SUSPECT APPAREL

According to the imbecile Geraldo Rivera and the big brains at Fox News 'Half of it (the reason people like TrayvonMartin get killed) is the way the young men look.'

Somehow, the numbers crunchers in charge of assigning guilt in murders involving suspect apparel have concluded that the victim of these types of crimes bear 50% responsibility for their own deaths, due to their clothing.

How does Fox know this?  Because they investigated, right?  According to Rivera and backed up by Bill O;

“'Hmm, hoodies. Who else wears hoodies?”

Good question Geraldo.  And the answer is?

“Everybody that ever stuck up a convenience store, D.B.Cooper, the guy that hijacked a plane, Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber...'"

That’s right.  Everyone that ever stuck up a convenience store.  Everyone.  And here I thought that at least some people wore hoodies to keep dry from rain, like Trayvon did that afternoon, like I do, and like Geraldo has done himself.  Thank goodness Geraldo, O’Reilly, and Fox aren’t rushing to judge anyone.

Forget about the fact that robbing a convenience store isn’t a capital offense, according to Geraldo it’s apparently also okay for un-authorized self-appointed vigilantes to seek out, chase down and shoot dead anyone wearing a hood, anywhere, for any reason - because of the hoodie. Obviously apparel does not enjoy the same presumption of innocence that people do.

I think Geraldo was trying to rationalize his earlier stupid statements by claiming that the American psyche has been irreparably damaged by hooded sweatshirt wearing criminals, but his examples are just pathetic. They are predicated on the pre-determined guilt of people wearing ‘suspect apparel’ which is absolute bullshit.  And, by the way, what of the fact that Zimmerman was himself wearing a hoodie?  Surely, he didn’t think that hoodies were suspect, otherwise why would he wear one?   

Anyway, D.B. Cooper?!?  Wait.  What? “…the guy that hijacked a plane…”   Is Geraldo saying that had there been another brave Zimmerman type on that flight, perhaps D.B. Cooper’s dastardly crimes could have been thwarted?    Well, let’s start with the fact that D.B. Cooper wasn’t wearing a fucking hoodie when he committed his crime!  He was wearing a suit and tie.  D.B. Cooper has never been associated with hoods in any way.  Google it for yourself.  And, is idiot Rivera also suggesting that air travel would somehow be safer if passengers were allowed to shoot any other passengers wearing hooded sweatshirts? Or dark suits and glasses?  What is he talking about?   Because, everyone knows nothing bad can come from arming American air travelers, right?  

The Unabomber?  Sure, Ted Kaczynski terrified the public for a long time with his mail bomb campaign.  But that’s just it; it was a MAIL bomb campaign.  People weren’t afraid of some guy in a hood and glasses coming to get them, they were scared to open their mail!   And let’s face it, of all the infamous murderers in the United States – hooded or otherwise - the Unabomber is a small fry. A relative nobody.  He only killed 3 people. Dozens, no hundreds of maniacs have killed more and/or had longer reigns of terror.  

Again, let’s just play along for a moment. The theory is that because the Unabomber famously wore a hood, its natural to fear all hoods and their wearers. But by Rivera-logic, there are lots of other articles of attire that we should be far more afraid of.

Like Clowns suits!  John Wayne Gacy killed 33 people by posing as a children’s party clown.  33 people!  That’s 10 times as many victims than the hood-wearing Unabomber. It would stand to reason, using Fox News’ metrics, that anyone shot and killed while wearing a clown suit, would be oh, about 500% responsible for their own death, right? Better get Hannity on it.

Clean Shaven White Men in Gap Gear!  Florida resident, Ted Bundy confessed to killing over 30 boys, and is suspected in over 100 total murders.  He did all this while wearing collared shirts and slacks!   Just look around.  How many potential serial killers are lurking around wearing Khakis?  That’s a hell of a lot of people asking to be shot.  Mothers, please don’t let your kids wear Dockers.

Hospital Staff!  Beware of Orderlies bearing bed-pans!  Don ‘The Angel of Death’ Harvey killed 50 people while on the job as a hospital orderly.  And what about ‘Doctor Death,’ Fred Shipman?  He killed more than 250 people.  A doctor!!  Just walk down the halls of any medical center and you’ll see hundreds of employees wearing hospital gear - doctors, nurses, orderlies – they’re all suspect. So, it is perfectly logical to feel threatened by someone in a lab coat or scrubs considering the bloody history that’s associated with the profession, right?  People should be scared to death of hospitals.

What about Mobsters?  John Gotti and Sammy ‘The Bull’ Gravano killed a bunch of people.  And they did it looking sharp, in Italian tailored suits.  In fact, lots of mobsters rob stores and hurt people too.   Fox-think would dictate that all swarthy men in three-piece suits or track suits would be responsible for their own deaths because of the negative association with the Sopranos.  Al Capone wore a Fedora.  So did Lucky Luciano, and Carlo Gambino,   Can we blast anyone in a Fedora because of the hat’s historical connections to organized crime?

It’s alarming when you realize that we could fill hundreds of pages listing all of the suspect apparel that, based on Fox’s data, could provoke the justifiable summary execution of the wearer.  Maybe if Hannity is busy, someone at The Factor can get on this.

Just remember, the next time an overzealous, gun-totting, self-styled Charles Bronson wannabe chases down -against the explicit directions of law enforcement - and kills an unarmed individual for no apparent reason, don’t waste your time asking why that person, with a criminal record and a history of violence, is allowed to carry a concealed weapon.  Ask yourself the more salient question; ‘what suspect apparel was the victim wearing?’

Don't Look Now...

Don’t look now fellow patriots, the country has been invaded.  A great Bolshevik army is sweeping across the heartland, crushing democracy and imposing a radical Communist agenda on millions of patriotic Americans.  They’re building ‘bases’ and setting up ‘camps’ in big cities and small towns from coast to coast.  They’re riding roughshod over the democratic rights of millions of people as we speak.  I’m talking, of course, about FEMA.

I’ll bet many of you patriots didn’t know as of May 13^th, 2011, FEMA’s Kommissars have “declared emergencies” in over 400 counties,across 33 states.  Yes, in just 5 short months, over 65% of our nation has been conquered by FEMA’s Marxists.  In that time, their forces have succeeded in foisting millions of dollars on states across the nation.  Even proud sovereign nation-states like the Republic of Texas have been forced to take millions of Rubles.

What’s going on here? 

Well, in Texas wildfires caused by record droughts, bone dry brush, high winds and a marked lack of Jeebus have scorched the state for much of this spring, and Obama’s devious hordes know it.  As soon as the fires displaced thousands and caused severe economic disruptions, FEMA swept in.  Much of the great Republic has now been occupied; Santa Anna is knocking on the door of the Alamo.

But why are brave states like Texas being hit by all of these so-called natural disasters?  Why are American patriots watching their homes and livelihoods get destroyed?  Ron Paul knows why.  It's because people are dumb!

We should all thank Galt that there are patriots like Congressman Paul, willing to speak truth to power, reminding his fellow Texans about their “dumb mistakes.”  “Dumb mistakes” like allowing a record low, 13-hundredths of an inch of rain to fall on parts of Texas.  How dumb is that?  Who’s in charge of creating rain down there?

It’s surely not Rick Perry’s fault.  After bravely slashing funds for the Texas Forest Service in an effort to discourage the ‘dumb’ behavior of his constituents, Governor Perry recently devised a far more Conservative budget solution.  He had a plan:   Protect Texas and ensure that patriotic captains of industry wouldn’t have the anchor of oppressive taxes on their luxury yachts.   It sounded like a win-win.

Instead of all that expensive fire prevention and emergency response stuff that the Forest Service does on the off-chance that an emergency does occur, Perry would simply summon the Lord when needed.  Texas is, of course, God’s Country, so few people questioned his plan. And when the fires started, he lept into action. Perry ordered all Texans to pray for rain for 3 whole days.  Unfortunately, it didn’t work.  Maybe Texans didn’t pray hard enough.  Talk about dumb mistakes.

Ron Paul’s “dumb” non-praying fellow Texans have since 'allowed' more than 2 million acres of prime West Texas realestate burn to a crisp, causing tens of millions of dollars of damage to thousands of farms and ranches.  

Throughout The Bible Belt, in the reliably pious and patriotic states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Georgia, many citizens are now under the jackboot of Communist occupation forces after they stupidly allowed tornadoes to destroy their communities and livelihoods.  It’s a shame that so few people have read The Objectivist's Guide to Defeating Statism AND Natural Disasters Through Prayer (and Money.)

Bible Belt

Disaster Affected States, Spring 2011

Right now millions of people living along the Mississippi River must be kicking themselves as the river experiences record flooding.  In Baton Rouge, the hometown of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, residents are on edge as they wait to see how dumb a mistake it was for city founders to locate a major city on the banks of a river. Building a city along a river??   I mean, who does that?

Jindal’s Governor’s residence in the state capital should be spared, though.  The Red Army Corp of Engineers has decided to open a series of floodgates up the river and target thousands of people dumb enough to live in poorer, rural areas.  Phew!

But over in Morganza, Louisiana, almost 30 thousand people live in the Morganza Spillway flood basin.  They have been ordered to evacuate as thousands of square miles of Cajun Country are expected to be drowned under up to 15 feet of floodwater.

It is humiliation upon humiliation for so many patriotic Americans across the nation.  First, they stupidly allow natural disasters to occur on their private property, then they are forced to accept millions of dollars of Socialist FEMA money, and then the folly of their mistakes is highlighted by patriots like Ron Paul. It's tough to be a patriot in 2011.

But do you know what the greatest humiliation for these patriots must be?

The greatest humiliation that a true American patriot can endure is the probability that his or her ‘dumb mistakes’ and failure to pray hard enough to the Lord for forgiveness for said 'dumb mistakes' will adversely affect future state and federal tax cuts for corporations and billionaires – the real backbone of this nation.  

Socialism is on the march throughout the Heartland, patriots, and it’s all due to the dumb mistakes and atheism of the bottom-feeders.   You can’t make this stuff up, folks.

MSNY 051811

TRUMP DUMPED?

GOP PLANNING TO DUMP TRUMP?

It looks like the Wingnut Meme-maker Matt Drudge has officially soured on the idea of tea-bagged entrepreneur Donald Trump’s candidacy.  For most of last night and early this morning, Drudge ran a link to a 3 year old interview The Donald gave to news station NY1 in which he called George W. Bush ‘evil’ and praised President-elect Obama.  In a transparent attempt to mislead readers Drudge titled the linked video “YESTERDAY: TRUMP PRAISES OBAMA; BUSH 'EVIL'...”

Clearly, Drudge is going out of his way to portray Trump as a flip-flopper and political opportunist.  It is also worth noting how rare it is for the GOP media to criticize a Republican celebrity – especially one that is currently sitting atop a field of uninspiring candidates.  So Drudge’s turn surely has deeper motivations.

This morning he added links from Real Clear Politics which chronicle Trump’s past declarations that Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, AND Barrack Obama are ‘the worst’ presidents in American history.’

Why would Drudge turn on Wingnutistan’s man of the hour?

One reason could be that he has seen the great glee with which the Democrats have received the prospect of the Tin-foil Comb-over’s candidacy.  The tea-bagger base may be infatuated with the prospect of Trump running, but very few outside of the base see him as a serious candidate.   The American public is also more focused on Job and the economy then they are on the birther issue, and rightly so.

Indeed, while people like Sarah Palin are praising Trump’s one-trick-pony act, many others within the GOP are more than a little concerned that Trump is damaging the GOP’s chances in 2012.  These fears were clearly evidenced by Bill O’Reilly’s thorough debunking and dismissal of Trump’s birther claims.  Note to Republicans:  When Fox’s number 1 rated talking head turns on you, you know you have trouble.

O’Reilly even seemed a little insulted that the ‘myth’ of Obama’s foreign birth, as he termed it, is still an issue, saying recently; “A "Factor" investigation also showed Mr. Obama was born in a Honolulu hospital and we stand by our reporting.”

Take that Donald!

 Herman Munster Romney also took the opportunity to appeal to the remaining sane people in the ‘big tent’ by declaring publicly that he believes that Obama was indeed born in the USA.  It’s amazing what passes for moderation in the new GOP.

Even Neo-Con kingmaker and noted Turd Blossom, Karl Rove is warning Republicans that the birther infatuation will hurt the party, saying “Within our party, we’ve got to be very careful about allowing these people who are the birthers and the 9/11-deniers to get too high a profile..”  And this is coming from a man who never met a lie he didn’t like!!

Why is the GOP establishment also turning on the Donald?

A fresh poll, published today shows Trump trouncing his potential GOP competitors;

“Trump garnered 26% of the vote, followed by Mike Huckabee (17%), Mitt Romney (15%), Newt Gingrich (11%), and Sarah Palin (8%.) Ron Paul earned 5%, while Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty took 4% each.”

OUCH!

Republicans are desperate, not matter what they say.  Following the tea-bag revolution of 2010, the wheels have come off of the bus and the public is seeing the ideological lunacy that has seized control of the party.  John ‘Captain Orange’ Boehner has almost completely lost control of his caucus and his own approval numbers have plummeted in only 100 days.  The GOP governors swept into office by the Koch brothers have dramatically overreached in their zeal to please their corporate masters, energizing their opposition and complicating the electoral map for the party nationally.  And the field of potential Presidential hopeful is rife with crazies who have zero realistic chance in the general election.  The prospect of Trump throwing hundreds of million of his own money into a primary campaign threatens to deplete the party’s coffers in a year where Barrack Obama looks to be in position to raise a billion dollars.  This greatly worries party officials.

To make matters even worse, Trump recently threatened to run as an independent and potentially siphon crucial votes away from the eventual GOP nominee should Republicans fail to nominate him.

Yes folks, Trump is ballsy for trying to extort the GOP nomination, but the attempt is quite likely to cause his political demise as the party establishment cannot allow him to single-handedly torpedo their hopes of winning in 2012.

So, expect more attacks from Drudge and the GOP media to ensure that even if Trump decides to go independent, he won’t get much support from Republican voters.  The takedown will be interesting, to say the least.


MSNY 041511

The Coming Culture War - or so unlike the brazen giant of Greek fame...

NOTE:  When this was first written in October, I was full snark mode.  Suddenly with the insane antics of people like the Governor of Maine, a scenario like this one doesn’t seem so out of the realm of possibility.  So, I present it once again for your amusement…and to scare you a bit.

Not unlike the brazen giant of Bedtime for Bonzo fame.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Just in time for Statue of Liberty Day, (T)he Republican Congressional Leadership Committee has issued a press release announcing their intentions to propose and enact sweeping changes to policy and governmental positions on immigration and naturalization upon their takeover of the Congress in the coming days.

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE SOON-TO-BE REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL MAJORITY

Fellow Americans – And by ‘fellow’ we mean white, Christian, conservative Americans who vote Republican – It is time to change for a change in the policy of the United States of America,  We are facing an invasion of unprecedented proportions and we must enunciate in no uncertain terms the ideals of America.

Therefore we propose that the inscription on the Statue of Liberty is being amended and we would like to issue a correction to the foreigners of the world.

Apparently there has been a considerable amount of confusion among all of you foreigners about the United States of America that We, The People thought should be cleared up.
Honestly, let’s be realistic.  All that shit on the Statue of Liberty is garbage. For Christ sakes it was written by a woman…a Jewess no less.

We, The People of this country DO NOT wish to see our nation continue to be the ‘Mother of Exiles.’ Senator Rubio can attest to the fact that Miami is lousy with exiles – many of whom engage in illegal activities.  We don’t want the tired – Believe us, we have enough tired and lazy people here already and we definitely don’t need any more. We certainly don’t want the poor – we don't even like the poor we've got.  Really, if you can’t afford the highest healthcare costs in the Western Hemisphere, just don’t bother coming. We don’t care about any huddled masses – just take a look at how we treated those huddled slobs during Katrina if you think otherwise.  And we surely don’t want any wretched refuse from teeming shores of any other country; we have enough wretched refuse here already, plus the last thing we want is to give Obama any more supporters.  The Constitution makes no promises of homes, so we absolutely don’t want any more homeless people than we already have – don’t come here expecting free room and board. Go to France for that Socialist crap.  We have enough disaster within our own boarders so the tempest-tossed can find another place to go too – we’re talking to you, Haiti.

So, one of the first acts of the 112th Congress will be the allocation of funds to the National Parks Department for the revision of the text on the plaque held by The Statue of Liberty, heretofore to be known as the “Momma Grizzly Statue of Anti-Statism, Tyranny Hating Liberty”

The updated text shall read as follows;

Not unlike the brazen giant of Bedtime for Bonzo fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with an M-16 in hand, whose flame
Is armor piercing, and her name,
The Mother of all Grizzlies. From her trigger finger
Fires world-wide warning shots; her wild eyes command
The fenced in borders that militiamen frame.
"Keep your anchor tots, your terror mosques" cries she
With lipsticked pig lips. "Give me only your cheap products, your tax havens,
Your temporary migrant labor yearning to work like dogs then leave.
But the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, we thank you to enter no more.
Send not, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
And I thank you to exit our golden door!"

Thank you, and God Bless America

MSNY102810

REPOSTED 033011

Weathervane McCain is at it again

Motherfucking John McCain.

I’m sick of him. I’m sick of hearing his voice. And I’m most of all sick of hearing all the utter bullshit that comes out of his damn mouth.

Weathervane McCain is at it again.  After an comically embarrassing dive to the hard right to save his political hide in 2010, McCain is hoping to take advantage of the nascent, if inevitably doomed, partisan détente as cover to crawl back to the political center. The move is, of course, total garbage, and it comes almost 2 years too late to salvage McCain’s reputation in my opinion.

The Senator wrote an op/ed for the Washington Post this weekend in which he tried to thread the political needle in the wake of the Tucson shootings: He attempted to simultaneously praise President Obama’s speech, defend Sarah Palin’s victim-complex ‘blood libel’ histrionics, and run away from the irresponsible, undignified type of language and rhetoric that he himself had used, or endorsed, during the past two campaign cycles.

In addition to McCain’s confession of responsibility for his role in the coarsening of the discourse, he now claims to disavow the vicious attacks against Obama, including those his questioning his loyalty, and love of America;

"I reject accusations that his policies and beliefs make him unworthy to lead America or opposed to its founding ideals.”

Really? Who is he kidding? The monster he created has made millions doing just that. The movement that he eagerly tea-bagged in order to get elected is led by people and groups who regularly accuse the President of every heinous crime imaginable. And most of his fellow Republicans in Congress are unable to speak more than five words about Obama without one of those words being 'socialist,' or 'tyrant,' or 'anti-American.'

He 'rejects the accusations'?? Come on.

It would have been nice – it would have been believable – if this change of heart had come after the presidential campaign in 2008. Or before the town-hall summer of hate in 2009. Or before the 2010 Congressional elections would have been nice. But it didn’t.

And, now that Mac has 5 years before he needs to curry favor with the tea party crazies again, he sees an opportunity to seize upon the Tucson tragedy to try to position himself as a voice of reason in a party dominated by extremist neo-conservatives – a position similar to the one he held during most of the Clinton and W. Bush administrations.

Well, as they say; he’s a day late and a dollar short.

From the day he introduced the world to Sarah Palin, and allowed her to attack almost every ‘policy and belief’ ever espoused by Obama, he has been bereft of any credible claim to being anything remotely describable as a moderate voice within the GOP. Funny that McCain says that he ‘rejects accusations’ against the President but has never actually ‘refudiated’ any of Palin’s outrageous accusations.

McCain insults the intelligence of the readers with this insincere tripe. I don’t need to list every snide remark by Palin calling into question Obama’s ‘worthiness’ to lead the nation or explaining his ‘opposition to the founding ideals’, do I?

He may try to straddle the fence, defending free speech while denouncing the irresponsible speech of others, but he can’t now say that he rejects the accusations when his running mate and chief surrogate was one of the main people running around making accusations. He can’t denounce the character assassins when, in 2008 as the presidential candidate and titular leader of the party, he had the opportunity to actually change the tenor of the discourse by example, but did not.

So while it’s nice that McCain was, as he wrote, ‘comforted,’ ‘inspired,’ and ‘encouraged’ by the President’s speech, the fact remains that McCain bears no small measure of responsibility for the level of the rhetoric. And he cannot simply say that he “rejects accusations that [Obama’s] policies and beliefs make him unworthy to lead America or opposed to its founding ideals” without ever doing anything about it.






01.16.11 MSNY

THE NEWS DRUDGE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ...TUESDAY JAN. 11, 2011

Rasmussen SHOCKERS:  

Ras' Own Numbers Refute The Ratings Free Fall Meme.  Say Prez Approval Numbers were “Remarkably Stable' in '10
O’s numbers SURGE 8 POINTS since September.    

Voters ALREADY “expressing doubts” about GOP majority.  

GALLUP:  Obama up 6 Points Since Election Day
…10 Points HIGHER than Ronaldus Magnus At Same Point in Term.

 

Republicans Turn AGAINST Law Enforcement.   
AMNESIA:  GOP’ers Decry Dupnik’s Outspokenness.  Lauded Arpaio’s.
Dupnik Undaunted By Unhinged Wingnut Attacks.
SHOCK: Pima County GOP chair doesn’t want AZ legislature to prevent  Westboro Baptist Church from Protesting Little Girl’s Funeral...  

...Despite Bipartisan Support.…Doesn’t want to “Infringe Free Speech” of Hate Group.
 

TOUGH GUY?:  Leading GOP’er wants to ban guns near politicians….But Nowhere Else.
 

GOP’ers Answer to Gun Violence…MORE GUNS...LESS RESTRICTIONS...LESS GOV'T INVOLVEMENT...
...Even Though Mentally Disturbed, Army Reject Loughner’s Gun Purchased Legally. Extended Clip Ban Could Have Saved Lives…Ban Lifted in 2004 Despite Protests By Law Enforcement.  

HAMMER TO THE SLAMMER…   

Crooked GOP Majority Leader to spend 3 years in the Big House….Says He Has “No Remorse.” 

POT, MEET KETTLE:  Gingrich FLIPS OUT At Thought Of Rhetoric Playing Role in AZ Shootings…Ignores own past statements.

FLASHBACK:  Newt Blames ‘Liberalism’ and ‘Liberal Elite’ for Columbine AND VA Tech Shootings.  

Bill O' BALLISTIC:   UNHINGED FOX'ER RANTS. DEFENDS Hate Speech.  COMPLAINS About Having To Have Own Security!...    

BIG LOVE BECK Feigns Opposition to Violence While Own Website Shows Him Grinning While Totting Gun...
….Even as Boss Tells Them  to “Tone It Down”

Creepy Parallels Between Beck and AZ Shooter.  

…Both think the Government is Engaging in Mind Control.

…Both Fixated on Gold Standard.

EL-RUSHBO RAGES Against Left……Struggles To Defend Own Hate Speech.
Sez  Left “openly wishes for such disaster in order to profit from it.”...  

...TOTALLY Ignores Tea Party Express Friends Fund-raising on Shooting.

Palin Prez Odds PLUMMET After 'Condolences' Issued.
More GOP’ers Sour on Sarah. …  

…20 Point DROP in support among Republicans!

GOP DEATH PANEL:  People Dying in AZ Because Treatment Not “Cost Effective.”  

…Brewer Shrugs (video). 

BIG TENT?  Top GOP’er Joins Chorus Opposing Gays….In the GOP!

FOXFAIL.  NewsCorp Owned MySpace Foundering...Pink Slips for HALF of Staff.

Ummm…WTF is going on??

Ummm…WTF is going on??

First, I saw a story about thousands of birds just dropping out of the sky in Arkansas and I thought, ‘oh, that’s weird.’  But I since I was on vacation, I didn’t give too much thought to it after that.

Then, I read about 100,000 fish going belly up, also in Arkansas and I thought, ‘wow, that’s a bit of a coincidence, isn’t it?’  But after seeing the report I didn’t hear very about it again and it slipped my mind.

Not long after, I ran across an article about several hundred dead birds falling from the sky in Louisiana. When I read on, I noticed that the birds were of the same species as the birds that dropped dead a few hundred miles north and I was like. ‘whoa, it can’t just be chance. Something is up.’

Yesterday I saw this article about 100 tons of dead fish washing up on the shore of a Brasilian town and I gasped.  100 tons?  That’s a lot of fish.  The article said many of the fish were sardines. 100 tons of sardines?  That’s a shitload of sardines.  Sardines are small – a quick google search reveals that the average sardine is about 6 ounces.  That means that there were literally hundreds of thousand dead fish.

And I just read a story about 2 MILLION dead fish washing up yesterday in Maryland.  2 MILLION!  Something stinks here, and it’s not just the rotting fish!

While poking around I discovered that in the past few days there have been reports about thousands of crabs washing up dead in England, several thousand fish washing up dead in Florida, hundreds in New Zealand, and dozens of dead birds turning up in Sweden.

Anyway, I found this chart online detailing the mysterious animal deaths.

What’s going on?


MSNY 010611

IN DEFENSE OF RUSH

IN DEFENSE OF RUSH

I’ve come to the conclusion that we may be being too hard on Rush.  Poor Rush is an addict and should be treated with pity.

I’d like to point out that the relapse rate for Heroin addicts is staggering.  A Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration study showed relapse rates of 87 percent after drug treatment for heroin and opiate users of Rush’s age – the highest among all drug users. So, the odds are that Rush has already relapsed.  His behavior indicates that he has.

Rush refuses to accept that he is in fact an addict.  His denial is, in and of itself, a classic sign of addiction.  I think it’s safe to assume that if you are willing to commit a felony to facilitate your drug habit, you are quite likely an addict.  And as the saying goes; once an addict, always an addict.

It’s pretty clear that he is an addict.  Does anyone even remotely familiar with the scourge of opiate addiction believe that someone can just turn off the urges?  I mean this guy was so addicted he was driving around to random doctors and fraudulently obtaining prescriptions to feed his habit.  THAT friends, is the definition of an addict.

Addicts frequently have difficulties keeping relationships.  Check.    Heroin addicts often act out in an uncontrolled, compulsive and disruptive manner.  They behave dishonestly – especially when drug seeking.  Check, check, check, and check.  They also exhibit traits like excessive smoking, drinking, disability, and psychological distress.  Check, check, check, and check again.  Since psychological distress is a very prominent trait among heroin addicts, we can only assume that he also suffers from severe psychological distress.  We can safely describe his behavior as addled, and if Rush can’t think clearly, how can he be taken seriously?

But, Rush himself has made very specific and definitive statements, regarding his feelings on how drug addicts should be treated by the legal system, that do merit being taken seriously.  In fact, I think Rush actually wants to be accused and exposed as an addict – he’s said as much himself.  Personally, I think the statements he’s made on drug addicts and drug crimes are cries for help.

Rush believes that he himself is, in fact, a criminal that should be incarcerated.  In case anyone forgot what Rush has said about drug addicts in the past, here is a quote from the man himself:

"There’s nothing good about drug use. We know it. It destroys individuals. It destroys families. Drug use destroys societies. Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. And the laws are good because we know what happens to people in societies and neighborhoods which become consumed by them. And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up."

"What this says to me is that too many whites are getting away with drug use. Too many whites are getting away with drug sales. Too many whites are getting away with trafficking in this stuff. The answer to this disparity is not to start letting people out of jail because we’re not putting others in jail who are breaking the law. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river, too." –  October 5th, 1995.

There is no way for Rush to prove that he is NOT currently on drugs, save for him agreeing to publicly take weekly blood and urine tests, but he sure does exhibit the tell-tale characteristics of an active heroin addict.

So, Rush Limbaugh is a Heroin addict, too drug addled to be taken seriously, who by his own admission should be accused, convicted and incarcerated.  He feels that as a user, he is destroying society – that he and his kind are destroying the nation.  He knows that as a white man, he’s been given a pass, and deep down he wants to be found out.  Deep down Rush wants justice.  Rush deserves justice.

Well, I’m here to help you Rush.  I promise to keep up the good fight.  I promise not to take offense to anything you say on-air – I know it’s only the disease talking.  I promise to continue to accuse you and call for your incarceration so that one day you can be free of the monster of addiction and not end up being carted off of Palm Beach by the coroner in a double-wide stretcher like some Neo-Con John Belushi.  I know that’s what you want, even if you are too addled to articulate it.


121710MSNY

MORE SLUDGE FROM DRUDGE

Here’s a story that's not making too many waves in the non-wingnut press but Matt Drudge has been beating the drum on almost daily.

For some reason, Drudge is intent on making this some kind of issue, through his extraordinary propensity for self-referential ‘reporting.’  He seems to think that if he says it and someone else notices that he said it, then it’s newsworthy.  He writes about a ‘backlash’ building, but when one looks deeper, the article he references is simply an article noting that Drudge himself is drumming up the story.

He is hyping up the loonies to believe that the security measures that the Transportation Safety Agency are undertaking are an invasion of people’s privacy.  The way he portrays it, Janet Napolitano, or Big Sis, as he likes to call her, and the Obama administration are overstepping their bounds and usurp our freedoms and liberties.

Those freedoms?  - The freedom to board an airplane without being scanned by a full body x-ray scanner, or being patted down.

Why would Big Sis want to violate our rights? – Well, because Obama is a Statist, of course, and he wants to control everything we do.  He probably wants to promote some satanic homosexual agenda designed to convert straights into homosexuality. Why else would he sponsor same sex public fondling and demand nude photographs of all air travelers.   Oh yeah, the fact that some dude put some liquid explosives in his jock strap last year that the metal detectors missed might have something to do with the increased screening too.

It’s not clear how decreasing the level of security would be a position that the terror conscious public would want to support.  It is patently clear though, that the only reason that Drudge is doing this is to ride an anti-government wave and to paint every single move made by the administration as bad – even protecting travelers.

This whole theme is ridiculous because the right wing loonies never expressed any opposition to heightening airport security after 9/11.  They never expressed any concerns for people’s right to privacy when they supported all of the intrusive provisions of the Patriot Act.  One would think that the right wing security hawks would want to make sure that terrorists are thwarted in any attempts to board our airplanes with explosive materials.

And let’s be clear, when Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff, George W. Bush’s Homeland Security Chiefs proposed and enacted strict security measures – including authorizing the procurement and usage of full body scanners, Drudge never complained.  In fact, if anyone complained about heightened security, there were tarred and feathered as anti-American terror enablers.  Drudge’s hypocrisy is laughable at best.

Last night Bill O’Reilly picked up the story for Drudge, opining on whether or not people had the legal right to refuse a full body scan and a pat down. (Watch)

O’Reilly seemed genuinely worried that an airport screener of the opposite sex would be able to view his body scan, because heaven forbid it if a woman saw his putz.  Maybe O’Reilly secretly wants only men to see his private parts – Lord knows most women want nothing to do with them.

Ok, ok. I get it.  It might be unpleasant and uncomfortable for a traveler to have a screener checking our their naked body no matter the sex, but not as unpleasant as blowing up, right?  And not for nothing, this is the ‘pornographic’ image O’Reilly objects too….who needs Playboy when you’ve got this;

O’Reilly also expressed his discomfort at potentially being patted-down by ‘Vinny or Lenny.’  I’m thinking he’s afraid of some unexpected reaction to Vinny’s hands caressing his wingnuts, if you know what I mean.

When the so-called Underwear bomber attempted to blow up a plane last year, the right wing howled that Obama wasn’t doing enough to secure the skies.  And now, a little less than a year later, they are howling that he’s doing too much.   Pick a side, crazies.

Drudge is running a blaring headline today trying to increase the freakout, saying; “BIG SIS MOVES TO STOP REVOLT - HOLIDAY TRAVEL ON THE BRINK!”

On the brink of what exactly??  -- On the brink of being secure?  On the brink of potentially foiling an attack?  Oh, no!!

The Reuters article referenced by Drudge says the following;

“With the busiest holiday travel season nearing, fliers face long security lines and new rigorous patdown checks begun in recent weeks aimed at discovering hidden explosives. As a result, some travelers are questioning whether to fly at all.”

Is that serious?  Flyers are questioning whether to fly or not based on the alleged intrusiveness of the TSA screening process.  Where have these people been living?  These people aren’t questioning whether they want to fly or not based on the fact that some fanatic might have some plastique in his jock strap, they question flying because the security measures are too stringent.  The stupidity boggles the mind.

The article went on to quote a father who preferred to remain unnamed, but volunteered that he was a ‘lobbyist’ in DC;

"We spend my child's whole life telling him that only mom, dad and a doctor can touch you in your private area, and now we have to add TSA agent and that's just wrong," he told Reuters. "At some point the terrorists have won."

You know when they terrorists have won, dad?  When they blow you and junior out of the sky because they got a bomb on the plane.  They also win when we give up our way of life, not when we are extra vigilant to the threats they pose.

Again, I get that a person can feel uncomfortable being patted down, but its either the full body scanner or the pat-down.  Your choice.  You can’t refuse both.  We live in a time when bombers are putting stuff in their shoes and underwear and who knows where else, that is the reality.

So, you know what?  If you would prefer that a bomber is able to smuggle his weapon onto a plane instead of you getting screened, then just stay home.

Drudge links to a report that the Council on American-Islamic Relations is also urging American Muslims to refuse the full body scan and the pat-down below the necks.  This is great, the Muslims and the Teahadis have some more commonalities.    I wonder if O’Reilly will support their legal right to refuse to be screened.   Oh yeah, I forgot, only right wing Christians have rights in this nation.

If Drudge and O’Reilly want to gin up their fans to refuse to be screened, then they need to take responsibility when someone is able to board a plane with an explosive devise.

Do O’Reilly and Drudge actually want the holiday travel season to be an economic failure so that they can blame that on Obama?  Do they really want to see another attack happen so they can blame Obama for that too?  Or is it just more of the black is white, up is down, knee jerk opposition of anything this President does?
Its insane and absurd and a bunch of other words I can’t even think of right now.

111210 MSNY

I'm not a bigot, but.....

I’m not a bigot, you guys know the posts I’ve written about Asian stuff, but not long ago I was traveling to Hawaii, and the pilot was dressed in Japanese garb.  Well he wasn’t actually, and I don't even know if he was Japanese, but his eyes where, well…you know, and he looked like he might be Buddhist, or something.  Anyway,    If I see people who look Asian and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Asian, I get worried. I get nervous.

See, the Japanese – who are Asian - used airplanes to attack Pearl Harbor, so it’s not insensitive to be assume that a pilot with Asian eyes might be a Kamikaze, right?   If I could name a prominent Japanese American Republican in Congress, I’m sure they would agree.

I want to stress that I am not talking about all Asians when I criticize some and that America is not at war with Asia anymore. Blaming all Asian people for the actions of extremists is like blaming all Muslims for the actions of the 9/11 bombers.

Really, I’m not a bigot, but whenever I visit Washington DC, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in ‘British garb,’ I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as British, I get worried. I get nervous.

I mean for crying out loud, the British burned down The U.S. Capitol and The White House during the War of 1812.  It’s not unreasonable to assume that someone with an English accent and ‘British garb’ might want to do the same again.  I’m sure Margaret Thatcher would understand.

I want to stress that I am not talking about all British people when I criticize some and that America is not at war with England anymore. Blaming all British people for the actions of extremists is like blaming all Muslims for the actions of the 9/11 bombers and all Asians for the actions of Tojo.

So you see, I'm not a bigot, but I went to the bank yesterday to see about making some investments, and the guy looked like Bernie Madoff.  Well he didn't look exactly like Bernie, but he was wearing 'Jewish garb.'   If I see people who are in ‘Jewish garb’ and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Jews, I get worried. I get nervous.

I mean it’s not racist to recognize that the single largest crime perpetrated against investors in American history was committed by a Jewish person who served as a mentor and major contributor to Yeshiva University.  I’m just saying that it’s okay to be sensitive to these facts when banking.  Even Rupert Murdoch couldn’t claim this statement is racist, could he?

I want to stress that I am not talking about all Jews when I criticize some and that America is not at war with Judaism. Blaming all Jews for the actions of extremists is like blaming all Muslims for the actions of the 9/11 bombers, all British for the actions of King George’s armies, and all Asians for the actions of Tojo.

No, really I’m not a bigot.  But I live in Harlem, where the preponderance of crime is committed by African American males, so if I see a ‘Juan Williams type’ walking down the street, if I see a guy in ‘African American garb’ and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as African American people, I get worried. I get nervous.

That isn’t racist by any stretch. I’m sure Juan would agree - he’s from Bed-Sty where the crime stats are similar.

I want to stress that I am not talking about all African Americans when I criticize some and that America is not at war with African Americans. Blaming all Black people for the actions of criminals is like blaming all Muslims for the actions of the 9/11 bombers, all British for the actions of King George’s armies, all Asians for the actions of Tojo, and all Jews for the actions of Bernie Madoff.

I really, really mean it. I’m no bigot.  You guys know the posts I’ve written defending people’s rights.   But when I get go to Oklahoma, I got to tell you, if I see people who are driving trucks in ‘Christian garb’, like Timothy McVeigh was that fateful day, and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Christians, I get worried. I get nervous.

How can anyone think that statement is racist?  The greatest act of domestic terrorism in the United States was committed by  Tim McVeigh, a self avowed Caucasian Christian who drove a truck.  Certainly, Mike Huckabee would concur with this assessment.

And again, I want to stress that I am not talking about all Caucasian Christians who drive trucks when I criticize some and that America is not at war with truck driving Caucasian Christians. Blaming all Caucasian Christians people for the actions of extremists is like blaming all Muslims for the actions of the 9/11 bombers, all British for the actions of King George’s armies, all Asians for the actions of Tojo, all Jews for the actions of Bernie Madoff, and all Black people for the actions of the Juan Williams.


Where was I?  Oh, yeah…I’m not a bigot, but…..


(crossposted at Once Upon a Paradigm)

MSNY 102210

'Swimming' the Witch

I’m beginning to think that Christine O’Donnell never really dabbled in witchcraft.  I don’t know much about Wicca, but from what I’ve seen in the movies, witches and warlocks aren’t complete idiots like Chrissy O  - at least I understand that they can float when tied up and thrown in the water.  Christine O’Donnell seems to be sinking faster than a 17th Century Salem teenage girl at a witch ‘trial.’  Her stupidity is astounding.

Consider this exchange during her most recent ‘debate’ with Chris Coons at Widener University Law School; 

Coons:  “…religious doctrine doesn't belong in our public schools."

O’Donnell:  “"Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?"

Coons:  “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,”

O’Donnell:  “That’s in the First Amendment…?”

MSNBC noted that the audience gasped in shock at the stunning ignorance of the Republican nominee.  I’m sure that those of you who just hearing about this exchange are also trying to catch your breath right about now.  I’m still cleaning the coffee from my monitor.

 As a note; O’Donnell also failed to identify several amendments of the Constitution that are frequently mentioned as targets of Tea Party repeal efforts, excusing herself because she “didn’t bring [her] Constitution with [her].”

Ouch.

Clearly, O’Donnell’s skills in witchcraft are lacking, otherwise she’d be floating with the other tea-bagged loonies, on pace to lower the collective congressional IQ – and who would have thought that even possible in a Congress populated by the likes of  Michelle  Bachmann, Dave Vitter, Joe Barton, and Steve King??

But there are others who fail the classic witchcraft litmus test;

Sharon Angle, for example, must be a witch.  How else would one explain her lead in the Nevada polls?  Angle famously said this;

"People ask me, 'What are you going to do to develop jobs in your state?' Well, that's not my job as a U.S. senator."

This is coming from a woman who wishes to represent a state that the Bureau of Labor Statistics says had the HIGHEST unemployment in USA according to the most recent data.

Angle must be casting some sort of stupidity spell on the voters in Nevada to be leading in this race.

Joe Miller from Alaska has announced that he would support the repeal of the 17th Amendment, which provides for the direct election of US Senators by the people – the same people Miller is asking to VOTE FOR HIM.

Now this is some amazing warlock stuff right here.  He wants Alaskans to VOTE for him to help repeal their right to VOTE for anyone else for senator.  AND HE’S LEADING IN THE POLLS! 

And Rand Paul thinks that Medicare is just plain wrong.  He’s said this:

"The fundamental reason why Medicare is failing is why the Soviet Union failed -- socialism doesn't work,"

Funny, Rand, by his own admission, receives about 50% of his income from Medicare reimbursements.  Clearly he doesn’t hate Medicare that much. 

Only a very powerful man-witch like Dr. Paul could convince the poor and elderly of Kentucky that it’s Socialism for them to get assistance for costly medical care while he profits greatly from it.  But this is exactly what he’s doing.

So, despite Christine O’Donnell’s confession that she dabbled in witchcraft as a youth, I think it’s safe to assume that, like her juiced up resume, she’s full of shit.   Just because she may have really really, really liked The Craft it doesn’t qualify her to claim that she actually dabbled in sorcery.  There is no other way to explain her lack of political buoyancy, except to acquit her of the charge of practicing the dark arts.  Now, if Bill Maher can come up with a clip of her admitting to being a high-priestess in the Church of the Mortally Stupid, I might be inclined to believe her.





MSNY 101910

(crossposted at Once Upon a Paradigm)

ANATOMY OF A FAILED MEME

Yesterday, Matt Drudge attempted to fabricate a scandal out of thin air.  And bless his little black heart, he tried his darnedest, but it doesn’t seem like its sticking.

So, here’s the story.

Yesterday at around 4 pm Eastern time, the Drudge Report did something he rarely does – actually file a report rather than simply repurposing another news agency’s reporting with a sensational partisan title.   

Anyway, the entry they filed was titled. “Michelle Campaigned Inside a Polling Place?”   The implication is that the First Lady violated election laws.  The evidence provided by Drudge?  This line from a pool report of the First Lady’s trip to cast her ballot.  After she voted, she paused to take a photo with a fellow voter and supporter who then relayed what she told him:  "She was telling me how important it was to vote to keep her husband's agenda going," 

You can almost hear the arm twisting, right?

Well, Drudge must have popped a boner thinking that he had uncovered a scoop, so his website led with the blaring red headline convicting her of a crime.   To support his evidence, he sited Illinois election law and provided a quote from an unnamed Ilinois State Board of Elections official who allegedly proposed ignoring the law for the popular First Lady – a subtle swipe by Drudge at what he loves to term ‘Chicaoland’ politics.

The problem is that even with the strictest interpretation of the law; this is hardly a precedent setting occurrence.  The image of a politician or their spouse casting their ballot and making a statement is a very common one.   They all do it.

For example, here is a report on George W. Bush casting his 2004 ballot at a firehouse in Texas.  Bush said this after voting;  "The issue is, who do you trust? Who do you trust to secure this country? Who do you trust to lead with firmness and steadfast resolution to protect the American people? Who do you trust to adhere to the values, the values that most people agree with? Who do you trust to keep this economy growing?  I've got a clear view about how to lead ... We'll see what the people say. Now's the time for the people to express their will. I am confident in the judgment of the people."

THAT sounds like electioneering to me.

So why wasn’t this ever mentioned by Drudge as a violation of election laws?  In fact, why didn’t the ‘liberal’ mainstream media may hay about this?   That because, it’s a bunch of nonsense.   Only in the right wing world of ‘Let’s freak out over everything the Obamas do,’ does this constitute a ‘scandal’.  Perhaps they didn’t notice this ‘scandal’ because they were too up in arms about Mrs. Obama urging supporters to ‘pray’ for the President.  After all prayer is the exclusive domain of the religious extremists of the GOP, right?  

Drudge closed his brief entry with the teaser “Developing….” clearly hoping that he could encourage others to pick up the subject, but so far no one has seemed to take the bait.   FauxNews and the lesser satellites of the Murdoch Neo-Con press have so far ignored the non-story, as have most of the down the middle political press. A Google search of ‘Michelle Obama Violates Election Law’ returns hits from only the most extremist wingnut blogs and bulletin boards.  So, more than 20 hours later this ‘BREAKING’ scandal has failed to gain any legs.   It remains to be seen if hate-radio beats this drum during drive time today, but thus far, no word from Wingnutistan.   You win some, you lose some Mr. Drudge.  It seems this one, you lost.

MSNY 101510

Waiting For the Worms?

Most of my blog entries are political in nature, and I guess ultimately, this one is as well.

Last night I attended Roger Waters’ concert performance of the classic Pink Floyd album The Wall.  As I don’t really want this to end up being an in depth concert review, let me just say that it was an experience to say the least.  The staging, effects and imagery were very impressive, with the only possible exception being a remotely controlled dirigible swine that hovered above the crowd for some time, which struck me as a little cheesy.  Although to be fair, the anti-corporate imagery adorning the flying pig was pretty humorous.

Anyway, the concert did a few things for me.  First, I was impressed by Roger Waters’ activism.  He made bold statements on capitalism, fanaticism, fear, violence, and religion.  I was also reminded that the Wall is a powerful work addressing the effects of war, economic despair, and xenophobia and is striking in its relevance to the current social and political climate in the United States today.

Waiting for the Worms - YouTube

“Would you like to see Britannia
Rule again, my friend?
All you have to do is follow the worms.
Would you like to send our colored cousins
Home again, my friend?

All you need to do is follow the worms.”

Sounds like some of the stuff we hear today, doesn’t it?

There are those who lament the supposed loss of this mythic notion of American Exceptionalism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_exceptionalism ) and want to see America ‘rule’ again.  The say it’s illegal aliens and their anchor babies. They say it’s Sharia law.  The say it’s entitlements.  They say that there are people with a deep seated hatred of white people trying to destroy ‘our’ way of life from within.   The say all that while denying all of the evidence that corporate greed is what is destroying the nation. 

Waters pointedly depicts the armies of Capitalism as demanding our blind trust, while literally dropping religion and materialism as bombs, dividing and enslaving the people. Trust us; keep spending what you don’t have.  Keep giving us more, it will trickle down.

And just like the Worms, there are people in America who are wear their nationalism like armbands on their sleeves.  They’ve also been rallying and marching around with their answers to America’s woes; send our colored cousins home.

People like Mark Williams, Franklyn Graham and Frank Gaffney, and politicians like Michelle Bachmann and Steve King are all Worms not so subtly disguised as humans. Their plans read just like these lyrics.   They’ve been ginning up the fear and loathing non stop since the President took office, and now they are waiting for their Worms in Tri-Corner hats to give them the power to implement their plans.

“Waiting to cut out the dead wood.
Waiting to clean up the city.
Waiting to follow the worms.
Waiting to put on a black shirt.
Waiting to weed out the weaklings.
Waiting to smash in their windows
And kick in their doors.
Waiting for the final solution
To strengthen the strain.
Waiting to follow the worms.
Waiting to turn on the showers
And fire the ovens.
Waiting for the queens and the coons
and the reds and the jews.
Waiting to follow the worms”

There’s no shortage of blame being thrown around, except in the mirror.  The Worms don’t accept any responsibility for any of our problems.  They blame the queens and the coons and the reds and the Jews.  The Muslim has been replaced as the scapegoat du jour, but don’t think that the Jew isn’t privately assailed too as being too dominant in business.  Jews are, of course, historically tried and tested fall-guys for a nation’s economic woes.  David Duke must be bumming.  But most good fashions come back into vogue anyway.

But the queens and coons and the reds haven’t done so well in the current climate.  The Worms talk about regulating homosexuality. They talk about prohibiting homosexuals from marrying, adopting children or for serving as soldiers and teachers.  African Americans are labeled as lazy, shiftless, self entitled dead wood, fouling our cities.  And the catch all accusation for any white person who believes that the nation has a responsibility for providing a level of social services to its less fortunate regardless of race is calling them a Socialist.

The Becks and the Limbaughs and the Palins and the Boehners, Canters, DeMints, and McConnells spew forth about purity and pledges and bloodoaths just like Worms.

”We're gonna find out where you fans really stand.
Are there any queers in the theatre tonight?
Get 'em up against the wall.
And that one in the spotlight, he don't look right to me.
Get him up against the wall.
And that one looks Jewish, and that one's a coon.
Who let all this riffraff into the room?
There's one smoking a joint, and another with spots!
If I had my way I'd have all of you shot.”

Where do we really stand?  Are we marching down the road with the Worms or is there a way to defeat the irrational fear of the weakening of the American strain?


msny 100710

Capitalism RULZ!

Some months ago, I posted an alternative, more patriotic, capitalist State of the Union address – one that lovers of liberty and warriors against Statism would like. In it, I envisioned the President embracing true capitalism and offering solutions to wipe out the scurge of Socialism.  For those who may have missed that rambling screed, here it is.

But I am heartened to note that I am not the only one to have realized how widespread the infection of socialism was in this nation.  Specifically, I would like to commend Obion County, Tennessee, the city of South Fulton, and its mayor – the honorable David Crocker.  Thank you to ThinkProgress for alerting me to this story.

If I may recount to you a portion of my earlier entry, I noted the following;

“We don’t need a tax to support firefighting efforts. Private firefighting companies can and will allow patriotic Americans to only pay when they themselves have an applicable emergency. Most Americans go their entire lives with no occasion to call on a fire department. Why the hell should they be forced to pay for firefighters to put out a fire started by some loser smoking in bed?”

See, Mr. Crocker and the all Republican county commission that he sits on also decided long ago that Fire fighting services provided by local government and paid for by taxes are antithetical to the capitalist ideals of this great nation.  South Fulton instituted a very ingenious program to do away with entitlements like public fire fighting departments supported by burdensome taxation – they came up with the novel concept of fee-based subscription fire fighting services.  And recently we saw patriotism and the American way in its full red, white and blue glory.

It seems that a miserly gentleman decided that he didn’t need to pay the $75 annual subscription price for the services of Obion county Fire Department.  As a result, his home burned to the ground while firefighter stood by, unfortunately unable to help without setting a precedent that could have led to more citizens getting tempted by the evil lure of Socialism.

Here is a local TV channels report on the matter.

Once again, on behalf of all soldiers in the army against tyranny, I’d like to thank Mayor Crocker, the County Commission and all of the brave firefighters for letting capitalist Darwinism run its course.  Perhaps this will give all those socialist-curious Obamaites pause to reflect on the error of their ways.

God Bless America.

BATSHIT CRAZY - ALBANY EDITION

Jeez.  What does it say about a Republican candidate when he accuses the New York Post of being in bed with Democratic candidates? – the New York Post for chrissakes?  And what does it say about a Republican candidate when Rudy Giuliani doesn’t even endorse him?

I’ll tell you what it says.  It says he’s BATSHIT CRAZY.

Every time Carl Paladino opens his mouth he sounds more and more like a raving lunatic.

By now I’m pretty sure everyone has read about this creepy encounter, but for those who haven’t; yesterday Carl Paladino, upset that news of his extra-martial lovechild was making waves, implied that Andrew Cuomo had had an affair at some point during his marriage.  Paladino offered no evidence to support the charge.  Last night Crazy Carl completely lost it when asked by a New York Post journalist to elaborate.  Paladino threatened; ‘I’ll take you out, buddy.’  He then accused the Post of ‘kissing Cuomo’s ass.’  Hilariously, the Postie responded; ‘like we kissed Patterson and Spitzer’s asses?’

To imply that the New York Post is in the tank for any Democrat should be in and of itself a committable offense.  It’s really hard to believe that anyone in their right mind would buy a line like that, so for Paladino’s campaign staff to stand by that accusation should throw their sanity into question as well.

The videotape of the incident ends with an explanation by Paladino’s campaign manager that Dicker was off of Paladino’s Christmas card list.  Yeah, I’m sure that’s what Paladino meant.

It is comical, and incredibly frightening at the same time, to watch Carl and his people speak.  The fact that some polls show this guy edging closer to Cuomo boggles the mind.

The Post has thus far dutifully towed the wingnut party line by not running hog wild with this story. In fact, they seem intent on forgetting it ever happened.  Instead they chose to do a cover story on the Rutgers sex scandal suicide story.  But they did run an AP story entitled; “Paladino smears Cuomo as cheater” in which they buried the story of the confrontation with their Albany chief, Fred Dicker.  I am certain that had Andrew Cuomo threatened any Post employee the paper would have published a special edition entirely devoted to making this the defining moment of the campaign. 



The rest of the Murdoch empire has also been rather mute on the matter as well.  I mean, these are the same people who have been wailing about Obama’s commentary on Fox News recently, calling him and his operative thuggish bullies.  But threatening to take someone out isn’t thuggish?

A quick look at the Fox News website this morning did show an article entitled “NY Gov Candidate; I’ll take you out.” – but it has since been amended to the less embarrassing, “N.Y. Gov Hopeful in Confrontation With Reporter.” 

By the looks of it, it would seem Mr. Dicker is being groomed for a new position – under the Fox News bus.

Had this been a Democratic politician threatening to take someone out, there is little doubt that the topic of the day would be whether or not the politician should be prosecuted for making threats.  And Fox would have a line of talking heads stretching around the block, waiting to call for his head.

As far as Rudy Giuliani is concerned, he declined to endorse Paladino before Carl’s Sonny Corleone moment, so I wonder if this will help him make up his mind.  Honestly, I am pretty sure that eventually Mr. Noun-Verb-9/11 will throw Crazy Carl his support and try to help him bury this embarrassing episode, but his reluctance to do so thus far does send a message that even Rudy has a threshold of crazy that he is uncomfortable crossing.

The real question is whether or not the rest of the media will take note of this, and press Paladino for an explanation for his brutish behavior or they will let him slide.  I guess we shall see.









msny093010

HAS THE NATION GONE MAD??

Rasmussen’s daily tracking poll for Presidential Approval was just released and lo-and-behold Obama’s rating is higher than his disapproval.

Wait.  What?

Yes, there is a Rasmussen poll out today that shows that President Obama’s approval rating is at 50% and his disapproval at 49%.  -  That means that even among the Rasmussen crowd, people aren’t as down on the guy as we think.

But, I thought his approval numbers were in ‘free-fall.’  John McCain said his approvals were ‘cratering.’ 

What gives?

Republicans pledge to hasten the consolidation of wealth. Democrats pledge to help them.

By failing to address the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, the Democratic Party is all but ensuring the extension of tax cuts to the wealthiest 2% of the nation, and at least an additional 3.7 trillion dollars of budget shortfall for the foreseeable future.

If this is true – and it appears to be – then this will go down as one of the stupidest moves by the spineless weasels on the Hill – and that’s saying a lot for this crop of morons.   This was a win-win for the party – offer a needed tax break to 98% of the population, and force the Republicans to defend giving a break to the most privileged class in the nation.

It’s sickening, frustrating, depressing, and makes it nearly impossible to staunchly support the party.

Why?  Why would they make such an idiotic decision? 

Does the leadership of the party think that after the election they will be in a stronger position to stop $700 billion dollars from flowing back into the hands of the wealthy? 

Every single day it looks more and more like the government is simply an arm of the wealthy, working at their behest to protect their interests only.  As long as Republicans and Democrats alike are beholden to wealthy donors, there will no representation for the other 98% of the nation.

Citizen’s United was quite possibly the final nail in the coffin.  If there is no major campaign finance reform, we’re finished. 

I’m positively sick over it.  

BATSHIT CRAZY WINS. ROVER ROLLS OVER

It is truly a poignant commentary on the state of the Republican Party when Bush’s Brain gets excoriated for daring to articulate what everyone this side of Wingnutistan realizes – Chris O’Donnell is BATSHIT CRAZY.

Its one thing when (semi) rational conservative thinkers like David Frum get driven out of the herd for pointing out that the tea-bagged loonies are savaging the GOP’s long term viability for some short term success – and by success I mean cable TV ratings.  But it’s something else entirely when Wingnutistan’s former Mufti of Misinformation gets a tea-bag Fatwa of Heresy for speaking the truth for the first time since he admitted that without the WMD lie, the Iraq war might never have happened.

To say O’Donnell is extreme is putting it mildly.  O’Donnell is, of course, famous for her Anti-Masturbation crusade, which would likely earn her the private enmity of her potential Congressional colleagues, many of whom frequently beat their own drums, so-to-speak.  But that's just a small taste of her crazy.

More disturbingly, O’Donnell has objected to calling sufferers of AIDS as “Victims” and has insisted that rather than lower the risk of infection, the use of condoms actually encourages more sex, thereby leading to more HIV infection.  To show contempt for people afflicted with a deadly disease is not just crazy, it's disgusting and completely hypocritical for someone who claims to be an ardent follower of Jesus Christ's teachings.  What would the would-be Senator say to the Lepers Christ attended to?

This is also a woman who once said that during WW2 it would have been more moral to turn over Jews to the Nazis than it would have been to ‘practice deception’ by hiding them.  God, she contended, would provide a way out for those unlucky Jews.  One can only assume that the she believes that Anne Frank and family were punished by death for the lies of their failed Gentile protectors. 

Talk about Compassionate Conservatism.

The tea-bagged masses were appalled by Rove’s blasphemy, and immediately began a collective temper tantrum that continues as I write.  They called him a childish whiner and told him to shut up and jump on the bandwagon. Some demanded that he be suspended or even fired for his job at the Tea Bag Channel…I mean Fox News.  Sean Hannity looked like he wanted to cry. Michelle Malken didn’t mince words, calling Rove a ‘loser.’

And in a stunning bit of comic irony Rush Limbaugh invoked his own testicles when making his case for O’Donnell, urging Republicans join him in going ‘balls to the wall’ for her.  It will be interesting to see how El Rushbo can do that without breaking O’Donnell’s ‘hands off’ admonition. (How’s that for a brain searing image?)

Finally, the HMGIC (Head Momma Grizzly In Charge) of the Tea Party, former partial term Governor turned paid political infotainer, Sarah Palin mocked Karl Rove, chiding him to ‘buck up’ and join the circus or face his own unplanned obsolescence. 

Somewhere Dr. Frankenstein is shaking his head and saying ‘I told you so.’

How did Bush’s Brain fall so far so fast?  And how soon will he come to realize his new roll in the Neo-Neo GOP and just pile into the car with the other sad old clowns, like John McCain, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner?

O’Donnell’s extreme views epitomize the wild-eyed insanity of the ultra-right.  She’s just another in Momma Grizzly’s herd of opportunistic political cannibals.  Obviously it would be worse if O’Donnell won her Senate race, but the prospect of her parlaying her new found rock-star status into a 7 figure ‘contributors’  gig with Fox or publishing her anti meat beat manifesto scares me even more.   Somewhere deep down, I think that O’Donnell would prefer take her show on the road become a highly compensated national spokesperson for the up-and-coming Chastity Belt industry.

The most crushing realization that I had yesterday was that I actually agreed with Sir Turd Blossom for once in my life.  Rove knows that in the past fringers from the right used the primaries to not-so-subtly pull errant politicians back to their base while not alienating moderate republicans and middle-of-the-road Independents.  But the moderate Republican is going the way of the Dodo as the big tend shrinks.  This year, the tea-baggers are unseating even the marginally moderate Republicans. The inmates are taking over the asylum.  And with every lurch to the right, the Republican Party gets scarier and more dangerous, especially if they are able to wrest control of Congress from the Democrats.   Let’s hope that rational voters understand what Rove understands – that many of these ideologues are not only unelectable, they are nuts.

UPDATE:

Almost as if on cue, Rover rolled over before his masters this morning, likely smacked in his snout by Uncle Rupert before being sent to the doghouse.  One can only presume that this morning, Rover was summoned early this morning to also fetch the slippers of Rush Limbaugh.  So much for him being the Boy Genius.

LATER UPDATE:  I think we may have a second round of GOP Establishment flogging on the horizon.  I just read that former Senator Al D'Amato did an interview this morning, saying the same things about  New York's Republican Gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino as Rove said about Christine O'Donnell.  Namely, that he's BATSHIT CRAZY!

"...anger overcame reason and enabled a fringe element to choose the Republican nominee. The end result was the selection of Mr. Paladino, a divisive figure simply not fit to lead this great state."

Stay tuned for a riveting night of coverage of this story on Fox News! 


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