

If you think our country has gotten past race, you should read the comments section of this article about the MLK monument. Maya Angelou has drawn attention to the fact that part of the inscription is decontextualized. She has a point. However, a lot of people just couldn't pass up an opportunity to make the world a worse place. There are hundreds and hundreds of responses along the lines of the screencaps below. In fact, a vast majority of the posts are overtly racist.

Of course, these are the same people that are always accusing others of "playing the race card."

Obama's "Out of Control Spending?"

Aug 31st, 2011

The next time someone on the right starts railing against President Obama's "out of control spending," show them this.

via

Worth 1,000 Words - Rick Perry Edition

Aug 31st, 2011

A major hat tip to our friend, Stephanie Baselice. Please support her voice and her site, May Day Resistance.

Quote Of The Day

Aug 31st, 2011

"I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, human liberty as the source of national action, the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas" -- John F. Kennedy

Worth 1,000 Words

Aug 31st, 2011

She really did go there...

Quote Of The Day

Aug 30th, 2011

"In a serious struggle there is no worse cruelty than to be magnanimous at an inopportune time." 
-- Leon Trotsky

Bachmann Should Apologize

Aug 29th, 2011

Billions of dollars in damage from hurricane Irene and a death toll now standing at 37 were apparently fodder for a little Dominionist humor over the weekend. Yup. Rep Michele Bachmann (R-MN) joked that it was God's wrath because of liberal spending.

If you think Rep. bachmann should apologize, you can sign the Credo petition HERE

Or, you can send her a message on Twitter HERE

Or, you can send her a message on Facebook HERE

Or, you call her Washington D.C. office at (202) 225-2331

Or, you call her Minnesota offices at 651-731-5400 and 320-253-5931

Personally, I think you should choose all of the above as your option

Unless, of course, you think scenes like these are funny.

North Carolina's Hwy12 photo via

Perry Watch - Is Anyone In Charge?

Aug 29th, 2011

Rick Perry has now disavowed his campaign's disavowal of his recent book.

At this time, there is no word whether or not his campaign will next move to disavow his disavowal of their previous disavowal.

In an exchange captured by Think Progess, Governor Perry snarks back against a fairly reasonable question from Scott Keyes:

Keyes: "But should states-rights supporters be worried that, as governor you said that Social Security is not something that falls in the purview of the federal government, but in your campaign, have backed off that?"

Perry: "I haven’t backed off anything in my book. Read the book again, get it right. Next question."

Dominionist Watch - Bachmann's Humor Edition

Aug 29th, 2011

I swear, this year's motto really ought to be the phrase, "No, I am not making this up."

Speaking to a crowd of GOP loyalists and conservative activists in Florida this weekend, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) said this:

"I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?' Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we've got to rein in the spending."

Her campaign spokesperson, Alice Stewart reportedly told TPM "Obviously she was saying it in jest."

Oh. Funny. Ha ha. It was a joke when you said that God caused widespread devastation and 30 deaths reported so far because He wants America to tax the rich even less and cut services to the poor even more. Got it.

It actually was a joke. A very ugly, nasty and not at all funny spectacle of a joke. A joke built on horror and pain and death. And her audience laughed... and laughed... and laughed. That's the GOP base. It's not just candidate Bachmann's judgment that is suspect.

Tea Party Even Less Popular Than Previously Thought

Aug 29th, 2011

I am not sure this is actually news, but the latest AP GfK Poll shows that the Tea Party's total disapproval now stands at 87% of the electorate and 79% of likely voters. That they are driving policy at all is nuts.

In other news which is still receiving little to no attention, the Tea Party's most prominent media mouthpieces continue to freefall in ratings as shown HERE and HERE.

Quote Of The Day - Here and Now Edition

Aug 29th, 2011

"Having lost the power to heedlessly bomb the world, Cheney has turned his attention to heedlessly bombing old colleagues."
-- from Maureen Dowd's critique of Dick Cheney's just released "memoirs."

Bachmann Watch - White People Edition

Aug 29th, 2011

Well, here's an interesting recent appearance by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN). You might not really absorb or even make it to the absurdity which follows her let's-get-the-crowd-goin' opener because you will be too stunned:

"WHO LIKES WHITE PEOPLE?!" (video below)

There are unconfirmed reports that a music group called the "White People Soul Band" performed at this event. Who gives a shit? The woman has no judgment. Mrs. Bachmann's apologists are already going into overdrive on social networks to blame those of us who are offended for being offended by her offensiveness. Watch for yourself. And keep watching because there is something else going on here that is far more illuminating...

Michele Bachman may be more mind-numbingly ignorant of scripture than anyone I have heard in my life. She tells the fawning crowd that "God is not partial" right before, with her very next breath, she preaches a garbled version of the First Book of Samuel. If you are unfamiliar, this is partly the fable of Jonathan, son of King Saul, who lays waste to a garrison of Philistines nearly single handed with only the assistance of his armor-bearer. This is possible through the blessing of the vengeful, Old Testament God. Such rich poetry is perhaps too delicate a thing for one who cannot accurately define the word "partial."


It is also one more example of the Dominionist habit of throwing the word Jesus around pretty indiscriminately while simultaneously focusing most of their attention on the blood and the war and killing in the Torah.

I recommend Lewis Black's take on this phenomena.

Lewis Black, Christianists and The Old Testament

Aug 29th, 2011

With the madness of the Christianist takeover of the Republican brand in full glory, it worth revisiting this bit by Lewis Black.

Dominionist Watch - Perry Edition

Aug 29th, 2011

I have been trying to imagine what it would have sounded like to the average American had they been hearing 20 years ago what we have been hearing recently within a field of Republican Presidential hopefuls.

Frankly, I think I would have assumed someone was doing a very poor impersonation of Margaret Atwood. Nevertheless, here we are.

Having jumped into front runner status with the GOP base almost immediately upon his entry into the race mere weeks ago, Texas Governor Rick Perry is, as was predicted, doubling down on some very ugly, anti-intellectual and outright Dominionist statements. It's one thing for him to misrepresent his economic record. It's another thing for him to deny climate science. However, it is something altogether more dangerous for a potential Commander in Chief to allege that the current crippling recession is not the product of decades of unrealistic economic policy and is, rather, a test from God.

Yup, who needs a comprehensive plan to deal with perennially widening income disparity or the collapse of job creation? Apparently, all we really have to do is to submit in accordance with Mr. Perry's theological view.

Glory!
 

Perhaps we should pray for the Republic. As Paul Krugman noted today:

"Now, we don’t know who will win next year’s presidential election. But the odds are that one of these years the world’s greatest nation will find itself ruled by a party that is aggressively anti-science, indeed anti-knowledge. And, in a time of severe challenges — environmental, economic, and more — that’s a terrifying prospect."

Quote Of The Day

Aug 29th, 2011

"In the fevered state of our country, no good can ever result from any attempt to set one of these fiery zealots to rights, either in fact or principle. They are determined as to the facts they will believe, and the opinions on which they will act. 

Get by them, therefore, as you would by an angry bull; it is not for a man of sense to dispute the road with such an animal."
-- Thomas Jefferson

Austerity Now?

Aug 28th, 2011

The Economist laments the current obsession with reducing debt in Western economies generally, but their harshest critique is directed at our own:

"America... has done virtually nothing to deal with its medium-term deficit, but on current policy will see the biggest short-term tightening of the big rich economies next year. That would have been a poor choice even in a reasonable recovery. Given the economy’s weakness, it looks daft. But it could be fixed. The congressional supercommittee charged with finding ways to trim the ten-year deficit as part of the recent debt-ceiling deal could agree on a bolder package of entitlement cuts and new revenue, while Barack Obama and the Republicans could limit the short-term squeeze by extending the temporary payroll-tax cut and boosting spending on things like roads and school repairs."

I part ways with their editors on issues of "entitlements" but they are otherwise dead on.

Matthew Desmond notes how eerily similar this preoccupation with debt reduction at the expense of all other policy initiatives is to the disastrous path once taken by the Hoover Administration.

Alas, we are now in a climate dominated by zealots who proceed as if they worship Murray Rothbard's historical revisionism and laissez-faire extremism. That is to say, the debate has been hijacked by people who actually don't believe in government directly stimulating the economy in any form to alleviate the crisis.

Quote Of The Day

Aug 28th, 2011

"None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps." 
-- Thurgood Marshall

Worth 1,000 Words

Aug 28th, 2011

© copyright 2011 Bennett/Chattanooga Times Free Press

Quote Of The Day

Aug 27th, 2011

"You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free."
-- Clarence Darrow

Totally Random Let's All Stay Sane Moment

Aug 26th, 2011

As fate would have it, the greatest TV moment (seriously) capturing the recent East Coast earthquake came from the team over at MLB Network.

We've Been "Jackson Holed"

Aug 26th, 2011

Before we begin parsing and dissecting Ben Bernanke's most important pronouncement of the year, shouldn't we all actually read the whole statement for yourselves?

Here is the annual Fed Chairman speech in Jackson Hole, WY:

"Good morning. As always, thanks are due to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City for organizing this conference. This year's topic, long-term economic growth, is indeed pertinent--as has so often been the case at this symposium in past years. In particular, the financial crisis and the subsequent slow recovery have caused some to question whether the United States, notwithstanding its long-term record of vigorous economic growth, might not now be facing a prolonged period of stagnation, regardless of its public policy choices. Might not the very slow pace of economic expansion of the past few years, not only in the United States but also in a number of other advanced economies, morph into something far more long-lasting?

Quote Of The Day

Aug 26th, 2011

"Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe." 
-- Frederick Douglass

What's In A Laugh

Aug 25th, 2011
via

Totally Random Let's All Stay Sane Moment

Aug 25th, 2011

OK GO does The Muppet Show theme. Sublime.

Quote Of The Day

Aug 25th, 2011

"A man is insensible to the relish of prosperity 'til he has tasted adversity." 
-- Sa'Di

Worth 1,000 Words

Aug 24th, 2011

Freedom means means having food tasters... or something. via

The Other Debt Problem

Aug 24th, 2011

Here's a staggering visualization of the debt carried by ordinary citizens today.

Ezra Klein points out how this is a game-changer:

"...what distinguishes crises like this one from typical recessions is household debt. When the financial markets collapsed, household debt was nearly 100 percent of GDP. It’s now down to 90 percent. In 1982, which was the last time we had a big recession, the household-debt-to-GDP ratio was about 45 percent.

That means that in this crisis, indebted households can’t spend, which means businesses can’t spend, which means that unless government steps into the breach in a massive way or until households work through their debt burden, we can’t recover. In the 1982 recession, households could spend, and so when the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates and made spending attractive, we accelerated out of the recession.

The utility of calling this downturn a “household-debt crisis” is it tells you where to put your focus: you either need to make consumers better able to pay their debts, which you can do through conventional stimulus policy like tax cuts and jobs programs, or you need to make their debts smaller so they’re better able to pay them, which you can do by forgiving some of their debt through policies like cramdown or eroding the value of their debt by increasing inflation."

So, we who have studied the ebb and flow of large interconnected financial systems keep beating the drum behind the refrain that "aggregate demand has collapsed." 

Of course central monetary solutions and state investment are required. However, there is simply no arguing with the incredibly powerful and intellectually staggering arguments of the Republican opposition:

"It's Socialist to keep lead out of toys! Freedom means every one can be a millionaire but only if millionaires don't pay taxes! Deep Fried Butter for all, electric cars for none!"

Seriously. You cannot argue with that.

The Free Market Party?

Aug 23rd, 2011
by F. Grey Parker

Let's say that there is an activity which is perfectly legal under the laws of the United States.

This activity involves financial transactional behavior.

One could actually argue that it is part of the service economy.


With this in mind, some private citizens who require access in this marketplace elect to make agreements with private corporations to assist the way in which payments for these services are rendered.

Now... let's say that a small group of social activists feel that these arrangements are "wrong." Based on a series of religious rationales, they fight to interfere with this market by passing laws which forbid these private citizens from entering these private contracts for this legal activity.

It sounds crazy in that context, doesn't it? If, perhaps, you thought I was referring to the tenets of Sharia Law which govern "usury" or "interest," boy are you wrong.

Welcome to the American Republican Party in 2011 and its attempts to render illegal the use of private insurance policies to pay for abortions.

Totally Random Let's All Stay Sane Moment

Aug 24th, 2011

Arguments.

No Recovery

Aug 24th, 2011

If one accepts the narrow and long held academic definitions of the words "recession" and depression," then technically we are in a recovery. Which makes those 20th Century meanings quite absurd. Job creation is not much different now than it was 10 years ago. That is to say, for a full decade we have have failed to add even enough jobs monthly to accommodate new entrants to the workforce, much less return to employment the millions whose positions were lost during the "height" of the crisis in late 2008 and early 2009.

As Roubini pointed out last week, the crisis is actually structural:

"We thought that markets worked. They're not working."

Over at TNR, Richard A. Posner basically agrees with both points:

"If the notion that we are merely living through the after effects of a mere "recession" that ended in 2009 sounds somewhat ridiculous, that’s because it is. If we were being honest with ourselves, we would call this a depression. That would certainly better convey both the severity of our problems, and the fact that those problems have no evident solutions."

We live in an era within which rational public sector solutions are not only the only real hope for a transformative remedy but are also politically impossible due to the fanatical opposition of a Randian and Misesian Republican Party.

In short, we're screwed.

Quote Of The Day

Aug 24th, 2011

"Liberty, according to my metaphysics is a self-determining power in an intellectual agent. It implies thought and choice and power."
-- John Adams

Worth 1,000 Words

Aug 23rd, 2011
via

Reluctant Hat Tip

Aug 23rd, 2011

Meet Michael Barone. If you are unfamiliar with his work, he is quite the conservative stalwart. There is not a lot of common ground between his worldview and my own. That much is certain. However, yesterday he published a pretty strong defense of gay marriage over at the National Review. What makes it all the more remarkable is that he did so within the framework of his conservative principles.

"Opponents of same-sex marriage argue that it would weaken the institution of the family. Certainly there are problems there: Rising percentages of children are raised by one parent or none, and nearly 50 percent of teenage children in non-college households did not live with both parents. Yet outcomes for children raised in two-parent families are far better than for those who are not."

Here's the kicker:

"I think the institution of the family is less threatened by a few people who want to get married than by the very many more people who get divorced or who have children without getting married at all."

It's worth reading the whole piece. All the same, you might want to avoid the comments section.

Nevertheless, it is getting better.

A Dope, A Joke and A Fraud

Aug 23rd, 2011

Over at Politico, Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin cut through the window dressing and expose the growing anguish of "conservative intellectuals" over the 2012 front-runners.

"The problem, in shorthand: To many conservative elites, Rick Perry is a dope, Michele Bachmann is a joke, and Mitt Romney is a fraud."

It's a shame that Huntsman has exposed his commitment to rationality. He'd probably make a decent President. And the base Republican just wants a guy or gal who wears some crazy-pants.

Worth 1,000 Words

Aug 23rd, 2011

"I'll Eat Your Shoe"

Aug 23rd, 2011

Any regular reader can tell you I have no great love for Ben Stein. He is vulgar and elitist. However, he has come hurtling back to the truth regarding taxes. On O'Reilly last night, it was clear that Stein has simply had enough of Fox's economic propaganda. Dynamite stuff.

"There is no correlation, Mr. O’Reilly, between taxes rates on millionaires and people above that level, billionaires, and the growth of the economy… Higher taxes have historically correlated with more growth."

"Mr. O’Reilly, sir, there is no correlation of raising taxes and unemployment. If you can show it to me, I’ll eat your shoe."
via Media Matters

Republican Mythology, cont...

Aug 23rd, 2011

That line about us having cripplingly high taxes compared to other countries? Yeah, it's still not true.

via

That Was Then...

Aug 22nd, 2011

I grow weary of so frequently having to say the words, "I am not making this up," while discussing the 2012 Republican field.

Parody cover via

In Presidential politics, it is not at all uncommon to find potential candidates forced to defend themselves from accusations of youthful indiscretion.

Listening to the hopefuls explain how their current philosophy has matured or how it differs from their views in earlier times has become a matter of course.

This part of the public vetting is really not supposed to be this interesting.

Bill Clinton took some hits over his attendance at anti-war rallies in England more than two decades before his first White House run. W had some dodging to do over allegations of, well, dodging the draft (along with more than a few other unpleasant accusations).

So here we are, earlier than we should be in such tumultuous times, focused on next year's primary politics.

The first big story of a politician distancing himself from, if not outright disavowing, any number of previously held positions has arrived. This is different, though. Perhaps reflecting the obscene speed of the socially networked world, the "old" views from which Gov. Rick Perry is trying to separate himself date back an entire 9 months.

Quote Of The Day

Aug 23rd, 2011

"Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity."
-- Carl Jung

Repulslican Economics

Aug 22nd, 2011

Proving, for the umpteenth time, that contemporary elected Republicans simply don't understand the college freshman concept of aggregate demand comes this little excerpt from the HuffPo today:

"...many of the same Republicans who are fiercely protective of tax cuts for the wealthy have already said they oppose Obama's plan to extend the payroll tax cut for low income Americans.

"It's always a net positive to let taxpayers keep more of what they earn," Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) told the AP, "but not all tax relief is created equal for the purposes of helping to get the economy moving again."

Amazing. I am compelled to give a lesson. For all the "rich" people and their mouthpieces that call the President a "socialist" but fail to grasp even the most childlike fundamentals of consumer society (psst, that's called Capitalism, by the way), here's a primer:

BP Might Have Been Lying?! No!

Aug 22nd, 2011

As if there was any question, the early spin applied by BP in the days and weeks following the Deepwater Horizon disaster is now being "investigated." Of course they were lying. That's what's liars do. They lie.
via

The West Memphis Three

Aug 22nd, 2011

They're free. Those of us who helped fight for the better part of two decades to secure their release have a lot to grateful for here. Still, this is a bitter victory.


via the LA Times:

Trump - America Should Pillage Libya

Aug 22nd, 2011

With the news that Gaddafi's end is near, those responsible journalists over at Fox & Friends sought the sober and deliberative analysis of renowned foreign policy guru... Donald Trump. Add this to the list of things I can't make up. It's a doozy of a performance. Trump wants to know, since we are the real "victors" here and not those smelly, brown rebels, why can't we just take all their oil?

"You know in the old days, when you win a war, you 'kept to the victor, belongs the spoils.'"

This sentiment is closer to pure Fascism than anything I have heard on Fox in weeks. Lately, that's saying something. Just think, only a short time ago, Fox was fawning over the prospect of a Trump Presidency. Can you imagine? Perhaps his slogan could have been, "It Takes A Pillage."

Borowitz on Libya

Aug 22nd, 2011

As the hunt for Gaddafi continues, Borowitz chimes in...

How They Operate

Aug 22nd, 2011

Lost in the spectacle of Christine O'Donnell walking out on an interview with CNN's Piers Morgan last week has been the Republican reaction to the book she is hawking, ostensibly her reason for having been there. A fundamental theme of O'Donnell's book seems to be that of casting herself as a victim of the "political establishment."

She would apparently have us believe that her experience in Delaware politics was beset by at every turn by snubs and disrespect. It sounds like the latest entry in the growing bibliography of "conservative victimhood."

Maria Evans, a former aide to 2008 Delaware Gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee, has an interesting piece over at Frum Forum today. It illustrates as well as anything I have seen lately just how despicable the tactics of the conservative movement's Dominionist interlopers really can be when they are proved to have been untruthful.

"On Monday, August 15, 2011, I issued a press release to set the record straight about an event featuring Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, an event that three time Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell cites in her new book, Troublemaker as an example of how the Delaware Republican Party was snubbing her all of the way back in 2008, when she was the party’s chosen nominee."

O'Donnell's portrayal of the event in question is, to put it politely, a prevarication. At that time of the event in question, one of Evans' responsibilities was to record all public events at which Lee participated. She presented a recording as evidence of O'Donnell's misrepresentations.

What follows is a narrative detailing the O'Donnell camp's response.

"The day after I issued the press release, on a local radio station where I had once worked as a talk show host, blogger and reporter, O’Donnell said that she “felt sorry” for me and the show’s host, one of her sycophants, called me Mike Castle’s “concubine.”

I was horrified to realize that my 12 year-old son had been listening to the broadcast. “Are you OK, Mom?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “I told you yesterday that people were going to say bad things about me, but it’s OK because I’m telling the truth, and when you tell the truth, everything works out.”

“Mom, what’s a ‘concubine’?” he asked with a concerned look on his face.

I paused for and long moment and considered my answer. “In this case, it means someone’s who’s right,” I said. I figured that I could clear up that definition on another day, when he seemed less upset.

I was glad that my son didn’t know that I had also been called a “liar,” a “political scoundrel,” “corrupt” and that I was accused of doctoring the tape. O’Donnell’s supporters went as far as to attack other members of my family in order to discredit and quiet me."

It is of no surprise to me that Ms. O'Donnell would essentially resort to a form of political slut-shaming when confronted with an empirically provable rebuttal. After all, her's is a movement which argues endlessly to impose their narrow morality upon us, but, which finds no sin more offensive than the exposure of their own lies.

Libya's Endgame

Aug 22nd, 2011

The Muammar Gaddafi regime is at its ended.

Via AP:
"As rebels swarmed into Tripoli late Sunday and his son and one-time heir apparent Seif al-Islam was arrested, Gadhafi's rule was all but over, even though some loyalists continued to resist."

International Criminal Court trials are expected for Seif as well as his four brothers, if they are also captured alive.

Eliza Griswold ponders the strongman's fate:

"Two planes are reportedly waiting on the runway at Tripoli’s airport to carry off Muammar Gaddafi to places unknown, according to Al Jazeera."

Her analysis of Gaddafi's possible exile is worth reading.

The WSJ rounds up official state responses to the developments of the last 24 hours. What might come next HERE and HERE. The potential impact on oil markets HERE.

The following video is from inside Tripoli this morning.

Quote Of The Day

Aug 22nd, 2011

"Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty."
-- Plato

Worth 1,000 Words

Aug 21st, 2011
via

Patriotic Millionaires

Aug 21st, 2011

If you've never seen the pitch from Patriotic Millionaires, it's worth a viewing.

But Wait! There's More!

Aug 21st, 2011

Over the last several weeks, the GOP race for 2012 has resembled nothing so mach as one of those late night Ronco commercials. Just when you think they shown you all the products, there still more!

Continuing this trend comes word that former NY Governor George Pataki might jump in.

The Real News Is That It's News

Aug 31st, 2011

I like Jon Huntsman and have said so for months. No, I am not a supporter. Yes, I have every intention of backing the current President for reelection. That's not the point. Huntsman has generally struck me as smart and principled. After he received a grand total of 69 votes in the recent GOP Iowa Straw Poll, I expected his campaign to wind down and likely be over in a matter of weeks. Then something happened.

Following a particularly pandering pronouncement from Gov. Rick Perry, Huntsman tweeted this:

"To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy."

Huntsman has suddenly recaptured everyone's attention. It is now news when a GOP politician running for the Presidency declares that he believes in science.

The State of Texas Apologizes

Aug 21st, 2011

HT to EzKool for this.

Quote Of The Day - Here and Now Edition

Aug 21st, 2011

"This is a tough game. You can't be intimidated. You can't be frightened. And as far as I'm concerned, the 'tea party' can go straight to hell."

-- Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) speaking this weekend at the "Kitchen Table Summit."

Worth 1,000 Words

Aug 21st, 2011

Warren Buffett - the notorious "socialist"