Fox News Even Making Up News About Fox News

A couple of days ago, Mike Tobin at Fox News claimed that a union thug attacked him.



Poor Mike Tobin! He's a REPORTER and people don't respect him! People should ALWAYS respect the media! Especially the Main Stream Media, like Fox!

Anyway, you may have noticed that when he was "hit" the camera wasn't on him. God only knows how severe the blow was! Maybe it was a rock, maybe a two-by-four, maybe a meaty thuggish fist. Oh wait, a camera was on him.



Plus the day after, Tobin went on O'Reilly to do the less unbiased reporting (O'Reilly isn't a news show, it's an opinion show) and to illustrate it they showed footage of the violent union thugs in Wisconsin. Check out the shoving at 2:20!



While you're at it, check out the palm trees. In Wisconsin. In the dead of winter.

Remember, They're Only Kidding

Haha, good one!

...Under Rep. Franklin's bill, HB 1, women who miscarry could become felons if they cannot prove that there was "no human involvement whatsoever in the causation" of their miscarriage. There is no clarification of what "human involvement" means, and this is hugely problematic as medical doctors do not know exactly what causes miscarriages. Miscarriages are estimated to terminate up to a quarter of all pregnancies and the Mayo Clinic says that "the actual number is probably much higher because many miscarriages occur so early in pregnancy that a woman doesn't even know she's pregnant. Most miscarriages occur because the fetus isn't developing normally."

This one probably falls under the self-parody category. "You think our opposition to abortion goes to far? Check THIS out! We'll jail a quarter of all women! (snort)"

Don't worry, they wouldn't have introuduced it if they thought it could become a law. Remember, they don't want to make laws. They want to make jokes!

Misjudging the Opposition

I spent a considerable amount of energy yesterday fighting a crazy talking point. Hat tip to Warner Todd Huston!

"Obama Misspells Libya on Twitter Feed "

This is not a major issue, but it got into my craw. Normally I have a voluminous craw but somehow this stuck noticably in it, among the rest of the stuff. I think I was just fed up with what I see as the whisper campaign of half-truths and out and out lies. The thing that bothered me about this is, obviously, Obama doesn't write the twitter feed. I wanted to stop this one before it spread like wild fire and a whole nation of Republicans carried around an image in their heads of a stupid drooling Obama, who can't run the country because he can't even spell Libya.

I tried to get Huston to admit that Obama doesn't write the twitter feed, I argued with his Facebook followers, I made a troll of myself. And for all the wrong reasons.

What they made me realize, withough actually dropping the facade, is that they are all in on the joke. Of course Obama doesn't write his own twitter feed. Of course he wasn't born in Kenya. Of course Democrats aren't just like the Nazis.

The RNC talking points that I so vigorously fight here are, for the most part, a bunch of inside jokes that they won't 'fess up to, because that kills the punchline.

If it was a mystery why all the leading minds in the party seem to be entertainers instead of politicians, there's your answer. They have given up on solving the nation's problems. Sure they think things might be slightly better if conservatives ran everything, but the first six years of Bush taught them that also leads to crashing disappointment.

Conservatives are bitter cynics now, who are so bereft of hope that even the laws they propose are for fun - sometimes a parody of Democrat laws, like the one that would require all South Dakotan's to carry guns the way that they all have to buy health insurance; sometimes self parody, like the one that would allow child labor. But the one thing they aren't bothering with, it appears, is crafting laws to make life better for constituents, because they believe they are powerless to do so.

So I guess what I learned from this episode yesterday is for a default position, assume that what a conservative is telling you is a joke. Just clap them on the back and say, "Good one!"

(PS, One of Warner's tweet's from today: Drudge hit my Obama misspells Libya story today:... http://fb.me/SXYi3d3p I love it when a joke goes viral! Good one!)

I Stand With Scott Walker So I Can Hold Up A Devil Horn Sign Behind His Head

I'm not as worked up about this as my liberal brethren are. It would be great if Walker had admitted to something illegal or at least deceptive (I was rooting for an admission of spiking the crowd with phony liberal plants) but he doesn't. He really doesn't share much in private than he would have in public, except for a few predictable strategy things.

As I said on my Twitter feed it's hardly a smoking gun; more like a lukewarm gun with fingerprints all over it.

Still, it's interesting to watch this play out. Walker took office last month and apparently this is his biggest priority, busting one of the state's unions. Not all of them (firefighters and police, who endorsed him, haven't gotten a bad word out of the man) and not necessarily working with the teachers to balance the budget, because they've agreed to a pay cut as long as they can retain collective bargaining rights.

It's not playing well for Walker, according to some sources. Probably because most Americans still support collective bargaining rights. But by God, Walker ain't gonna budge. Democracy isn't about compromise!

Well, technically it is. Leaders who don't compromise are generally referred to as "dictators" and its kind of been a bad year for those guys so far.

No, It's Never Too Soon

Guns are feeling really bad after that Giffords shooting. It wasn't their fault! Guns don't kill people, fans of people kill people! And that's why Arizona is taking the initiative to cheer guns up, with a little honorarium.

Sponsored by 43 of the 90 members of the Arizona legislature, the new bill seeks to make the Colt single-action Army revolver the "official state firearm" of Arizona. In January, lawmakers in Utah moved to make M1911 semi-automatic pistol the official gun of that state.

In a Facebook group advocating for all states to adopt official state guns, the administrator writes, "States have symbols such as flags, birds, dinosaurs, reptiles, insects, flowers, even cookware. None of these symbols would have become necessary without guns and the freedoms they helped our forefathers obtain."

Oh America and her necessary symbols!

That's so sweet! Buck up, guns! Maybe in a couple of years, another state will bestow this honor on a Glock 19!

Update to Warner Huston's Civility Posting - Not Warner Speaking This Time

MOVEON.ORG IS as bad as the Nazis!

Doug Hackett Both groups, MoveOn and the KKK base a argument on half truth, emotion (useually hate) and attempt to silence those who oppose thier ideology through intimidation and threats.

As a Historian, I understand what the impact is when a handful of extemists are out there preaching to the masses who are too busy living life to pay attention to what the real truth is. The old saying goes, say it often and long enough and it becomes a fact. It does not matter if MoveOn does not lynch people like the KKK, what they stand for could lead to such an offense happening. How many times have you seen signs with kill Bush or kill Rush at leftwing demonstrations. Right now you can turn on news of WI demonstration and the signs are packed with very hateful comments. If a this was a right wing demonstration, the mass news media would be running endless video and Joy Behar would be foaming at the mouth on the View.

Now you might say, I seriously doubht that MoveOn could incite violence, well, many siciologists have a hard time understanding how an entire nation would march 10 million people to the gas chambers. So my answer to you is, my argument is oppose all extremists whomever they are in whatever mask they wear because we have had enough lynching and Dachau's.

In Which Warner Todd Huston Calls Moveon.org Worse Than the KKK, and Complains About Incivility

Note: exchange is from Warner Todd Huston's Facebook page. Follow him today!

Daniel Krause Is Move On illegal? Is PBS thanking them for money?


Warner Todd Huston I didn't say it was illegal. Let me put it this way, would you be upset that PBS was thanking the KKK for it's support?

Daniel Krause Yes I would. So you are equating Moveon.org with the KKK?

Warner Todd Huston Why not. What's the major difference between them?

Daniel Krause Oh how I was hoping you'd respond that way.

"So, what’s the answer to all of this? Mostly just ignore the name calling."

So really, you're advising people to ignore you.

Daniel Krause BTW, Moveon.org doesn't have a history of lynching people. That's a major difference.

Warner Todd Huston How is that name calling?

Moveon wants America destroyed and remade into something it is not. They are an enemy just as much as the KKK. Description is NOT name calling.

Of course, I know how you'd love that to be the case. After all, that w...ould make discussing your hate-America groups unassailable because any description of their efforts would be made un-discussed.

But you re right. The KKK is hardly that big a deal. Hardly anyone belongs to it. Moveon is far more dangerous. It has millions of dollars and thousands of wild-eyed, anti-American members.

So, you are right. I should not have said the KKK is like Moveon. Clearly Moveon is worse.See More

Ken Suminski (I'd like to see him weigh in more, but nothing so far)  No they don't lynch people, but the level of hatred they inspire is equal.

Daniel Krause So your complaint is that Moveon.org says hateful things. Then I should ignore you AND moveon.org.

Warner Todd Huston Free country. Ignore who you like. Me, I'd be happy if leftists ignore all of politics.

Daniel Krause You still haven't said what Moveon.org has done wrong, in your opinion. If criticizing politicians is anti-american then YOU'RE as bad as Moveon. And therefore, as bad as the KKK.

Warner Todd Huston They want to eliminate America as it is and turn it into something it isn't and should not be. They want capitalism hampered, government grown, and American liberties shackled. They want the USA turned into a less powerful version of Europe....

As to your claim that I am as bad as the KKK, I have no doubt you think that way. So your saying so is not surprising.See More

Daniel Krause I don't think you're as bad as the KKK. You do. I think you're kinda charming.

Carving A Backward "B" In The Face of the Unions

Disappointed that the SEIU rallys aren't violent enough? Worried that the left isn't cooperating with your talking points? Stop complaining and take action!

Here is what I am doing in Sacramento, where they are holding a 5:30 PM event this coming Tuesday: (1) I signed up as an organizer (2) with any luck they will contact me and I will have an "in" (3) in or not I will be there and am asking as many other people as can get there to come with, all of us in SEIU shirts (those who don't have them we can possibly buy some from vendors likely to be there) (4) we are going to target the many TV cameras and reporters looking for comments from the members there (5) we will approach the cameras to make good pictures... signs under our shirts that say things like "screw the taxpayer!" and "you OWE me!" to be pulled out for the camera (timing is important because the signs will be taken away from us) (6) we will echo those slogans in angry sounding tones to the cameras and the reporters. (7) if I do get the 'in' I am going to do my darnedest to get podium access and take the mic to do that rant from there...with any luck and if I can manage the moments to build up to it, I can probably get a cheer out of the crowd for something extreme.

Since I have radio shows to host in Fresno tomorrow (KMJ FM and KMJ AM) I am going to try to gin up some support from down there and salt the crowd here with more people. Several Tea Party chapters around the country are planning to join with me, if you are a member of one in your area please contact them for details. If they are not participating get them to!

Take action and then pull the posting, because it's potentially embarassing. As long as no one knows that everything on the internet is cached, we'll get away with it!

*****UPDATE: IOWA, COLORADO, MASSACHUSETTS AND SEVERAL OTHER STATES HAVE CHECKED IN.... Tea Party Patriot groups and individuals are flooding me with emails vowing to participate and come up with their own creative ruses! Several have also reminded me that we have a distinct advantage in that the SEIU primarily represents non-English speaking illegal aliens so we will be the ones whose comments will make air!!!!*****

You gotta admire this guy. Most right wing radio hosts are content to just pass along the lies of their betters. This Tuesday, a serious attempt to gin up some fresh new lies! Atta boy, Mark Williams of KMJ! I'm looking forward to the unbiased and exhaustively verified coverage on Fox!

Something Else Fox News Is Making Up

Add this to the list.  Fox News reports on the hot "sexting" craze that all the kids are in on!

Here are a few of the more common sexting acronyms:

GYPO: Get Your Pants Off

IAYM: I Am Your Master

IWSN: I Want Sex Now

K4Y: Kiss For You

LMIRL: Let's Meet In Real Life

MOOS: Member Of The Opposite Sex

MOSS: Member(s) Of The Same Sex

NALOPKT: Not A Lot Of People Know That

S2R: Send To Receive

TDTM: Talk Dirty To Me

WIN: Want It Now

Do any of these look familiar to you? Me neither. Here's what happened when Gizmodo tried out a couple of 'em.

Oh well, could be worse. They could have reported about mexting.

They Were Kidding Then, NOW They're Serious

Or they're kidding now, and THEN they were serious.

Warner Todd Huston (Hi Warner! Hope your feeling better) is either terrified that the Winsconsin non-violent protests are about to get ugly, or he's satirizing the nationwide response to the Tea Party rallies. Look at these headlines!!!!!!!!!!!!! ZOMG!!!!!!!!

These Hatemongers Are in Control of Our Children!

Violence Soaked Union Thug Flocks To Wisconsin

I especially like the 2nd one - his hate is so fearsome, it only takes a single one of him to constitute a flock!

Anyway, here is the kind of rhetoric which Warner has suddenly decided is "egregious":





Wasn't there a kind of effort to defend these particular rhetorical florishes a month ago? What's the difference? These people are protesting on behalf of TEACHERS, and therefore their signs aren't misspelled.

As for our flock, you have to drill down a few links to find out what terrible violent acts this guy is accused of committing.

A nonunion contractor who operated heavy equipment, York was shot to death during a strike called by the United Mine Workers 17 years ago. Workmates who tried to come to his rescue were beaten in an ensuing melee. The head of the UMW spearheading the wave of strikes at that time? Richard Trumka. Responding to concerns about violence, he shrugged to the Virginian-Pilot in September 1993: "I'm saying if you strike a match and you put your finger in it, you're likely to get burned." Incendiary rhetoric, anyone?

Yep, incendiary rhetoric is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, even from 17 years ago. No wonder they're talking about bringing in the National Guard!

I think WTH's point is not that these things are dangerous, it's that Liberals shouldn't have worried about it. But since he doesn't make it explicit, he's going to get a lot of readers (unlike me, Warner HAS a lot of readers) who take him at face value. And he's fine with that. And this is the same attitude that other leaders of the Republican Party (Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh) have. I don't care how you interpret me, as long as my numbers stay high. Thus this party which is always complaining about liberal entertainers shooting their mouths off about politics puts most of its trust in entertainers who have no other talent BUT politics.

DJs run the Republican platform. Unlike David Bowie's lyric though, they're interested neither in "humble pie (nor) bitter truth." In fact, just the opposite. I wonder if we could get Bowie to run?

The Big Tease

I was so exited to see this near where I work yesterday. A new breakfast place, just across the street!

Turns out they're a company that makes signs and banners, the bastards.

Put Down That Transformer, Break Time's Over

I have been wondering why the anti-regulation, pro-business types haven't tried this already.

SB 222 – This act modifies the child labor laws. It eliminates the prohibition on employment of children under age fourteen. Restrictions on the number of hours and restrictions on when a child may work during the day are also removed. It also repeals the requirement that a child ages fourteen or fifteen obtain a work certificate or work permit in order to be employed. Children under sixteen will also be allowed to work in any capacity in a motel, resort or hotel where sleeping accommodations are furnished. It also removes the authority of the director of the Division of Labor Standards to inspect employers who employ children and to require them to keep certain records for children they employ. It also repeals the presumption that the presence of a child in a workplace is evidence of employment.

What the Dickens?!

They're Tryin' to Kill Me Jimmy!

Stuart Margolin as Angel, just to shore up the quote in the title

I have had a rough week. Sunday night I noticed the hot water had vanished in my apartment. No hot water! Rescue forces have replaced the heater but it's still only gradually returning to normal. I only have lukewarm water.

Meanwhile I come home last night to discover that the nerve center of my life is also down. My DSL modem has failed! ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG !!

As it happens, I have backup systems - my iPhone, the computer at work, Starbucks. I guess I have access to hot showers too, because of the gym membership, but this internet thing is driving me nuts. It's not just my computer, you know. Though that's a problem (almost everything I do on the computer hooks into the cloud somehow, and what's worse my printer is connected via Wi-Fi so I can't print) the TV and BluRay player are also internet-enabled. For some reason, my TV has decided that it's an hour later than it was a couple days ago, because it's not getting its time from a server online.

And remember, without a constant supply of new material from blogs and internet radio, my source of home amusement is television. And I DON'T HAVE CABLE. Why would I, right? Television is different than the internet. If someone says something stupid on TV, you can't answer back to them. You can't save funny screen grabs and email them to your friends. Ads show up whether you click on them or not. And without cable, it's almost impossible to find porn. I think it's pretty obvious now that Mubarak sealed his own doom when he shut down the internet in Egypt.

Someone report this whole blog to this guy, willya? I can't.

Thank God Trader Joe's is still open so I can still get Organic Kona Whole Bean Coffee. I suppose my grinder will go down next!

Republicans, Joke That This Guy Should Be Killed

Because "Curveball" caused a few problems for you.

As US secretary of state, Colin Powell gathered his notes in front of the United Nations security council, the man watching — Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, known to the west's intelligence services as "Curveball" — had more than an inkling of what was to come. He was, after all, Powell's main source, a man his German handlers had feted as a new "Deep throat" — an agent so pivotal that he could bring down a government.

As Curveball watched Powell make the US case to invade Iraq, he was hiding an admission that he has not made until now: that nearly every word he had told his interrogators from Germany's secret service, the BND, was a lie.

Everything he had said about the inner workings of Saddam Hussein's biological weapons programme was a flight of fantasy - one that, he now claims was aimed at ousting the Iraqi dictator. Janabi, a chemical engineering graduate who had worked in the Iraqi industry, says he looked on in shock as Powell's presentation revealed that the Bush administration's hawkish decisionmakers had swallowed the lot. Something else left him even more amazed; until that point he had not met a US official, let alone been interviewed by one.

"I had the chance to fabricate something to topple the regime," he told the Guardian in a series of interviews carried out in his native Arabic and German. "I and my sons are proud of that, and we are proud that we were the reason to give Iraq the margin of democracy."

So at the time of writing this, an estimate of what this guy has cost Americans is $774 trillion dollars. For the current estimate, click here. That's just money. The cost in Americans themselves is around 5000 casualties. Iraqis have lost about 100k of their number.

And YOU, Republicans, were behind it all the way. It lost you the 2006 and 2008 elections and you're still hurting from it. Sure a lot of Democrats were for the Iraq war as well, but as far as I can see, it was ALL y'all. Plus you insisted on invading a country based on this one guy's story rather than trusting some second opinions. Hans Blix, for instance. So the point is, if anyone is interested in revenge, it should probably be you. Send Cheney after him.

You Decide

I'm thrilled to say I'm not making this up. Fox Nation has found something that even eluded Glenn Beck!

This is an incredible piece of video. At the 1:20 mark you clearly see some greenish figure moving through the crowd.

Between the crowds of protesters and barricades, the video shows a flowing, pale green image that resembles an erect rider atop a horse in Medieval-like barding. The ethereal figure remains for a few moments before floating over protesters' heads and off the screen.

Is this the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse?"

Yes! It is totally the end of history! The rapture has already started, as per revelations! Quick, buy gold! Wait a minute... if you lived a pure life, you won't NEED gold! Just who is the audience for Fox anyway?

I haven't had so much fun since a couple of weeks ago, when the aliens on V introduced a "machine to identify and extract the human soul."

Happy Valentine's Day!

"Be a Valentine and get me a cup of coffee willya sweetheart?"

-(photo courtesy my old improv pal Barbara Duffy)

I have been known, in the past, to dread Valentine's Day more than any other holiday. And I'm a guy who has major isssues with Christmas, so that means something. This year, as it happens, I'm in love so it's going down pretty easy. I took the lovely LeAnne to a Stan Ridgway concert and dinner over the weekend, so the today will be a cakewalk for me. No pressure!

Still, this is a day of infamy for those with Social Anxiety Disorder, or those who are simply not in a relationship, or men. Love is one of the few things in our society that men aren't in charge of, and it freaks us out. As far as we're concerned if we could keep the whole love thing quiet we'd be a lot happier.

Still, we recognize the importance of love, and we even grudgingly approve of it. So women, be gentle with men today, and men spend a little extra at Godiva for the good stuff. You'll be glad you did.

Some Catching Up to Do

Egypt: See? You can do regime change without spending 3 trillion dollars or killing Americans!

Chris Lee: Shouldn't have resigned. Obviously his marriage is in trouble. His personal life is messy. If we fired everybody who had that problem, unemployment would be closer to 80%. If he was stealing, or trying to pass laws against Craigslist, maybe I'd be singing a different tune; but this shirtless texting has nothing to do with one's ability to govern.

CPAC: It pains me to say this but I think dissention in the ranks is good for the Republican party. When they agreed on everything all the time they wound up going to some pretty nutty places instead of putting the brakes on. A little booing makes them stronger. And if that's how they become stronger, great. I have no quarrel with the sensible Republicans, just the extremist ones. Protest mitigates extremism.

I used to complain that there was no difference between the two parties; now I see that time as the Golden Age.

LA KARAOKE CAST: You haven't heard of this, because they haven't got it off the ground yet. My favorite Karaoke outfit Seize the Mic Entertainment was experimenting last night with U-Stream, potentially making my performance of Spandau Ballet's True available to Tunisians. I'm still on the fence with this one, even though I totally rocked True. They promised me they will allow shy singers to opt out, because after all anything that goes on the internet is potentially forever trapped in digital amber. Even if no one is watching live, that don't mean they won't later. And if you think a picture of Brent Favre's junk is bad for a career, imagine a wobbly rendition of New York New York. Anyway, it's moot as of right now because they couldn't iron out the kinks by the time I left. Which is a shame because, did I mention? I totally rocked True.

Chief Executive Decision

Further thoughts regarding the President's interview on Superbowl Sunday (by the way, who won?) - I've been puzzling about this. Fox News, repeatedly has made the claim that their policy to present "fair and balanced news." When you point out that the hosts of most of their programming are conservatives they will say that they have opinion shows and NEWS shows, and that the news shows are unbiased.

So my question is, for the Superbowl interview on Fox TV (not Fox News) why not send one of the News people instead of O'Reilly? Why not Chris Wallace, who anchors Fox News Sunday? It just doesn't seem like the decision of a fair and balanced news department to use O'Reilly, because you've acknowleged that he has a conservative bias.

No Wonder Sarah Palin Won't Talk to the Press!

"Let's never forget, we're the real story, not them." Aaron Altman (Albert Brooks), Broadcast News

Wink, Wink

Environmental obstructionists found a federal judge in Missoula that was willing to ignore the scientific evidence as well as the expert opinions of on-the-ground wildlife managers here in Montana. And he ruled last August that the grey wolf had to remain on the Endangered Species List.

When I first heard his decision, like many of you I wanted to take action immediately. I asked: how can we put some of these judicial activists on the Endangered Species List? I am still working on that!

Montana's Congressman, Denny Rehberg, in his speech to a Joint Session of the 62nd Montana State Legislature. Italics mine.

Glenn Beck Surprisingly Not In Favor of "Free Speech" Any More

I'm not sure what conclusions he's reaching here, but I think he's saying that allowing people to talk like that will lead to a holocaust. Allowing a man in the street to speak his mind. Just imagine if a maniac like that had a show on a top-rated cable network!

Like A Pendulum Do

The free market may, in the opinion of John Avlon of the Daily Beast, bring about the return of sensible political discourse. He uses the occasion of Keith Olbermann's departure from MSNBC to look at the state of cable news ratings.

Here's a snapshot side-by-side comparison of their slide: On January 20th of last year, Olbermann reached an estimated 251,000 people aged 25-to-54 at 8 p.m., according to data kept by TVNewser.com. Exactly one year later, this past Thursday, he reached only 198,000—a decline of nearly 20 percent.

Beck's collapse was even steeper over the same period. On January 20th of 2010, he was flying high at a point of maximum influence coincident with Tea Party enthusiasm, reaching 965,000 in the 24-to-55 demographic. On 1/20/11, Beck reached roughly one-third that number at 5 p.m.—only 377,000.

To be sure, even at their reduced rates of viewership, both men were leaders at their respective networks. But the trend lines are clear—both hosts were trending down by double digits in the first four months of last year—and comforting from an independent's perspective.

Similarly, I'm not supposed to mention someone all through February, but check out this trending!


(if it isn't working, try this.)

Congress, meanwhile is trending up since November. You could argue that it's because there are more Republicans now, or you could argue that seeing them actually compromise and pass a bunch of laws in the lame duck session was appealing to people.



For my part, I'm tired of hateful, demonizing rhetoric. In addition to the corrosiveness, it really paints people into rhetorical corners which limit them later on.

Humor or Hypocrisy? Harder to Tell Than You Think

Can I just say at the outset that sarcasm is not a good launching off point for lawmaking? Therefore, let's do these guys the courtesy of assuming that they're not that childish, and this is a serious issue to them.

Five South Dakota lawmakers have introduced legislation that would require any adult 21 or older to buy a firearm “sufficient to provide for their ordinary self-defense.”

The bill, which would take effect Jan. 1, 2012, would give people six months to acquire a firearm after turning 21. The provision does not apply to people who are barred from owning a firearm.

Nor does the measure specify what type of firearm. Instead, residents would pick one “suitable to their temperament, physical capacity, and preference.”

The measure is known as an act “to provide for an individual mandate to adult citizens to provide for the self defense of themselves and others.”

The self defense of others! Just sayin'.

So in other words, Quakers and Muslims alike must be armed if this bill passes in South Dakota. And it will be a state in which everyone is required to own a firearm but no one is required to be TRAINED IN ITS USE. And teens will be at the mercy of every armed adult within shooting distance, defenseless.

Of course, they say it's just a gag.

The humor, of course, is passing some by. But I spoke to Rep. Wick about the proposal—the funny, clever idea he had for getting under the skin of everybody who thinks the health-care bill is constitutional. And he clearly gets the joke he’s made, both the bite of the thing and the comedy. If the government can force us to buy and keep health insurance, then why can’t it compel us to keep and bear guns?

Yeah, right, humor. "Those Asians - they just can't drive! Ha ha, just kidding." They're not kidding. They'd be thrilled to death (literally) if we all had to own guns. Every time there is a shooting in a high school, it's a conservative who suggests that this tragedy could be avoided if ALL the kids were armed. Ideally, the Republicans want poor people to be armed to the teeth without being able to afford medical care, because that would thin their ranks.

Ha ha, just kidding.

You Can't Rely On Amateurs

Listen, you want a mosque blown up? Don't be passive/agressive and repeat a message like "boy, it sure would be good if that Mosque wasn't there in Dearborn. Yep, sure would be good." Because you're only going to attract talent like this.

A California man is in jail on a terrorism charge after he was arrested in Dearborn for allegedly trying to blow up the biggest mosque in metro Detroit, Dearborn officials said today.

The suspect was arrested in the parking lot of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn on Monday, while hundreds were inside the mosque that sits along Ford Road, police said. He came to the city because of its large Arab-American and Muslim population, police said.

Roger Stockham, 63, was arraigned Wednesday on one count on a threat of terrorism or false report and one count of explosive-possession of bombs with unlawful intent for possession of Class C fireworks, Dearborn Police said.

...Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly said the suspect "had a lot of high-end fireworks."

"It was the max you could buy legally."

They were not "conventional explosives," O'Reilly said. "But at that level, those things misused are terrific weapons."

No, they're TERRIBLE weapons. You can get much better for less money if you know what you're doing. But people who know what they're doing have tight schedules and can't just go out for a weekend on a lark to blow stuff up. They need a little cash up front.

Listen, don't be fooled by Al Queada. They get one thing right and everybody is terrified. But most of the time it's just a buncha idiots and they fail. Don't use that model, if you want to get anything done. Ailes needs to go with one of the classicists, like Hitler or at least Juan Peron. Half-measures don't accomplish nothin, Roger.

Speaking of Wacky Video

Watch this with the sound muted. Notice how Bachmann is speaking not to the camera, but to a point somewhere to the right of it? The real message here is "what I'm saying doesn't matter, what matters is I'm directing it to the real Americans; and you're not one of them."

Speaking of Fish Heads

I admit that I didn't watch the State of the Union Address on Tuesday night. I don't like SOTUs. I haven't since Bill Clinton's 2nd one. I said to myself, "this isn't useful information, it's comforting nonsense. It's advertising." And I haven't sat though one since. I'd almost say I don't blame the Supreme Court justices for skipping out on 'em, but it's kind of their job to be there. Not literally, or course.

Anyway, you'll see what I mean about the thing being nonsense. At least it was brief!

I'm glad it isn't all about Tilapia. I know that's more people's choice nowadays but it just isn't as flavorful.

How DARE You Request Civility!

Remember this? The story continues.

Last week, California State Sen. Leland Yee (D) called on right-wing hate radio host Rush Limbaugh to apologize for mocking Chinese President Hu Jintao and the Chinese language by speaking gibberish “ching chong chang” Chinese on his radio program. Yee, who is Chinese-American and chairs the state Senate Select Committee on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, said Limbaugh owes the Chinese-American community an apology for his “pointless and ugly offense.” Naturally, Limbaugh did not apologize, and instead railed against Yee the following day on his radio, calling him out repeatedly by name.

And here's a fax that Lee got!

Probably just idle death threats; but for God's sake is this an appropriate response to a request for an apology? Dial it back, dude.

Another Sign that 'Baggers Approve of the Giffords Shooting

They're the first people to book a political convention in Arizona! Ain't nobody gunning for Tea Party leaders. Duh.

We can’t reveal the speaker line-up yet, but when you hear who will be joining us - you’ll be really glad you have a seat. All presentations and break out sessions will focus on at least one aspect of the Pathways to Liberty. Participants will be armed with specific tools to translate rhetoric into lasting reform.

Lough-NER! Lough-NER! Obviously not in person, probably via webcam. During visiting hours.

I hope I'm winning the approval of 'baggers with these posts. I won't apologize to them, because that would be a disservice to freedom of speech.

Editorial Cartoon I Agree With

I think I know what they're getting at here: Sarah Palin should not be criticized when she says "Elect who I recommend, or kill me." Agreed. Possibly also the message is that the Teabaggers are at war with the rest of America. I'm down with that one too.

(Investors Business Daily, via Where Are My Keys)

Flu Away Home

What's been keeping me away this week, you're askin'. I'll tell you bucky. I was whacked with the flu last weekend, running a 100-degree-plus fever. The fever has subsided, and I've been crawling back to normalcy since Tuesday. My energy level is almost normal again, the aches have subsided, and the cough has gone from a dry scratch to a disgusiting phlemmy rattle.

Anyway, under a seige like this who has the energy for politics? Especially Noh theatre politics like this week. Republicans, who promised to repeal health care to people who don't understand what it is have made their grand empty gesture and will next have to explain that they really tried but didn't see the senate refusal to ratify the vote coming. Nor would they have conceived that Obama might veto such a repeal were it to reach him.They were blindsided! In the process they can demonize (hint that assasination would be a solution) Harry Reid and Obama, THE ONLY TWO PEOPLE WHO WANT HEALTH CARE. They're holding you hostage, America! Meanwhile, OBAMA RAISED insurance rates!

I'm a little worked up! Better lay back for a while.

Important Demonstration: Freedom Of Speech

Our national discourse would be poorer if nuanced views like this were ever shut down.

I guess. Frankly, everything Rush says sounds like this to me.

A Toast To His In-Law

No, seriously.

In the days when newspaper photos were more common than square pixel-based imaging, I suppose the guy would have used english muffins.

A Voice Calmer Than Mine

I have notably omitted the Sarah Palin "blood libel" controversey from this blog because I'm not sure it's such a big deal. Offensive though it may be to some, Palin is known for not being espcially precise in her language.

Joining me in this non-bashing is, of all people, Abraham Foxman of the Jewish Anti-Demfamation League.

It was inappropriate at the outset to blame Sarah Palin and others for causing this tragedy or for being an accessory to murder. Palin has every right to defend herself against these kinds of attacks, and we agree with her that the best tradition in America is one of finding common ground despite our differences.

Still, we wish that Palin had not invoked the phrase "blood-libel" in reference to the actions of journalists and pundits in placing blame for the shooting in Tucson on others. While the term "blood-libel" has become part of the English parlance to refer to someone being falsely accused, we wish that Palin had used another phrase, instead of one so fraught with pain in Jewish history.

Yes, the whole ADL isn't behind this statement, but I'm with Foxman. And if you read me carefully enough (especially last Sunday, before the sarcasm ate my soul) you'll see that I've never blamed Palin for the shooting; my point since has been to criticize the notion that there's no way the guy could have been influenced by violent rhetoric. It's a little nuanced, I know.

Anyway, next step is finding a common ground despite our differences. Anybody putting bets down on when? Me neither.

Just a Tiny Bit More About Sarah Palin

This shouldn't be an issue with Sarah Palin fans.

A. It's just free speech.

B. Free speech doesn't provoke violence.

C. So what if they're trying to take down a video with things they said.

Feel free to disagree with me but be ready to explain WHY you do.

Volunteers for Replacements? Anyone? Anyone?

You know what? They're just a bunch of crybabies.

Fearing violence from tea party activists, Arizona Legislative District 20 Republican Chairman Anthony Miller and several others tendered their resignation this week following mass shootings that left six dead and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) in critical condition.

Miller, a 43-year-old former campaign worker for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), said that verbal attacks and blog posts from members of the tea party had him fearing for the safety of his family, according to a report in The Arizona Republic.

"Today my wife of 20 yrs ask (sic) me do I think that my PCs (Precinct Committee members) will shoot at our home?" he wrote in an e-mail following the shootings. "So with this being said I am stepping down from LD20GOP Chairman...I will make a full statement on Monday."

Tea party members supporting J.D. Hayworth for senator in the midterm elections accused Miller, an African American, of being a "McCain's boy." One detractor had even made his hand into the shape of a gun and pointed it at Miller.

Listen, if you don't want to risk a bullet through the sternum than you have no business going into politics! Or having a difference of opinion with certain constituents! This is America, and people have a right to free speech -- as expressed with muskets.

This Doesn't Encourage Political Assasination Either

People are so sensitive nowadays! Remember how upset people got when Congressman Joe Wilson shouted "You Lie!" during Barack Obama's State Of The Union Address? It's free speech man! Lighten up! In that spirit, a company in South Carolina marketed an item engraved with with Joe Wilson's famous quote. What a splendid way to honor freedom of speech!

Yes, of course it was a rifle part. Specifically a lower receiver, whatever those are:

Wouldn't it be great to have one of those in your rifle when you're out shooting... a duck or something.

Sadly if you didn't get one, you're too late. For whatever dopey reason, the company has withdrawn the item since, I dunno, the last week apparently. Like I say, people are sensitive. Still there's nothing stopping you from scratching You Lie or Death Panel or say a comical picture of the President into the stalk of your rifle, to make... duck hunting more fun.

Similarly, there's nothing stopping me from starting a SURVEY SARAH PALIN movement, with a picture of Palin like this only with a surveyor's mark over it.

Nobody would have a problem with that, especially Palin! She's begging to be surveyed! That is, she would like publicity. Let's give it to her, America! Let her have it!

2:43 Of Zen

Banned Again!

In the course of suggesting that Sarah Palin maybe curtail her own free speech, my account at WAMK was shut down. Because they get enraged over there over free speech issues. Am I the only one seeing irony in this?

Anyway, it's like the last time. I'll keep reading, and hopefully I'll have the grace to keep my virtual mouth shut unless they ask me back.  If they don't, best of luck and keep up the good work.

Now THAT'S Courage!

Daily Caller commenters, fighting for moonbats rights to carry guns to Sarah Palin rallies. All righty then!

Most Americans Think It Too

According to a CBS Poll, a majority agrees that our political discourse didn't cause the Gifford shooting on Saturday. I think it's kind of a shame, because I don't like our political discourse and I'd like to see something scare the pundits off it; but that's the way it goes.

Of course you can't trust any poll from CBS because they are a bunch of lyin' Demoncraps. Let's wait for the Brietbart poll.

Good News/Bad News For Blame Placers

Jared Lee Loughner is neither a Republican nor a Democrat, he's a registered independent!

Over 40% of Tea Party members are Indpendents or Democrats! Most are, of course, Republicans.

But among people who have publicly hinted that certain people need to be killed to feed the tree of liberty, most are Teabaggers.

Best Setup Ever!

Maybe Sarah Palin has finally shot herself in the foot?

- Elayne Boosler, Facebook Status

What? WHAT?

Pima County GOP Website:

Out of respect for the victims of Saturday's tragic events we ask that everyone take a few days away from politics. Your Pima County Republican Party Headquarters will also remain closed until Wednesday morning.

Please take this time to reflect on the events, to pray for the victims and their families, and to honor the memory of those who have fallen.

Respectfully,

Brian Miller, Chairman

Pima County Republican Party

But here is a screen grab from the same guys, last summer.



I guess it's all about messaging.

Here's How To Tell Fox Is On The Defensive

Look for this story to get more and more airplay as the Arizona shooting thing keeps on going in the other media.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- South Carolina officials have called in a special team of investigators to review the case of a Rochester, New York, teenager who disappeared nearly two years ago while on spring break in Myrtle Beach.

The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reports that members of Project Alert are expected in South Carolina on Monday to review the case of Brittanee Drexel.

Project Alert is made up of retired law enforcement professionals trained by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Drexel was 17 and on spring break when she traveled to Myrtle Beach with friends and without her parents' consent. She was last seen outside a Myrtle Beach hotel in April 2009.

"Find me a missing blonde teenage girl! What? How long ago? I don't care, use it anyway." Honestly, is this so newsworthy today?

Or DOES Rhetoric Cause Violence?

WAMK and myself believe that the rhetoric is not the cause of assasinations; that crazy people shoot people and they need to take the sole blame. Here's an alternate view.

At least based on the headline. The rest of the piece seems to agree with WAMK and me. I think. This is why one has to remember that sarcasm isn't always an effective carrier of your views.

That last sentence was sarcasm.

Congresswoman Shot In Arizona

WASHINGTON — Gabrielle Giffords, a Democratic congresswoman from Arizona, was gravely wounded during a shooting rampage Saturday that left at least five others dead during a public meeting in Tucson.


Giffords was shot in the head by an assailant who opened fire with a handgun on a crowd gathered at a local Safeway supermarket for the lawmaker’s “Congress on Your Corner” town hall meeting.


As many as 18 people were shot in the shooting spree, according to local law-enforcement officials. John Roll, a U.S. federal judge, and a nine-year-old child were among the dead.


I want to make a point about this - people who shoot public figures, it doesn't matter what their ideology is. It doesn't matter who they listen to, what they read. They are crazy. If they didn't have access to any pundits at all, they would be just as likely to kill someone. Therefore it follows that rhetoric, no matter how dark or violent the words are, should not be blamed when something like this happens. I sincerely believe this.

But.

It really doesn't look good when there is violent rhetoric followed by violent action. People are pattern-seeking. They want there to be a connection. There are many people who are attempting to blame this shooting on Sarah Palin, which is nonsense. But she brought it on herself. When she published this ad and refused to apologize for it, she was begging to be linked to any violence that crazies might perpetrate over it. And there are a LOT of crosshairs on that map.

My Five Most Average Films Of 2010

Not in any particular order, these are the least notable movies of last year, not counting the ones I can't think of.

SEX IN THE CITY 2
PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME
DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS
TOOTH FAIRY
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS

Another Reason To Disdain the Birthers

They have no respect for the constitution.

Uh Oh, I Got Bad News About Illegal Immigration Efforts

How much is that thing going to cost, once it's all the way across?

Metaphor, Untethered to a Topic At the Moment

I just want to make sure I get this in my blog's media library, because it's just about perfect. For SOMETHING.

H/T to http://blog.rifftrax.com/

It Really IS About Light Bulbs

For a while I thought it was symbolic. Michele Bachmann co-authors a bill to protect our right to use incandescent light bulbs. Glenn Beck devotes a segment to deriding CFL bulbs. The right-wing blogosphere gleefully recounts a story about a German merchant who has relabeled incandescent bulbs as "heat balls" so he can sell them in the EU. And so on.

Given the source of all this bellyaching, I assumed what the right was REALLY talking about was Government intrusion into our freedom of choice. The lightbulb was an idea! Not just symbolic of an idea, like a drawing of a lightbulb over some guy's head, though I bet if if you depicted a guy with a CFL over his head the right wing would demonize the cartoonist and publish his home address.

Well I have an idea. Let's test the theory that the right objects to Government limiting the choices of private citizens. How about the right to hire an illegal alien? Okay, right to privacy for American Citizens?

What about a woman's right to get a legal abortion?

Light bulbs. That's it.

NEWSMAX Now Left Leaning, Like the New York Times

They've even hired Judy Miller!

White Kids Are Hurting Our Schools

I'm not sure what to make of this column by Pat Buchanan, but I think he's saying that if we kicked out all the students except Asians, our GED scores would skyrocket. Or is that the familiar quack quack?

Okay, As Long As They're Not Earmarks

You know what killed the 2010 budget, don't you? Republican objections to earmarks. The omnibus bill was full of 'em! Many of them put into the budget by the Republicans who objected. Anyway, they're going to to take another crack at it in February, and there won't be any Republican earmarks in it! Why? Because!

Though Mr. Kirk and other Republicans thundered against pork-barrel spending and lawmakers’ practice of designating money for special projects through earmarks, they have not shied from using a less-well-known process called lettermarking to try to direct money to projects in their home districts.

Mr. Kirk, for example, sent a letter to the Department of Education dated Sept. 10, 2009, asking it to release money “needed to support students and educational programs” in a local school district. The letter was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the group Citizens Against Government Waste, which shared it with The New York Times.

The district, Woodland School District 50, said it later received about $1.1 million in stimulus money.

See, it's not the spending of federal dollars that they object to. It's the PROCEDURE. Instead of Congress approving the spending, Congress want to put it up to unelected bureau heads. That way, less accountability all around. And probably a little more corruption. Especially where the real money is, the Department of Defense. But how does it work, exactly?

Lettermarking, which takes place outside the Congressional appropriations process, is one of the many ways that legislators who support a ban on earmarks try to direct money back home.

In phonemarking, a lawmaker calls an agency to request financing for a project. More indirectly, members of Congress make use of what are known as soft earmarks, which involve making suggestions about where money should be directed, instead of explicitly instructing agencies to finance a project. Members also push for increases in financing of certain accounts in a federal agency’s budget and then forcefully request that the agency spend the money on the members’ pet project.

Because all these methods sidestep the regular legislative process, the number of times they are used and the money involved are even harder to track than with regular earmarks.

Given the ease of tracking, no wonder Congress is up in arms about earmarks! Especially considering how many of those Teabaggers are armed.

It Was Supposed to Rain On Sunday

Here I was, driving back from Sacramento on Sunday and expecting a storm, and this is what Fresno looked like.



Fresno has no business looking this good in any circumstances, but to be this way when the whole state is supposed to be drowning is just wrong. Wrong! On all levels.

More bad news - Fresno is said to be the "Raisin Capital of the World" but according to a sign I saw a few miles down the road, that distinction belongs to Selma, CA. Which means that Fresno got nothin'.

The Guy On Your Left Is Illegal, The Guy On Your Right Isn't

He's probably kidding, but Madeline's Dad said in a comment here that he believes that illegal immigrants comprise a third of most American classrooms. I probably shouldn't write this before finding out if he's just counter-snarking to something I said, but the figure has been gnawing at me ever since I read it on my iPhone during xmas dinner.

See, here's the thing. The population of the US is a little over 300 million. Assuming the general population of illegals is only a quarter of the population (they are just pumping out the kids like waffles, you know, for anchor terror babies) then that would equal about, oh, 75 million illegals in the country. Sure they're not all Mexican; some are Canadians, sneaking over the border for our superior health care. Some are illegal Muslims. Point is, it's a lot of people! A lot more than even these guys think.

They put the number at 20 million. Of course it's an old estimate, but most evidence is since the recession the illegal population has declined. Less jobs here. Other estimates are as low as 12 million; I'm willing to go up to 16 million, which is a lot but it ain't no third.

I'm wondering how you could possibly believe that we could eliminate a quarter (or a third) of the US population and think it would be good for the economy.

A Loose End

It just occurred to me that I have failed to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

America's Supply of Smart Thin People Dries Up

Add this to the list of problems that free-market solutions won't help with.

MIAMI (AP) — Nearly one-fourth of the students who try to join the U.S. Army fail its entrance exam, painting a grim picture of an education system that produces graduates who can't answer basic math, science and reading questions, according to a new study released Tuesday.

The report by The Education Trust bolsters a growing worry among military and education leaders that the pool of young people qualified for military service will grow too small.

"Too many of our high school students are not graduating ready to begin college or a career — and many are not eligible to serve in our armed forces," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told the AP. "I am deeply troubled by the national security burden created by America's underperforming education system."

The effect of the low eligibility rate might not be noticeable now — the Department of Defense says it is meeting its recruitment goals — but that could change as the economy improves, said retired Navy Rear Admiral Jamie Barnett.

"If you can't get the people that you need, there's a potential for a decline in your readiness," said Barnett, who is part of the group Mission: Readiness, a coalition of retired military leaders working to bring awareness to the high ineligibility rates.

Let's cut more school funding! That oughtta help. And kill school lunches in areas where there is a fast food place nearby!

A Department of Defense report notes the military must recruit about 15 percent of youth, but only one-third are eligible. More high school graduates are going to college than in earlier decades, and about one-fourth are obese, making them medically ineligible.

In 1980, by comparison, just 5 percent of youth were obese.

Hey, enough politics. Let's all go over to Aunt Sarah's place for s'mores!

I Hope You're Still Allowed to Read This

Another thing I'm for has been implemented by the FCC! This time it's Net Neutrality. Though it's an imperfect compromise (wireless carriers are allowed to regulate content, wired one are not - I think) it's something anyway, and something is better than nothing.

The rightwing spin on this is a little more crazy than usual, indicating that the right is getting their information from other sources than the rest of us. As far as they're concerned, if the government is preventing regulation of content that means the GOVERNMENT IS REGULATING CONTENT. Not allowing big media companies the option of blocking content is a blow to free speech, and will eventually lead to a revival of the fairness doctrine.

Think about this - the right are upset that the interent won't be under the control of the liberally-biased-big-media companies. What the hell!

The Duck Has Wings

I'm happy to admit that again, I was wrong. Republicans have failed to obstruct the repeal of DADT, they've allowed the extension of unemployment benefits. They're still willing to throw away our ability to inspect Soviet nukes (it's in the treaty we need ratified and if we don't get it, we'll have to negotiate from scratch) but I was expecting NOTHING to go forward after the Tax Cut extensions. I assumed they'd get their tax cuts for the rich and then still back out of their promises.

Perhaps they're just tired and want to get some Xmas shopping done. Obstruction takes time!

Today, Obama Will Raise Taxes

I'm basing the title on the results of a study conducted by the University of Maryland. I'm going to have my friends at Talking Points Memo summarize the more salient points.

The study found that daily Fox News viewers, regardless of political party, were "significantly" more likely than non-viewers to erroneously believe that:

•Most economists estimate the stimulus caused job losses (12 points more likely)

•Most economists have estimated the health care law will worsen the deficit (31 points)

•The economy is getting worse (26 points)

•Most scientists do not agree that climate change is occurring (30 points)

•The stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts (14 points)

•Their own income taxes have gone up (14 points)

•The auto bailout only occurred under Obama (13 points)

•When TARP came up for a vote most Republicans opposed it (12 points)

•And that it is not clear that Obama was born in the United States (31 points

Remember, all the bulleted points there? The OPPOSITE is true. To be fair, though:

Daily consumers of MSNBC and public broadcasting (NPR and PBS) were higher (34 points and 25 points respectively) in believing that it was proven that the US Chamber of Commerce was spending money raised from foreign sources to support Republican candidates. Daily watchers of network TV news broadcasts were 12 points higher in believing that TARP was signed into law by President Obama, and 11 points higher in believing that most Republicans oppose TARP.

Which all indicates that there is a bias in the MSM. Weirdly, the bias seems to favor the RNC. Nutty, huh? Who'd have thought?

I'm Not Sure, But I May Have Won An Arguement with MD

Check out the comments section.

I'm not buying any part of this post. I doubt he has a friend who is making three times his investment in day trading (try it some time!) and if it were true, I wonder why MD isn't furious at his friend for sponging off the government when he clearly has no need to. And whether MD would take a job as a stock boy at Best Buy rather if he lost his lucrative sales position.

Bright Ideas to Stop Terrorism

A Muslim joke so offensive, even Mediaite gives it bad marks:

But here's the thing, the concept is totally sound! If we take that defense money we're spending on ICBMs and put it into bioengineering, we can develop a metal/pork alloy that will protect us from bombs! Ain't no terrist wants to be touched by pork, even pork alloy! You don't want to blow up something if it's going to touch your lips as it explodes, and keep you from heaven!

We stop the threat of terrorism and keep our nation's farmers solvent at the same time! Get on board with this!

It Is A Season

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Take It Or Leave It, Biden Said

Guess how the house is leaning?

It will be an interesting strategy. This is classic dealmaking - and for a change the Democrats are willing to walk away from the table. Will the Republicans hold their ground on tax cuts for the rich, i.e no tax cuts for anyone?

Me, I'm willing to pay more in taxes, if only for the entertainment it buys.

This Just Proves What An Insecure Guy God Really Is

It's All Just A Little Bit Of History Repeating

Where are we going to get $900 billion dollars over the next two years to make up for those tax cuts we're in the process of extending? I say in the process because, let's face it, anything up for a vote nowadays is subject to someone in the house threatening to filibuster it. Most likely it still won't go through.

But if it does, no worries! Because Republicans are holding the the purse strings now! And who are they putting in charge of appropriations? This guy. He's nicknamed "The Pork King."

Rogers defends earmarks because he’s very good at getting them. Rogers received over $431 million in earmarks just in fiscal years 2008-10, and has steered billions of dollars to his rural Kentucky district over the course of his career, making him one of the most prolific earmarkers in Congress.

Hey it's no big deal. The Chinese will lend us the money. We're good for it man!

Quote of the Day: Perspective Edition

“Today marks a lot of tragedy. ... Tragedy comes in threes... Pearl Harbor, Elizabeth Edwards’s passing and Barack Obama’s announcement of extending the tax cuts, which is good, but also extending the unemployment benefits.”

-Christine O'Donnell, who added, "That's not what I meant at all."

Horse Latitudes

Obama and a handful of Senate Republicans have brokered a deal which, if it goes through, will ensure that the crummy economic conditions we're experiencing now will prevail for the next couple of years. Unemployment payments will be extended, so the jobless can still buy food and pay rent, the tax cuts that are in place will remain in place, which will ensure that the jobless rate won't rise significantly. Our friends at the New York times point out:

The package would cost about $900 billion over the next two years, to be financed entirely by adding to the national debt, at a time when both parties are professing a desire to begin addressing long-term fiscal imbalances.

It would reduce the 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax on all wage earners by two percentage points for one year, putting more money in the paychecks of workers. For a family earning $50,000 a year, it would amount to a savings of $1,000.

What Republicans remain vehemently opposed to, though, is any attempt to make the climate for employment BETTER. They're demanding the return of unspent stimulus funds (except in their own states, of course) and the notion of even encouraging business to behave differently will be met with howls of tea-fueled anger. Thus conditions will be in place by 2012 to run whatever good-looking cypher against Obama that Republicans can dig up. This guy will claim to be able to fix the problem, then once he's in he'll pursue the same policies that we're pursuing now. The economy will erode and somehow they'll sucessfully blame Democrats for it.

More and more I'm looking at Obama's strategies and thinking that the "long game" that he's playing accounts for him to be out of office in 2012. It's too bad. I'm all for compromise if it means both sides give up equal , but that's clearly not what's happening here. The one thing that IS different in this deal - the Obama Tax Cut. Somehow the Republicans managed to get him to agree to an estate tax cut. This isn't so bad because hardly anyone is affected by it; but symbolically it's devastating. It's still better than having McCain in charge, but I'm less and less able to explain how.

Oh, THAT'S How They're Going to Get Us Jobs!

Back when Clinton was running for President, James Carville coined the slogan “It’s the economy, stupid.” I thought, “Well, that’s stupid. It isn’t the economy at all. It is the culture. If you get the culture right, you’ll get the economy right. Everything will fall into place automatically.”

- Congressman Steve King, Right Side News

You Tell Me: Priorities

Yesterday I wrote about this thing. Republicans, you may recall, refused to vote for a tax cut (with the added bonus of a paperwork reduction) for small business, on the grounds that the Tax Cut HAD TO BE PAID FOR with a corresponding spending cut. It's my opinion that the spending cut is a red herring. After all, the lame duck session is all about one issue - extension of the Bush Tax Cuts. And at least in the case of the the ones for those high-bracket earners, the rhetoric has been that there's no need to designate spending cuts because the economy will be stimulated by all the hiring and investing that the rich will do, because they're not paying taxes.

And in fact, this bill probably failed because of this pledge that Republicans signed, to refuse to vote for cloture on anything until the tax cuts are extended. All of them.

So my question, and I'm completely sincere about this - is it fair to say that Republicans value tax cuts for the rich more than they value tax cuts for small business, based on this choice? If it isn't fair to say, why isn't it?

The Tea Party, Shrinking Government ***Update***

Bear in mind, these are just the ones ENDORSED BY THE TEA PARTY CAUCUS.

Members of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus may tout their commitment to cutting government spending now, but they used the 111th Congress to request hundreds of earmarks that, taken cumulatively, added more than $1 billion to the federal budget.

According to a Hotline review of records compiled by Citizens Against Government Waste, the 52 members of the caucus, which pledges to cut spending and reduce the size of government, requested a total of 764 earmarks valued at $1,049,783,150 during Fiscal Year 2010, the last year for which records are available.

...In founding the caucus in July, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said she was giving voice to Americans who were sick of government over-spending.

...Bachmann and 13 of her Tea Party Caucus colleagues did not request any earmarks in the last Fiscal Year, according to CAGW's annual Congressional Pig Book. But others have requested millions of dollars in special projects.

Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), for one, attached his name to 69 earmarks in the last fiscal year, for a total of $78,263,000. The 41 earmarks Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.) requested were worth $65,395,000. Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) wanted $63,400,000 for 39 special projects, and Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) wanted $93,980,000 set aside for 47 projects.

Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) takes the prize as the Tea Partier with his name on the most earmarks. Rehberg's office requested funding for 88 projects, either solely or by co-signing earmarks requests with Sens. Max Baucus (D) and Jon Tester (D), at a cost of $100,514,200. On his own, Rehberg requested 20 earmarks valued at more than $9.6 million.

More than one member can sign onto an earmark. Still, there are 29 caucus members who requested on their own or joined requests for more than $10 million in earmark funding, and seven who wanted more than $50 million in funding.

Bachman missed out on the action because she had other items on the agenda - for example, crusading to ensure that we'll be able to buy incandescent light bulbs 20 years from now. Focus, Michele! In these precious few years before the rapture, you need to budget your time.

Just think, that billion could have paid for half of a proposed tax cut!

***Update*** Out of respect for my friend Madenline's Dad, I'll add this disclaimer: PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE BEHAVIOR. Just because they racked up a billion in 2010, doesn't mean they'll do it this year. Possibly they'll be good fiscal conservatives. Like Rand Paul.

Holiday Cheer

"
see more Sketchy Santas"

Do The American People Even WANT Compromise?

Obama Approval Over/Under: 45.4/49.6          Net -4.2

Congressional Approval Over/Under 21.3/73.0          Net -51.7

Republicans Vote Down Lowering Taxes and Eliminating Paperwork

...Both Democrats and Republicans agree that the new 1099 reporting requirements included in the healthcare reform bill should be repealed. ...The problem is that the new requirements essentially raise taxes on contractors and small businesses and this raises revenue. So if you want to repeal the requirements, you need to figure out how to make up the revenue, and Democrats and Republicans have been unable to agree on how to do this.

Yesterday, however, Sen. Max Baucus decided the hell with it. The amount of revenue is tiny (less than $2 billion per year), so why not just repeal the 1099 provision, lower everyone's taxes, and forget about paying for it? This is an eminently sensible position, since Republicans want the provision repealed and have repeatedly and unanimously taken the position that tax cuts don't need to be paid for.

So Baucus introduced an amendment to do the deed. And it failed because all but two Republicans voted against it.

Suck it up, small business! Republicans insist that NOTHING BE CHANGED IN THE HEALTHCARE BILL! Because they love it so much!

Seriously, this has nothing to do with a promise to obstruct any vote, even if they support everything about it. It just looks that way. A lot. And there's really no other way to look at it, but that totally not what's going on.

This Infuriates Republicans

If you buy groceries, you probably like this label. It's on most commercially available food, and it's helpful for debunking the crazier nutritional claims on the bigger label on the other side. Forcing companies to list ingredients also has a chilling effect on the inclusion of certain unhealthy but legal ingredients, like formaldehyde. It's a nice little tool for determining what you're consuming. What's not to like?

Well, for starters, it's the result of government interference in business. The FDA was started under Teddy Roosevelt in 1906 and expanded under Franklin Roosevelt in 1939. Most Republicans are vehemently opposed to any government interference in business, preferring the free market to regulate products. That is, if someone sells tainted bacon, you the consumer will take notice and switch brands. Maybe you'll buy that new brand of bacon, started by the guy who was selling tainted bacon last month under a different name.

Should a bacon supplier not be allowed to change brand names? No, that's regulation and regulation is bad for business.

That label - if people want it, then companies will put it on their products and consumers can choose to buy labeled products over unlabled ones. Suppose someone sells bacon that claims that one serving is a whole rasher, it's only 50 calories, and contains no sodium. That's their perogative! The consumer can always do some testing at home to verify the claims. And if it turns out to be a baldfaced lie and someone becomes morbidly obese because they eat a rasher of bacon every morning for a year, they can always sue.

Well, no. Republicans always are working to limit your ability to sue business. You should have known better than to trust unregulated labels! What are you, stupid? Get a clue, blimpy!

(By the way, too bad your private insurance company dropped you. If they treat you, it cuts into their profits; the profits they made by charging you for a guarantee to treat you! If you aren't comfortable with that arrangement, you shouldn't have been buying insurance.)

Republicans are also insanely furious about the idea of regulating drug companies, though not about clamping down on Marijuana, a free-market alternative to legal drugs. I'm still puzzling that out.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the near future now that Tea Party candidates are the majority in all branches of government. I'm looking forward to access to radioactive beverages, which were banned in the 30's.