Not all "thugs" are created equal.

Oh, so I get it, if you are an old white male "thug" you earn millions, but if you are a young black male "thug" you get shot to death by an out of control vigilante. Nice. Only in America.

"Fox News Channel host Bill O’Reilly appeared on CBS’ 60 Minutes on Sunday night to discuss his latest book, Killing Jesus. O’Reilly opened up about his show preparation, his media empire, and how he has matured since his youth. “I was a little thug, and now I’m being paid millions of dollars for being a big thug,” the Fox host said of his youth" [Source]

Anywhoo, we are almost 24 hours into our government shutdown, and  the gangs on both sides are digging in. Let the battle of the talking points begin.

I know that most of you reading this haven't felt it yet, but my fear is that we will feel it in unspeakable ways down the line. Our national security is at stake. The safety of our air travel will be jeopardized and the lives of poor children will be disrupted.

Michele Bachmann can kiss a million veterans in a DC national park, it won't change the fact that her party is responsible for the park -and others like it- being closed.

"Officials said roughly 800,000 federal employees would be affected by the shutdown after a half-day on the job Tuesday to fill out time cards, put new messages on their voice mail and similar chores.

Among those workers were some at the National Institute of Health’s famed hospital of last resort, where officials said no new patients would be admitted for the duration of the shutdown. Dr. Francis Collins, agency director, estimated that each week the shutdown lasts will force the facility to turn away about 200 patients, 30 of them children, who want to enroll in studies of experimental treatments. Patients already at the hospital are permitted to stay." [Source]

I bet Michele won't be kissing any of them.

That tax thing again, and a salute to Senator McCain.

I would like to start this post like I have a few others over the past few days: by asking Mitt Romney to release his tax returns. I know it's an uncomfortable subject for Mr. Romney and his supporters, but I.....wait, let me just let the Washington Post's editorial page tell us why he should release them.

"FOR MOST AMERICANS, income tax returns are a private matter, and federal law protects that privacy. For those who would be president, a different standard applies. The modern presidency demands so much of one individual — decisions of immense complexity, consequence and difficulty — that the candidates’ characters must be thoroughly examined.

The exploratory process is often unpleasant for candidates, especially when it is stimulated or exploited by their opponents. But it is essential for voters. The probing and investigating is a chance to examine all the ups and downs of a career, the critical moments and life experiences that might foretell how a president will make decisions.  

This is why, as we said months ago, Mitt Romney’s tax returns are important. He has described himself as a successful capitalist who took risks and created wealth, a laudable credential. Voters would benefit by seeing and evaluating the details of that story, including through his tax records.

So far, Mr. Romney has made public one year of his federal return, for 2010, and promises to release the 2011 return when it is ready. He has declined to disclose any earlier years. This is an error that he should quickly reverse. He does not need to go as far as his father, who made public 12 years of tax returns when he was running for president in 1968, but more than two years would be informative..."

Thank you!

Anyway, I wanted to do a post tonight congratulating and praising senator John McCain of Arizona. Mr. McCain is a man that I don't often agree with, but he did a brave and courageous thing by standing up to some of the wingnuts in his own party and he should be commended for it.

The republican party is becoming so unhinged at its core that we soon won't recognize the "party of Lincoln" anymore. To think that they would accuse a trusted and long time aide to our Secretary of State of being infiltrator and a spy for the Muslim Brotherhood is preposterous and shocking. (BTW, she is married to a Jew)  

So back to Mr. McCain. Yesterday he took to the floor of the Senate and gave one of those "profiles in courage" speeches that we get from politricksters every now and then.

"In a floor speech Wednesday, McCain defended Abedin, calling her “an intelligent, upstanding, hard-working and loyal servant of our country and our government, who has devoted countless days of her life to advancing the ideals of the nation she loves and looking after its most precious interests. That she has done so while maintaining her characteristic decency, warmth and good humor is a testament to her ability to bear even the most arduous duties with poise and confidence.

“Put simply, Huma represents what is best about America: the daughter of immigrants, who has risen to the highest levels of our government on the basis of her substantial personal merit and her abiding commitment to the American ideals that she embodies so fully,” McCain said. “I am proud to know Huma and to call her my friend.”

I salute you sir. And shame on Michele Bachmann and the purveyors of hate and prejudice for even dignifying these unfounded charges against a hard working American because of their own bigotry and ignorance.



 

Michele, "The Tonight Show" is calling.

"Tragedy hit Sunday after a young woman was caught in floodwaters caused by Hurricane Irene and died in her car in Salem County.

New Jersey State Police say Celena Sylvestri of Quinton, N.J., called authorities for help from her car on a flooded road early Sunday morning in Salem County and was found dead in the vehicle about eight hours later.

Sylvestri was driving to her boyfriend’s house when her car became stuck in floodwaters. Sylvestri called for help about 1:40 a.m. Sunday, first to her boyfriend then 9-1-1, saying water was up to her neck in her Honda Accord.

For some reason she had tried driving through the Salem River Creek and it had lifted her car off Harding Highway in Pilesgrove.

We tried to find her, we tried to locate her, we were screaming for her -- we couldn't find her," said State Police Lt. Jay Miller. "There was just so much water -- water was surging -- there was no telling where she went in at. It was just a dangerous situation."

Her body was found in her car about 9:30 a.m. about 80 feet off the road by state troopers, police said.

She was swept off the road and deep into the woods. She appeared to still be strapped into her car seat when she was found, according to authorities.

Her car was submerged along Route 40." [Source]

Hahaha......wait, that's not funny. Who would even make fun of something as tragic as a natural disaster that caused the death of poor Ms. Sylvestri and at least 34 other people? 

"As it turns out, Rep. Michele Bachmann was joking Sunday, according to an aide, when she said that God was sending a message to Washington through Hurricane Irene and last week's East Coast earthquake.
Talking Points Memo reports the following:

"Obviously she was saying it in jest," campaign spokesperson Alice Stewart told TPM in a statement.
According to the St. Petersburg Times, during a Florida campaign stop Sunday Bachmann, a fundamentalist Christian said the following:

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

 We have got to "rein" something in alright, but it ain't our spending.

"Bachmann, among the top three candidates seen to have a chance to win the Republican nomination and take on President Barack Obama next year, made similar comments elsewhere in Florida on Saturday, drawing some laughs from her audience.

When the remarks began drawing wide attention, she went into some damage control.

"Of course I was being humorous when I said that. It would be absurd to think it was anything else," Bachmann said on Monday on a campaign stop in Miami."I am a person who loves humor, I have a great sense of humor," she said." [Source] 

Hahaha!!

Debt feelings.

"I need your help. I can't tell you what it is, you can never ask me about it later, and we're gonna hurt some people.
 ...Whose car we takin'?"

That was Ben Aflleck's character, Dougie MacRay, trying to get his boy to accompany him on a beat down in the movie, "The Town".

It's also the line from the movie that republicans met and chose to watch in order to rally around each other for this debt ceiling debate. Nice. It's apropos, seeing that it is a movie about a bank robbery, and these clowns are holding up A-merry-ca.
Anyway, like a good Negro, my man Allen West volunteered to drive the car. (Because that's what good Negroes do.) 

"After showing the clip, Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), one of the most outspoken critics of leadership among the 87 freshmen, stood up to speak, according to GOP aides.“I’m ready to drive the car,” West replied, surprising many Republicans by giving his full -throated support for the plan."

I'm ready to drive the car, massa. *shaking head*. What is wrong with these Negroes like Star Parker? (h/t to Carlos for this story)

BTW, I have been getting a lot of e-mails about this valedictorian case in Arkansas. And, believe me, it has my racism antenna's up. But could someone tell me if the principal, Derrell Thompson, is a brotha? If he is, he should be jigging right along with Star and Allen. Sometimes your own people can be so much worse than "the man". Mental slavery is a b*&^h. 

Speaking of slaves, I bet that the folks in the top 5% income category of this country wishes that we were all their slaves.

Now it's that phony ass preacher, Rick Warren, telling us that half of America pays no taxes. (A lie! I think he meant income taxes, but that's not the point.) The point is that this rich ass phony has joined the rest of the "let them eat cake" crowd by trying to parrot a well used wingnut line.

 "HALF of America pays NO taxes. Zero,” Warren wrote. “So they’re happy for tax rates to be raised on the other half that DOES pay taxes.”

The post was interpreted by the popular blog “Wonkette” as a dig against Americans whose incomes do not qualify them to pay taxes.

The post has since been removed from Warren’s Twitter feed, and he acknowledged that the tweet "did sound mean" in a subsequent tweet addressed to a blogger who wrote had written a lengthy response."

Folks, make no mistake, this is what this debate is about in Washington. It's why the wingnuts will not budge on their debt ceiling position. They do not want to raise taxes on their wealthy friends.

Meanwhile, GE just decided to send even more jobs to China. The same GE that paid ZERO taxes last year. How ironic that O actually tapped the head of GE to be one of his job creation experts. He is creating jobs alright; just not in this country.

O, when will you learn; stop pandering to these people. I know you wanted to seem like a centrist by dancing with this man, (Jeffrey Immelt) but it won't work. This man, and people like him, only care about lining their own pockets and the company bottom line.

Finally, ( I know I am all over the place tonight, but this debt ceiling crap has me pissed) yet another example of do as I say but not as I do from Washington:

"Like many members of Congress, Rep. Michele Bachmann has been a fierce critic of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, blaming the government-backed loan programs for excesses that helped create the financial meltdown in 2008.
And like millions of other home purchasers, Bachmann took out a home loan in 2008 that offered lower costs to the borrower through one of the federally subsidized programs, according to mortgage experts who reviewed her loan documents.

Just a few weeks before Bachmann called for dismantling the programs during a House Financial Services Committee hearing, she and her husband signed for a $417,000 home loan to help finance their move to a 5,200-square-foot golf-course home, public records show. Experts who examined the loan documents for The Washington Post say that they are confident the loan was backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Seeing problems with the programs — especially the high costs to taxpayers — hasn’t stopped a concerned public or other members of Congress from taking advantage of the lower interest rates that come due to government backing.
Bachmann has been the most outspoken critic of the loan programs and other government subsidies among Republican presidential candidates. Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty also has called for dismantling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Experts who reviewed his mortgage documents said that there was no way to tell whether his home loan from 1994 had government backing." [Source] 

I think I will head on out to Home Depot to buy a pitch fork.

    

Heat rant.

*You all will have to hang with me a little while I do this post. When it's hot like this outside I tend to rant a little bit. BTW, all of you - the earth is flat- global warming deniers can kiss my a%&. In case you didn't notice, it's 105 degrees in damn near 90% of the country. Dopes! I might not be an expert when it comes to this crap, but I know how I feel when I step outside.

Anyway, where do I start? OK, let me start with the [right] wingnut who killed over ninety people in Norway. Apparently they are calling this attacker their Timothy McVeigh. A true [right] wingnut with nationalist views. So he goes to a labor party youth camp and kills over 80 -mostly- young people. That's like a wingnut going to a DNC Youth Council convention and letting it rip.  

Funny, I am looking at the *guy, and I am guessing that there is no way that he would be scrutinized while getting on a plane or buying fertilizer. Hmmm, so maybe it's not just those evil Moooslims who are capable of doing despicable things. I am just saying.

Anywhoo, as is to be expected, the [right] wingnuts are already crying conspiracy and claiming that this guy is not one of theirs. Nice try. But if it shoots like a duck....

I always thought that something stunk over at MSNBC when they got rid of Cenk Uygur so soon. It's not like his ratings were that much worse than any of the other clowns over there. And then I read the following post over at Jack & Jill Politics:

"Uygur often refused to treat members of the political and media establishment with deference and respect. He didn’t politely imply with disguised subtleties when he thought a politician or media figure was lying or corrupt, but instead said it outright. In interviews, he was sometimes unusually aggressive with leading Washington figures, subjecting them to civil though hostile treatment to which they were plainly unaccustomed.
[...]
Uygur explained that, several months ago, he was summoned to a meeting with MSNBC boss Phil Griffin and told that while it is fun and enjoyable to be an “outsider,” that is not what MSNBC is for. Instead, Griffin told him, MSNBC is “part of the establishment,” and Uygur must conduct himself in accordance with that reality. It’s perfectly fine in establishment discourse to express contempt for one of the two political parties. It’s equally fine to periodically criticize your own. But what is most assuredly not fine — particularly in a high-profile nighttime spot and without having a real power base that comes from mammoth ratings — is to be aggressively adversarial to the political establishment itself and the financial interests that fund, own and control that political system. That is what Uygur was, and while there’s no evidence that this was the primary cause of his removal, it was clearly a serious source of dissatisfaction with the station’s executives, including MSNBC’s chief.
[...]
Nobody succeeds at a large corporation without understanding and accommodating the prevailing ethos and the interests of that corporation as perceived by one’s bosses. As Uygur explains, the more important someone becomes to the success of a corporation (as Maddow has), the more flexibility they have to depart from, even violate, some of the unstated rules, but no corporate employee — including media stars — will last long if they step too far out (News Corp. even rid itself of Glenn Beck despite declining-though-still-impressive-for-his-time-slot ratings; there were multiple factors, including a successful advertiser boycott, but clearly one factor was that he had departed so far from the standard two-party-system discourse, and had become so adversarial to the establishment itself, that, despite those ratings, it was no longer consistent with News Corp.’s interests to keep him on the air)."

OK, so this explains why they stuck Rev. Al in there. It works every time: stick the black man in there to shut up those who question you.

We will miss Amy Winehouse, girlfriend is dead at 27. She had a big and soulful voice, but sadly, she just couldn't beat her demons.

FYI, if you happen to manage a rock star who likes to dabble in drugs, when they turn 27 you better spend the entire year with them or lock them in a room.

Finally, I have a question for Michele Bachmann: If god did, indeed, tell you to run for president; why didn't you ask her to cure your migraines while you had her ear?