ARSON AND RIOTING IN BRITAIN; POLITICAL ARSON AT HOME; MARKET CLOSED DOWN 6.66 %

OH MY ... Here's a friendly reminder for those of a supernatural bent: This DEVIL of a manufactured POLITICAL-turned-ECONOMIC crisis, this DEVIL'S BREW, was fueled by TEA PARTY extremists who torched the routine debt ceiling raise amid a fragile economic recovery and economic troubles abroad, bringing our nation TO THE BRINK OF DEFAULT.  LET US BE CLEAR: THIS IS THE TEA PARTY DOWNGRADE.

It's one thing for an ignorant rabble, well funded by sinister right wing corporate interests like the Koch Brothers, waving racist signs outside Congress and screaming 'SHUT 'ER DOWN', STOP raising the debt ceiling; it's quite another thing to send an extremist, uncontrollable minority to Congress that KNOWS NOTHING of governing and economic policy, whose SOLE MISSION IS TO BLOW UP GOVERNMENT, proudly taking ownership of the downgrade because, they claim INSANELY, it will be 'CLEANSING' to our economy to the tune of a 600-plus and counting market crash that imperils EVERY AMERICAN'S WEALTH AND RETIREMENT SECURITY.

TEA PARTY political nihilism could lead to similar civil unrest this side of the pond as we're witnessing in Britain and Greece with top-down austerity measures imposed on the people. From the New York Times report: "For a society already under severe economic strain, the rioting raised new questions about the political sustainability of the Cameron government’s spending cuts, particularly the deep cutbacks in social programs. These have hit the country’s poor especially hard, including large numbers of the minority youths who have been at the forefront of the unrest."

And while the Beltway Media have ENABLED and ROMANTICIZED this TEA PARTY RABBLE OF IMBECILES, rather than taking a long hard look at who's been pulling the strings and exposing the EXTREME RIGHT WING IDEOLOGY behind the STUPID DRESS-UP FALSE HISTORY FOUNDING FATHER BROMIDES ... As the Idiot Punditocracy takes its eye off the ball, REAL PEOPLE POPULISM is coming to a head in Wisconsin today with the recall election of six Republican state senators. IF not for Big Eddie and Rachel and John Nichols of  THE NATION, this story would go largely unreported. Why have the Idiot Punditocracy ignored ALEC and the RADICAL Republican agenda for the states?

Speak of the DEVIL, get with the program, Chris Matthews. You consistently misrepresent the Republican elephant logo in your program's visuals. Yours is not to question "WHY?" the inverted GOP SATANIC STAR; but to report and visually present it accurately. Like Rachel, por ejemplo:

TEA PARTY Remedial Ed: Stop Whining About Your CRAZY QUEEN OF RAGE

Magazines are shallow. THEY LOVE TO DO CRAZY. You think this is the first time they've ever had FUN surrounding REAL OR IMAGINED CRAZY POLITICIANS? Get a load of this 1972 TIME Magazine cover of Missouri Senator Thomas Eagleton who wasn't properly vetted to be George McGovern's Veep nominee, omitting the small detail he had undergone electroshock therapy for "exhaustion" and "depression."

No biggie, right? Turns out the TIME editors decided to project Eagleton as a wide-eyed lunatic (?) in this ultra-closeup IN-YOUR-FACE cover shot. Despite McGovern further undermining his credibility by saying he was "1,000 percent" behind Eagleton, this TIME cover was widely credited with pretty much dooming Eagleton's prospects, forcing him to withdraw from the ticket. After the balloons had come down. OOPs ...

BOTTOM LINE: If the QUEEN OF CRAZY and gay hubby Marcus can't stand the HEAT — GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN. (Maybe not Marcus; he looks to enjoy cooking and wearing aprons) ... And TEABAGGERS: Embrace the CRAZY. It's SO YOU! It's an accurate Michele cover, too:

On Lines In The Sand And A Triple-A Country

We've heard it all before. The President keeps insisting on a "balanced" approach when surely he must know by now that he is dealing with political extremists. YES, WE DO HAVE TERRORISTS in the Republican Party and their name is the TEA PARTY. This economic mess with politicizing a routine raise in the debt ceiling and the manufacturing of a phony "crisis" is what led to the current REAL CRISIS in our markets and the downgrading of our credit rating. A correction was coming, to be sure, given the events in Europe. But these ignorant, intransigent extremists in the Tea Party Caucus behaved with such monumental irresponsibility in government that it mushroomed into the PERFECT STORM we see today.

Standard & Poors is an ass. They were neck-deep in the Great Bush Recession of 2007 by enabling the criminals on Wall Street who recklessly brought our economy to its knees. They never put the brakes on or questioned the casino economy which burst the housing bubble. They rubber-stamped the swindles of Wall Street's biggest 'operators' pushing risky credit default swaps. Suddenly, with a change in administration and an African American president, S&P gets religion as they decide to give our nation a credit rating black eye?

But the brutal reality is, this ass of a messenger looked at the dysfunctionality in Washington and issued a political credit downgrade based on Wall Street's lack of confidence in our government. Democrats like Senator John Kerry are calling this the "Tea Party downgrade." With good reason. Some 80 or so extremists in the House and their cowering acolytes in the Republican Party have hijacked government, terrorized their leadership, and tanked our economy. Their icons aren't economists; they're right wing whackos like Grover Norquist who has forced much of the Republican members to sign a no-taxes-EVER pledge, lest they be "primaried." That's insanity, the tail wagging the dog. Here's S&P's indictment of Tea Party Republicans in Congress:

Compared with previous projections, our revised base case scenario now assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012, remain in place. We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act.

With the market spiraling down and no bottom in sight, with the President bemoaning "lines in the sand" from extremists while failing to recognize that to LEAD HE MUST HAVE SOME LINES IN THE SAND OF HIS OWN, and with the unhappy metaphor that we will "always be a TRIPLE-A country" which made me think of baseball's farm system, Dan Rather said if this President "has some fight in him, now's the time to show it." Because now, the CRAZIES are running the asylum:

This is the TEA PARTY/REPUBLICAN jobless DEPRESSION. While Republicans cut ALL AND ANY jobs programs in Congress, Republican governors LAID OFF 37,000 GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES. So much for "jobs jobs jobs." SPEAKER BOEHNER, WHERE ARE THE JOBS!

A Witness To HISTORY: This Is REALLY Cool!

 Just imagine, a 96 year-old man appears on a CBS TV show in 1956, the year of his death, as the last living witness to the Lincoln assassination. He was five at the time. Samuel J. Seymour's life spanned two centuries, in which he lived through some of the most consequential events in American history: the Civil War, two world wars, the beginnings of the civil rights struggle, the invention of the car, the airplane, the atom bomb, film and television. He was one generation — his parents' — removed from when the Founding Fathers walked this earth. That's mindblowing ...

Thanks to YouTube, this gem in American history has been preserved.

In February 1956, two months before his death, 96-year-old Samuel J. Seymour appeared on the CBS television show "I've Got A Secret." His secret: he witnessed Abraham Lincoln's assassination when he was five years old.

Sure enough, Seymour has been widely recognized as the last surviving person in America who had been present at Ford's Theatre the night of Lincoln's assassination on April 14, 1865.

According to the Washington Times, Seymour attended the Ford's Theatre performance as a young boy with family friends. He was told upon arriving in Washington, “Sammy, you and I and Sarah are going to a play - a real play. And President Abraham Lincoln will be there."

Seymour's recollection of the event includes a shot ringing out, someone in the President's box screaming and Lincoln slumping forward in his seat. He also caught a glimpse of John Wilkes Booth jumping from the box to the stage.

A Maryland native who later lived in Arlington, Seymour died on April 12, 1956, two days before the anniversary of Lincoln's death.

TEA PARTY Remedial Ed: Aren't You Glad Chris Christie Didn't Say YES?

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, darling of the wingnut media, whose every utterance is given immediate first-page splash on our favorite wingnut rag, The Daily Caller, was nowhere to be seen in the shrivelled RightWingVille organs this morning:

HMMM ... I WONDER WHY. Here's a clue; let Lawrence explain:

Can we get a reaction from Christie worshipper and DC fave, the Coultergeist? Anyone ... Poor Jeff, anyone?! It seems they're too busy savaging T-Paw while embarrassing Jon Huntsman. (Someone must have made a substantial donation to the Mittster's campaign ... But that Isikoff scoop, involving a shell organization and possible criminality, didn't make the DC front page, either!) Okay, a search reveals Matt Lewis at least posted the Christie statement in his blog ... but, let's face it, Lewis isn't much of a wingnut.

I mean, AL GORE calling for "an American spring — you know, the Arab spring. The non-violent part of it isn’t finished yet, but we need to have an American spring, a kind of an American non-violent change where people on the grassroots get involved again. Not in the Tea Party-style.” — made the DC first page with a typically misleading headline. And look! There's some white space next to the Gore blurb, right at the bottom of the DC front page, in which to squeeze in even the bulky Governor Christie, for whom my respect (even though I cannot endorse a single one of his policies) has jumped exponentially.

I guess in their multifarious, well-funded right wing agit-prop operation, this wingnut rag just isn't as efficient as our little blog at posting RELEVANT NEWS ...

Hostage-Taking Has Only Just Begun — HellOOO TEAPARTYVILLES

Those who continue to insist the GOP didn't score a major victory are just plain wrong. The severe austerity measures of this debt deal and the resulting economic contraction will not only lead to millions of jobs lost but, as many economists including (but not only) Paul Krugman have warned, will lead to a repeat of 1937 when FDR was convinced by Republicans and conservatives in his party (the ideological twins of Geithner, Summers, and YES, President Obama) to tackle the rising deficits despite strong economic growth that was pulling us out of the Great Depression. FDR took his foot off the Keynesian government investment/"spending" accelerator in jobs, infrastructure, enduring projects (roads, bridges, dams, national parks, environmental conservation projects) whose legacy carried over to succeeding generations. And this is what happened — See chart and Rachel's (we MISSED ya!) awesome report:

And here's Paul Krugman on Keith's freedom of news zone:

Back in 2009 when we were still reeling from the Bush economic collapse some wingnut jackass pegged an "Obamaville" sign ("Hooverville," get it ...) on a chain link fence enclosing a 'tent city' in Colorado. Cheap shot, of course, considering the President's imperfect and inadequate stimulus saved or created some three million jobs. Still, the "optics" of charging fat cats $35,000 for a high end ticket to attend his post-austerity bill birthday bash, are terrible. The wingnut blogosphere is taking the President to the cleaners for this ... speaking of self-inflicted wounds: $35,000 is an unemployed American's average ANNUAL living wage.

The Tent Cities, terrible expressions of abject poverty and homelessness in this, STILL the world's wealthiest nation, have mushroomed across the land, especially in Tea Party red states in the South. They're tragic and they will grow, consequentially for this administration, as a result of this calamitous debt ceiling cave-in. The time is NOW for We, The People to mobilize and begin taking our country back from these extremist Republican/Teabaggers, or as Bill Maher calls them: SCUMBAGGERS.

And let's call the TENT CITIES for what they are: TEAPARTYVILLES.

Bill Maher Gives B'Day Prez Advice ... And Stephie A MIGRAINE!

With Dr. Michael Eric Dyson at the helm, doing a good job of subbing for Big Eddie, Bill Maher was truly a GUEST OF HONOR, representing the bruised and battered feelings of progressives so well, saying WHAT NEEDED TO BE SAID. Bill puts most so-called "political analysts" to shame, with fellow comedic genius Jon Stewart, who told the President: "don't lay this turd on us!"

Meanwhile, Stephanie Miller and her faithful posse of Obama worshippers gave our B'Day Prez a BIG HUG because those NASTY progressives are SO MEAN to him! Aww ...

Pat Buchanan DOUBLES DOWN On His Racism!

Can you believe it? The ball is in the MSNBC empty suits court. Keith seized the following racist eruption in Pat's triumphalist blood-lust defense of the Teabaggers. I actually agree with Pat on one thing. Calling the Teabaggers "Hobbits" is an insult to Frodo and Bilbo Baggins. Keith nabbed him for today's Worst Persons In The World, along with a drunk wrestling wingnut and the aforementioned racist Rep. from Colorado. All in all, a pretty typical catch in RightWingVille. Watch:

Is Pat Buchanan Next To Follow Mark Halperin To The MSNBC "Briar Patch"?

In an a cringe-inducing exchange with the Reverend Al, MSNBC's resident nativist Pat Buchanan kept referring to President Obama as "your boy." Then he repeated the offensive term to describe the Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, who had rightly called the debt deal a "Satan sandwich." Paging the MSNBC suits: Is there a qualitative difference between Mark Halperin's "dick" insult to the President and Buchanan's "your boy?" I don't see it. But I find it interesting that both Halperin and Buchanan hang out at Moron Joe. Just imagine how they must talk out of earshot and camera range.

TEA PARTY Remedial Ed: Embrace Your RACISM, Even In Debt Deal

It had to happen, didn't it. Some Teabagger RATBASTARD in the House had to make the public RACIST statement about President Obama to seal the deal with the TEA PARTY SEAL OF APPROVAL. Listen to this SCUMBAG. The Teabaggers are utterly despicable, disgusting excuses for humanity. Apology: TAR BABY = QUAGMIRE. Yeah, right.

There's ONE THING, At Least, We Can All Celebrate About The Debt Vote

Congresswoman Gabby Giffords' emotional return to Congress to cast her vote:

What Keith Said And A Super Congress That Is Neither

Man, at least there's a spot somewhere on cable for freedom of news. Countdown is a port of call — Rachel and Big Eddie, too — from the storm-tossed seas of collaborationist corporate media everywhere else on cable.

The Idiot Punditocracy have largely dismissed the so-called "Super Congress" composed of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, 12 in all, as just another do-nothing Congressional committee or commission that is a meaningless part of the debt deal. WRONG. It may thrill Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell, and their cohorts because they will not be directly blamed for cutting the Big Three (Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security).

Senate Democrats and Republicans have colluded to take Big Three cuts away from the beaten path of political discourse, under the radar so to speak, by handing it off to a slash-and-burn committee composed of Republicans and Democrat/DINOs. As usual, Democrats were routed by goose-stepping Republicans who will always vote in lock-step to make cuts and prevent tax increases, while peeling off one or two DINO votes to pass the cuts, because all it requires is a simple majority.

My candidate for the Medicare executioner in the Democratic Party is Kent Conrad. He's a retiring DINO from North Dakota who has already come out in favor of so-called "entitlement reform" on the beneficiary side. Another one is the corporatist DINO from Virginia, Senator Mark Warner. They are members of the so-called Gang of Six. Understand, the Gang of Six have already agreed in principle to beneficiary cuts. Senator Tom Coburn, a Republican right winger has proposed with Traitor Joe Lieberman a hike in the eligibility age of Medicare from 65 to 67. Call it a trial balloon. This is their "die quickly with no health care" proposal for seniors between the ages of 65 and 67.

And the COLA "adjustments" which are agreed to for Social Security, will cost beneficiaries, "According to the advocacy group Strengthen Social Security, the chained-CPI could lead to annual Social Security benefit cuts of $560 for those aged 75, $984 for those aged 85 and $1,392 for those aged 95." Hey, to millionaires like President Obama and Senators Conrad and Warner $984 is a pittance they write off in their tax returns. But to millions of retirees, that's real money.

You won't hear this from the Idiot Punditocracy or from the Obama apologists out there with their hear-see-speak no evil attitude. And you won't hear it from good folks fighting the good fight like Senator Bernie Sanders, because Senate decorum constrains him from naming names. But he has already sounded the alarm about this probably unconstitutional "Super Congress." He has already warned that if the cuts to the Big Three come, they will come from Democrats.

So I'm naming names. Obviously, the "Super Congress" will have at its core the Gang of Six. It makes sense for a whole lot of reasons, not all of them conspiratorial. These guys have been immersed in this downsizing government cutting frenzy — just on paper for now — for months. They have the expertise, they've done the groundwork, and they've already agreed on a broad, conservative bipartisan framework for real cuts that will hurt millions of our citizens. Based on his compulsive obsession with "finding the center" in  all things, as the astute Howard Fineman noted, can't you just picture President Obama loving this?

Some of those who are feverishly powder-puffing and slapping lipstick on this PIG of a deal say, not to worry, the "Super Congress" won't make any cuts in an election year. That may be, but it's a gambler's calculation, not a certainty, I don't care how many bridges out there they've got to sell us. The composition of this group is intended to be, well ... shadowy, just like in those sinister conspiracy movies. It's a stealth cut-and-slash torpedo aimed at the weakest point of the so-called phony "firewall" protecting the Big Three. And since at least two or more of the prospective members (Conrad, Coburn, Lieberman?) are retiring, the political pressure will be off their backs and they'll be able to give cover to the rest of their Senate colleagues. Congress likes nothing if not the avoidance, at all costs, of making tough decisions — or should I say, standing up on principle, even if it threatens their political careers.

Today, once again, the President served notice that "YES" (that's the latest version of "yes, we can" — CUT) so-called eye-of-the-beholder "modest" cuts to Medicare are coming. He is in general agreement with proposals by the Gang of Six, which will soon morph into the "Super Congress." And these cuts are to be funneled through this stealth "Super Congress" process. It's insidious and it's gutless — perfect adjectives for Congress. That's why "institutionalists" like Reid, McConnell, and Boehner are so excited about such a diabolical legislative device, whose principal function is to give them political cover for cuts to the Big Three that are opposed by 60 to 80 percent of Americans.

So please, when it happens, I don't want to hear Stephanie Miller moaning and bawling into her coffee. No need to pour coffee on your genitals, Steph; feed your brain instead. Accept that President Obama isn't the knight in shining armor who will ride in to save the day — as your naïve, starry-eyed Obama-lovers believe — but a center-right, corporate conservative Democrat who has choices to make and options to take. He has a presidential decision-matrix like no other. He has the bully pulpit. He's not "handcuffed" by anything or any faction, unless it's by choice and except by his constitutional duty and the duties of co-equal branches of government.

The Tea Party faction in Congress threatened its insanity to roll our risk-averse president. And it worked. It didn't have to be this way. As a result, millions of people who are hurting too much already will hurt more. That's the reality.  It's time for the President to take sides. (And I find it unbelievable that it's even necessary to say this.) But ultimately, it's up to us to take our government back. The front lines are in the states. In Wisconsin, where we are fighting back against Republican insanity and overreach. Then it's on to Washington.

If the President is unable or unwilling to lead, then we will take the point. As Keith was saying:

Bill Maher (UNCENSORED): We're ALL Socialists, Especially The Teabaggers ...

Because, as a percentage of the population, they're most reliant on government socialism like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security — or sucking off the government teat, like the hypocritical Bachmanns — not to speak of living in states which take in the most gub'mint revenues to federal taxes paid. So, these Teabaggers by their own definition, are the DREGS of humanity as double- and triple- and quadruple-dipping FREELOADERS.

Here's Bill Maher singing the just praises of civilized European socialism, unmarred by the cleaned-up Lawrence version with long-winded, preachy, self-indulgent intro which makes promoting even otherwise good video segments a problem. The man's pomposity ("but enough about me") knows no bounds. Give it a rest, Larry-O. Especially, after that unsuccessful recovery intro ... "the President blinked." Uh-oh. WEAK!

Bill had Teabagger Matt Kibbe next to him during the entire 'New Rules' segment. Too bad we couldn't see his facial expressions, doubtless tortured or blank.

The President May Have Surrendered, But We Don't Have To

There aren't many options left to progressives after this craven pact with the devil was struck by the President with Republican extortionists. Ironically, President Obama may have been adept and committed at hunting down and killing Osama Bin Laden, but when it came to dealing — metaphorically, let me be clear — with factional political terrorists in a political entity representing the narrow slice of America's ruling class, Wall Street, the corporations, and right wing extremists, literally fewer than 30 percent of the voting population, the President caved like a bottomless sinkhole.

Why he's done it is a question for "psychosocial" historians, to coin a term from a Tea Party sympathizer. We've all got our own ideas, but it's really irrelevant, when the evidence is in the deeds more than the words. The President laid Social Security bare when it was not implicated in this despicable travesty, this manufactured crisis. He negotiated with Republican leaders behind closed doors and away from the cleansing sunshine of transparency. He betrayed our trust on Medicare, too, by accepting the Coburn-Lieberman proposal to raise the eligibility age from 65 to 67. And the so-called "modest adjustments" to the cost of living calculation in Social Security will result in thousands of fewer dollars in the pockets of beneficiaries who rely primarily on fixed incomes and benefits from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to live.

The President's sang froid, so ably demonstrated in the killing of Osama and when he plays military commander-in-chief which he clearly loves, carries over to his constituents. Intellectually he may feel it, but "no drama Obama" seems incapable of demonstrating compassion, empathy, or outrage as Paul Krugman noted, when the situation clearly demands it. He reminds me of a highly skilled heart or brain surgeon who cannot afford to become emotionally attached to any of his patients.

The President failed to push back against the relentless assault of extremist Republicans bent on destroying every vestige of the New Deal and the labor unions, which created the foundation for our prosperous middle class, every vestige of government itself. Today, incredibly, he is collaborating in the downsizing of government, ultimately to "drown it in the tub." President Obama failed, at every turn, to present the Democratic narrative rich in American history and culture and decency as an alternative to this monstrous Republican vision of plutocratic, autocratic, undemocratic, unconstitutional, anti-government rule. (Why the hell is Harry Reid so enthused about a "Super Congress" which will render the larger body a rubber stamp status of the kind which defined banana republics?)

One explanation for the President's passivity, for his reluctance to fight for the high values and ideals which have distinguished the Democratic Party, and which coincided with our nation's prosperity in the 20th century, is that President Obama does not believe in them. Another is his calculation that this is what he needs to do in order to win reelection in 2012. He is wrong. But to accept the alternative that past is future, that great public works projects of FDR scope and targeted jobs jobs jobs programs to fix our crumbling infrastructure and reinvigorate our manufacturing base, means to take risks and engage the opposition in open political warfare. FDR and Truman relished it.

This President abhors it. He wants to be liked by all, especially his worst detractors, not realizing that as Albert Fried who wrote FDR And His Enemies said, "the legacy of a public figure is largely defined by the quality and number of his enemies." Even more distressing, President Obama has rejected Keynesian economics in favor of doubling down on the failed policies of the past 30 years. That is President Obama's biggest sin. He bought into the ideology of Reaganomics, of 30 years of declining wages, jobs, of a decimated manufacturing base, brought on by a "trickle-down" farce written on a napkin.

President Obama's posture toward his political opponents is less that of the most powerful leader in the world, and more akin to a community organizer seeking creative ways to extract a few concessions from powerful interests who held (in his mind) the strongest hand. The President has constantly pushed back against critics in his own party by stressing the limits of his power, seldom contemplating the use of the "bully pulpit" to, in effect, bully his opponents into submitting to his will. It's all about a one-way street named "Conciliation And Compromise" — and his opponents know and exploit it. Republicans "should be dancing in the streets," said the Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, who called the deal a "Satan sandwich" because as one exuberant GOPer spiked, Boehner got a lot more out of this deal than he could have possibly hoped for only a few weeks ago.

Robert Kuttner dissects the President's capitulation to a small extremist faction and its consequences:

The United States is now reminiscent of countries that at various periods of their history have been either been paralyzed by minority extremist groups; or worse, have elected them to office.

The rise of the Tea Party right is a classic case of how a small, extremist faction seizes control when the political mainstream fails to solve deep national problems. It is an amalgam of a far-right that has always hovered around one-fifth of the electorate, swollen by the frustrations of previously apolitical people.

In much of Europe today, far-right populist parties now typically get 20 or 25 percent of the vote. With Europe's parliamentary and multiparty system, however, they don't get to govern, but in several countries they are now the second of third most popular party.

These parties represent about the same share of public opinion as the Tea Party in the U.S. But in America, with our two-party system and our constitutional machinery of blockage, if a determined minority gains control of one party it can bring responsible government to a halt. That is what has now occurred, and it will color our politics between now and the 2012 election, and quite possibly beyond.

As political scientist Andrew Hacker points out in an important piece in the current New York Review of Books, current House Republicans received a total of 30,799,391 votes in the 2010 midterm election. Barack Obama received more than twice that many, 69,498,215, in the 2008 presidential.

The falloff between 2008 and 2010 was only slightly worse than usual. However in 2010, the people who turned out most intensely were Obama's right-wing opposition. Many of the young and working class voters who came out to cast ballots for Obama in 2008 didn't see any reason to vote in the 2010 mid-term. So Republicans are behaving as if they have a radical mandate that far outstrips the actual support for their tactics and policies -- and Obama is failing to contest them.

How do you invite the radical right to take power? Start with thirty years of stagnant, declining living standards for most people. Then add a financial crisis made on Wall Street. Next, elect a Democratic president who raises hopes, but who turns out to be a close ally of the same forces that caused the collapse. Give that president a temperament that refuses to blame the right, and is mainly about seeking accommodation. The right then gets to put Washington and Wall Street in the same bucket, and blame the Democrats.

So you end up with a weak center unable to deliver recovery or reform, an angry, passionate right, and an enfeebled left reluctant to challenge their president until it is too late.

It is a fearsome time in the history of our Republic. And the politics of extortion by the Tea Party Republicans will not end with this deal. On the contrary, the deal will encourage more of the same.

Meanwhile, the execrable Beltway media, a gaggle of sycophantic pack animals, thoroughly sussed by Paul Krugman, began beating the drum of so-called "moderate" compromise between the Tea Party and, as Jonathan Alter put it, the "left part of the Democratic Party" who will be "marginalized" by this deal. A perfect illustration of the surreal nature of the media coverage and the casual, almost elegant tidbit of misinformation which happens, literally, hundreds of times on any given "news" day, here is NBC's David Gregory from his rarefied perch as host of Meet The Press: "There are going to be Medicare cuts and Social Security cuts —  what are you going to do about the big drivers of the debt?"

When did Social Security, which remains solvent in its current trajectory for the next 26 years, suddenly become a "big driver of the debt"? A: When the Republicans and David Gregory made it so. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee which has escaped the Washington Beltway black hole, and thus speaks truth to power, issued a blunt statement: "Seeing a Democratic president take taxing the rich off the table and instead push a deal that will lead to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefit cuts is like entering a bizarre parallel universe — one with horrific consequences for middle-class families." Indeed, as I said, President Obama risks defining his legacy as the first Democratic president to sink a dagger into the heart of the New Deal. But I think he's okay with that.

Jonathan Alter who, together with Chris Matthews and leading MSNBC fantasist Lawrence O'Donnell, is a total Obama apologist, managed to retain remnants of his journalistic integrity as he tried in vain to provide context to what was unfolding as a horrifying lurch to the right by President Obama delivering Democrats into the grips of right wing terroristic political extortionists.

 When Alter tried to point out that this so-called "crisis" was entirely manufactured by the right wing in the House, which dominates Republican politics, Chuck Todd became most animated about identifying a phantom faction of some 40 or so "moderates" in the Republican caucus. Like the lost 9th Legion of the Roman Empire, that wandered in among the savages beyond the "known world" never to be heard from again. Among his Idiot Punditocracy colleagues, Chuckie obsesses the most with redefining the "center" of American politics to fit his own comfort zone. He's not too comfortable around liberals and progressives. He speaks well of so-called "institutionalists" who will save the day and the pocketbooks of "moderates" like himself.

Presumably, "institutionalists" like Darrell Issa, who is using his chairmanship of Government Oversight to lead a witch hunt against President Obama; or John Mica, Chairman of the Transportation Committee, who refuses to fund the Federal Aviation Administration — because he doesn't like unions — throwing thousands out of work and endangering the traveling public in the process. These are Chuck Todd's "institutionalists." Tell us, Chuck: How many of your lost "moderate" Republican legionnaires voted to defund NPR, terminate women's health services and Planned Parenthood, slash nutrition programs for children, deep-six jobs programs, and kill Medicare in the Ryan "budget" which would add trillions to our debt?

Crooks And Liars mocks Chuckie and his Idiot Punditocracy "Villager" pals "bemoaning the loss of all "those great 'compromisers'" in the House. I was almost expecting Chuckie to recall Chris Matthews' "40-yard line" metaphor — which is closer to the 10-yard line on the far right end of the field after consecutive penalties rolled everyone back to the "dark side." Good on Nancy Pelosi for having the integrity to tell it like it is, even as the President was twisting her arm and bending her to his will. Paul Krugman has been the most eloquent voice in the wilderness, sounding the alarm:

Make no mistake about it, what we’re witnessing here is a catastrophe on multiple levels.

It is, of course, a political catastrophe for Democrats, who just a few weeks ago seemed to have Republicans on the run over their plan to dismantle Medicare; now Mr. Obama has thrown all that away. And the damage isn’t over: there will be more choke points where Republicans can threaten to create a crisis unless the president surrenders, and they can now act with the confident expectation that he will.

In the long run, however, Democrats won’t be the only losers. What Republicans have just gotten away with calls our whole system of government into question. After all, how can American democracy work if whichever party is most prepared to be ruthless, to threaten the nation’s economic security, gets to dictate policy? And the answer is, maybe it can’t.

These are dark days for our nation. A phony "crisis" may have been averted, but in the process we have lost our soul.

Mariachis In The Illinois Statehouse: This Is What America Is All About

The American Dream isn't confined solely to people who look like you and me or come from Europe. It embodies the words in the sonnet by Emma Lazarus engraved in a bronze plaque in the Statue of Liberty monument — 

"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!"

— that America is a land of immigrants, built by immigrants, and of opportunity for those who come here seeking a better life. It is fitting that Illinois, land of Lincoln, becomes the first state to enact the DREAM Act, with solid bipartisan support as 11 Republicans joined with 34 Democrats in the Illinois State Senate to vote for its passage. The law will grant access for both documented and undocumented children of immigrants to private college scholarships and state college savings programs. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signs it Monday.

Mariachis In The Illinois Statehouse Celebrate In Music Passage Of The DREAM Act

Quotable: The Reverend AL Sharpton On John Boehner's Scramble

"What you have here is the Republican quarterback call a huddle and be sacked by his own team."

Ragin' Boehner's Shifting Vote Count ....

As everyone knows, the House vote scheduled for today was suspended sometime after 6 p.m. this evening as John Boehner tries to corral enough Tea Party votes to pass whatever debt limit/balanced budget monstrosity  he's crafting to try and appease them. Louie Gohmert, a weird Texan Teabagger is always good for a florid quote. Said he, upon exiting Speaker Boehner's office: "I'm still a beaten and bloodied NO." Another Teabagger, predictably, headed straight for the House Chapel to "pray for my leadership."

It appears the Speaker is falling a few votes short of 216, and the longer this goes on the more those flipped "NO" votes become hesitant and reluctant about walking the plank for their Speaker, since Democrats astutely served notice the Boehner proposal is DOA in the Senate. In this sense, the failure to pass the measure today is already a Republican FAIL. Even if it passes on Friday, it will have been a Pyrrhic victory amid vast Republican disarray. And when Democrats tear Boehner's proposal to pieces, the GOP humiliation, its utter inability to govern will have been complete in the public's eyes.

Better lay off the sauce, Johnny B. Looks like you have a looooong night/morning ahead.

House Republicans Pass JUMP, CRASH, AND DIE Social Security Bill

The new law will remove restrictions on cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol as well as provide tax incentives for seniors who bungee jump off of cliffs. (Courtesy: Onion.) Said Speaker Boehner: "This bill enables our 'job creators' and corporate citizens to avail themselves of the best and the brightest college grad workforce while at the same time slashing costly healthcare and pension benefits as the longevity of our population steadily declines. It's a 'WIN-WIN' for the 'job creators' and corporations, and ... uh, undertakers. Or, to build upon former Rep. Grayson's statement on the House floor, the Republican entitlements reform policy is, DIE QUICKLY, DIE OFTEN, and DIE EARLY."

Social Security Reform Bill Encourages Americans To Live Faster, Die Younger

TEA PARTY Rallies In Washington To Destroy America — President Fiddles

The ignorant know-nothing Teabagger brigades may hold yet another obese, phlegmatic, whitebread rally in our nation's capital to stiffen the spines of the neo-fascists they sent to Congress to bring our nation to its knees. Boehner can't control them; neither can the Chamber of Commerce, aka Dr. Frankenstein. Many of the Teabaggers and their kinfolk rely on the very same programs — Medicare and Social Security — they are now enthusiastically pushing to KILL. They also rely on low interest rates, a tax on everyone when rates rise after default, retirement accounts of various types which will be decimated, and lots of their jobs which will be lost.

The Tea Party rabble represents less than 30 percent of the American people, they can't drive, yet they're driving our America bus to the brink of disaster. Ultimately, this will have been a massive FAIL by President Obama if financial disaster isn't averted. Contrary to the claims of reactionaries in the Idiot Punditocracy, the President's base is abandoning him in droves because we're fed up with all of this "triangulation" between so-called "independents" and the corporations, with nothing but rhetoric concerning the pain felt by the poor, blacks, Latinos, the elderly. How many lines in the sand has President Obama drawn then said, "never mind?" How many times must we to listen to the sickening Fox "News" mantra, "fair" and "balanced?" How many more times must we see the President cave and cave and "compromise" away all of the Democratic Party's cherished values?

Every time I see Valerie Jarrett on the White House lawn I'm reminded of how so not progressive this President is. Jarrett is the ultimate insider's insider, the corporate schmoozer, the Georgetown party lady, the boardroom dealmaker, the "close family friend" who embodies everything — everything — about fake Democrats-in-name-only, and nothing of the Democratic Party's roots, its heart and soul — the people's party — representing those who do not have a voice or a seat at the table. Historically, "close family friends" who are political neophytes and outsiders make lousy advisers.

I will challenge anyone to tell me WHO, in President Obama's inner circle speaks for ordinary citizens, the poor, Latinos, the disadvantaged, seniors. Who: Elizabeth Warren? She's leaving. She's fed up; she can hardly get the President's ear, it seems, without Valerie Jarrett hovering about like a controlling den mother. The last thing the President needs is to be in more of a "bubble" than he is in already. Then there's Bill Daley, White House Chief of Staff, a Jarrett friend and ally, who is the quintessential smooth corporatist Democrat, a favorite of these obstructionist Republicans. The truth is, there is no one inside this White House who represents the people. The shocking statistics of historical highs in income disparity between white America and African Americans and Latinos only serve to underscore how so very neglectful and passive this President and administration have been to the people's suffering and to core Democratic values.

Every time the President speaks out in Bobby Kennedy language, we think maybe, maybe this is the time he will become the President for the poor, for those who are suffering, for seniors. But it's so much cruel talk, considering how hurtful the policies he is pushing will be to those most vulnerable. And each time President Obama assumes the posture of a "negotiator" it seems he insists, unilaterally, on holding the weakest hand and having to beg for crumbs from Republican extremists.

Paul Krugman said, "At this point, we just have to accept it as a fact of life: Obama doesn’t, and maybe can’t, do outrage — no matter how much the situation calls for it ... It turns out, I’m sorry to say, that he wasn’t the one we were waiting for." Steve Benen delved into the surreal politics of Washington, the farcical White House option of a "trigger" for ending the Bush tax cuts. President Obama has said he does not read his critics, as if it's a badge of honor. Well maybe he should — they're far more frank than his yes-man inner circle or protective family friend Valerie Jarrett can be.

The President's penchant for "negotiating" from a position of weakness and timidity is not a negotiation, it's not rational, and it's not an option. It's time to invoke the 14th Amendment, Mr. President. Even Bill Clinton would do it. Or, as President Obama said, "there's always hope."

How The MINISTRY OF TRUTH Covers BIG BROTHER & DEAR LEADER

IT DOESN'T! This is REALITY ORWELL, folks, thanks to our chastened buddy Lawrence; imagine Cal Thomas suddenly vanishing before the RAPTURE ... S'long, maite:

Then BILL MAHER breaks Larry-O's heart. Awww ...

NEW AGE FREAKOUT: 1997 Book Predicts Our Current Debt Crisis

"An impasse over the federal budget reaches a stalemate. The president and Congress both refuse to back down, triggering a near-total government shutdown. The president declares emergency powers. Congress rescinds his authority. Dollar and bond prices plummet. The president threatens to stop Social Security checks. Congress refuses to raise the debt ceiling. Default looms. Wall Street panics."

The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy — What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny: page 273, Ch. 10, by William Strauss.

Here is Amazon's Summary of the book:

Human history moves in cycles. A full cycle lasts from 80-100 years, the length of a long human life. These cycles have what might be considered seasons, or TURNINGS as the authors call them. Each turning has its own characteristics and lasts between 20-25 years.

A first turning is a HIGH a time of building up of institutions. A second turning is an AWAKENING at time of spiritual renewal and the beginning of questioning the instiutitons created or valued in the previous turning. A third turning is a period of UNRAVELING when all those institutions that were valued in the first turning are coming apart slowly but surely as a result of the questioning of them during the second turning. The FOURTH TURNING is a CRISIS period. A time when the old institutions no longer get the job done, and must be replaced by new more effective institutions.

At the core of these seasons of time, are the four generational archetypes the HERO, ARTIST, PROPHET, and the NOMAD. It is the movement of these various generational archetypes through the four stages of life, Childhood, Young Adult, Middle Age, and Elderhood that sets the stage for the FOUR TURNINGS. Each time one of the archetypes moves to a new stage of life, a new turning begins.

Mark Twain said it best "History never repeats itself, at best it sometimes rhymes."

That's exactly what this book is about.

Quotable: Boehner On The BIGGEST Republican LIE

No wonder John Boehner takes his marching orders from the PIGMAN, who makes a millionaire's living out of broadcasting LIES, hurtful to our country, on a daily basis. This is Boehner's BIG LIE:

"The sad truth is that the President wanted a blank check six months ago, and he wants a blank check today. That is just not going to happen."

When was conceding over $4 trillion in cuts, including the Big Three, ever become a "blank check"? And when does a rise in the debt ceiling, which occurred SEVEN times under George W. Bush and 18 times under Ronald Reagan become a "blank check"? Greg Sargent of WaPo explains:

This is a straight-up lie. Not the everyday, casual fudging that politicians do, but a straight up lie. As the Government Accountability Office explains: “The debt limit does not control or limit the ability of the federal government to run deficits or incur obligations. Rather, it is a limit on the ability to pay obligations already incurred.”

George W. Bush along with his party — many Democrats, including then-Senator Obama, opposed going to war and a blank check to pay for them — took us down the road to economic catastrophe (enacting tax cuts for the rich, two wars, and an insurance company Medicare giveaway) by turning a surplus (under Democratic President Clinton) into a $10.626 trillion debt on the day President Obama took office, with the economy in a death spiral. President Obama stopped the bleeding and now the Republicans do not want him, we the people, to succeed, even if it takes destroying our economy.

In the latest poll, 51 percent of Americans blame Republicans for this manufactured crisis and only 30 percent blame the President. The phones are literally ringing off the hook in Congress, and if you try to get through you'll get a busy signal. The Democratic Party is viewed more favorably (49 percent) than the Republican Party (38 percent).

So why aren't Republicans buckling to public pressure? Because our regular two-party system has turned into three parties in addition to divided government. Democrats control the White House, barely control the Senate, while the Tea Party (about 80 or so nominally Republican members) share control of the House and drive its Republican leadership. This is not "divided government" in the usual sense when the "third party," the Tea Party is composed of intransigent, nihilistic anti-government political terrorists.

The only way out is an FDR-style historical realignment which guarantees the Democratic Party the necessary majorities to govern. It's up to the people, the voters. It's up to the millions of natural Democratic constituents who never cared to vote but are finally making the connection when the pain of Republican LIES and anti-government anarchy hits home.

It's up to the voters. EVERY citizen must become engaged.

POISON PILL FACTOID RE: THE REID $2.7 TRILLION PLAN

President Obama praised Senate Majority Harry Reid's plan as an acceptable compromise going forward:

• Nearly twice as  many cuts as Boehner's plan, taking the debt ceiling off the table until after the 2012 election; Boehner wants to revisit the debt ceiling before the election for political reasons;

• It includes all the Biden original Gang of Six negotiated cuts, $2.7 trillion with bipartisan agreement;

• It has no tax or "revenue" increases to mollify Republican ideological extremism;

• All entitlement so-called "reforms" are off the table ... YAY!

But wait ... (to mix my metaphors deliciously) there's a poison pill in Harry Reid's TROJAN HORSE plan, which is the VENAL "SUPER CONGRESS" intended to ram through the gutting of entitlements ("modest reforms" are TOTALLY in the eye of the beholder) — OOPS.

STAY ALERT PEOPLE, because the Reid "Super Congress" POISON PILL is set to be released in a sneak TROJAN HORSE attack.

Fifty-Second Dueling Post-Speech Analysis: Obama v. Boehner

President Obama is still playing on the Republicans' turf, buying into what former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich calls "the BIG LIE" (we know all about that) by Republicans that cutting spending amid an economic downturn will create jobs. IT WILL CREATE PAIN, AND LOTS OF IT. AND EXCUSE ME, MR. PRESIDENT, BUT THE REPUBLICANS ARE TO BLAME. As Reich pointed out, taking $2.7 trillion out of this weak economy while demanding ZERO sacrifice from the rich will cause tremendous hardship to ordinary Americans and slow economic recovery.

President Obama has conceded this BOGUS ARGUMENT, THIS LIE to the Republicans, he framed the argument in a Republican way as the astute Joan Walsh remarked, nailing that RATBASTARD John Boehner: "I want to comment about the utter MENDACITY of John Boehner, this is BAD FAITH, going full-tilt TEA PARTY CRAZY!" Joan noted that the President and Boehner had come to within $400 billion in a $4 trillion package before Boehner caved to the Tea Party and walked out on the talks.

 But I must say, the disrespect that was shown to the President, to the office, the trappings of the presidency by the Republican Speaker of the House was utterly appalling. Not only did Boehner LIE and LIE and LIE, but he did it with such contempt for the TRUTH, literally pulling a Rush Limbaugh, whom he called before his speech to get his marching orders. Boehner has this really disgusting habit of mimicking/mocking his opponents' EXACT LANGUAGE and throwing it back in their face. It's JUVENILE AND CLASSLESS.

A real political leader and master of rhetoric would have used his own words to neutralize his or her opponent and take them down. Last Friday, when the President had his outburst of frustration, he outlined all the TERRIBLE CONCESSIONS (I'M SORRY, BUT HE'S TOO FUCKING TRIGGER HAPPY) he made to the Republicans. President Obama said in one of his more memorable rhetorical flourishes, that Republicans had left him standing "at the altar" TWICE, and can't "take YES for an answer."

Tonight, in his despicable LIE-infested attack on the President, that tobacco-smoking DRUNK behaved like a petulant child: "no you can't, no you can't, no you can't, no you can't ..." when he used the President's EXACT words to throw them back at him — "The President can't take YES for an answer" — then proceeded to LIE and LIE and LIE and LIE:

LIE — The DRACONIAN "Cut, Cap and Balance" Bill passed the House of Representatives last week, not as Boehner claimed on a "bipartisan" basis but on a party-line vote with only FIVE Democratic votes;

LIE — "There is no stalemate in Congress." Even his Tea Party freshman caucus member Joe Walsh contradicted that;

LIE — "If the President signs [the new Boehner plan] the crisis atmosphere he has created will simply disappear." THE CRISIS "ATMOSPHERE" was created by EXTREMIST REPUBLICANS IN THE HOUSE WHO REFUSED TO ACCEPT HISTORIC AND, LET'S FACE IT, FROM A LIBERAL'S PERSPECTIVE (WHICH IS NOT OUR TRIANGULATING CLINTONIAN PRESIDENT'S), DESPICABLE CUTS;

LIE — Harry Reid's alternative is unacceptable because it contains "phony accounting and Washington gimmicks" — THE SAME ACCOUNTING GIMMICKS EMPLOYED BY THE RYAN BUDGET WHICH BOEHNER PROMOTED.

And so it went. As Joan said, the MENDACITY of John Boehner was beyond belief; his disrespect for the President and the presidency, simply jaw-dropping.

The President of the United States asked the PEOPLE to let their representatives in Congress know they want this impasse ended and the issue resolved. The people CRASHED the Congressional websites and servers, including John Boehner's.

Go easy on the booze, you RATBASTARD.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "The American people should not be collateral damage to the political warfare in Washington." ~ President Obama.

Idiot Punditocracy Watch: Chris Cilliza Makes The Grade

Don't get me wrong. Chris Cilliza, of WaPo, is a good guy. So while I seldom paid much attention to what he had to say, he wasn't one to venture into Idiot Pundit territory. Mostly he's always seemed competent, with no hidden agendas other than earning an honest living to keep his family fed. Like the rest of us.

I like Chris. But on Friday, commenting on President Obama's EPIC eruption, Chris likened OBAMA to AL GORE (!)... It was one of those (WHAT?) moments with the embarrassing pregnant pause followed by the awkward (silent) 'movin' right along now'... No one had any idea in what context this was said, only that Chris may have taken temporary leave of his senses. I mean, Al Gore has HIMSELF poked fun in SNL skits at his undying reputation as the ultimate STIFF politician, variously compared to a log, a statue, or a potted plant.

But as an Idiot Punditocracy takedown of President Obama, it was almost too clever to make the grade. Almost. Chris would later redeem himself by noting, rather cynically, that it was an entirely political outburst by the President. It cuts both ways, but this was an objective enough comment to pass journalistic muster, allowing other exculpatory evidence. So, Chris Cilliza made the junior rankings grade of the Beltway Idiot Punditocracy. Still, Chris has loads of promise, and I really think that he can pull himself out of such an ignominious hole. C'mon, Chris. You're better than that!

CONSPIRACY CORNER: McConnell-Reid-Boehner TRIUMVIRATE Propose Unconstitutional "SUPER CONGRESS"

RENDER UNTO CAESAR ...

Across the INTERNETS ideological spectrum, left to right and inbetween are abuzz with chatter about an alarming report in the Huffington Post by crack reporter (with the perfect surname) Ryan Grim:

"Debt ceiling negotiators think they've hit on a solution to address the debt ceiling impasse and the public's unwillingness to let go of benefits such as Medicare and Social Security that have been earned over a lifetime of work: Create a new Congress.

This "Super Congress," composed of members of both chambers and both parties, isn't mentioned anywhere in the Constitution, but would be granted extraordinary new powers. Under a plan put forth by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his counterpart Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), legislation to lift the debt ceiling would be accompanied by the creation of a 12-member panel made up of 12 lawmakers -- six from each chamber and six from each party.

Legislation approved by the Super Congress — which some on Capitol Hill are calling the "super committee" — would then be fast-tracked through both chambers, where it couldn't be amended by simple, regular lawmakers, who'd have the ability only to cast an up or down vote. With the weight of both leaderships behind it, a product originated by the Super Congress would have a strong chance of moving through the little Congress and quickly becoming law. A Super Congress would be less accountable than the system that exists today, and would find it easier to strip the public of popular benefits. Negotiators are currently considering cutting the mortgage deduction and tax credits for retirement savings, for instance, extremely popular policies that would be difficult to slice up using the traditional legislative process.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has made a Super Congress a central part of his last-minute proposal, multiple news reports and people familiar with his plan say...Obama has shown himself to be a fan of the commission approach to cutting social programs and entitlements."

Most bloggers (myself included) agree this "chilling" scheme is most likely unconstitutional. One called it a Soviet-style "politburo" while the Daily Kos properly termed it "diabolical." I call it a CONSPIRACY FARCE: When two people scheme together (McConnell and Reid) it's a CONSPIRACY; when a third joins in (Boehner) it's a FARCE.

LIFE IMITATING ART: NO, THIS IS NOT ANOTHER HOLLYWOOD SEQUEL

But here's the interesting thing (with a nod to the conspiracists) about this cunning, unconstitutional plan DIABOLIQUE: (1) There is historical precedent: When Julius Caesar around 60 BC wanted to abolish the Roman republic, "he set up the First Triumvirate, an extra-legal arrangement that those with foresight within the Roman Senate and the Optimates opposed as best they could." I wonder what the Paulist libertarians think of all this? (2) Back to the present: Where have I RECENTLY heard of a SUPER CONGRESS, maybe not in name but in CONCEPT? AH-HA! Scroll down, kiddies, to the post covering the interview by BRITISH EXPATRIATE Piers Morgan with SAUDI PRINCE (and 26th richest man IN THE WORLD) ALWALEED BIN TALAL. Keep in mind, Prince Bin Talal OWNS a great chunk of Rupert Murdoch's RIGHT WING PROPAGANDA MACHINE, NEWS CORP., AND WILLINGLY SPEAKS FOR THE RULING CLASS, TRANSNATIONAL PLUTOCRATS, CORPORATIONS, AND WALL STREET. HE SAID THIS regarding the parameters of a DEBT "AGREEMENT:"

"So it's very important for the U.S. Congress, represented by the Senate and the House of Representatives, and by President Obama, to come close together and to finish it — to finish an agreement as soon as possible. And frankly speaking, the so-called Gang of Six should be expanded to represent all the — both the — all the House's members and the Senate's members and reach a conclusion as quickly as possible."

EMPHASIS MINE. The Prince DID NOT HAVE TO MENTION A "SUPER CONGRESS." IT'S ALL THERE: "the so-called Gang of Six should be expanded to represent all the — both the — all the House's members and the Senate's members and reach a conclusion as quickly as possible."

IT'S ALL THERE: FROM A "SO-CALLED GANG OF SIX" TO, EFFECTIVELY, A GANG OF TWELVE REPRESENTING BOTH CHAMBERS, ANSWERABLE NOT TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BUT TO THE TRIUMVIRATE OF McCONNELL-REID-BOEHNER, TO RAM THROUGH THE GUTTING OF ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS THAT PRINCE ALWALEED DECREED "ARE GOING TO HAVE TO HAPPEN," WITH A SIMPLE MAJORITY VOTE.

Buh-Bye AMERICAN DEMOCRACY; Buh-Bye REPUBLIC; Buh-Bye CONSTITUTION ... WE HARDLY KNEW YE ...

OH.MY.GAWD.

Idiot Punditocracy Watch: Milquestoast Chuck Todd Slams Liberals With Misinformation

As they say, "there are lies, damn lies, and statistics."

Chuck Todd, MSNBC's mascot and member in excellent standing of the Idiot Punditocracy, is an expert at manipulating polls and statistics to make specious points that support the Beltway elites' preferences. Necessarily, Chuckie must keep marginalizing the minority liberal view within the Beltway which, according to supercilious colleague Jonathan Capehart, is at best "amusing." With a surprising turn of imagination, the typically bland Chuckie has lately turned feral toward liberals. First, he offered the theory of a liberal cabal inhabiting the general geographic perimeter between Washington and New York City. This so-called "liberal elite" as Chuckie describes it no doubt includes everyone he despises in his political milieu — ah, let me guess: Chris Hayes (he might get his own prime time show b/c for one he's twice as smart as Chuckie) and The Nation crowd (a backstop to Chuckie's pals at POLITICO), columnists E.J. Dionne and Princeton egghead Paul Krugman, Keith, Big Eddie, the New York Times, and of course, Rachel.

To my knowledge, Chuckie's floated this "liberal elite" nonsense twice now in so many weeks, the second while dismissing any notion that the President is losing support with his base, noting that only the "liberal elite" in the D.C.-NY corridor is unhappy (I forget what disparaging term he used) while the "basers" as Big Eddie calls them are staunchly behind the President. Chuckie pulled out some poll or another to make his specious point. It's a HOOT to see Chuckie 'milquetoast' Todd get so upset about liberals, "amusing" indeed. But the point is, NOTHING Chuckie says should be taken at face value. EVERYTHING must be verified, if it's even worth the trouble. This story in Talking Points Memo completely flips and contradicts Chuckie's claim about the President's support being strong in his liberal base:

After weeks of prolonged negotiations with Republicans, proposed dealmaking around the federal debt and attempts to reign in future deficits, and in the wake of the strong push back from Congressional Democrats against a 'grand bargain' between the President and the House GOP leadership, a new CNN poll shows that support from the political left flank is starting to leave Obama.

President Obama registered an approval rating in line with other current polls, with 45% of the populace approving of his performance and 54% disapproving, slightly outside the TPM Poll Average of 45.0% approval and 50.1% disapproval.

But the troubling news for the President was within that approval number, where there is a growing number among his base who are disappointed: his rating among self-described liberals in the poll was only 71%, along with 80% self-IDed Democrats in the approval column.

From the CNN report:

"...drill down into that number and you'll see signs of a stirring discontent on the left," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Thirty-eight percent say they disapprove because President Obama has been too liberal, but 13 percent say they disapprove of Obama because he has not been liberal enough — nearly double what it was in May, when the question was last asked, and the first time that number has hit double digits in Obama's presidency."

It should also be noted that complaints of the President not being liberal enough were not just relegated to liberals themselves. 14% of self-described moderates who disapproved of Obama cited the same reason, and even 9% of conservatives.

Quotable: Saudi Prince ALWALEED Dictates Terms Of OUR Debt Agreement

 Here's Piers Morgan introducing Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal on his July 22 show: "TIME Magazine calls Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal the Arabian Warren Buffett. He owned big chunks of Apple, Citigroup and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. And when he talks, the business world listens." It's simply amazing; the ARROGANT SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT from this transnational plutocrat who is the world's 26th richest man, according to FORBES, over OUR CULTURE, WAY OF LIFE, AND RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR GOVERNMENT.

Typically, most heads of state and diplomats will rightfully say it's not their place to comment on internal American affairs, even though that's exactly what WE, the world's PRESUMED superpower, have been doing to other developing countries for so many generations. President Obama said at one point during this hostage-taking manufactured crisis, that we're "not a banana republic." Really? Perhaps the President would like to revise and extend his remarks in light of Prince Alwaleed's statements.

Here's Prince Alwaleed LECTURING Americans while talking to A BRIT:

"As for the U.S. economy, as we all know, that the 2nd of August is nearing very fast, and it's very important for the members of Congress and the president of the United States, Obama, to reach a conclusion as swiftly as possible because the budget deficit in the United States and the cumulative debt and the raising of the debt ceiling, it does not only impact the United States economy but also impacts the whole world economies."

Lecturing CONGRESS and THE PRESIDENT:

"So it's very important for the U.S. Congress, represented by the Senate and the House of Representatives, and by President Obama, to come close together and to finish it — to finish an agreement as soon as possible."

DICTATING TERMS TO THE GANG OF SIX:

"And frankly speaking, the so-called Gang of Six should be expanded to represent all the — both the — all the House's members and the Senate's members and reach a conclusion as quickly as possible."

AND THE MOST AMAZING, AND REVEALING, PART OF THE INTERVIEW IS THE SAUDI PRINCE DICTATING TO OUR CONGRESS AND PRESIDENT EXACTLY WHICH STRUCTURAL CHANGES ARE ACCEPTABLE TO THEM (PLUTOCRATS AND WALL STREET MOGULS) AND WHICH ARE NOT:

MORGAN: When you have a debt approaching $13 trillion and rising all the time and calls now for that debt ceiling to be risen again, surely it is now the time for the American administration to implement higher taxation, isn't it? I mean, you have to get more revenue back into the system.

BIN TALAL: It is very clear that the Republicans do not want to raise taxes. And clearly, President Obama and the Democrats would like to have an element of taxing — of taxes to be raised. Clearly, cutting spending is very important. Clearly, attaching entitlement, whether it's Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid, are going to have to happen.

TRANSLATION: Why are we at an IMPASSE in Washington with this manufactured crisis? Why can't the President, Republicans and Democrats simply accede to the American people's EXPRESSED WISHES AND REACH AN AGREEMENT WHICH DOES NOT TOUCH ENTITLEMENTS — SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE AND MEDICAID — RAISES TAXES ON THE RICH, AND MAKES TARGETED CUTS IN DEFENSE, FOR EXAMPLE, WHICH WOULD NOT HURT THE MIDDLE CLASS AND THE POOR? WHY?

SAUDI PRINCE ALWALEED BIN TALAL TO AMERICAN PEOPLE: "I OWN YOU."

BECAUSE a multibillionaire Saudi Prince, who owns a large portion of Fox "News" has dictated to Congress and the President terms THAT ARE ACCEPTABLE TO TRANSNATIONAL PLUTOCRATS, WALL STREET, AND THE CORPORATE ELITES. PRINCE BIN TALAL REPRESENTS FEWER THAN 1,000 POWERFUL INDIVIDUALS WORLDWIDE WHO FEEL ENTITLED TO DISMISS WHAT 80 PERCENT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WANT AND DICTATE TO OUR GOVERNMENT THE TERMS OF ANY DEBT "AGREEMENT."

HERE'S SAUDI PRINCE ALWALEED BIN TALAL, WALL STREET'S SPOKESMAN: " CLEARLY, ATTACHING ENTITLEMENT, WHETHER IT'S SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE, OR MEDICAID, ARE GOING TO HAVE TO HAPPEN."

"... ARE GOING TO HAVE TO HAPPEN."... "It is very clear that the Republicans do not want to raise taxes" AND "Clearly, cutting spending is very important." BUT CUTTING ENTITLEMENTS — SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE, AND MEDICAID — "ARE GOING TO HAVE TO HAPPEN." WHAT A FUCKING ASSWIPE.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY? SINCE WHEN DO THE PEOPLE RULE? ANSWER: SINCE BEFORE THE CITIZENS UNITED DECISION CAME DOWN. MEMO TO THE TEABAGGERS: HERE'S YOUR NEW MANTRA; REPEAT IT WITH YOUR PRAYERS: "I'M AN IGNORANT SAUDI BIG OIL CORPORATE TOOL."