Thursday
Jan292015
The Commentariat -- Jan. 30, 2015
Internal links, discarded photo removed.
NEW. Philip Rucker & Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "Mitt Romney told supporters Friday that he would not run for president in 2016, ending three weeks of public speculation and sparing the Republican Party a potentially bruising nominating battle between its past nominee and its rising stars." Ah, well, now he can go out & help the poor. Or maybe he's over that concern, too. Thanks to Akhilleus for the heads-up.
Steven Mufson, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Obama will present a federal budget proposal on Monday that would exceed restrictive spending caps mandated by Congress four years ago and propose new capital gains and bank taxes, an effort that will likely get bogged down in congressional opposition to taxes and big budget deficits."
Justin Sink of the Hill: "President Obama on Thursday will call on congressional Republicans to approve a 'clean' funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security that preserves his executive actions on limiting deportations. During a visit to the House Democratic retreat, the president is expected to seize on a suggestion from some Republicans that they allow funding for the department to lapse if they are unable to secure concessions."
Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Senate on Thursday passed a bill to force approval of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline.... The White House promptly declared that Mr. Obama would veto the measure -- which would force the approval of a proposed 1,179-mile oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico -- in a stroke of the pen that is expected to be the opening shot in a series of vetoes of Republican measures."
Seung Min Kim of Politico: "Loretta Lynch has enough votes to clear a key committee on her confirmation as the nation's next attorney general, as two Senate Republicans said Thursday that they'll back her and another one indicated his potential support. Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Jeff Flake of Arizona both said after Lynch testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that they would vote to confirm the federal prosecutor, believing she is qualified to succeed Eric Holder.... Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), another member of the Judiciary Committee, said he was 'inclined' to back Lynch.... Four of the committee's Republicans -- Jeff Sessions of Alabama, David Vitter of Louisiana, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah -- are expected to oppose her nomination." Committee chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) & other Republicans on the committee have not signaled their decisions. "Though they were split on whether they would support Lynch, Senate Republicans had a clear strategy on Day Two of her confirmation hearing: Make it all about Holder...." ...
... Tracy Walsh of TPM: "Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) accused his Republican colleagues on Thursday of turning the confirmation hearings for the next attorney general into 'a soundbite factory for Fox News and conspiracy theorists everywhere.' Whitehouse criticized GOP lawmakers for 'launch[ing] a series of unanswerable attacks' on outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder instead of focusing on the candidate under consideration, U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch. 'There are plenty of forums where the attorney general would have an opportunity to defend himself,' Whitehouse said. 'This is not one.'" Watch the video. Whitehouse, as usual, is terrific:
... Charles Pierce: "Unless the Senate starts listening to Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (R-Twelve Oaks), Loretta Lynch is going to be the new Attorney General.... The way you know what they're really about is that, [Thursday], the Republicans turned the Senate Judiciary Committee into an impromptu episode of Fox And Friends." Pierce, with some serious help from Sen. Whitehouse (above), goes on to relate pretty much what you need to know about Thursday's Hearing for Aggrieved Wingnuts & their Legal Aide(r & Abettor) Jonathan Turley. ...
... But Yet. Let's Give Sharyl Attkisson Her Moment. Tim Devaney of the Hill: "The Obama administration treats investigative journalists and their sources like 'enemies of the state,' a former CBS News reporter who accuses the government of spying on her told a Senate panel Thursday. 'The job of getting at the truth has never been more difficult,' Sheryl Attkisson testified at the Senate confirmation hearing for Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch. She said the DOJ's surveillance of journalists could do 'long-term damage to a supposedly free press' and urged Lynch to chart a new course." ...
... Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: "Many of the allegations made by former CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson regarding alleged computer intrusions by the U.S. government are disputed in a report by the Justice Department's inspector general. 'The OIG's investigation was not able to substantiate the allegations that Attkisson's computers were subject to remote intrusion by the FBI, other government personnel, or otherwise,' reads the inspector general's report.... The ... report was entered into the Senate record as part of the Lynch hearings.... In testimony today before the Senate Judiciary Committee..., Attkisson complained that a document request from Justice's inspector general office yielded only a 'partial' look at the report, which didn't include forensic details." ...
... Oh, enough with the whining. Let's have some snarling. ...
... In a Another Senate Committee Room.... Tom LeGro & Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) confronted anti-war Code Pink protesters at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday, saying 'Get out of here, you low-life scum.'"
Sahil Kapur of TPM: "Many Republicans would view it as a dream come true if the Supreme Court were to slash a centerpiece of Obamacare by the end of June. But that dream could fade into a nightmare as the spotlight turns to the Republican Congress to fix the mayhem that could ensue. 'It's an opportunity that we've failed at for two decades. We've not been particularly close to being on the same page on this subject for two decades,' said a congressional Republican health policy aide who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. 'So this idea -- we're ready to go? Actually no, we're not.'" ...
... CW: In a story I linked yesterday, Sarah Ferris of the Hill reported, "Republican leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter Wednesday to the head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), demanding the administration show its hand in case the court rules against ObamaCare this summer." I doubt Republicans see anything ironic, hypocritical or galling about this demand. ...
... Of course, as Ed Kilgore reminds us, "It's not that there's anything inherently complicated about the 'fix.' Congress could resolve the problem in about a day with a one- or two-sentence amendment to ACA that made plain what the bill's sponsors clearly intended all along: the subsidies are available in all 50 states. The problem, of course, is that Republicans cannot support a simple 'fix' after years of treating Obamacare as a socialistic abomination unto the Lord." ...
... This morning Greg Sargent rips to pieces the final shred of the Republican charade that they will "fix" ObamaCare should the Supremes strike down tax credits to residents of states which have not established their own exchanges. ...
... CW: Just to be clear, should the Supremes rule for King, I believe the Obama administration can "fix" the problem for many (but not all) states, simply by having each state in jeopardy create its very own state-created link -- with the state seal & all -- to the federally-created exchange for that state. Or by some similar stunt. This will NOT help residents of confederate states who want to make sure their middle-class residents don't get the ACA tax breaks they would otherwise receive under the law. We'll have to wait & see how the overtaxed in those states react to their legislators/governors' decisions to screw them.
... Worse than Blackbeard. Lindsey Bever of the Washington Post: Archaeologists discover that even the ruthless Blackbeard had a universal healthcare system for his crew of pirates.
Lauren French of Politico: "President Barack Obama broadly took swipes at Republicans on Thursday night ... and he took a thinly veiled swipe at ... [Mitt Romney]. 'Even though their policies haven't quite caught up yet, their rhetoric is starting to sound pretty Democratic,' Obama said of the Republicans during a House Democratic retreat. 'We have a former presidential candidate on the other side and [who is] suddenly deeply concerned about poverty.That's great, let's go. Let's do something about it.'"
Howard Gleckman of the Tax Policy Center: "President Obama's latest tax package, which he'll unveil in detail next week along with his new budget, would lower taxes for low-income households and significantly raise taxes for the highest income 1 percent -- those making $663,000 or more, according to new Tax Policy Center estimates. Middle-income households would see relatively modest changes in their tax bills." The chart Gleckman provides does not reflect the recent "changes in flexible savings accounts for child care and Sec. 529 [college savings] plans."
What a Coincidence. Sarah Posner: "Rachel Maddow broke the news last night that Bryan Fischer, the American Family Association's Director of Issue Analysis, has been fired, following media coverage and pressure from watchdog groups highlighting Fischer's racist and homophobic views in advance of an AFA-funded trip to Israel for members of the Republican National Committee.... The Southern Poverty Law Center ... urged RNC members to boycott the trip. (None have.)... Getting rid of Fischer, though, does not get rid of the AFA's problem. Not only did the AFA tolerate Fischer's outrageous statements for years, in 2010 former employees told me his views were actively and enthusiastically shared and supported within the organization." ...
... Southern Poverty Law Center: "In a letter to SPLC officials, the American Family Association (AFA) has disavowed a series of racist and bigoted statements made by its chief spokesman in recent years. The repudiation of Bryan Fischer's statements came just two days before members of the Republican National Committee (RNC) are scheduled to embark on a trip to Israel sponsored by the AFA. Last week, the SPLC wrote to all 168 members of the RNC urging them not to accompany the AFA on the trip.... The SPLC has named the AFA as a hate group due to its history of making false, demonizing statements about the LGBT community, including Fischer's contention that gay men were responsible for the Holocaust.... Fischer has claimed ... that black people 'rut like rabbits'; that the First Amendment applies only to Christians; that Hispanics are 'socialists by nature' and come to the U.S. to 'plunder' the country; that Muslims should not be permitted to build mosques in the United States; that an underground railroad is needed to protect children from gay parents; and more." ...
... Miranda Blue of Right Wing Watch: "[Wednesday], the American Family Association announced that it was stripping Bryan Fischer of his position as a spokesman for the group. The AFA's move to distance itself from Fischer's regular barrages of bigotry apparently came in response pressure from its allies in the Republican National Committee, who are preparing to go on a tour of Israel on AFA's dime. (Though the fact that the group is retaining Fischer as a radio personality on its American Family Radio network makes the whole thing somewhat less convincing.)... One statement in the letter [to the SPLC] stands out: 'AFA rejects the policy advocated by Bryan Fischer that homosexual conduct should be illegal.' Really? Is AFA renouncing its support for criminal sodomy laws? We look forward to seeing the AFA issue a full retraction of its previous support for criminalizing 'homosexual conduct.' But we aren't holding our breath." ...
... Kyle Mantyla of Right Wing Watch: "Bryan Fischer kicked off his radio program [Thursday] by refuting reports that he had been fired by the American Family Association, explaining that he has simply given up his role as an official AFA spokesman while retaining his role as a daily radio host for AFA's radio outlet, American Family Radio. As we noted earlier today, this supposed change is utterly meaningless and does nothing to absolve the AFA of its responsibility for giving Fischer a national platform from which to spread his hate."
Carl Hulse & Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has been reaching out to leading Capitol Hill Democrats to try to ease criticism over his coming address to Congress, but has made little progress.... [Senate Minority Leader Harry] "Reid said that Mr. Netanyahu promised he would make the speech as nonpartisan as possible. 'He proceeded to tell me how distrustful he is of Iran and that is kind of an understatement,' Mr. Reid said." ...
... Patricia Zengerle of Reuters: "The U.S. Senate Banking Committee voted 18-4 on Thursday to advance a bill that would toughen sanctions on Iran if international negotiators fail to reach an agreement on Tehran's nuclear program by the end of June. However, the bill is not expected to come up for a vote in the full Senate until at least March 24. Ten Democrats, including the measure's co-author, Senator Robert Menendez, announced an agreement earlier this week to hold off for two months to allow time to reach a diplomatic solution.... In the committee, only four Democrats voted against the bill...."
Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "Two weeks after the Secret Service forced out four of its top officials, lawmakers are questioning whether the agency should have ousted one more -- its influential second-in-command. Members of Congress from both parties are concerned that by keeping in place Alvin 'A.T.' Smith, the Secret Service stopped short of fully reforming upper management following a string of embarrassing security lapses, according to government officials familiar with the discussions.... 'I'm worried that A.T. Smith is part of the problem, not part of the solution,' said the committee's chairman, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). 'He seems to be in the middle of most of these really bad decisions.'"
Vice President Biden in a New York Times op-ed: "... on Monday, President Obama will request from Congress $1 billion to help Central America's leaders make the difficult reforms and investments required to address the region's interlocking security, governance and economic challenges.... The cost of investing now in a secure and prosperous Central America is modest compared with the costs of letting violence and poverty fester.... For the first time, we can envision and work toward having the Americas be overwhelmingly middle class, democratic and secure."
Paul Krugman is trying to convince Germans to get real about Greece & stop with their moralizing demands. ...
... George Packer's profile of Angela Merkel, published late last year in the New Yorker, may help to explain Germany's stance toward Greece. Here's one clue: "Volker Schlöndorff, the director of 'The Tin Drum' and other films, got to know Merkel in the years just after reunification. 'Before you contradict her, you would think twice -- she has the authority of somebody who knows that she's right,' he said. 'Once she has an opinion, it seems to be founded, whereas I tend to have opinions that I have to revise frequently.'"
Presidential Race
Uh-Oh. Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "David Kochel, a Republican strategist based in Iowa who worked on both of Mitt Romney's presidential campaigns, is joining Jeb Bush's political action committee as a senior strategist and is in line to serve as Mr. Bush's national campaign manager.... The move to tap Mr. Kochel, who advised Mr. Romney for over six years, represents a shot across the bow of the 2012 Republican nominee, who is now considering a third bid for the White House."
The Candidate from the Past. Peter Beinart of the Atlantic: Wisconsin Gov. Scott "Walker's rise is a reminder that among Republican primary voters, and especially Iowa-caucus goers, the market for ideological or even stylistic innovation, may be smaller than the media assumes. Because the most striking thing about Scott Walker's speech at the Freedom Summit, and his emerging campaign message more generally, is how retro it is. Walker concedes nothing to the conventional wisdom about what the GOP must do to compete in a more culturally tolerant, ethnically diverse and economically insecure America. And the GOP faithful love it."
Sean Sullivan: "Sen. Marco Rubio this week may be sending the clearest signals yet that he intends to run for president rather than seek reelection to a second term in 2016. In a week when the Senate was consumed with a bill to approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, Rubio (R-Fla.) was in California raising money for his political action committee and reelection campaign. He was the only Republican senator who did not vote on final passage of the Keystone bill Thursday.
Here's a fake "secret tape" Rand Paul released. I think you're supposed to be smart enough to know that's not really Hillary & Jeb on the phone:
Beyond the Beltway
After a while, you can't even tell what's a pre-shock or an after-shock. The ground just keeps moving. -- Rep. Jason Murphey, Guthrie, Oklahoma ...
... Lori Montgomery of the Washington Post: In a state "founded on oil wealth," Oklahoma lawmakers, Gov. Mary Fallin & other state officials are having a right hard time deciding what to do about all them earthquakes caused by oil & gas deep-drilling. "Meanwhile, the state seismologist, Austin Holland, readily acknowledged that the industry has tried to influence his work -- even as he and his colleague ... are pelted with 'hate e-mail' from quake victims."
Reeve Hamilton & Alexa Ura of the Texas Tribune: "Freshman state Rep. Molly White, R-Belton, is not in Austin today to celebrate Texas Muslim Capitol Day. But she left instructions for the staff in her Capitol office on how to handle visitors who are, including asking them to declare allegiance to the United States. 'I did leave an Israeli flag on the reception desk in my office with instructions to staff to ask representatives from the Muslim community to renounce Islamic terrorist groups and publicly announce allegiance to America and our laws,' she posted on Facebook. 'We will see how long they stay in my office.'" ...
... Jay Hathaway of Gawker: "I guess she wants American Muslims to renounce terrorism (of which they aren't actually a part) and pledge allegiance to the United States (the country where they already live) by taking a solemn oath in front of that very American icon, the flag of Israel*? Cool. Good. Neither crazy nor bigoted. Definitely what you want to hear from your elected representatives. Earlier in the day, White had shared a scaremongering story, originating from Breitbart, about a Texas 'Sharia court.'... Another victory for cultural understanding. Another proud day for Texas." ...
... John Amato of Crooks & Liars: "Texas Muslim Capitol Day is a good thing and has been going on since 2003. Its function is to have Muslims in the community meet lawmakers and learn about the political process. That's a surprisingly progressive thing to do in Texas, but as usual it turned ugly when conservative Christian protesters showed up and yelled Islamophobic rants at those participating in the event." ...
... When Nullification Leads to State-Sponsored Killing. Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "Texas has executed an intellectually disabled prisoner despite a high court ban on putting mentally impaired prisoners to death, the second such violation of constitutional protections to occur in the US this week. Robert Ladd, 57, died by lethal injection on Thursday evening. Under Texas's unique -- and widely ridiculed -- definition of intellectual disability, he was deemed capable of being executed because he did not match the degree of mental impairment depicted in a character in a John Steinbeck novel.... [The Supreme Court has] "banned executions of people with 'mental retardation' on the grounds that they were a form of cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the eighth amendment. It also said that the death penalty states had to conform to standards set by medical science.... Yet this week two prisoners who were categorically found to be mentally impaired by numerous medical experts have been put to death. The first was in Georgia where Warren Hill, 54, was judicially killed on Tuesday." ...
... CW: Here's what I don't get: "The Supreme Court rejected both appeals to stop Robert Ladd's execution." Approval of a writ of certiori requires only four justices. Are the Supremes as smart as Lennie Small? ...
... Carimah Townes of Think Progress: "If Texas state Rep. Dan Flynn (R) gets his way, teachers will have the right to use deadly force against students in Texas classrooms, in the near future. The Lone Star State already permits teachers to have firearms in the classroom, but H.B. 868, also known as the Teacher's Protection Act, would authorize instructors to use 'force or deadly force on school property, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsored event in defense of the educator's person or in defense of students of the school that employs the educator.' Instructors would also have the right to use deadly force 'in defense of property of the school that employs the educator.' Moreover, civil immunity would be granted to those who use deadly force, meaning they would not be liable for the injury or death of student." ...
... Hunter of Daily Kos: "This also stands to make turn-in-your-textbooks day considerably more exciting. Better hope I don't see any penned-in mustaches in your history book, you little snots."
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Reader Comments (22)
RC may have cited this when it first appeared, but in light of Representative Flynn's dark vision of ideal classroom practice, this essay from last year by an Idaho educator deserves another look:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/28/opinion/when-may-i-shoot-a-student.
Whitehouse wasn't the only one who excoriated our panel of "let's pretend this hearing is about Lynch when it's really about dumping shit on Holder AND the administration." My senator from CT., Richard Bloomenthal did a fine job of taking apart some of the spuriousness of certain arguments––whoops–-not arguments, accusations. Yes, and Turley, sad to see how he has joined the rank and file of certain spouters of huge geysers of pish posh.
The Bryan Fisher story is fascinating in the sense that it is so bizarre. The fact that this creature was head honcho at the AFA, a frightening organization of racist, bigoted, misogynistic human beings who now have fired Fisher from that position, but not from the organization––he is still on their payroll and still yaks on the radio and that this organization is funding a trip to Israel for a group of Republicans is so weird–-would make a great script for a fun filled film.
And there is another character who seems to be affiliated with this group: A Cindy Jacobs who fancies herself a Cassandra of sorts–-claims she can foresee the future and raise the dead and will give you several accounts of both. She was connected with Bobby Jendal's campaign in some way before they finally took down her part on his website. My great BIG question to all those Republicans who are going on this trip with this group–––WHAT ARE YOU THINKING???
I am afraid the Paul Krugman misses the point. In order for the austerity policy to change, Angela Merkel has to admit she got it wrong. It will absolutely never happen.
I've tried to ignore the ding-dong, empty-headed clamor surrounding all of the Sharyl Attkisson Molotov Cocktails, made, unfortunately for her, with alcohol as fake as her whiny claims, but at this point, I'd like to share an interesting bit of evidence that apparently has eluded such big brains as Eric Wemple who ominously warns that, regarding the Attkisson bullshit "much more to come"......Ooooooh Eric, do tell?
One of Attkisson's key pieces of "evidence" regarding her hacking charge is a cell phone video she claims proves that Obama was hacking into her lap top to steal her work in trying to bring down his nefarious forces. The problem? The supposed hacking took place in December of 2012. The video she showed to "prove" her claims of that event was shot in September of 2013. Oops!
Plus, look at it this way. If you were in the shit and an actual investigative reporter with serious chops (say, Sy Hersh) was after you, and you really had done something you wanted to hide, AND you were able and willing to hack into his or her computer, then first of all, the last thing you want is for the reporter to know about the hacking. Hackers don't log on and delete stuff while it's being typed. Unless they're right wing hackers, I guess, or a winger trying to make it look she's being hacked.
Reporters take notes and have a lot of other sources and probably keep back ups of their work, if they're any good. This sort of plan would get you kicked out of Hackers Anonymous. But do you really care what a third rate Foxbot wannabe loser who has to manufacture shit (invented emails about Benghazi) does? Do you really need to hack her stuff?
Don't even bother.
But also don't bother looking to see if the Attkisson's fellow MSM and wingnut media hacks take the time to actually examine any of her Swiss cheese claims.
Why is it that the right can never seem to come up with a serious investigation about something truly important? Why are ALL their storylines so hackneyed and full of holes and reported by such inept wankers? Attkisson? Breitbart? James O'Keefe? Everytime I see that smirking idiot dressed up in his pimp outfit I think "Holy shit, these people are so fucking desperate!" Seriously, I'd be embarrassed if I were a winger pinning my hopes for reportorial professionalism on these clowns.
And what "scandals" are they jumping up and down about? The fact that the IRS routinely checks to see if claims about non-profit status are accurate? Benghazi? An ATF program--begun by Bush--that went south?
How about lying to start a war? How about torturing innocent people? How about standing by while the economy collapses? How about rigging elections? How about having the Supreme Court stop a legal election in order to install their personal choice as president?
Nope. So what, then, is a scandal worthy of national attention according to the GOP, for calling out the marines, for calling a halt to confirmation hearings for Attorney General, for Fox running "breaking news" headlines?
A stuck backspace key.
P.S. Still can't write or say "Molotov" without laughing about that schmuck Scott Walker. "Molotov, Scotty!" Ha-ha.
@Akhilleus: The real problem here isn't that CBS hired a loon & that she is now hearing the voice of Obama through her teeth. It's that an actual U.S. Senate panel has called her to testify when there already is a federal government investigative report -- not to mention, a few dozen private analyses -- titled "Sharyl Attkisson Is a Loon." Or something like that. And of course her insane testimony has absolutely nothing to do with the supposed purpose of the hearing.
GOP senators have no shame. They have made a laughingstock of the Senate. Charlies Pierce & the rest of us all should be dismayed to have such easy pickings.
Marie
Marie,
Quite so. I guess when useful human qualities were being handed out, such as a sense of compunction, contrition, common sense, critical thinking, kindness, humility, and honesty, the wingnuts showed up with sieves.
Some didn't bother to show up at all. Why run the chance of a scintilla of humanity rubbing off on you?
Wait, wait.
I'm confused. I thought the Confederate stereotype of gays was that of effeminate men with lisps and limp wrists who walk funny, wear loud clothes and love show tunes.
Now Bryan Fischer and the American Family Association (a riot isn't it? Family Association? Yeah...the Addams Family, maybe) are saying that gays are vicious, violent thugs with no connection to civilized behavior (I guess show tunes are out) and were recruited by Hitler as an army of brutal, pumped up, truncheon wielding murderers.
C'mon guys, you're screwing me up.
Pick a bigoted stereotype and stick with it.
Sheesh.
Next thing you know, the wingnut lesbian stereotype will have them looking like Fox news anchors....
Ken,
I tried your link but it page-not-founded me.
I think the link lacks the .html extension.
Since it was an excellent selection (thanks), I've added another link to make it easier to find:
Let's arm drunken college students. If they get out of hand, mow 'em down. For Freedom!
The gun nuts will either take this piece (It takes a while if you're moving your lips when you read, but it can be done) at face value and seriously consider the college colors for body armor, or will dismiss it as the ravings of a rational person.
Breaking news. And I do mean breaking...
It appears that serial violent offender, George Zimmerman has once again skated away from a domestic violence charge, brought after he broke a wine bottle by throwing it at a woman he was living with.
The woman, Brittany Brunelle has recanted (as did another woman who was threatened by Zimmerman with a shotgun) and the state had no choice but to drop its assault charge.
One of these days Zimmerman's streak of not killing someone will end. But it's not even clear that should he kill again, he'll be caged as he should be. After all, he murdered Trayvon Martin for being somewhere he shouldn't have been.
In Zimmerman's way.
Had a lovely, serendipitous conversation with a Reality Chex reader late this morning. I say "serendipitous" because the reader didn't call me & I didn't call the reader. I was on the phone speaking to my plumber when suddenly I was in Reality Chex world.
The only possible explanation* is that one of President Obama's spy rings hooked us up. I expect to be testifying before a Senate committee soon -- maybe one that's supposed to be about replacing an undersecretary of state. Whatevah.
Marie
*See Attkisson, Sharyl.
Marie: You were obviously talking to a White House Plumber from
the Watergate-Nixon era. Check the backspace on your computer!
RE: Zimmerman. In the police video that accompanies the Orlando Sentinel story which Akhilleus linked, the woman says to the cops, "Why that man isn't locked up is beyond me."
Well, here's the answer, sweetheart. He assaults women & they refuse to press charges or cooperate with the police & prosecutors. "Why that man isn't locked up" is your fault. Dope.
And, yeah, he's going to hurt someone again. It's what he does. The next time could be more serious, and the victim could be someone walking by minding his own business.
Marie
Marie,
Forrest is right. You can't be too certain these days, what with NSA phone taps, drones doing low altitude flybys of your house, piloted by drunken government employees on their afternoon off, robocalls asking for money for one of the 39 possible GOP presidential triflers (oops, make that 38 triflers), and strange passersby who bear uncanny resemblances to G. Gordon Liddy and Donald Segretti.
They might ring your doorbell to ask if you have the correct documentation to join the DAR (just to test your patriotism, natch), or pretend to be doing a survey on social issues. "So, ma'am, what is your opinion of dirty immigrants who sneak in and steal our freedoms?"
And if they look like plumbers and you ask them if they own a left handed monkey wrench and they say "of course", shut the door and call the cops.
You never know...
Damn, Mitt is out.
What'll I do now with all the new material I've been working up for Rat Race 3.0?
The fink.
From the Dead Horse Department. Beat on.
This is the sort of thing that really, really ticks me off. Shoddy, selective, alarmist reporting, that sneakily elides--and buries--the essential story under the headline.
So nbc.com has a somewhat sensational John Stossel sort of "toldya so" piece suggesting government malfeasance everywhere you look.
The narrative this time, in the wake of the recent blizzard way up north, is the ways in which those dastardly layabouts at the National Weather Service cost American taxpayers $200M for not having a ton more forecasters and personnel available to rush the hot spots who could have read the tea leaves and told Mayor De Blasio that the snow line would stop at the Battery, so no need to shut down the subways.
The piece goes on and on and on about how terrible it is that the NWS has left citizens in the lurch and exposed them to deadly peril and empty pockets.
Not a single, I mean, not a syllable, about why the NWS has become so depleted.
The real reason? Wanna guess?
The GOP hates it.
For years they have been chipping away and chipping away, to the point where they're claiming there is now no reason to fund it at all. I mean, what would you expect from a group of science deniers who have to listen to NWS meteorologists tell day in and day out how stupid they are?
An article on Salon makes the point that anti-science climate change deniers have been working their will for years on curtailing the government's ability to predict and track major weather events with draconian budget cuts: "It’s a classic self-fulfilling sophistry of the right: Ignore the positive work an agency does, keep the agency’s budget flat so that its capabilities do not keep up with the times, then cite the agency’s reduced capabilities as justification to keep cutting it."
Does the NBC article ever mention this insidious campaign? Doe is ever even address the question the author himself raises, why is this happening?
Nope. It's all left up to the reader to assume that it's just more government ineptitude, rather than Confederates in congress gambling with people's lives in order to score political points.
I ask again: "What liberal media?"
Okay, one more then I'm done.
I'm having a serious sad so I'm putting forward a motion that at least one, maybe more, of the remaining presidential triflers adopt Tagg Romney, 'cause we gotta see that "I will fucking kill you" face just once more during the debates. Just gotta.
Pretty please, will one of you numbskulls adopt Darth Jr.? Just for the campaign. I don't expect you to put up with that crazy bullshit forever.
'Sides, he'll miss all the fun out at La Jolla now that Daddy won't be selling his gigantamundo seaside mansion.
No need to pretend to care about the poor anymore right.
"Adopt Tagg, '16"
C'mon guys, give it a shot.
Ak, check out the poll results on their survey about climate change. Most interesting that majorities are opposed to raising taxes on electricity and/or gas. Self-sacrifice anyone? NFW!
Sorry no link, too hard to do on my remote device.
@Akhilleus: I am not adopting Tadd, even if his old man pays me to do it. I am extremely pissed at Mitt.
I had just finished cross-stitching out the last "2" in my "Mitt 2012" t-shirt & stitching in a "6." So then he ups & quits. Now, I won't be able to wear my shirt without looking like a loser.
2020? Way too hard to do two numbers. Maybe I'll just duct-tape over the "itt" & write "arco" on it.
Marie
I neglected to mention that the poll in is the NYT.
Here's the poll Unwashed refers to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/us/politics/most-americans-support-government-action-on-climate-change-poll-finds.html?_r=0
I know I said I was done, but I think this will be of interest.
Now that privileged, rich, white, former GOP governor, bullying douchebag number one has dropped out, we can focus on privileged, rich, white, former GOP governor, bullying douchebag number two, Jebbie.
There is an interesting profile of Jebbie's days at Andover (where his torturing, war criminal, economy destroying, deserter older brother was once a rah-rah-sis-boom-bah cheerleader) in the Boston Globe.
By interesting, I mean in the way it appears that a fair number of recent GOP rich boys seem to have been privileged, hypocritical bully boy assholes during their prep school days, picking on those smaller or less like them, to demonstrate their superiority (or innate douchiness).
Anyway, give it a read.
I mentioned a while back that with Bush number one, Poppy, we had a terrible small war and damaging recession, with Bush number two, we had a horrific war and off the charts economic catastrophe. Bush number three could be the worst of the lot: the fucking anti-Christ.
And I didn't even include Nazi sympathizer, grand-pere Prescott Bush.
See what you think. And I realize that people can change a great deal from the time they're in high school to middle age. But some don't. Ted Cruz's roommate in college said once that the Tailgunner held the exact same opinions when he was 18 as he did when he was elected to the senate. That is some scary shit.
Does anyone believe that the Decider had adapted or had any kind of alteration to his smirking, embittered, superior, sociopathic, small animal torturing, youthful personality?
Jebbie may be different, but it's worth a look to see just what he was like as a privileged, prep school scumbag.
And to anyone who thinks he may have changed dramatically, I have two words:
Terry.....Schiavo.
PD, thanks for adding the link. A shitty AT&T signal at the airport and fat fingers on a dinky fake keyboard aren't conducive to adding my two cents.
On the flight home I was pondering - Now that the Mittster has recused himself from the 2016 Presidential Pageant despite his belief that he would have been a better president than Obama had he won, how much better would Obama have been had he too worn magic tighty-whities?