John Brennan Kicks The GOP In The Ass

David Gregory, the king of wingnut talking points, gets his whole approach destroyed by John Brennan when talking about the underpants bomber.

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Another Poll

Wingnut Republican Vern Buchanan wants to know if you support health care reform.

I suggest you let him know...

:)

He Is Just Not Very Bright

I don't know how Charlie Crist has made it thus far in politics, but it has become increasingly clear that the guy just isn't very smart. I mean I understand how much pressure he feels now to go full wingnut after the NY 23 debacle and Marco Rubio hot on his heels. But you have to be a special kind of stupid to try to lie about your support for a stimulus bill not even a full year ago and then not have the common sense to take evidence (ie truth)to the contrary down from your own website.

Tuesday I joined President Barack Obama for a town hall meeting in Fort Myers to discuss with Floridians the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

During the town hall, I reiterated my support for the federal stimulus package, and pledged to the people of Florida that here in Florida we stand ready to use our share of the money quickly and responsibly to create new jobs and serve our most vulnerable citizens.

There is no doubt that these are historic, challenging times for this nation – and our state.

We are balancing our budget here, even when it calls for difficult decisions. We cut spending by $2.5 billion dollars during the recent special Legislative session.

But even as we tighten our belts, we need a stimulus to help the people of Florida, and to help every state that is hurting. This federal stimulus package is a bridge of help for Florida.

This reminds me of the kind of revisionist history the Bushies tried to pull off after no WMDs were found in Iraq. At what point will the people of Florida get fed up with the way Crist insults your intelligence?

Hopefully, soon...

Break Out The Wingnut Fainting Couches

After the GOP and various wingnut outfits whined over Congressman Alan Grayson and his statement that the Republican health care plan is to not get sick or die quickly, I can't wait for all of them to condemn Republican Congresswoman Virginia Foxx for her latest in a bunch of over the top hyperbolic statements against health care reform.



At the very least you would expect the Dick and Liz Cheney crowd to blast her for not taking terrorism seriously enough right???

Is Virginia Going To Elect A Bigot?

Not if the Washington Post has anything to say about it...

You Gotta See McMegan Get Ripped To Shreds!

I just had to link to this instant classic from inversesquare who proceeds to bend Megan McArdle over and spank her, and not in the good kind of way.

(h/t John Cole)

Good News/Bad News

The good news is right winger David Gregory has run Meet The Press into the ground so much that they were dethroned from the top spot that the show has held for a decade. The bad news is he was dethroned by "This Week With George Stephanopolous" on the Sunday that he decided to bring batshit crazy Michelle Malkin onto his roundtable.

From the AP:

NEW YORK — ABC's "This Week" beat NBC's "Meet the Press" in a clean ratings fight for the first time in a decade, Nielsen Media Research said on Thursday.

It was June 1999 when ABC's show last beat NBC's program in a contest without substitute hosts, sports pre-emptions or presidential visits.

It's an ominous sign for David Gregory, who was called upon to take over NBC's long dominant Sunday morning show following Tim Russert's death from a heart attack last year. While it's only one Sunday in August, "This Week" has been steadily gaining ground since the beginning of the year.

The ABC show had 2.8 million viewers on Sunday, compared to 2.77 million for "Meet the Press," Nielsen said. CBS' "Face the Nation" with Bob Schieffer had 2.3 million viewers and "Fox News Sunday" with Chris Wallace had 920,000.

Boycott "This Week With George Stephanopoulos"

This is beyond the pale.

INTERESTING GUEST LIST.... When I first received an email yesterday telling me that Michelle Malkin would be a guest on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," I thought it was a joke. I assumed it was an example of exaggerating for comedic effect -- as in, "The Sunday morning shows' guest lists tilt to the right so often, one of these days, we'll even see Malkin on."

It turns out, this wasn't a joke.

Here are the scheduled guests for the Sunday public affairs shows and other weekend programs....

This Week hosts Treas. Sec. Tim Geithner and ex-Fed Chair Alan Greenspan. The roundtable is author/columnist Michelle Malkin, Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Cynthia Tucker, Bloomberg's Al Hunt and Wall Street Journal's Jerry Seib.

This is the Malkin of "The Defeatocrats' Cheer." The Malkin of "In Defense of Internment." The Malkin who went after a 12 year old and his family over their support for expanding S-CHIP. This Michelle Malkin.

When was the last time any of the sunday shows hosted someone far to the left like Markos Moulitsas or Jane Hamsher or even Rachel Maddow who has her own cable news show? No we they are regulated to cable networks or Bill Maher's show on HBO. But someone with a much less respectable reputation like Michelle Malkin is allowed a platform to go on a show like "This Week" not even just to promote her book, but to be provided a seat at the table to discuss the issues of the day. Her far right, out of the mainstream, extemist view point will be legitimized tomorrow by being invited into the discussion.

This must not stand.

If you simply must watch "This Week" I propose that you wait and just watch it online after the fact but we need to not only boycott tomorrow's show but also pass the word on to other family members and friends to boycott. We should also contemplate extending such a boycott until "This Week" features a true liberal or progressive on one of their roundtable discussion.

Now the truth is if you don't have a Neilson box then not watching might not make a difference, but here is what will.

Go and twitter George Stephanopoulos and express your displeasure.

Email the show and let them know you aren't happy.


We should not be silent on this issue. Especially when we constantly hear how "leebrul" our mainstream media supposedly is.

Update: And of course Malkin gets caught telling a bold face lie. That is what liars do after all.

Reality Obliterates Grandstanding

Yeah Rick Perry, its fun to talk shit about the stimulus bill at a tea party isn't it? Not so fun when you actually need those funds to run your state though, huh?

Earlier this year, Texas Governor Rick Perry was one of a handful of Republican governors who refused some federal stimulus funds from President Obama's economic recovery package on the grounds that there were too many strings attached to the money.

Now that the state is dire straits, however, Perry is asking the federal government for a loan to cover the very expenses the rejected stimulus money would have paid for.

While Perry accepted most of the roughly $17 billion in stimulus funds allocated for Texas, the governor in March rejected $555 million that would have covered state unemployment benefits. Perry said he was not accepting the money because the state would have been obligated to expand its unemployment coverage, creating too much of a long term tax burden.

snip

Democratic legislators in Texas are speaking out against the governor's actions.

"That $555 million would that would have come with the stimulus money wouldn't have to be paid back to the federal government, and that would have saved business taxpayers money for the next 20 years," said Democratic State Rep. Mark Strama, according to News 8 Austin.

As I have said before, conservatism is good for sloganeering, bumperstickers, and selling books. As for actually governing, not so much.

Breaking: Sarah Palin Will Not Seek Reelection And Will Resign Soon

So uhmmmmmmmmmmm does this mean Sarah Palin has been "hiking the Appalachian trail"?!

I would love to see your best guesses as to why she is doing this now in the comments section.


Update: We have video!

Arrrrrrgh, I Give Up!

In my opinion Sarah Palin is the most overhyped politician of our time. Her ineptitude and loose relationship with the truth,however, has been rewarded time and time again since she was named John McCain's nominee for Vice President last summer. It is for that reason that I typically try to avoid giving her too much of my time.

I put up obligatory posts this week on the Vanity Fair hit piece on her and an accompanying GOPolitico story where Steve Schmidt and Bill Kristol aired each other over he VF article.

Now I was going to leave it at that but there was another report from CBSNews about some emails that documented a back and forth between Palin herself and Schmidt. Honestly I couldn't help but at least post the back and forth without the commentary and let it speak for itself.

Enjoy.

First the Peon

"Pls get in front of that ridiculous issue that's cropped up all day today - two reporters, a protestor's sign, and many shout-outs all claiming Todd's involvement in an anti-American political party," Palin wrote. "It's bull, and I don't want to have to keep reacting to it ... Pls have statement given on this so it's put to bed."

Then Schmidt

Schmidt hit "reply to all" less than five minutes after Palin's e-mail was sent. "Ignore it," he wrote. "He was a member of the aip? My understanding is yes. That is part of their platform. Do not engage the protestors. If a reporter asks say it is ridiculous. Todd loves america."

Undeterred Peon

"That's not part of their platform and he was only a 'member' bc independent alaskans too often check that 'Alaska Independent' box on voter registrations thinking it just means non partisan," Palin wrote. "He caught his error when changing our address and checked the right box. I still want it fixed."

Schmidt comes with the haymaker

"Secession," he wrote. "It is their entire reason for existence. A cursory examination of the website shows that the party exists for the purpose of seceding from the union. That is the stated goal on the front page of the web site. Our records indicate that todd was a member for seven years. If this is incorrect then we need to understand the discrepancy. The statement you are suggesting be released would be innaccurate. The innaccuracy would bring greater media attention to this matter and be a distraction. According to your staff there have been no media inquiries into this and you received no questions about it during your interviews. If you are asked about it you should smile and say many alaskans who love their country join the party because it speeks to a tradition of political independence. Todd loves his country

We will not put out a statement and inflame this and create a situation where john has to adress this."

Game Over.

Obviously at that point even Schmidt was done with her. When will the Mainstream Media follow suit?

Jon Stewart On Scheuer

This clip isn't even funny and I don't believe Jon Stewart wanted it to be.

Osama bin Laden Needs to Attack America

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

The question is why isn't every cable news station and news outlet denouncing this clown today? We have to rely on Jon Stewart to police this kind of crap?! What the hell is up with that?

Oh and for those who might want to give Scheuer the benefit of the doubt, he doubled down on hoping for an attack today on Alan Colmes' radio show.

Right about now I am hoping for an attack on HIS ass!

Which Way Did He Go?

Uhmmm somebody might want to put out an APB for wingnut supreme South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford

What in the hell is going on with all of the GOP 2012 hopefuls?


Update: Gotta love this response from the SC Democratic party

South Carolina Senate Democratic Leader John C. Land, III (D-Manning) issued the following statement today on the news that Governor Mark Sanford has gone missing:

"We’ve been concerned by the Governor’s erratic behavior for some time. We’re praying for him and his family. I hope he is safe and that he contacts the First Lady and his family soon, said Land.

Update II: And here is why I couldn't give a fuck less if Sanford was in mental distress while he was missing.

To defend his grandstanding, Sanford has previously lashed out at his critics, saying it would be tantamount to “fiscal child abuse” to accept the federal money. He has also compared President Obama to Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, because of his fiscal policies. But now Sanford is taking his hyperbolic rhetoric to another level, claiming that the stimulus will result in “a thing called slavery”:

SANFORD: A guy from the northeast did a study on generational accounting. Generational accounting says what is the imputed tax for a young person born in America today? And remarkably, that number is 82, which at all ain’t that far from a thing called slavery. If you’re giving away 82% of every dollar you earn every day and every week and every month, A, it’s not a good deal, B, it collapses the capitalistic system because nobody has any initiative to work at that point, and C, it really isn’t that far from slavery. And what the Republic was originally set up was on the notion that was just talked about a moment ago, which is this larger notion of freedom. And economic freedom is a part of the larger notion of freedom.

I know some people who I respect are giving the guy the benefit of a doubt.

Not me.

Fuck that muthafucka.

Move Bitch, Get Out The Way

The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that their asshole Governor Mark Sanford must accept the stimulus money for education.

The Supreme Court's ruling came a day after arguments in two lawsuits filed by students and school administrators. Sanford had tried to get those cases merged in federal court with his lawsuit against the state, which he filed moments after legislators overrode his budget veto. But he lost that battle Monday when a federal judge refused to take those cases.

Sanford had refused to request the $700 million _ the portion of the $2.8 billion bound for the state that he says he controls _ unless legislators agreed to offset state debt by an equal amount. The White House twice rejected that idea, noting the money must be used to help education and avoid job losses.

South Carolina, which had the nation's third-highest jobless rate in April _ hitting a state record high of 11.5 percent _ cut more than $1 billion from its $7 billion spending plan for 2008-09 as tax revenues slumped in the recession.

Sanford's refusal has raised the ire of U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the No. 3 House Democrat, who accused the governor of being a foe of public education. Amid budget cuts and uncertainty over the federal money, districts had told hundreds of teachers they don't have a job in the upcoming school year.

State education officials estimated schools would eliminate 2,600 education jobs, including 1,500 teachers, without the stimulus money.

Clyburn, D-S.C., inserted an amendment in the federal law with Sanford's anti-bailout stance in mind, saying legislators could go around a governor's refusal. While the legality of that was questioned, U.S. District Judge Joseph Anderson on Monday cited it in saying it was clear Congress intended to allow legislators to get around governors who didn't want the money.

Thank God that Congressman Clyburn had the foresight to put that amendment in the bill.

Blah Blah Blah

I don't think even fans of Sean Hannity believe much of what he says these days. Still there is nothing wrong with passing along evidence of his lies.




On another topic, I wonder how Hannity is going to explain palling around with a terrorist.

Ross Douthat Really Needs A Woman

This guy is truly obsessed with trying to not only tell women what they feel, but why they feel what he says they feel.

I am beginning to think that "conservative intellectual" is an oxymoron.

Get Your Story Straight

Joe Scarborough can't seem to decide if he believes the CIA leaks information or not.

Must Be Nice

What happens to you if you are a Republican lawyer who has been found to have helped to author memos which authorized the illegal torture of enemy detainees? If you are John Yoo you get a paying gig at your local newspaper to publish Bush administration propaganda of course.

If you are outraged by this please send an email and express yourself.

inquirer.letters@phillynews.com

There you have it

What would you say if someone asked you whether it would be better politically for the Republicans to follow Rush Limbaugh or Colin Powell?

Who do you think most rational Republicans would choose? Remember I said rational.

I give you one guess as to who former Vice President Dick Cheney chose this morning on "Face The Nation".



I can only pray that the rest of the Republicans follow his advice.

Every Once In A While...

This is what pisses me off about Chris Matthews. About once or twice a week he can lay the smackdown as he did today to Mike Pence like nobody's business. But then the rest of the time he is damn near a blithering idiot. I swear man every time I am close to totally writing him off he will pull an interview like this out of his ass. The way he exposed Congressman Pence as a fundamentalist bible thumping, anti-science, anti-progress, anti green energy, wingnutastic buffoon was just masterful. By the end of the interview you just knew that Pence was going to whup whomever booked him on that show's ass big time. Dammit Tweety can we get this out of you on more of a regular basis? Sheesh.

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