I've wondered about Rodin's famous sculpture. Is he engaged in deep thought or sitting around wasting time? And why isn't he wearing pants? I ask the same of myself. Here we comment on well, mostly politics. Or we may just sit! If you like it, tell a friend. If not, tell us, but please read the GROUND RULES before you do.
1-15-10 -- Letter of the day from the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Dear Pat Robertson:
I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I'm all over that action. But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating.
I may be evil incarnate, but I'm no welcher. The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished. Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth -- glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. Haven't you seen “Crossroads”? Or “Damn Yankees”? If I had a thing going with Haiti, there'd be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night clubs, Botox -- that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style. Nothing against it -- I'm just saying: Not how I roll. You're doing great work, Pat, and I don't want to clip your wings -- just, come on, you're making me look bad. And not the good kind of bad. Keep blaming God. That's working. But leave me out of it, please. Or we may need to renegotiate your own contract. Best,
Satan
LILY COYLE, MINNEAPOLIS (//Nod to the Joshua Blog)
After the devastating earthquake that crushed Haiti on January 12, 2010 religious zealot Pat Robertson commented on The 700 Club that Haitians had sworn “a pact to the devil” to get “free from the French” and that “ever since, they have been cursed”:
“. . . [S]omething happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, ‘We will serve you if you will get us free from the French.’ True story. And so, the devil said, ‘OK, it's a deal.’”
This so-called “reverend” sits atop a billion-dollar tax-exempt (“church”) enterprise, exploiting and robbing vulnerable people desperate for religious meaning in their lives. Robertson’s empire, funded by donations from victims who can ill afford to hand over their meager funds to his mobsters-for-Jesus, is an affront to every legitimate Christian church and organization on Earth.
Rev. Paul Raushenbush, the religion editor for the Huffington Post, echoed the outrage of many Christians when he wrote: “Go to Hell, Pat Robertson -- and the sooner the better. Your ‘theological’ nonsense is revolting. Don't speak for Haiti, and don't speak for God. Haiti is suffering a catastrophe and you offer silliness at best, and racism at the worst.”
When a hatemonger like Pat Robertson uses history to justify the depredations of a cruel interventionist deity that resides in his sick mind, he’d better get his history straight. For as corrected by the erudite Haitian Ambassador, Robertson’s perverted logic has turned in on himself. If ever there were an example of fire and brimstone looming over Pat Robertson’s diseased brain like the Sword of Damocles, turning his hate speech into a cudgel to smite him with the measured tones of the truth, this is it:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”
“Whatever you neglected to do unto one of these least of these, you neglected to do unto Me.”
By Robertson’s “logic” it is poor, tiny, suffering Haiti that rests in the palm of a compassionate God and not the wealthy, prosperous American states that surround it. Haiti was the first post-colonial independent black-led nation in the world and the only nation whose independence was gained through a slave revolt. The Haitian Revolution set the conditions for America’s territorial expansion under President Thomas Jefferson –- his bargain basement Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon’s France -- that transformed the United States into a dominant continental power. Along the way “manifest destiny” unleashed westward expansion to justify the genocide of native Americans, culminating in the “Trail of Tears.”
The Haitian slaves who gained their freedom through revolution were not greeted as fraternal brothers by the young American republic also born of revolution against colonial oppressors. To the contrary, Southern slaveholders feared a similar fate would befall their profitable human cargo. And so Congress imposed a trade embargo on Haiti. (Note how history really does repeat itself.) Historically, it seems, black people and communists/socialists are interchangeable. Therein lies the source of Pat Robertson’s hideous statement about Haiti: the black man as “devil” is the white man’s most primordial racist fear.
There was no official U.S. recognition of Haiti until 1862. By then the War Between the States was underway. The bloodiest conflict in American history, which was to claim more than 600,000 lives, rendered Haitian recognition the politically correct thing to do. There is rich historical irony in this. Thomas Jefferson could have emancipated America’s slaves and spared this nation the horrors of Civil War and assassination, followed by the humiliation of Reconstruction, followed by racist KKK violence, apartheid, and the civil rights struggles that continue to this day.
Had Thomas Jefferson embraced the precepts of those famous words he wrote on parchment, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” . . .
This would have been a different and better nation.
But Jefferson’s judgment was clouded by the guilty sexual pleasures of Sally Hemings, his captive slave-girl mistress with whom he bore several illegitimate mulatto children. In the height of passion was Jefferson thinking his lofty words could not possibly apply to African slaves because, well, the fringe benefits were just too irresistible? Did he ever confront his immoral behavior, his hypocrisy? If he did, they remained buried in the deepest recesses of his brain.
The public Thomas Jefferson was a master of deception and dissimulation. Jefferson was the most prominent American politician to compartmentalize his revolutionary legacy -- one he knew would live on in American legend –- from his steamy sexual trysts in Monticello’s slave quarters. Despite the rumors and whispers that dogged his existence, Jefferson himself was the best guardian of his sanitized historical legacy. It lasted more than 200 years, protected by a loyal battalion of historians dedicated to preserving the lily-white purity of Jefferson’s standing as one of the great icons of American history.
As Fawn Brodie was to discover, woe to the historian who dared challenge the party line and explore the master-slave liaisons of Thomas Jefferson. With the advent of DNA testing, the issue for many was finally laid to rest.
The charismatic Toussaint L’Ouverture, a Haitian-born black slave, was the first leader of a revolution in the Americas to defeat the armies of three imperial powers: Spain, France, and Great Britain. After the American Revolution, his was the first to break the yoke of colonialism and presage the subsequent liberation of all of the Americas from the colonial European powers. One would think that Toussaint L’Ouverture’s Haitian Revolution would find a friendly ally among the revolutionists who then governed the fledgling independent republic of the United States of America.
But it was not to be. Thomas Jefferson, who as author of the Declaration of Independence was the natural, undisputed leader of the American idea, spurned his progressive abolitionist anti-slavery allies in favor of a policy of isolation and embargo toward Haiti, even as he seized the opportunity to purchase the Louisiana Territory from the French while Toussaint L’Ouverture had Napoleon on his heels.
The rest, as they say, is history.
A history of which Pat Robertson is ignorant. Napoleaon III wouldn’t be born for another five years to the month after Toussaint L’Ouverture died in 1803. The Haitian Revolution led by Francois-Dominique Toussaint L’Ouverture was completed in 1804 when Napoleon Bonaparte ruled France, 44 years before his nephew Napoleon III came to power. If Pat Robertson’s fantasy of an interventionist, avenging God are true, it stands to reason that his hard dessicated soul will burn like dry twigs from a devastated Haitian landscape in the eternal fires of Hell.
The sin of slavery is America’s cross to bear, the dark stain on this nation’s soul. In this sense, for those who are true believers, it was not Haiti but America, perhaps even Thomas Jefferson himself in a moment of passion with Sally Hemings, that made a pact with the devil.
It would be too much to ask that a boycott of Rush Limbaugh's sponsors could get this despicable racist pig off the air. But here's the list, just so you know what companies NOT to patronize with your dollars. Some of these would surprise you. Phone numbers are included to call them and inquire about their sponsorship of HATRED, INHUMANITY, and RACISM. Then we can ask what they're doing to relieve the suffering in Haiti. //Nod to Daily Kos for this.
You should be horse-whipped for the insult you have paid to the highest office of our nation.
Having followed President Obama's suggestion and donated money to the Red Cross for relief in Haiti, I was offended to hear you suggest the President might be a thief capable of stealing money intended for the earthquake victims.
Here is a transcript from your program on Thursday:
Justin of Raleigh, North Carolina: "Why does Obama say if you want to donate some money, you could go to whitehouse.gov to direct you how to do so? If I wanted to donate to the Red Cross, why do I have to go to the White House page to donate?" Limbaugh: "Exactly. Would you trust the money's gonna go to Haiti?" Justin: "No." Rush: "But would you trust that your name's gonna end up on a mailing list for the Obama people to start asking you for campaign donations for him and other causes?" Justin: "Absolutely!" Limbaugh: "Absolutely!"
That's what was said.
Unlike you and Justin of Raleigh, I went to Obama's web site, and discovered the link there leads directly to the Red Cross. I can think of a reason why anyone might want to go via the White House. That way they can be absolutely sure they're clicking on the Red Cross and not a fake site set up to exploit the tragedy.
But let me be sure I have this right. You and Justin agree that Obama might steal money intended for the Red Cross to help the wretched of Haiti.
This conversation came 48 hours after many of us had seen pitiful sights from Port au Prince. Tens of thousands are believed still alive beneath the rubble. You twisted their suffering into an opportunity to demean the character of the President of the United States.
You have a sizable listening audience. You apparently know how to please them. Anybody given a $400 million contract must know what he is doing.
That's what offends me. You know exactly what you're doing.
President Obama's response this week to the bank bailout, the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, and getting healthcare done was more assertive and forceful than, I think, he's ever been in all of 2009. The President is back in campaign mode with a sense of urgency and determination and a posture that projects leadership.
Perhaps it stems from his positive poll numbers handling the failed terrorist bombing, when he pushed back with a pointed “this is not a time for partisanship, but citizenship” against the Cheneys, who have not been heard from since. It appears the President is genuinely at the end of his cooperative tether, and not just a bit ticked off. President Obama was not pleased when the system that should have worked to protect the American people suffered a systemic failure, and he was candid about it. That, by itself, was a departure from the previous administration's secretive fearmongering over all things terrorist, and the public rewarded the President's seriousness of purpose.
With regard to the banks, the President's populist rhetoric -- “we want our money back!” -- announcing a “fee” on banks with assets of $50 billion or more to repay the rest of the TARP taxpayer bailout, comes in advance of the banks disclosing record profits and "obscene" (the President's word) bonuses. The timing is no coincidence. Even as the bankers whine that this is all “political,” the White House's perspective is “so what?” Why not dare the Republicans to defeat this by claiming it's another “tax?” Especially after being told to do so by the “phalanx of lobbyists” the President discouraged the banks from using; instead, challenging the banks to accept their responsibility to the taxpayers who bailed them out.
Heading into the 2010 elections, this is a debate the Democrats and the President welcome. Let the Republicans defeat this fee on the banks. Between this action and the bipartisan commission looking into the financial system meltdown, the banks are caught in a populist squeeze from which there is no rescue, no matter how many lobbyists are thrown into the breach. Getting out in front of this issue in an election year is one of those rare convergences in which “politics” and good policy -- i.e., financial regulatory reform -- are in perfect harmony.
And in a busy whirlwind of activity today the President knocked heads with the union bosses to reach agreement on taxing so-called “Cadillac plans,” with some adjustments and the exemption of collective bargaining agreements from the tax until 2018. Positively LBJ-esque.
But most impressive of all is President Obama's response to the humanitarian catastrophe in Haiti. To the people of Haiti, he said, “you will not be forsaken. You will not be forgotten.” This President was decisive and determined, with a rare touch of emotion, and the U.S. government's response so far has been exemplary. Everything that's been done, right down to Hillary cutting short her Asia-Pacific trip to directly supervise State and USAID's response to this disaster speaks to what seems to be on everyone's mind: “This will not be another Katrina.”
And yet the enormity of the crisis, the logistical and communications nightmare, the closing window of time to recover people who are alive, and the increasing restiveness of a population desperately in need of water, food, shelter, and medicines is an unprecedented challenge.
So why then has the President tapped George W. Bush to join Bill Clinton as a special envoy to Haiti? W., the poster boy for malignant neglect of the Homeland's natural (not to mention, man-made) disasters! Why, Mr. President? Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod would probably say, privately, that it's good politics all-round to rehabilitate the former president on arguably his weakest point (with no positives except increased AIDS relief in Africa), and neutralize him politically by driving an even bigger wedge between Bush and the hated Dick Cheney. Were it not for the former president's notable efforts to ameliorate AIDS suffering in Africa, he would not get a pass.
What's unsettling is that this idea to tap Bush did not originate in the White House. It came, in fact, from that hornet's nest of neocons known as the Heritage Foundation, whose catastrophic policy prescriptions through sinister front groups such as PNAC manipulated a tabula rasa president -- yup, W. -- into invading Iraq, with the cascading catastrophic foreign policy disaster for the U.S. that ensued. Here is a link to Naomi Klein's take on disaster capitalism, including a link to this Heritage document, which says in part:
“President Obama should tap high-level, bipartisan leadership. Clearly former President Clinton, who was already named as the U.N. envoy on Haiti, is a logical choice. President Obama should also reach out to a senior Republican figure, perhaps former President George W. Bush, to lead the bipartisan effort for the Republicans.”
Not overly controversial, as far as it goes, except that President Obama accepted Heritage's suggestion. Which begs the question: Is the President also prepared to embrace other policy suggestions from the Heritage neocons, such as:
In addition to providing immediate humanitarian assistance, the U.S. response to the tragic earthquake should address long-held concerns over the fragile political environment that exists in the region. Please to explain, mistah neocon: What, exactly, does this mean?
While on the ground in Haiti, the U.S. military can also interrupt the nightly flights of cocaine to Haiti and the Dominican Republic from the Venezuelan coast and counter the ongoing efforts of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to destabilize the island of Hispaniola. NO. WHILE ON THE GROUND, THE U.S. SHOULD BE IN THE BUSINESS OF SAVING LIVES AND STABILIZING THAT SHATTERED COUNTRY.
Long-term reforms for Haitian democracy and its economy are also badly overdue. Congress should immediately begin work on a package of assistance, trade, and reconstruction efforts needed to put Haiti on its feet and open the way for deep and lasting democratic reforms. Here we go with the neocons' nationbuilding again. What bothers me about this is that the neocons' intention for Haiti in reality is to create a buffer state, or U.S. satellite in Haiti to make mischief (trans: destabilize Cuba and Venezuela). This isn't idle speculation. They have a track record in Iraq and Afghanistan. At what cost in blood and treasure to the U.S.?
The U.S. should implement a strong and vigorous public diplomacy effort to counter the negative propaganda certain to emanate from the Castro-Chavez camp. Such an effort will also demonstrate that the U.S.’s involvement in the Caribbean remains a powerful force for good in the Americas and around the globe. Again, this is typical Cold War thinking from a bellicose crowd of neocons who can't seem to shake their “Red scare” obsessions. First off, the Venezuelans (surprise!) are already in Haiti with a contingent of doctors and rescue teams, and very well received by all; second, the Cubans have been completely silent on this catastrophe, not once trying to make political hay of it. When will these neocon jackasses ever realize that peoples with political differences can recognize our common humanity in a time of crisis?
The article, written by a Heritage Research Fellow, is beningly titled: “Things to Remember While Helping Haiti.” A rehash of the same old failed neocon Cold War era policy prescriptions that proved so disastrous for this country. Now, evidently, they're trying to get in President Obama's head. Let it go, get over it, already, neocons!
So, will the real President Obama please stand up? To mix my sports metaphors (but I don't care), just as progressives thought the President had begun tacking back toward his base he throws us a big ole Crawford, Texas curveball from deep right field.
Overlooked in the news of Haiti’s catastrophe is the role of Brazil, that commands the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti with 1,266 troops (1,310 personnel in all). At least 10 Brazilian peacekeepers are dead with more missing and injured.
The Brazilian air force had two Hercules transport planes on standby, one of which landed in the Port-Au-Prince airport today, and the other due tomorrow to ferry 11 tons of water and 10 tons of food, with more to come. Brazil said it intends to build an “aerial bridge” to supply Haiti.
Among the Brazilian dead was Zilda Arns, “the legendary founder of the Children’s Pastoral, a Roman Catholic Church-based group that has saved tens of thousands of lives by teaching uneducated women about basic health care issues.”
President Lula has pledged $15 million or more to help rebuild Haiti. Given what other nations have yet to contribute (China pledged only $1 million?), this is a noteworthy example of a good neighbor’s selfless generosity, sacrifice, and commitment to help a disaster-stricken neighbor in its time of desperate need.
The situation is CRITICAL in Haiti following a devastating earthquake that by all accounts has destroyed much of the capital of Port-Au-Prince. There is a MAJOR NEED for immediate DONATIONS of money, food, water, temporary shelter, medicines, clothing.
Americans seeking information on family members in Haiti are urged to call the State Department at: 888-407-4747.
RELIEF GROUPS ACCEPTING DONATIONS:
•The American Red Cross. They are accepting donations through their International Response Fund. Contribute online here. You may donate $10 to be charged to your cell phone bill by texting "HAITI" to "90999." •UNICEF requests donations for relief for children in Haiti via their Haiti Earthquake Fund. You can also call 1-800-4UNICEF. •Donate through Wyclef Jean's foundation, Yele Haiti. Text "Yele" to 501501 and $5 will be charged to your phone bill and given to relief projects through the organization. •Operation USA is appealing for donations of funds from the public and corporate donations in bulk of health care materials, water purification supplies and food supplements which it will ship to the region from its base in the Port of Los Angeles. Donate online or by phone at 1-800-678-7255 or, by check made out to Operation USA, 3617 Hayden Ave, Suite A, Culver City, CA 90232. •Partners In Health reports its Port-au-Prince clinical director, Louise Ivers, has appealed for assistance: "Port-au-Prince is devastated, lot of deaths. SOS. SOS... Temporary field hospital by us at UNDP needs supplies, pain meds, bandages. Please help us." Contribute here. •Mercy Corps is sending a team of emergency responders to assess damage, and seek to fulfill immediate needs of quake survivors. To donate call 1-888-256-1900 or send checks to Mercy Corps Haiti Earthquake Fund; Dept NR; PO Box 2669; Portland, OR 97208.
Last Sunday the New York Times ran a story in its Week in Review section titled, “The Label Factor: Is Obama a Wimp or a Warrior?,” intoning gravely that “like every Democratic president since John F. Kennedy, President Obama is battling the perception that he's a wimp on national security.” The article focused on the criticism and debate around the President’s handling of the foiled Christmas Day terrorist attack aboard an airliner headed for Detroit as well as his overall job performance combatting terrorism. In a nod to the optics of the issue the article noted that “labels count.”
One could reasonably conclude that CNN’s Jessica Yellin probably scanned the headline at least, thereby making her idiotic remark about the Democrats’ “history and baggage on national security.” The possibility of her reaching a similar independent conclusion would be much too coincidental as it pertains to the lazy electronic media. Then, the very next day Ms. Yellin’s network, CNN, actually polled a subset of the issue: 57% of respondents approved of the way President Obama handled the botched Christmas Day bombing of the airliner, against 39% who disapproved. Among Independents, 55% approved of how the President handled the situation.
A separate CBS News poll finds that 52% of the public approves of the President’s job performance on terrorism. So much for the “history and baggage” of Democrats on national security or, for that matter, uncritically believing the headlines in “all the news that’s fit to print.” Gray Lady down. Whoops.
Stories like this inevitably make me think of Sarah Palin, the dumbest vice-presidential candidate in American history, whose monumental ignorance of basic fifth-grade level history, geography, and the simplest concepts she brushed off as “God’s plan” . . . sort of like finding a religious apparition in snack food.
Welcome to Sarah Palin’s America. “I wouldn’t know,” shrugged the dishonorable John McCain. At least an orange is healthier than a potato chip, and there are no plans so far to sell the resin-preserved edible “religious” artifact on eBay.
Heard on John King's State of the Union program from CNN's Jessica Yellin:
“Lincoln notwithstanding [I love the ‘notwithstanding;’ it leaves the impression that Ms. Yellin has more than a superficial knowledge of U.S. history], the Republican Party has a different history and baggage” on civil rights. Okay, true statement, as far as it goes. But then the Anderson Cooper school of subjective reporting kicks in. It goes something like this: Truth is not the objective, parity is. And so a pseudo-scientist arguing for “intelligent design” gets equal time with a scientist explaining the truth about evolution. And history competes with revisionism, because if we don’t hear “the other side,” even if it’s patently false, CNN will hear complaints from THE STOOPID, which their suits don’t like.
And so, in the next part of her statement Yellin adds the Cooper qualifier: “. . . just as the Democrats have their own history and baggage on national security.” Tell us, Ms. Yellin, exactly what history is that? Is it the history of:
Cold War (Presidents Truman-D, Eisenhower-R, Kennedy-D, Johnson-D, Nixon-R, Ford-R, Carter-D, Reagan-R, Bush I-R: Four Democratic presidents and five Republicans who kept us out of a global thermonuclear war with the Soviet Union);
Vietnam (Presidents Kennedy-D, Johnson-D who escalated the war, Nixon-R who started "Vietnamization" and de-escalation, and Ford-R who presided over the fall of South Vietnam to the Communist North Vietnamese regime);
Bosnia (President Clinton, Democrat: The U.S. and its NATO allies successfully ended genocide and ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia, without a single American service personnel killed –- “the best indicator of success we could ever have,” according to Sen. John McCain on the very program in which Ms. Yellin shoved her foot down her throat -- resulting in a negotiated peace among the warring parties);
Iraq I (President Bush I-R, a limited war to liberate Kuwait and keep the oil lanes flowing to the West); and
Iraq II and Afghanistan. (President George W. Bush-R: This war of choice started by George W. Bush has passed Vietnam as the longest war in U.S. history. It ranks as the most catastrophic foreign policy disaster in our history as well. President Obama, as is so often the case with Democratic presidents, inherited the wars and ruined economy left by GWB and is in the process of cleaning up the Republican mess.)
That's the history of the wars, Ms. Yellin; tell us where the Democrats were less tough or less effective than Republicans. During World War II many Republicans were isolationists, and prominent right wingers such as Charles Lindbergh expressed open admiration for Hitler. The Republican Party, driven by its right wing much as it is today, made it a political cause to press FDR and the Democrats to stay out of the war, complicating assistance to Britain in its darkest hour of need, lest this betray our “neutrality.” We should be thankful that FDR and the Democrats (with some rational Republican support, yes) did the right thing then, just as the Democrats are presently doing the right thing with increased government spending, unpopular but necessary bailouts of the financial system and our auto industry, and healthcare reform.
Let's turn now to the baggage, Ms. Yellin. What baggage is it that Democrats have on national security? Was it President Clinton's botched intervention in Somalia early in his administration? How does that compare any less favorably with the terrorist bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, under Ronald Reagan, which claimed the lives of hundreds of Marines and caused the U.S. to withdraw from Beirut with its tail between its legs? Have you conveniently forgotten who was president when we were hit on 9/11? Considering all of the ignored intelligence and warning signs, that dark day was the single worst “national security” failure in our nation's history. It was further compounded by George W. Bush's war of choice against Saddam Hussein's Iraq, with its rising death toll of more than 4,000 American troops and tens of thousands of injured. The war has continued to bleed our national treasury, boosted Iran's power and nuclear ambitions, and vastly increased the number of terrorist recruits in the region, especially after Bush allowed OBL to escape Tora Bora when he diverted his attention to Iraq.
Is this your definition of not having baggage on national security issues, Ms. Yellin? If so, I will gladly take the Democratic Party's baggage and be thankful for it. But the larger problem, because it infects a broad swath of the electronic media, is its incapacity to process truth from Republican propaganda, history from gross Republican revisionism, fact from fiction, and reality from the perception of it. There’s a new buzzword for this that unfortunately has entered our national political lexicon: Optics.
Optics is the buzzword Republican propagandists and image shape shifters like Frank Luntz live and die for in the business. In the world of optics the truth is irrelevant; all that matters is the perception of what is the truth. Our political discourse has become a battle of who is best at twisting the facts and rolling the media. Historically, the Republicans own this battlefield.
Just recently, George Stephanopoulos had to eat crow when liberal bloggers blasted him for not correcting Rudy Giuliani’s colossal lie that we have not had a domestic terrorist attack during George W. Bush’s regime -- a Republican talking point. Would he have corrected himself had the bloggers not called him on it? Not likely, considering Stephanopoulos has made a career as a weekly network TV “interviewer” of providing a platform for unchallenged Republican talking points and propaganda that continued with the GMA Giuliani interview. On his last (?) Sunday show Stephanopoulos featured the odious partisan liar Liz Cheney on his roundtable discussion. The contrast with more serious journalists was jarring. It's not often that conservative George Will and liberal economist Robert Reich join in scolding Liz Cheney for outrageously accusing Democratic “elites” (whatever that means) of racism. I'm sure it plays well with the Teabaggers, though.
And today on John King’s State of the Union, Jessica Yellin characteristically dropped her offhand, ignorant remark regarding the Democratic Party's fictitious history and baggage on national security.
No matter how often we are reminded (most recently by Senator Al Franken) that Republicans are not entitled to their own facts, this reminder has obviously not filtered down to Jessica Yellin and much of our disgraced mainstream electronic media whose job it is, precisely, to report the facts. Were it not for the blogosphere and the advocacy TV journalism of the few (a journalism of necessity in the current environment of lies, i.e., optics), the truth would be in greater peril. Instead, because of these alternative means of communication providing a counterpoint to mainstream optics reporting, the truth may be the first casualty, but it is not the last. We should be thankful for small victories. Don’t get me wrong. Truth is not yet in balance, not as long as optics controls what is reported by the Yellins of this world in an increasingly visual medium. But the truth is still out there. Try as they might, it’s a tough thing to kill. For now, that’s the best we can do.
Submitted without comment. Set to premiere later this month in Germany. Curiosity: Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton are played by the same person. What's the message there? Hmm . . . And who is that woman singing in German -- Angela Merkel? Think I'll wait for the reviews.
Organizers of the FIRST EVER Tea Party Convention (to be held in Opryland) are taking NO CHANCES. In a preemptive strike to discourage dangerous liberal attack dogs, the timorous Teabaggers posted the following WARNING under the banner, “LIBERAL TROLL ALERT!”:
Please be advised that over the coming weeks, as the National Tea Party Convention draws near, we will in all likelihood be invaded by liberal trolls looking to disrupt the site.
Rachel Maddow joined this morning and we banned her 7 minutes after she joined. I have little doubt she will mention this on her show.
Note to Prospective Liberal Trolls: TPN does not tolerate liberal trolls. If your sole purpose is to join this site in order to disrupt the flow of constructive dialogue against liberalism, you will find your time here very short.
You can and will be banned for being a liberal.
If you wish to debate the virtues of liberalism (as though [harrumph] there were such a thing), there are many other sites on the web who will tolerate you. TPN is not one of those sites.
Tea Party Nation reserves the right to ban anyone for any reason we feel necessary to ensure the well being of the site and our members.
When they show up -- ignore them, report them and we will ban them.
Thank you all for your patriotism and support!
Tea Party Nation
Ah, this takes me back to the days when me and my buddy ReaganIsSatan joined a Republican discussion group to shake up their echo chamber. Just the two of us against minions and minions . . . we felt it was an unfair fight. First time I was “banned” for being a liberal; but it was fun!
MSNBC’s swashbuckling wingnut SLAYER, Rachel Maddow, fired back that the Teabaggers made it up “as a publicity stunt.” And she added: “Of course, this idea of me trying to join their listserv is completely made up, but still -- I'm flattered the Tea Party folks think I'm well known enough to help their cause. I wish them all best luck with their conference.”
Meanwhile Rachel’s partner in crime, Kent Jones, could be seen lip-synching the updated lyrics to an old Liberal Standard by John Lennon:
Instant Rachel
Instant Rachel’s gonna get you, Gonna knock you right on the head, You better get yourself together, Pretty soon you're gonna be dead, What in the world you thinking of, Laughing in the face of love, What on earth you tryin' to do, It's up to you, yeah you.
Instant Rachel’s gonna get you, Gonna look you right in the face, Better get yourself together darlin', Join the human race, How in the world you gonna see, “Rachel be Laughin' at fools like me!” Who on earth d'you think you are, A super CZAR, Well, right you are.
Well we all shine on, Like the moon and the stars and the sun, Well we all shine on, Ev'ryone come on.
Instant Rachel’s gonna get you, Gonna knock you off your feet, Better recognize your brothers and sistahs, Ev'ryone you meet, Why in the world are we here, Surely not to live in pain and fear, Why on earth are you there, When you ain’t nowhere, Come to Sarah, PAY your share!
Well we all shine on, Like the moon and the stars and the sun, Yeah we all shine on, Come on and on and on on on, Yeah yeah, alright, uh huh, ah-.
Oh, how the mainstream media just LO-o-o-VE-s-s-S to aid and abet the Republican Party’s relentless campaign to whitewash the Bush regime’s abysmal record on protecting us from terrorist attacks on American soil -- from Missy Dana (“the exits are there and there and there”) Perrino to Rudy (“a noun, a verb, and 9-11”) Giuliani.
Appearing on Georgie “BOY” Stephanopoulos’ GMA, Rudy the Liar said:
“The-a wa no domethtic atta-ks und-a Bush. Wethve had one unth-a O-ba-ma.”
Excuse me?
Georgie BOY said nothing to question or correct the Rudester, so relieved (perhaps?) was he to be sitting on his gotta-be-taller-than-the-girls jump seat. Pal Rudee was only following the script of LIES laid out by Bush crapagandist Dana Perrino on FAUX News: “America did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush’s term.”
Really??
Catching his colossal gaffe too late, Rudy sought to correct himself:
Giuliani said: “I did omith tha worths ‘sinth Septh. 11.’ I apologith foh that.”
Again: Excuse me???
But this wasn’t an isolated thing. The Republicans, with their primitive prominent reptilian brains, were all over the airwaves politicizing the foiled Fruit of the Boom terrorist attack over Detroit and grossly mischaracterizing President Obama’s rational, swift, and comprehensive response to the systemic intelligence failure.
Despite the President’s repeated references to our “war” with Al Quaeda “terrorists” from his inaugural address to the present, the Republican attack-crapaganda machine tried once more to whitewash the truth. With some notable dissents –- Senator Dick Lugar, for one, who said President Obama was “focused” –- Republicans took their cues from Dark Lord and Liz Mini-Mee Cheney’s attacks on the President that he “is trying to pretend we are not at war” with a “low-key response” to the Christmas Day attempt to ignite a bomb aboard a flight to Detroit. The President’s sharp rebuke of the traitorous Cheney Clan –- who seemed disappointed the airliner hadn’t blown up over Detroit –- was “this is not the time for partisanship, but for citizenship.”
He spoke as if he were scolding a child.
Correctly assuming that most Americans are grown-up enough to process serious information, President Obama candidly and forcefully outlined the intelligence lapses and ordered that immediate corrective action be taken. It was a noteworthy departure from the incompetent Orwellian Bush regime whose actions -- letting OBL escape after we had him cornered in Tora Bora, invading Iraq, and creating the global eyesore and prime terrorist recruiting tool known as Guantanamo prison -- actually. increased. our. vulnerability. to. terrorist. attacks.
Following is a LIST of all the terrorist attacks that occurred on George W. Bush’s watch after (and including) 9/11, courtesy of Media Matters for America (don’t you just HATE them, wingnuts?):
September 11, 2001 attacks. As CNN noted, “On September 11, 2001, four U.S. planes hijacked by terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania killing nearly 3,000 people in a matter of hours.” 2001 anthrax attacks. A March 2004 State Department report on “Significant Terrorist Incidents, 1961-2003” quotes then-Attorney General John Ashcroft saying of the letters containing anthrax mailed to various targets: “When people send anthrax through the mail to hurt people and invoke terror, it's a terrorist act.” Five people were killed as a result of those letters in the autumn of 2001. 2001 shoe bomber attempted attack. In June 2008, then-Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described Reid's December 2001 attempt “to blow up a trans-Atlantic plane with a shoe bomb” as an attempt to “carry out terrorist operations for Al-Qaeda.”
2002 attack against El Al ticket counter at LAX. In July 2002, Hesham Mohamed Hadayet opened fire at an El Al Airlines ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport killing two people and wounding four others before being shot dead. A 2004 Justice Department report stated that Hadayet's case had been “officially designated as an act of international terrorism.”
2002 DC-area sniper. The state of Virginia indicted Washington, D.C.-area sniper John Allen Muhammad -- along with his accomplice, a minor at the time -- on “an act of terrorism” for one of the murders he committed during a three-week shooting spree across Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Muhammad was convicted, sentenced to death, and subsequently executed for the crime.
2006 UNC SUV attack. In March 2006, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill graduate Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar drove an SUV into an area of campus, striking nine pedestrians. According to reports, Taheri-azar said he acted because he wanted to “avenge the deaths or murders of Muslims around the world.” Taheri-azar also reportedly stated in a letter: “I was aiming to follow in the footsteps of one of my role models, Mohammad Atta, one of the 9/11/01 hijackers, who obtained a doctorate degree.”
This list omits several terrorist attacks committed against Americans and American targets outside United States territory while George W. Bush was president.
But wait! All’s well with the world: A chastened Georgie BOY Stephanopoulos owned up to the gotcha from those pesky liberal bloggers: “All of you who have pointed out that I should have pressed him on that misstatement in the moment are right,” he blogged. “My mistake, my responsibility.” Awww.
So, here’s a musical tribute to the GEORGIE BOYS and all those Bushistas, Beckistas, Palinistas, and Teabaggers who believe Dim Son actually kept us safe from terrorist attack. (Or was it just dumb luck as he counted the days to the end of his term?) For best results, drink some Kool-Aid while watching:
Imagine, if you will, the list (above) of terrorist attacks that occurred during George W. Bush’s regime scrolling down the video screen. Capische?
This just in: When quisling ex-Democrat (yes, it's an oxymoron) Parker Griffith of Alabama switched over to the GOP his entire Congressional staff resigned, refusing to make the move over to the party of NO. Said his Chief of Staff, Sharon Wheeler, in a stinging rebuke of her boss:
"Parker Griffith has abandoned the legacy of conservative leadership provided by Bud Cramer, Ronnie Flippo, Bob Jones, Howell Heflin, Jim Allen, Lister Hill, John Sparkman, Big Jim Folsom, and so many more. I appreciate Congressman Griffith's being a very dedicated congressman. But we believe he made a mistake -- a well-intentioned but misguided mistake that is not in the interest of the great people of North Alabama who elected him a year ago as a Democrat."
Even Mr. Griffith's intern joined the mass resignation of his staff. What makes this noteworthy is that Congress wouldn't run without congressional staffs. It's the staff people who put in the long hours, accept ruined social lives, endure gasbags and inflated egos and lesser intellects than they, and take constant abusive treatment with little or no recognition, for . . . what?
Not for the money. But for a set of principles, an idea called good government and American democracy, an idealistic desire to serve the American people and help make our lives a little better. Anyone who has ever watched C-Span knows this.
Congressional staffs are fuckin' awesome, and I hope someday they'll get the recognition they deserve. In the meantime, there are some really good people on Parker Griffith's former staff who would make great additions to any congressional (I hope, Democratic) staff.
I’ve been remiss in overlooking 2009’s most outrageous members of Congress:
Topping the list of psycho House members is Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann.
She gave Glenn Beck a run for Lunatic of the Year honors, if only she hadn’t confined her lunacy mostly to the House. Some of Michelle’s greatest hits:
Called for an investigation of Democratic members of Congress with “anti-American views,” which she accused President Obama of harboring;
Linked Democrats to the Swine Flu (she did not say H1N1 was a laboratory virus, but let the conspiracy hang out there to curry favor with Glenn Beck loons);
Vowed not to participate in the Census –- “Why does the government need our phone numbers?” –- Um, Michelle, you are “the government” . . . not only that, but when you complete your tax returns, or sign up for Medicare, or the VA, or apply for a government loan or grant, you typically include your phone number;
Joined Sarah Palin in making the “death panels” allegation viral;
Called school-based health clinics “sex clinics” and treated the public to an X-rated teen confessional of alleged promiscuity on the hallowed well of Congress. Goes down as “One of the Great Moments in Congressional History”;
Said global warming was “all voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax”;
Argued for the teaching of “Intelligent Design,” aka Creationism, in schools, and I don’t mean in religion class;
Promised to “slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing. This will not pass. We will do whatever it takes to make sure this [healthcare] doesn’t pass.”
Too bad Michelle didn’t follow through with her promise.
Joe (I LIE!) Wilson. No member of Congress, not one, not during the Civil War, the Great Depression, the world wars, the “Red Scare,” the Cold War, not one has ever disrespected a sitting President addressing Congress the way Joe Wilson did. Is it just a coincidence that it was our first African American president and Wilson is from a Southern state? ‘Nuff said.
John (“the Preamble to the Constitution said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident . . .”) Boehner. Known for holding irrelevant press conferences, for his dour expression, like he just drank a garlic milkshake, and for a perpetual tan that is said to have inspired a provision in the Senate healthcare bill taxing tanning salons. The problem is, as President Obama joked, Boehner’s is a fake spray-on tan.
Bart (the Crusader) Stupak. DINO par excellence, the C Street cult “brother” is using healthcare reform to try to repeal the law of the land and drive women back to the days of back-alley abortions. Grilled by constituents at a town hall, the stealth Michigan Congressman had a hard time explaining why he consorts with right wing Republicans at the C street flophouse for discreet encounters, and contributed money to the gubernatorial campaign of fellow “Family brother” Zack Wamp, a Tennessee Republican. Not that it fazes Stupak. One thing all “Family” members, the chosen ones, have in common is utter contempt for their constituents. That’s why you’ll never see them resigning in the wake of the most egregious ethical and sexual scandals.
Virginia (“We [the Republicans] were the people who passed the civil rights bills back in the 60s.”) Foxx. Then she had the audacity to add: “They [the Democrats] love to engage in revisionist history.” Hahaha . . . For pure jaw-dropping chutzpah, this lying reactionary Congresswoman takes the prize. Only in America, THE STOOPID where the vast majority of the population are totally clueless about their country’s recent history could such an outrageous pack of lies go by unnoticed. Or noticed, but not understood for what it is: A LIE. I call it the Sarah Palin syndrome. (It could easily be called the Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh symdromes, too.) Joseph Goebbels would be proud and amazed.
John (global warming is good for the world’s plants) Shimkus. Claiming Al Gore and “enviro extremists” are alarming people with inconvenient truths, the Illinois Congressman reduces his energy policy to one illogical phrase: “If drilling is good, drilling and mining is better.” His bat-shit crazy argument for increased carbon emissions is that because plants need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, limiting our man-made carbon dioxide emissions would actually kill the world's plants. “It's plant food ... So if we decrease the use of carbon dioxide, are we not taking away plant food from the atmosphere? ... So all our good intentions could be for naught. In fact, we could be doing just the opposite of what the people who want to save the world are saying.”
Charlie (fuggeabouit) Rangel. Charlie’s a great and colorful member of Congress, but he’s also from one of the safest districts in New York (re-elected with 88% of the vote) and a product of the rough-and-tumble world of backroom deals in Noo Yawk politics. He’s a throwback. Charlie’s troubles stem from failure to disclose rental property, campaign law violations, and ownership of a beachfront villa in the Dominican Republic whose rental income he has failed to disclose over a number of years. Might be politics as usual for local political bosses, but a definite no-no for the Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Even if he has a different definition of “ways and means” than the rest of us. (Note: the list of corrupt and ethically-challenged House members [mostly Republican] is long and tawdry, but this is about those members who “distinguished” themselves for truly outrageous headline-grabbing. Charlie qualifies as the most colorful of the ethically-challenged.)
Anh Joseph (“Louisianans need real options for primary care, for mental health care, and for expanded health care for seniors and children.”) Cao. You got it. The only Republican to vote for the House healthcare bill, the first Vietnamese American elected to Congress, whose election was hailed as “a major blow against the reputation of Louisiana as a corrupt state,” Cao replaced convicted Democratic politico William Jefferson who was caught with a load of dough stuffed in his refrigerator. Cao also voted for the stimulus bill. As the only member of the Party of “NO” to vote “AYE” for President Obama’s major initiatives, Cao deserves a place of honor in the list of most outrageous members of the House. Sometimes things have a way of working out for the best in a bipartisan way.
Alan (“Captain Cojones”) Grayson. When the Florida Democrat took to the House floor to denounce the Republicans’ healthcare non-plan as “1. Don’t Get Sick” and “2. If you get sick, DIE QUICKLY,” he ignited a firestorm that still rages through the Internet and right wing media. For the first time the wingnuts were at a loss for words, never expecting a Democrat -- who usually plays fair, gets the facts right and naively expects same from Republicans, believes in the better angels of people’s nature, and turns both cheeks when Republicans attack below the belt –- to strike back so hard at them. Progressives all over the Internet stood up and applauded Captain Cojones –- At last, a Democrat with balls! -– and reveled in the knowledge that the wingnuts can dish it out, but they can’t take it. In fact, they’re cowards, wimps, weak-kneed and jelly-chinned. Some old Democrats huffed about the new Democratic members not observing the niceties of Congress. They just don’t get it. Democrats from coast-to-coast stood up and cheered when Alan Grayson exposed the Republican fraud on healthcare –- they have no plan -– Senator Al Franken told Joe Lieberman to sit down and shut up, and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse slammed the wingnuts to kingdom come. Hail the fighting Dems (the Three Musketeers, new members ALL): A rarity in Congress and therefore worthy of most outrageous member honors . . . in the BEST way.
Peter (Who said politics, much less fundraising, stops at the water’s edge?) Hoekstra. The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, responsible for leaking classified briefings to embarrass Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is now using the foiled terrorist attack on a flight bound for Detroit to raise money for his Ohio gubernatorial campaign: “If you agree that we need a Governor who will stand up the Obama/Pelosi efforts to weaken our security please make a most generous contribution of $25, $50, $100 or even $250 to my campaign,” he wrote in a fundraising letter. Nice. Stay classy, Republicans.
This disgusting imagehas rightfully landed a 73-year-old Colorado state worker in deep shit.
First, if no other explanation surfaces, I hope the maximum punishment is applied to this jackass: immediate termination and, if possible, curtailment of her (no doubt) generous Colorado state retirement benefits, thanks to the taxpayers who pay her salary.
Second, the question needs to be asked: Why is this senior still working at 73, 13 years past the age she could be collecting Social Security benefits, once again, thanks to the taxpayers? It's unseemly that someone well past the age of retirement should be taking a younger person's job, when unemployment is at 10% or more, particularly in light of this incident. Many seniors need to work past retirement, that's understood. But not those who abuse the taxpayers' trust and standards of nondiscrimination that every worker, especially older workers, should know.
Third, this particular image surfaced on the Internet more than one year ago, in August of 2008. That it should still be making the rounds in the white racist underworld of chain emails is indicative at the very least of how sick, obsessive-compulsive, and unimaginative these pathetic racists are.
For those of us bemoaning the decline of pure, tough, truth-seeking journalism in our increasingly puff-piece, rumor & gossip, celebritycentric, corporate, lazy & unprepared media wasteland: Cuban-born, Latino American CNN news anchor Rick Sanchez gives us some cause to celebrate. Here Sanchez, the first-generation son of Cuban immigrants, gives his wimpy (especially Anglo/European) colleagues -- as well as aspiring journalists everywhere -- a clinic on what it means to be a journalist serving as the watchdog and eyes and ears of the public:
This exchange is symbolic of how CNN stumbled upon the right thing by firing (euphemistically called an “amicable” parting) anti-immigrant racist demagogue Lou Dobbs in favor of anchors like Soledad O'Brien and Rick Sanchez, who not only reflect the cultural diversity of America -- which is our great strength -- but also are (quick, pass the smelling salts!) real journalists.
By the end of his grilling Sanchez had Ensign babble the proverbial Freudian slip: “I have done nothing ethically or illegal in this matter.”
As 2009 winds down, it’s time to reflect on the perils of the enemy within –- THE STOOPID. THE STOOPID so outnumber the rational that they pose a greater threat to the people’s welfare, healthcare, and pocketbooks, than any realistic threat of terrorism; a threat, incidentally, which THE STOOPID enabled then politicized with fear and loathing and hypocrisy.
SCUMBAG OF THE YEAR: Dick Cheney
Only in America, THE STOOPID can a lying hypocrite and coward who took seven deferments to stay out of serving his country in Vietnam pound his chest and criticize the Obama administration for the national security train wreck Bush/Cheney created.
LIAR OF THE YEAR: Sarah Palin
Only in America, THE STOOPID can a truth-challenged MORON like Sarah Palin perpetuate the biggest lie of the year about nonexistent “death panels” in the healthcare reform bills, then parlay her lies into a best selling book that she didn’t write for THE STOOPID white people who don’t care that it’s filled with more STOOPID LIES.
Runners-Up: Liz (like father/like daughter) Cheney, Joe (I LIE!!!) Wilson, Jim (I WISH I’D LIED TOO) DeMint, (also nominated in other categories) GOP, Teabaggers, “Truthers,” Dick Armey, Joe Lieberman, lobbyists, Rush Limbaugh, FOX “News” (collectively), Glenn Beck . . . really, too many to mention.
GRAMPS OF THE YEAR: Chuck Grassley and John McCain
When these doddering old fools keep repeating Sarah Palin's lies about “pulling the plug on Grandma” to incite their STOOPID constituencies, it makes one wish we could pull the metaphorical plug on them.
LUNATIC OF THE YEAR: Glenn Beck
It doesn’t take a licensed psychiatrist to realize this dude’s seriously delusional, clinically insane bordering on psychotic. And the scariest thing is he has a loyal following of THE STOOPID who actually believe Beck is a well person. THE STOOPID are in dire need of mental health services. Can we build some insane asylum gulags in Alaska to warehouse them? (Kidding!)
CULT OF THE YEAR: The C Street “Family”
The revisionist “Christian brotherhood” in the heart of D.C. spawned anti-abortion DINO crusader Bart Stupak, hosted and encouraged adulterous GOP politicos (because, as the chosen, the rules don't apply to them), sponsored parallel track renegade foreign policy, promoted a Ugandan law to criminalize and kill gays, and saw its tax-exempt status as a “church” revoked by the IRS after decades of sinister freeloading. What would Jesus do? Hmm.
STOOPID OF THE YEAR: Teabaggers
These Caucasian tools are the very embodiment of THE STOOPID. They can’t read (always finding what’s not there in the health bills), they can’t spell (those signs are enough to make kindergarten teachers question their vocation), they don’t know their own history, the difference between the (“U.S.S.”) Constitution and the Declaration of Independence (neither do Republican party leaders, for that matter), let alone that socialist and fascist are not one and the same, and President Obama is neither.
Oh, and they can't count either, unable to distinguish between 20,000 (the average size of their D.C. protests) and one million (their slightly inflated claims of their numbers). In short, the Teabaggers get a failing grade in the three Rs -- reading, writing, and arithmetic -- the minimum necessary education to function in society.
(Arne Duncan, Sec. of Education: can you spare any stimulus funds to give these people remedial courses in the three Rs? Their protest rallies would be a good place to sign them up. And they could start by correcting the typos in their hate signs!)
GUTTERSNIPE OF THE DECADE: Rush Limbaugh
Only in America, THE STOOPID would such a sleazy, repulsive pig make millions broadcasting his daily vomit of lies, sophistry, demagoguery, and racist hate speech, attaining such power and notoriety that he is hailed the BOSS of the GOP.
STOOPID OLD PARTY: GOP
The party of “NO” has no ideas, no policies, no plans, except to defeat President Obama and prevent the Democrats from governing by resorting to the filibuster more than at any time in the history of the republic. Shameful.
STOOPID NEW PARTY: Tea Party
If New York’s 23rd District is any indication, the new party of THE STOOPID could well prove to be THE STOOPID/GOP/Beckista “Waterloo.” After all, wouldn’t the short, rotund, wild-eyed Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh lookjust perfect in a Napoleon get-up?
