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-- Columnist Edward McClelland on the notorious Rep. Joe Walsh (deadbeat dad, lunatic) and his tactics against his challenger, Tammy Duckworth (war veteran who lost both legs in an act of heroism).
Showing posts with label Tea party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tea party. Show all posts
Monday, October 15, 2012
Quote Of The Day - Here And Now Edition
Oct 15th, 2012
"Walsh is an insecure bully who needs to point out that Duckworth is more of a woman than he is to overcome the fact that she's also more of a man than he is."
-- Columnist Edward McClelland on the notorious Rep. Joe Walsh (deadbeat dad, lunatic) and his tactics against his challenger, Tammy Duckworth (war veteran who lost both legs in an act of heroism).
-- Columnist Edward McClelland on the notorious Rep. Joe Walsh (deadbeat dad, lunatic) and his tactics against his challenger, Tammy Duckworth (war veteran who lost both legs in an act of heroism).
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
The GOP's Real Problem
July 3rd, 2012
You may have heard about New Hampshire state Rep. Bob Kingsbury (R-Laconia) claiming that a primary cause for high crime rates is... kindergarten.
You may have heard about New Hampshire state Rep. Bob Kingsbury (R-Laconia) claiming that a primary cause for high crime rates is... kindergarten.
You might be thinking its just another crazy Tea Party reactionary making wild pronouncements based on lunatic assumptions. What's the big deal?
From HuffPo's coverage:
From HuffPo's coverage:
"The Republican candidate for governor, Ovide Lamontagne, declined to address Kingsbury's comments during a radio interview last week."
This continues to be the real story. The GOP is incapable of policing their own. They are so afraid of their delusional base that otherwise decent legislators are complicit in the quickening American decline.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Chris Christie - No Ordinary Liar
April 10th, 2012
When New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced he was killing the The Trans-Hudson Passenger Rail Tunnel, a project 20 years in the making, he framed as some incredibly responsible and brave decision making on his part. It represented the new, post Tea Party GOP brand. The project was wasteful and something New Jersey simply couldn't afford!
As it turns out, nearly every metric he pronounced to defend this move was a flat out lie. Ahead of a new GAO report to be released this week detailing his many falsehoods, the NY Times reports:
When New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced he was killing the The Trans-Hudson Passenger Rail Tunnel, a project 20 years in the making, he framed as some incredibly responsible and brave decision making on his part. It represented the new, post Tea Party GOP brand. The project was wasteful and something New Jersey simply couldn't afford!
As it turns out, nearly every metric he pronounced to defend this move was a flat out lie. Ahead of a new GAO report to be released this week detailing his many falsehoods, the NY Times reports:
"Canceling the tunnel, then the largest public works project in the nation, helped shape Mr. Christie’s profile as a rising Republican star, an enforcer of fiscal discipline in a country drunk on debt. But the report is likely to revive criticism that his decision, which he said was about “hard choices” in tough economic times, was more about avoiding the need to raise the state’s gasoline tax, which would have violated a campaign promise. The governor subsequently steered $4 billion earmarked for the tunnel to the state’s near-bankrupt transportation trust fund, traditionally financed by the gasoline tax."
You see? He did do exactly what needed to be done. For himself. The congestion of physical interstate commerce the project would have alleviated extends far beyond New Jersey or New York.
Steve Benen is appalled:
Steve Benen is appalled:
"Even at the time, Christie's decision on this project in 2010 was hard to understand. Conservatives, who've become increasingly hostile towards American infrastructure improvements, cheered the move, but from a substantive perspective, the governor's decision was fairly characterized as "destructive and incredibly foolish."
But this new report casts that decision in an even more damaging light. The Government Accountability Office is a non-partisan research/audit arm of Congress, and it's reporting this week that Christie's rationale for his strange decision wasn't even true. It was a mistake to scrap a major public works project during a weak economy; it was a bigger mistake to explain the move with dishonest claims."
This is big stuff. Gov. Christie, in an act of supreme political selfishness, quite literally damaged a whole sector of the American economy. On purpose.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons the Governor thought better of entering the 2012 race for POTUS.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons the Governor thought better of entering the 2012 race for POTUS.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Quote Of The Day - Here and Now Edition
Jan 2nd, 2011
"The GOP played with fire, and they are getting their hands burned. They unleashed a monster they hoped to turn against Democrats, but it has turned on them first."
-- James Zogby on the Tea Party's influence in shaping the 2012 Presidential field.
-- James Zogby on the Tea Party's influence in shaping the 2012 Presidential field.
Monday, December 12, 2011
If You Think This Isn't Racist...
Dec 12th, 2011
Then you probably are looking at the wrong website right now.
At the bottom of this screengrab (via HutchNews) from the Patriot Freedom Alliance Tea Party of Hutchinson, KS website, there's a picture of a skunk with the following caption: "The skunk has replaced the eagle as the new symbol for the president. It is half black, half white, and almost everything it does, stinks."
They insist it has nothing to do with race... in spite of the fact that it explicitly references race.
Although the PFA has scrubbed their site of the offending image after more than a little bit of pushback, there's still plenty of fun to be had. They prominently display one of Jerry Boykin's alarmist wingnut videos on their splash page as follows:
For those of you who aren't familiar with Boykin, he is a former serviceman of note who, upon retirement, went bat-shit crazy.
Right Wing Watch sums him up pretty well:
"Boykin is an anti-Islam activist who believes that Muslims do not deserve First Amendment protections and should not be allowed to build mosques in America. He also says that not only can there be no interfaith dialogue between Christians and Muslims, but that Christians must go on the offensive against Islam.
He also believes that George Soros and the Council on Foreign Relations intentionally collapsed the US economy in order to help elect President Obama, who is now using health care reform legislation tocreate an army of Brownshirt soldiers loyal only to him."
One begins to see that the PFA is consistently more than a little low on the cultural awareness ladder.
If you feel the desire to throw up in your mouth, you can head over to THIS THREAD at Free Republic and read the many comments defending the image... along with plenty of other "humor."
Then you probably are looking at the wrong website right now.
At the bottom of this screengrab (via HutchNews) from the Patriot Freedom Alliance Tea Party of Hutchinson, KS website, there's a picture of a skunk with the following caption: "The skunk has replaced the eagle as the new symbol for the president. It is half black, half white, and almost everything it does, stinks."
They insist it has nothing to do with race... in spite of the fact that it explicitly references race.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Boykin, he is a former serviceman of note who, upon retirement, went bat-shit crazy.
Right Wing Watch sums him up pretty well:
"Boykin is an anti-Islam activist who believes that Muslims do not deserve First Amendment protections and should not be allowed to build mosques in America. He also says that not only can there be no interfaith dialogue between Christians and Muslims, but that Christians must go on the offensive against Islam.
He also believes that George Soros and the Council on Foreign Relations intentionally collapsed the US economy in order to help elect President Obama, who is now using health care reform legislation tocreate an army of Brownshirt soldiers loyal only to him."
One begins to see that the PFA is consistently more than a little low on the cultural awareness ladder.
If you feel the desire to throw up in your mouth, you can head over to THIS THREAD at Free Republic and read the many comments defending the image... along with plenty of other "humor."
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
Kucinich Defends The Occupation
Oct 7th, 2011
Pushing back against the smarm of Fo's Neil Cavuto, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) tells it like it is. "This is freedom. This is America. This is something we ought to celebrate."
Pushing back against the smarm of Fo's Neil Cavuto, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) tells it like it is. "This is freedom. This is America. This is something we ought to celebrate."
Monday, October 3, 2011
Obama's "Nemesis"
Oct 3rd, 2011
Jason Zengerle profiles House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) for New York Magazine. It's an ugly portrait of a very unprincipled man.
"Cantor’s role as Obama’s nemesis, as the National Review recently dubbed him, is remarkable for several reasons—none more so than the fact that, although he’s now the darling of the tea party, he initially rose to power in Washington by standing for almost everything the tea party is against..."
"Cantor’s primary job as a member of the whip operation was to cajole his fellow Republican congressmen into voting for many of the bills the tea-partiers now decry as the height of fiscal irresponsibility —including, most infamously, the 2003 Medicare prescription-drug legislation, for which he worked hand in hand with pharmaceutical-industry lobbyists and Karl Rove."
The article traces Cantor's self-transformation from establishment stooge to, well, stealth establishment stooge. It is amazing that someone so committed to preserving corporatist exploitation and defending outright waste in non-social spending has managed to dupe the GOP rank and file into believing that he is fighting for fiscal sensibility.
An interesting aside in the article actually shines a very bright light on just how Cantor has accomplished this. What's more, it also illustrates how he has marginalized Speaker Boehner while, at the same time, securing his general control over the radical, Tea Party driven newcomers who stormed into Congress last year.
"I can text Cantor and get a response back in minutes," says one freshman, explaining his allegiance. "I don’t know if Speaker Boehner even has a cell phone."
These freshman are his to control. They go home and tell their constituents his version of events. Their own narratives have been subsumed.
This is Eric Cantor's grand strategy... for Eric Cantor.
He has created and now wields a barely visible intra-party political machine. His continuing consolidation of power is impressive. His ability to call upon it to obstruct and sabotage both sides of the aisle raises the very real possibility that, as the title of Zengerle's implies, we are actually living in "Cantor's America."
Jason Zengerle profiles House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) for New York Magazine. It's an ugly portrait of a very unprincipled man.
"Cantor’s primary job as a member of the whip operation was to cajole his fellow Republican congressmen into voting for many of the bills the tea-partiers now decry as the height of fiscal irresponsibility —including, most infamously, the 2003 Medicare prescription-drug legislation, for which he worked hand in hand with pharmaceutical-industry lobbyists and Karl Rove."
The article traces Cantor's self-transformation from establishment stooge to, well, stealth establishment stooge. It is amazing that someone so committed to preserving corporatist exploitation and defending outright waste in non-social spending has managed to dupe the GOP rank and file into believing that he is fighting for fiscal sensibility.
An interesting aside in the article actually shines a very bright light on just how Cantor has accomplished this. What's more, it also illustrates how he has marginalized Speaker Boehner while, at the same time, securing his general control over the radical, Tea Party driven newcomers who stormed into Congress last year.
"I can text Cantor and get a response back in minutes," says one freshman, explaining his allegiance. "I don’t know if Speaker Boehner even has a cell phone."
These freshman are his to control. They go home and tell their constituents his version of events. Their own narratives have been subsumed.
This is Eric Cantor's grand strategy... for Eric Cantor.
He has created and now wields a barely visible intra-party political machine. His continuing consolidation of power is impressive. His ability to call upon it to obstruct and sabotage both sides of the aisle raises the very real possibility that, as the title of Zengerle's implies, we are actually living in "Cantor's America."
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Fighting FOR The Double Dip
Oct 1st, 2011
Kevin Drum argues that the coming double dip will be wholly owned by the Tea Party and their sympathetic (or fearful) agents in the 112th Congress. The kicker:
"If we want them to, both monetary and fiscal policy can have plenty of bite left. Bottom line: If we plummet into a second recession, it will be solely the fault of fanatical conservatives in Congress who refuse for reasons both partisan and ideological to acknowledge that we can do something about this. It'll be the Tea Party Recession of 2011."
I think it's worse than Drum realizes. We're not dealing with a group that's simply opposed to changes in "fiscal and monetary policy" now. We're dealing with a collectively delusional cabal that is opposed to centralized intervention ever. Their meme of "not picking winners" has devolved into an unthinking scheme that ensures greater hardship for most Americans.
So, yeah. They own it.
Kevin Drum argues that the coming double dip will be wholly owned by the Tea Party and their sympathetic (or fearful) agents in the 112th Congress. The kicker:
"If we want them to, both monetary and fiscal policy can have plenty of bite left. Bottom line: If we plummet into a second recession, it will be solely the fault of fanatical conservatives in Congress who refuse for reasons both partisan and ideological to acknowledge that we can do something about this. It'll be the Tea Party Recession of 2011."
I think it's worse than Drum realizes. We're not dealing with a group that's simply opposed to changes in "fiscal and monetary policy" now. We're dealing with a collectively delusional cabal that is opposed to centralized intervention ever. Their meme of "not picking winners" has devolved into an unthinking scheme that ensures greater hardship for most Americans.
So, yeah. They own it.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
How To Tell "News" From "Not News"
Sept 28th, 2011
How do we tell the difference between what is and what is not "news?" Who knows. I do somehow think corporate sponsorship just might actually have something to do with it.
Of course, in the last 24 hours, I have been called a "Marxist," a "Communist," and a "Fascist" who is "going to die" when "the Tea Party restores freedom and kills" me.
So what do I know. Anyway, here's an easy visual guide to what is and is not "news."
NEWS
NOT NEWS
How do we tell the difference between what is and what is not "news?" Who knows. I do somehow think corporate sponsorship just might actually have something to do with it.
Of course, in the last 24 hours, I have been called a "Marxist," a "Communist," and a "Fascist" who is "going to die" when "the Tea Party restores freedom and kills" me.
So what do I know. Anyway, here's an easy visual guide to what is and is not "news."
NEWS
 |
| Image via PoliticsUSA |
 |
| Image via Digital Journal |
Monday, September 19, 2011
Things You Can't Make Up - "Socialist" Boehner Edition
Sept 19th, 2011
Via TPM:
"David Lewis, a 26 year old Tea Party activist believes the man he is mounting a primary challenge against, Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), is a "socialist."
Indeed, David Lewis and those who support him actually seem to believe this stuff. Dig the interview. When Cavuto thinks you're nuts? Man, you are seriously crazy.
Via TPM:
"David Lewis, a 26 year old Tea Party activist believes the man he is mounting a primary challenge against, Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), is a "socialist."
Indeed, David Lewis and those who support him actually seem to believe this stuff. Dig the interview. When Cavuto thinks you're nuts? Man, you are seriously crazy.
Charting Climate Awareness
Sept 19th, 2011
The Economist charts a recent Yale study which examined American views regarding climate change by political affiliation.
"Tea Partiers, unsurprisingly, tend not to believe in the phenomenon (the 53% who don't believe in global warming just outnumber the 52% who don't believe humans evolved from other animals) and are the most strongly opposed to all sorts of government action on the issue (yet quite keen, like majorities in all sorts of polling, on research into new energy sources). They also distinguish themselves in their assessment of their knowledgeability, with 30% considering themselves very well informed on the issue and a majority happy that it needs no more information on the subject."
Open the image in a new window for a better view.
The Economist charts a recent Yale study which examined American views regarding climate change by political affiliation.
"Tea Partiers, unsurprisingly, tend not to believe in the phenomenon (the 53% who don't believe in global warming just outnumber the 52% who don't believe humans evolved from other animals) and are the most strongly opposed to all sorts of government action on the issue (yet quite keen, like majorities in all sorts of polling, on research into new energy sources). They also distinguish themselves in their assessment of their knowledgeability, with 30% considering themselves very well informed on the issue and a majority happy that it needs no more information on the subject."
Open the image in a new window for a better view.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Some In Tea Party Audience Cheer For Death Of Uninsured
Sept 12th, 2011
It is not often that this much is learned from a hypothetical. During an exchange tonight at the "Tea Party" sponsored GOP debate, Ron Paul beat around the bush when questioned about how society should respond to a major medical crisis involving an uninsured patient. When Blitzer actually pushed for once and asked, "are you saying that society should just let him die?" someone in the audience shouted "yeah!" This shout out was well received.
This was an audience composed entirely of self-identified Tea Party members. This is the dominant force in the current GOP base. The profound lack of fundamental compassion is, itself, un-American. The Founders never conflated concepts of "individual responsibility" with outright blood lust.
It is not often that this much is learned from a hypothetical. During an exchange tonight at the "Tea Party" sponsored GOP debate, Ron Paul beat around the bush when questioned about how society should respond to a major medical crisis involving an uninsured patient. When Blitzer actually pushed for once and asked, "are you saying that society should just let him die?" someone in the audience shouted "yeah!" This shout out was well received.
This was an audience composed entirely of self-identified Tea Party members. This is the dominant force in the current GOP base. The profound lack of fundamental compassion is, itself, un-American. The Founders never conflated concepts of "individual responsibility" with outright blood lust.
"Tea Party Debate" Live Blog
Sept 12th, 2011
Final thoughts. Wolf Blitzer's moderation may have been the most weak-kneed and off point I have ever seen at such an affair. There was almost no follow up.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Pick Your Pejorative
Sept. 8th, 2011
Go ahead. Choose. The only thing I won't refer to you as? American.
Go ahead. Choose. The only thing I won't refer to you as? American.
Monday, August 29, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
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."
-- Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) speaking this weekend at the "Kitchen Table Summit."
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