The Truth About The Republican Opposition

Oct. 3rd, 2010


by F. Grey Parker


Rep. John Boehner said something stunning a week ago that deserves the attention of every citizen who intends to vote this November. It defines the entirety of the republican contribution to the American experiment in these times. Chris Wallace questioned Mr. Boehner in the sympathetic confines of the FOXNews studios about the GOP Pledge's lack of specific policy proposals. The response was profoundly informative. The emphases are mine:

"BOEHNER: Chris, this is what happens here in washington. When you start down that path, you just invite all kind of problems. I know. I've been there. I think we need to do this in a more systemic way and have this conversation first. Let's not get to the potential solutions. Let's make sure americans understand how big the problem is. Then we can talk about possible solutions and then work ourselves into those solutions that are doable."

We have created a "Sunday Picture Show" to drive home the moment.

Chris Wallace looked amazed.

"Let’s not get to the potential solutions."

Did you, like, really say that?

"Let’s not get to the potential solutions."

Shit. He did.

"Let’s not get to the potential solutions."

Dude, shut up.

"Let’s not get to the potential solutions."

Okay. That's it. You are a dumbass.






When the do-nothing opposition casually states that their vision for our troubled nation's future is to continue to do nothing, they really ought not be emboldened this November by the angry electorate's sour grapes.

Ellen on Tyler and Asher

Oct. 2nd, 2010

Ellen has made a statement about both the Tyler Clementi and Asher Brown cases. Their stories speak not just to the struggle for LGBT equality, but to the banal horrors with which our children live every day.

A Rainy Afternoon.

Oct 2nd, 2010

We're trying to take it a little easy here and work on some long form projects.

There is a lovely fall storm lingering here in the Midwest. Steady rain drizzles this afternoon as it has since last night. I think this has the effect of making the world a little more peaceful.



You have to admit, it's hard to find someone who wants to start a fist-fight in the rain.

The stories of the week keep rolling in:

There is more information on Tyler Clementi from the Star Ledger, the Daily News, MTV,  MSNBC and FOX.

Very few commentators are focusing where we think they should be: first, on the broader issue of privacy invasion in 21st century America and, second, our continued dismissiveness of cruelty in the culture of our schools. The lack of discussion regarding both is a disservice. Note: If you have a strong stomach and are curious to discover just how ugly the attitudes can be on FOX forums, look at the comments under their coverage (linked above).

On to Rahm. Rahm Emanuel has left the white house to run for the mayoralty of Chicago. He was given the gift of a dead fish (here, here and here) wrapped in newspaper, ala The Godfather, as a parting shot. He choked up at the press conference. The left says good riddance. Lynn Sweet chimes in.

Get ready for it, kids. As a lifelong Chicagoan, Rahm is the best possible thing that might happen to "The City That Works" in 20 years. On Monday, I'll tell you why.

Important Media Matters notices here, here and here.

The American people continue not to care very much about war crimes committed with our money and in our name.

Enjoy the weekend. We'll have more later.

"Is Freedom Doomed?!"

Oct. 2nd, 2010

Hyperbole Award:


Okay. I watched this clip with J while looking for interesting media today. We both burst into hysterical laughter. The subject could have been treated with grace, but FOXBusiness' Judge Andrew P. Napolitano cracked us up.

While discussing the possibility that "Tea Party" candidates who might win this November could possibly (gasp) compromise or cooperate or something with veteran lawmakers, Napolitano asked "is freedom doomed" if they do so?

Wow. Napolitano needs to go get checked out by a really skilled professional.

Goodnight with Cowboys and... Zombies?

Oct 1st, 2010

It was a long day. First, we noted the continued decline of Dinesh. We payed attention to the Tyler Clementi case. Fox said something really stupid. Nick Prince said something really smart. Krugman exposed the W cuts. Sen. Warner diagnosed the problem with Wall Street. James O'keefe was examined, mocked and ignored. Colbert brought the wit. Rep. Paul Broun brought the crazy. We tipped our hat to John Dennis and The Governator. We laughed a little more. Lastly, we continued to tire of Sharron Angle's venal fear mongering.

Back with a weekend edition tomorrow.

I'd like to leave you with something whimsical as we head into Halloween season. I made a crack earlier today about the revival of the John Birch Society in the form of candidates like Sharron Angle. I think these types are just like George Romero's creations. Normal defenses cannot stop them, they are immune to reason and they just... keep... coming... back.

Then I found this. It seems, the immensely popular western RPG, Red Dead Redemption, has added a "zombie adventure" add on. We can't wait. Here's the trailer.

No O'Keefe at Drudge

Oct. 1st, 2010

As of 4:30pm Eastern time today, There is no link or even a mention of James O'Keefe's attempt to corner a CNN reporter with "dildos" and "make her cry".

We are debating removing the Drudge link from our links list. It's repulsive.

Sharron and Sharia

Oct. 1st, 2010


How many times is this lady going to be allowed to jump the shark?


On Wednesday evening, Sharron Angle named two locations in America that she seemed to allege are already under "Sharia" jurisdiction. 

Here's what happened when she was "...asked about "Muslims taking over the U.S.," including a question about Angle's stance on the proposed mosque near Ground Zero in New York.

"We're talking about a militant terrorist situation, which I believe isn't a widespread thing, but it is enough that we need to address, and we have been addressing it," Angle said.

"Dearborn, Michigan, and Frankford, Texas are on American soil, and under Constitutional law. Not Sharia law. And I don't know how that happened in the United States. It seems to me there is something fundamentally wrong with allowing a foreign system of law to even take hold in any municipality or government situation in our United States."

Forget that her use of language is so poor. What she is saying is clear. But there is no such thing as an extra-constitutional zone in America no matter what Angle implies. Not even when W said there was, could there have been an actual piece of land within our borders in which constitutional law and the power of precedent was trumped by some scary "otherness." Let's be really honest. The closest anywhere in America has come to such a thing is Utah. They gave us Glenn Beck's flavor of Mormonism. But it is still not an established state religion, thank God.

Every single time Mrs. Angle makes an appearance she shows us what she really thinks of democracy. In the event that democrats are routed in November she said "They can either get on board the train or get run over by it." 

California Marijuana Penalties Terminated

Oct. 1st, 2010


It's hard to believe we still have so far to go. Nevertheless, here is some real progress. Unfortunately, the 'weed is wrong on moral grounds' crowd is likely to never go away.

"California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger(R) Thursday signed into law a bill that decriminalizes the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. The bill reduces simple possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction."








One wonders how many double scotches will be consumed this evening by opponents of the move.

Voter Fatigue

Oct 1st, 2010

Sums it up

The Increasingly Rare Practical Libertarian.

Oct. 1st, 2010


John Dennis is running against Nancy Pelosi. John Dennis doesn't stand a chance. As any regular reader here might suspect, I am a Pelosi supporter. That doesn't mean I can't give this poor guy a shout out. He deserves one. He has two paramount virtues. He treats people with decency and he has the courage to remain consistent to his principles. I would personally not likely vote for him, but the guy is a-okay. Amongst other things, he has reached out very honestly to the LGBT community.


Suzy Khimm writes in Mother Jones:

"Dennis certainly prides himself on being an iconoclast. "I'm a Republican, and I've been to Burning Man," he says. "The whole thing really touched me, it was amazing to me that people create just for the moment." Dennis is quick to reassure me that he "didn't do any drugs" while he was attending the countercultural arts festival—though he supports making pot legal because of free-market principles."

Uh Oh...

Oct. 1st, 2010

This makes Gen. Jack Ripper look intellectually sound. We don't know whether to laugh or keep shaking our heads.

"Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) held an America Speaks Out town hall at the Elberton Civic Center in Elberton, Georgia to discuss various issues with constituents. At one point, Broun made the wild claim to his constituents that the federal government, through the Centers for Disease Control, would be calling Americans every single day to make sure they eat their fruits and vegetables."


He thinks the socialists are coming to make you eat your broccolli. No, really.

Fear or Sanity

Oct. 1st, 2010

Either way, this looks like a good time.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
President Obama Endorses the Rally to Restore Sanity
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

The Awful Truth

Oct. 1st, 2010

This sums it up nicely.

The O'Keefe Saga ctd...

Oct. 1st, 2010


by F. Grey Parker


It will be a wonderful day when James O'Keefe is no longer mentioned in any way whatsoever during our political discourse. Yes, I refer to that James O'Keefe. He was the punk kid with white-supremacist ties who sank ACORN using Reifenstahl film techniques. He was the darling of Andrew Breitbart and FOX. He was the guy who broke federal law by trying to interfere with phone lines in the office of an elected official. 


Celebrated by the reactionary right wing media as a "hero," he has at last gone too far. 

O'Keefe is the perfect representative of the American right today. Currently, our most vocal "victim-hood movement" is white, upper middle class and largely socially conservative. You know... republicans.

How We Got Here

Oct 1st, 2010


I have been arguing for several years that the power of Wall Street is a danger due to a fundamental shift in the basic philosophy of investment. As a logical outcome of the Reagan revolution, the primary goal of the investor class has become quarterly profit-taking rather than a sensible expansion of markets.

David Wessel profiles Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.) in the WSJ. The senator helps define the problem.

“Good venture capitalists in the late 90s got so much money they become private-equity firms and nobody was doing real early-stage investing in innovative companies,” he told a Brookings Institution forum Thursday. And that produced what he calls “a lost decade” that clouds the economic horizon and contributed to the global financial crisis.

“All of us in politics say jobs are created by small business, but the jobs come from the gazelles, small innovative companies…not your dry cleaners.”  But financing such enterprises took a beat seat to “fee generation and financial engineering,” he said. The result was “an economy propped up by overheated real estate and new financial instruments.”

Krugman Nails It.

Oct. 1st, 2010


The so-called "W" tax cuts weren't just brazenly wrongheaded, they were cynically enacted as well. Paul Krugman lays it out flat:


"...back in 2001, the Bush administration bundled huge tax cuts for wealthy Americans with much smaller tax cuts for the middle class, then pretended that it was mainly offering tax breaks to ordinary families. Meanwhile, it circumvented Senate rules intended to prevent irresponsible fiscal actions — rules that would have forced it to find spending cuts to offset its $1.3 trillion tax cut — by putting an expiration date of Dec. 31, 2010, on the whole bill."

In this era of failed job creation, the republicans are trying to frame an extension of the cuts to the very rich as an essential to reverse the trend. 


This is ridiculous. 


The jobs creation machine that was once our economy collapsed under George W. Bush. It did so in spite of the very policies that are now being touted as as panacea by the right. 


During George W. Bush's 8 years, a total of 3 new million jobs were created. How bad does that suck? Well, Under Jimmy Carter, 10.5 million jobs were added and that was a one term presidency. Also, there were roughly 80 million fewer American's at the end of Carter's term than there are now. Job expansion as influenced by these tax policies was the smallest per capita on record.

Quote Of The Day

Oct. 1st, 2010


This is one of the most interesting and concise statements we've seen all week.


"Don't let an economically sustainable model get in the way of doing what's right. Dollars aren't the only metric of progress." ~~ Nick Prince

Kilmeade Drops a Whopper

Oct. 1st, 2010

FOXNews' Brian Kilmeade took a shot at the stimulus this morning by saying "it did more harm than anything else." How do you argue with something so jingoistic as to be removed from reality. Well, with reality as evidenced here, here, here, here, here and here.

The Webcam as Weapon

Oct. 1st, 2010

A sad and salacious story is making the rounds. A young man is dead after having his privacy invaded and his orinetation outed.

William Saletan at Slate examines.

"Tyler Clementi wanted privacy. Like countless college freshmen before him, he needed a place to make out, but he had a roommate. So he asked his roommate to clear out of their Rutgers dorm room for a couple of hours.

The roommate, Dharun Ravi, obliged him. But Ravi left something behind: his computer. It had a webcam and an Internet connection. That's how Ravi got back into the room,according to police. He never touched the door or window. He just tapped into the webcam from a friend's computer down the hall. Through it, he saw Clementi making out with a man. Ravi tweeted his discovery, inviting 148 of his closest friends to access the webcam. A day later, Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge and died."

Glenn and Dinesh

Oct. 1st, 2010


Dinesh D'Souza's recent Obama hit piece was endorsed yesterday by Glenn Beck. After an intro that included yet another exhortation from Beck for his viewers to read Atlas Shrugged, Dinesh was brought into the studio to stand in front of the infamous blackboard. 


"Anti-Colonialism" was writ large across it


Glenn Beck gave an utterly unquestioning forum to the Dinesh theory that so many principled conservatives have savaged (here, here and here) for both it's intellectual dishonesty and it's patent racism:

"This is the best theory I have heard" Beck said. Nothing like an endorsement from the sputtering "man-baby".












Here are Beck's remaining sponsors. Feel free to contact them and ask if they too endorse the writings of a man who argued in his book, "The Enemy at Home," that American liberalism was responsible for 9/11 because the liberal left has created a degraded and decadent culture that invites the actions of our enemies.