American History According To Michele Bachmann Via Jimmy Kimmel

Well done, Jimmy.

Mr. Subliminal? Bubba Big Dog Praises Michele Bachmann ...

A day or so after Michele Bachmann accused the media of wanting "to see two girls come together and have a mud wrestling fight, and I am not going to give that to them" (mud-wrestle Sarah Palin) ... Bill Clinton created a mini-buzz within the punditocracy by praising Bachmann: "I've been watching her speak at some of these conventions on ESPN, [?] you know, she comes across as a real person."

What's he up to? They asked, speculating that he wanted to help the White House and remain relevant by messin' with the Republican field. Hmm ... Maybe. Or ... maybe not so much?

Channeling His "Inner Truman"? Not Quite Yet.

Somehow, a presser delivers more punch than a tweet or an e-mail. President Obama delivered his strongest rebuke of Congress to date telling them to "get to work" and "get this (agreement on the debt ceiling) done" from the bully pulpit of the presidential press conference. The President tried to shame Congress into action by noting that his two daughters, 10 and 13, do their homework one day ahead of time.

Politically, it was an astute remark sure to rankle Republicans, casting him as the adult in the room, his children as responsible young people, and the Republicans as ... well, thumb-sucking infants? President Obama also drew a line in the sand — of sorts — slamming Republicans for protecting tax breaks for “millionaires and billionaires, oil companies and corporate jet owners” implying he will not tolerate such antics at the expense of Medicare, education, food safety, and weather forecasting, among other essential government investments.

But the President also said some things that do not inspire confidence in the liberal "elites" as the trenchantly quotable Chuck Todd described the base. (To Chuck, who harks from Miami, hotbed of right wing conspiracies, the liberal "elites" must seem like the vanguard of a Marxist revolution.) Concerns remain over whether the President will stand strong against the Republicans, as Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders persistently pleaded, when they dig in their heels and prepare to push off the precipice, taking the country and the world along for the fall. As of now, the scuttlebutt in Republican circles is the President will "cave." Despite this press conference, the GOP hostage takers have reason to be more than confident, cocky, that once again they'll transform President Obama into the doormat on which their radical right wing policy prescriptions will stomp.

As usual, the President treated his liberal/progressive base as a whackin' piñata to curry favor with Independents and the Beltway types, or as Savannah Guthrie noted, people of Chris Cilizza's "ilk," by throwing out the gratuitous line that he'll make some tough choices sure to have his base give him "a hard time." Shameless but we're used to it. Still, except for the examples cited above, the President was fuzzy on the specifics of any agreement, other than a broad "balanced solutions" bullshit.

This business site implies the President is willing to swap the specified revenue increases for $600 billion in Medicare cuts proposed by right wing senators Tom Coburn and "Independent" TRAITOR Joe Lieberman. THIS MUST BE A COMPLETE NON-STARTER FOR DEMOCRATS. The notion that the embittered Joe Lieberman will exit the Senate having stuck ANOTHER KNIFE IN OUR BACKS is totally beyond the pale. Take heed, Mr. President. If you cave to the Coburn-Lieberman proposal there will be HELL TO PAY WITH YOUR BASE. You cannot afford another "enthusiasm gap" in 2012.

Curiously, the President was "very amused" at critics (Mitch McConnell) who said he must "lead" on this issue. He ticked off a litany of presidential activites which included lengthy meetings with the leaders of both parties, caucuses, working groups, etc., none of which the public outside the Beltway were privy to, as an illustration of his engagement with the issues on a semi-granular level — and presidential leadership.

With all due respect, Mr. President, that's the Jimmy Carter excuse. President Carter is remembered not only for ineffective leadership but getting into the weeds on every issue, often to the annoyance of Congress. President Obama has yet to decide whether to be aloof or engaged. The right answer is to take his case to the people, Harry Truman-style. Mr. President, these Republicans will not hand you a "win" even if it's the country that wins. Conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks analyzed the President's leadership style this way:

"Far from being a heroic quasi Napoleon who runs the country from the Oval Office, Obama has been a delegator and a convener. He sets the agenda, sketches broad policy outlines and then summons some Congressional chairmen to dominate the substance. This has been the approach with the stimulus package, the health care law, the Waxman-Markey energy bill, the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill and, so far, the Biden commission on the budget.

As president, Obama has proved to be a very good Senate majority leader — convening committees to do the work and intervening at the end.

All his life, Obama has worked in nonhierarchical institutions — community groups, universities, legislatures — so maybe it is natural that he has a nonhierarchical style. He tends to see issues from several vantage points at once, so maybe it is natural that he favors a process that involves negotiating and fudging between different points of view.

Still, I would never have predicted he would be this sort of leader. I thought he would get into trouble via excessive self-confidence. Obama’s actual governing style emphasizes delegation and occasional passivity. Being led by Barack Obama is like being trumpeted into battle by Miles Davis. He makes you want to sit down and discern."

While I disagree with David's self-serving analogy — the alternative is not liberals pleading with the President to be more like Howard Dean, whatever that means, but more like Harry Truman — his analysis of the President's leadership style has merit. For the President to mention all those meetings he attended is enough to make non-politico eyes glaze over with inside Washington-speak. President Obama whiffed on many levels with this definition of leadership — a variation on, '90 percent of life is showing up'.

Frankly, what David Brooks hopes for President Obama is what most concerns liberals and progressives:

"If he can overcome his aloofness and work intimately with Republicans, he may be able to avert a catastrophe and establish a model for a more realistic, collegial presidency."

The President, in his presser, leaned in this direction, which I'm sure warmed David's heart. “Call me naïve,” said President Obama, “but my expectation is leaders are going to lead.” Okay, Mr. President. Regarding this Republican Congress and this GOP leadership, we’re calling you naïve.

Anchoring NBC's coverage of the presidential presser, Brian Williams remarked on an e-mail he received that said the President was "channeling his inner Harry Truman." Not quite. It might yet come to this, but Harry Truman invoked his presidential authority to covene a special session of Congress:

"On 27 occasions, presidents have called both houses into session to deal with a crisis. The most recent of these special sessions -- and the first one since 1856 -- met at the behest of President Harry S. Truman on this day in 1948.

With less than four months remaining before Election Day, Truman's approval rating stood at 36 percent. His GOP opponent, New York Gov. Thomas Dewey, looked like a sure winner.

So in search of a bold political gesture, the president turned to the provision in the Constitution that allows the president "on extraordinary occasions" to convene one or both houses of Congress. And Congress at that time was controlled by the GOP.

In accepting the Democratic presidential nomination at 1:45 a.m. in a stifling Philadelphia convention hall, Truman stunned delegates by calling on the Republican majority to live up to its party platform by passing laws that bolstered civil rights, extended Social Security and created a national health care program. "They can do this job in 15 days if they want to do it," he said.

Republicans reacted with scorn. Sen. Arthur Vandenberg (R-Mich.) said, "No good can come to the country from a special session of Congress which obviously stems solely from political motives." Nevertheless, some key GOP figures -- including Vandenberg -- favored action to widen the party's electoral appeal.

The gesture went only so far when Sen. Robert Taft (R-Ohio), chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, accused Truman of abusing his presidential prerogatives and blocked all votes.

That decision presented Truman with a campaign theme: He railed against the "do-nothing 80th Congress." Against all odds, Truman went on to win in November in a four-way race against Dewey, Strom Thurmond of South Carolina and former Vice President Henry Wallace."

President Truman stood his ground against a Republican Congress and pushed back HARD, TAKING HIS CASE TO THE PEOPLE. As a result he won the presidency in the greatest upset in the history of presidential elections and reclaimed his Democratic majorities. That's presidential leadership. Will President Obama be Harry Truman or ... Jimmy Carter? The jury's still out.

Biased "LIBERAL MEDIA" At It, AGAIN!

The New York Times, widely seen by those in the know, with derision by the conservative Beltway Idiot Punditocracy or fearful contempt by the wingnut propaganda machine as an instrument of imagined left wing conspiracies and paragon, epitome, archetype of “liberal media” bias, published a fawning orgasmic profile of right wing “blogger provocateur” Andrew Breitbart, recalling the hero-worship masturbatory coverage of Paul Ryan by stimulated Beltway bacchanalists. Amid breathless descriptions of Breitbart’s physicality, his “jowly” face — “as he barreled his husky, 6-foot-1 frame through the halls of the Hilton”— the aroused reporter dropped this bit of defamatory falsehood, because, you know, those poverty-stricken ACORN people can’t touch the Times:

"Some of his reader-generated scoops have reverberated all the way to the halls of the United States Capitol, like the Weiner photos and undercover video he released of Acorn workers offering advice on how to evade taxes and conceal child prostitution. After the videos went viral Congress ended grants to Acorn, and federal agencies severed ties with the group."

California's Attorney General, now Governor Jerry Brown, had a different view of events. This is from the AG's press release, after looking into the same videos and exonerating ACORN of any criminal misconduct:

"Evidence obtained by Brown tells a somewhat different story, however, as reflected in three videotapes made at ACORN locations in California. One ACORN worker in San Diego called the cops. Another ACORN worker in San Bernardino caught on to the scheme and played along with it, claiming among other things that she had murdered her abusive husband. Her two former husbands are alive and well, the Attorney General's report noted. At the beginning and end of the Internet videos, O'Keefe was dressed as a 1970s Superfly pimp, but in his actual taped sessions with ACORN workers, he was dressed in a shirt and tie, presented himself as a law student, and said he planned to use the prostitution proceeds to run for Congress. He never claimed he was a pimp."

"The evidence illustrates," Brown said, "that things are not always as partisan zealots portray them through highly selective editing of reality. Sometimes a fuller truth is found on the cutting room floor."

Evidently, the cutting room floor evidence that would exonerate ACORN from Breitbart's despicable smear didn't make the cut with this Times article, either. Interestingly, while the ACORN double down hit job by the Times was ignored (because poor people do not have the means to sue), the following  misrepresentation regarding Shirley Sherrod, whose lawsuit against Breitbart is moving through the courts, was expeditiously addressed by the Times editors:

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: June 29, 2011

An article on Monday about the conservative author and blogger Andrew Breitbart described incorrectly the reaction of an N.A.A.C.P. audience to a remark by Shirley Sherrod, a black Agriculture Department official. In a short video clip of the speech, which Mr. Breitbart released as evidence that Ms. Sherrod acknowledged not helping a white farmer, some audience members nodded and murmured in apparent approval; they did not applaud, although Mr. Breitbart stated that they did. (The full video showed that Ms. Sherrod’s speech was about overcoming racial prejudice, and that she did go to great lengths to help the white farmer.)

Some "LIBERAL MEDIA."

Founding Fathers "TIRELESSLY" Fight Slavery As "Founding Father" John Quincy Adams, 9, PUKES

During the momentous days of July 1776 in America, the birth of a nation was at hand. Delegates to the Continental Congress gathered to debate Thomas Jefferson’s immortal Declaration of Independence. The “ringing climax” of the document, an indictment of King George for the horrors of the slave trade — a Republican-style stretch — was the first to be deleted. South Carolina and Georgia objected. (Gee, sounds awfully familiar … racism down through the ages.) Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, a master of moral compartmentalization, was defensive about his Southern brethren's embrace of slavery: Some Northern delegates were “a little tender” on the issue too, he said later, “for though their people have very few slaves themselves yet they had been pretty considerable carriers …”

Historian David McCullough wrote of the state of slavery in America at the time of the Declaration of Independence:

“In truth, black slavery had long since become an accepted part of life in all of the thirteen colonies. Of a total population in the colonies of nearly 2,500,000 people in 1776, approximately one in five were slaves, some 500,000 men, women, and children. In Virginia alone, which had the most slaves by far, they numbered more than 200,000. There was no member of the Virginia delegation who did not own slaves, and of all members of Congress at least a third owned or had owned slaves. The total of Thomas Jefferson’s slaves in 1776, as near as can be determined from his personal records, was about 200, which was also the approximate number owned by George Washington.” ~ Emphasis mine. From David McCullough's John Adams (It's a great read. Try it sometime, Michele. You might learn something.)

Even opponents of slavery did not escape its stain. Benjamin Franklin had once owned two house slaves and had traded in slaves from his Market Street print shop, advertising “a likely wench of about 15 years old.” To his everlasting credit, John Adams had never owned slaves nor hired slaves of others to work on his farm. He called it “a foul contagion in the human character.” But as an attorney in slave cases he had always represented the slave master, never the slave. Jefferson, as we have seen, was of two equally contradictory minds, perfectly reconciled by his awesome intellect with tortured but elegant rationalizations.

Meanwhile, as America experienced its birthing pangs in Congress assembled in Philadelphia, PA, hundreds of miles to the north in Braintree, MA, Abigail gathered up the Adams clan and headed for Boston to get her children inoculated for smallpox. Among them was NINE-YEAR-OLD “FOUNDING FATHER” John Quincy Adams whose inoculation ordeal went largely unreported, although Abigail said “The little folks are very sick then and puke every morning, but after that they are comfortable.”

The fantastical claim by fantasy “historian” Michele Bachmann that the Founding Fathers “worked tirelessly” to end slavery isn’t only an absurd invention but, in factual historical terms, the exact opposite of the Founding Fathers’ failure to substantively tackle slavery head-on. In today’s terminology, their prevarications and moral timidity would be called “kicking the can down the road” or “caving” to the powerful commercial interests in the Southern states as well as in Northern ports like Boston whose economy depended on the slave trade. The risk of dissolution of our young republic and fragile union was too great in the minds of the Founding Fathers, mostly from the Northern states, who actually opposed slavery, to take a principled stand in favor of abolition.

So they kicked the can down the road for a couple of generations, for Lincoln and his contemporaries to deal with, at the cost of 600,000 lost American lives. Yet the Founding Fathers’ legacy remained largely intact; secession and civil war didn’t happen on their watch. It may be a comforting fantasy for Teabaggers to contemplate our founding history as an “immaculate conception” and our founders as saintly Christian demi-gods.

"FOUNDING FATHER" JOHN QUINCY ADAMS POSES FOR PHOTO-OP AFTER HISTORIC SIGNING 

OF DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ~ CIRCA 1824. 

MICHELE BACHMANN 2012 ~ MAKING UP AMERICAN HISTORY ON THE FLY

The TRUTH, though, is different and far more compelling. Our Founding Fathers were flawed human beings, which to my mind renders their achievement all the more spectacular. And despite his original AMERICAN SIN, Thomas Jefferson remains my favorite Founding Father … Because, I think while he was of his time, he was, innately a decent man, with lasting transcendental qualities that soften the sin. And he wrote so beautifully.

Michele Bachmann Announces In WATERLOO, Iowa ... Uh-Oh

AND CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE IMMORTAL 'DUKE' JOHN WAYNE AND SERIAL KILLER JOHN WAYNE GACY ... WHOOPS!

The presidential hopeful — who was born and grew up in Waterloo as a child before moving to Minnesota — said, "Well, what I want them to know is just like, John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That's the kind of spirit that I have, too."

The Washington Times points out one slight problem with the Tea Party favorite's remarks: The John Wayne with roots in Waterloo is John Wayne Gacy, a serial killer who was executed by lethal injection in 1994 after being convicted of 33 murders.

John Wayne — the late movie star, director and producer — was born in Winterset, Iowa, but appears to have no specific connection to Waterloo.

And, of course, one cannot overlook the PREGNANT SYMBOLISM of launching a presidential campaign from WATERLOO, a name forever synonymous with TOTAL, COMPLETE, CRUSHING DEFEAT of grandiose PROPORTIONS — be they military or political campaigns, or just about anything. It helps if one has Napoleonic delusions of grandeur, like for example, "GOD SPOKE TO ME AND TOLD ME TO MARRY MR. BACHMANN ... THEN HE SAID: RUN, BABY, RUN!"

Elvis Has Left The Courtroom, Heads For The BIG HOUSE!

Dedicated to Rod "ELVIS" Blagojevich:

MSNBC Revives Old FIRING LINE Format With Michael Steele On Hardball

I thought Jon Stewart had put that animal out of its misery. Stewart may be pressed into action again now that MSNBC in its infinite wisdom saw fit to hire the former GOP Chairman as a pundit. Naturally, given Steele's combative nature and his total immersion in partisan politics, the transition to "analyst" has been disastrous. I should add in the interest of balance I'm no big fan of former Democratic Chairman Ed Rendell, either. He may be marginally more candid than Steele but neither is going to impart any inside baseball info of any interest.

Meanwhile, we're denied the analysis of a sharp journalist like, e.g., Howard Fineman, who I'm pretty sure is far more attuned to the inner dynamics of the Republican field, including Michele Bachmann than Michael Steele is. For the very simple reason that whatever Steele knows, if anything (I doubt it), he's not telling.

Then Chris dropped the hilarious line that what transpires on his show is of educational value for young people wanting to go into politics. What we learned from Michael Steele:

• Michele Bachmann didn't really mean to question the President's patriotism; we just didn't know that much about then-Senator Obama to form an opinion on whether he was a clear and present danger to the republic;

• Amid "you guys" this and that (us "guys" liberals), it's now okay to use the pejorative "Democrat" for "Democratic" heard on MSNBC twice in so many days from wingnuts — the other being Daily Caller super-sophist Matt Lewis. Bashing the Democratic Party and telling lies about the President is OK, but just make sure to use its proper name. It's been around since Jefferson. Neither Matthews nor Cenk corrected their "guests." In Steele's case, shunning the juvenile partisanship should be a condition of employment;

• Michele Bachmann is not a flake but she's made FLAKY statements (David Corn, a sharp progressive from Mother Jones who, as is our wont, has a low tolerance for bullshit);

• The science isn't in on global warming ... WHAT!? (Matthews and Corn).

D'Oh.

Suggest dropping Steele on Moron Joe — he'll find a receptive audience there. And MSNBC is running the ridiculous promo claiming Moron Joe is "revolutionary." Peas in a pod. For folks who like raucous, chaotic, anything goes political hardball, Steele has some entertainment value. Enlightening or educational? NADA.

COME ON, COME THROUGH NEW YORK, NEW YORK!

Congratulations New York for becoming the LARGEST state in the union to legalize marriage equality! And congratulations to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who said he would make this a top priority of his administration, and actually followed through on his promise. What a concept! And to the New York State legislators for the courage to vote their conscience in a dignified display, for the entire nation to see, of what public service can be at its ideal best: to promote justice and extend the boundaries of equality and opportunity for all citizens.

With Governor Cuomo's signature, New York State formalized marriage equality for all, regardless of color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation. The law takes effect in 30 days, which means a lot of same-sex couples can start making their mark in state marriage registers as early as late July.

Here's to the LGBT community for its never-say-never struggle down a long, often tortuous road toward the most basic of human rights, the right of a person to marry and enjoy the full privileges of marriage under the law. And to those stone-hearted fools who protested the vote with chants of "USA, USA" I am reminded of a song by the great Chilean poet Violeta Parra when her country was in the grip of a brutal dictatorship. She sang despairingly that it stood "at the center of injustice." After last night's vote, "USA, USA" no longer stands at the center of injustice for millions more of its citizens.

New York's Empire State Building, below, was shining brightly in the colors of the LGBT rainbow last night.  

Are you taking notes, President Obama? 

When does "evolve" become never having to say you're sorry?

IS TEXAS GOVERNOR AND ERSTWHILE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, RICK PERRY, GAY?

IMAGINE the headline: FIRST GAY PRESIDENT A REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR FROM TEXAS

NO NO. NOT THAT GOVERNOR! Perry. RICK PERRY.

Paul (EDDIE MUNSTER) Ryan: People HATE ME ... THEY REALLY, REALLY HATE ME!

A shocking poll to wingnut idolaters of GOP budget MUNSTER Paul Ryan shows he is the THIRD MOST DISLIKED REPUBLICAN BEHIND NEWT GINGRICH AND SARAH PALIN. This despite Ryan's compelling, widely publicized workout routine — as it's SOOO important to the republic — and Randian self-identification as the second coming of John Galt, all of which are designed to tweak the homo-erotic synapses of the male wingnut brain. Unfortunately for Ryan and the GOP, most Americans never heard of Ayn Rand and would probably view her as a weirdo if they did, and are largely unimpressed by Ryan's abs.

CHARTVIEW: Republican Govs TANK In The Polls As They RAM THRU RADICAL AGENDA

Sometimes when you see it in chart format the macro picture becomes much clearer than words on a screen can express. The first thing that should come to mind for any casual observer is that there is a theme and cohesion to the unpopularity of these thugs that is illuminating.

Their sliding numbers escape regional boundaries. Their radical schemes are remarkably similar for the so-called 'states rights' (i.e., 'independent') party, with a top-down agenda that includes, first, an all-out assault on public employee unions with a focus on destroying collective bargaining, slashing pension and retirement benefits, layoffs of teachers, firefighters, nurses, and police officers — in short, vilifying government employees based on an ideological conviction that these public servants are as unpopular with the American people as they are among right wing Republicans.

Second, passing tax breaks for donor corporations and businesses, giving lie to the claim that state budgets are in such dire straits that the sacrifice must be "equally shared" (a common campaign theme, and A LIE). Third, privatization of EVERYTHING from schools to prisons to mental health facilities ; fourth, a war on the poor and vulnerable populations with cruel and draconian cuts to Medicaid, unemployment benefits, food programs for children; and fifth, all of it dovetailing onto a war against women, with a compulsive, male-obsessive focus on defunding essential health services for women, AND MOSTLY WOMEN, provided by Planned Parenthood, as an ideologically driven culture war backdoor assault on LEGAL abortions.

Abortions are an infinitesimal part of what Planned Parenthood does — only about 3 percent of its women's health services — while the vast majority of its services are the essential medical screenings for breast cancer, pap smears, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, birth control pills, etc. All of which contribute to healthy communities and prevent the very things these extremist Republicans claim to be against: unwanted pregnancies that lead to more abortions, and increased incidences of disease from sexually transmitted illnesses to cancer. The ultimate result of the GOP's ideological war on women is to place an enormous strain on those health care providers that must necessarily pick up the slack, and taxpayers, as always, who must pick up the costs passed along by their own health providers.

Do these Republican RATBASTARDS care? Of course not. They're thugs and extremists. They have hoodwinked the so-called "message voters" into sending a message they never intended to BUT SHOULD HAVE ANTICIPATED HAD THEY BEEN PAYING ATTENTION. The 'American people', as the Republicans like to say, did NOT vote to destroy Medicare, kill collective bargaining and target public employee unions at the expense of fat cat corporations and donors (Koch brothers), raise taxes on the middle class to defund Planned Parenthood, close schools, lay off teachers, firefighters, and police officers, or grant their governments extraordinary powers to declare entire communities and townships bankrupt and assume state control over localities.

Is this what you stand for, Teabaggers? Dictatorial, strong-arm government? Crony capitalism and shafting the middle class, YOUR CLASS! Traitors. Even though the polls clearly show the people's paralyzing shock at what the extremists they elected are doing, the call to action is still reserved for the activists among us. While people are paralyzed by the radical extremist tsunami unleashed by these well funded Republicans, still they must GET OFF THEIR FUCKING ASSES AND FIGHT BACK TO RETAKE THEIR DEMOCRACY.

We've already learned that the Democratic Party cannot be counted on to carry this fight without the people pushing them. Despite his disapproval rating being higher than his approval (low 40 percentile) Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who is not on this chart, scored a major victory when the Democratic controlled state Assembly passed his union busting bill with the help of a handful of turncoat Democrats, including the Assembly Leader. In Washington, the Democrats are getting ready to make CRAVEN AND DESPICABLE CONCESSIONS OF TRILLIONS IN CUTS WHILE THE REPUBLICANS PLAY A HOSTAGE-TAKING GAME IN WHICH THEY ARE THREATENING TO TANK THE WORLD ECONOMY IF DEMOCRATS DO NOT AGREE TO THEIR TERMS.

Where's the outrage? PLEASE. Where.IS.the.OUTRAGE?!

Idiotic Mutterings Of The Idiot Punditocracy: Chuck Todd

Overheard at the Cathedral of the Idiot Punditocracy, Meet The Press:

“I don’t think … in this environment, David Vitter would have survived — in this environment.”

~Chuck Todd, MSNBC ‘Political Director” and ‘Chief WH Correspondent’. 

Whaaat?! Excuse me …? Come again, Chuckie …Please to explain.

It's been said that Chuck goes into a cold sweat if asked to proffer any political opinion that may show his bias. Commendable, except he flippantly tosses out self-serving Beltway Media exculpatory statements (of the right wing) like this one. Pearls of wisdom from the Idiot Punditocracy. He’s also been observed asking inane questions at presidential pressers … which must be why the President so enjoys calling on him. It’s like getting a breather down the backstretch.

So what is different from when the Vitter Diaper & Hookers scandal broke in 2007,  just about four years ago, and now? Well, a couple of things. The President was a Republican. The House was Democratic but Vitter was (and IS) a senator. Also, the Senate was in Democratic hands, but by a wider margin.

Twitter and Facebook existed then, as did Fox, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, CBS, E! Tonight, yadayadayada. And so did the vaunted 24-hour news cycle. So what has changed in the “climate” from then to now for Chuckie to assert Vitter would not survive his scandal today?

Nothing of substance that I can see. Nothing, that is, unless it is Chuckie’s contention that Anthony Weiner wasn’t hounded out of office by a partisan coalition of hypocritical Republicans, timid Democrats, and a “media circus” that is no different today than it could be, say … in 2007.

Those same Republican hypocrites who backed Vitter in 2007 would do the same today, knowing full well the Democrats couldn’t do a thing to change the dynamics. So what has changed today? Nothing but Chuckie’s compulsion to find moral and partisan equivalence where there is none.

David Vitter would survive his sex scandal today as surely as the Republican logo contains Satanic symbology. It's true! The Republican logo (below) was redesigned around 2000 with the inverted Satanic pentagram star. Check it out:

Power Failure, A Nation Gone Medieval

This blog was off the grid for some 14 hours between late Tuesday evening and Thursday as a result of violent thunderstorms that rolled through Illinois cutting power for 280,000 utility company customers. It was a major disruption, but nothing compared to the depredations suffered by red state populations — because that’s just the way violent weather patterns roll in the U.S. — as a result of monster storms, tornados, flooding, hurricanes, and wildfires caused by climate change.

And yet those people, the Teabaggers, who insist as an article of faith that global warming does not exist, will continue to vote anti-science politicians into office and seek answers to scientific questions about the true nature of our planet in a book of fairy tales called the Bible. They build creationist theme parks glorifying anti-science with taxpayer dollars and construct scale models of Noah’s Ark — which may yet come in handy when sea levels rise to engulf coastal communities and cities — puzzling over where the dinosaurs were placed. It always comes down to a vision or a voice or a dream: When this dude's name is an anagram for you-know-who, are delusions of grandeur that far behind? It's downright scary, though, when politicians running for president stake their claim to reality on a vision or a voice in their head.

Here’s Chris Matthews being sane, for one segment of his schizoid show, when he stands against the worst of his colleagues in the Idiot Punditocracy:

On CNN, Wolf Blitzer speculated whether Gore would primary challenge President Obama. How stupid is that? If anything, Al Gore has not only refocused our attention on the critically important issue of climate change, but has reminded us that there is a progressive alternative to corporate-controlled media represented by CNN and MSNBC. And that is Gore’s CURRENT TV, now home to Keith Olbermann and Countdown. As Keith says in his signoff, “thank you for helping us preserve freedom of news.”

Here, in Worst Persons, the reborn segment of the show that was considered too (inconvenient? Edgy? Inflammatory?) whatever … intolerable for the MSNBC suits, Keith skewers Rick Santorum (whom idiot pundit Chuckie Todd calls a “social conservative”) for insane views that are widely held in the Republican/Tea Party.

Por otro ejemplo, John McCain typifies how totally insane the Republican/Tea Party has become. Gramps is a disgraceful caricature of his former self, back when he believed in science and actually proposed carbon tax legislation. But that was before he saw the light. The Gramps McCain of today panders shamelessly to the ignorant rabble, blaming illegal immigrants for starting the wildfires in Arizona, then doubling down when every state authority denied this was the case. In fact, wildfires are just another destructive by-product of climate change coming, as they do, on the heels of extreme periods of drought that wreak havoc with crop cycles and turn the arid land into a huge tinderbox.

The cycle of anti-science/history/civics ignorance is great for end-of-times Bible thumpers and Glenn Beck et al, who has made human-caused destruction of the planet a hugely profitable enterprise for himself. According to Beck, it’s all part of God’s plan, so the more chaos the merrier. Just keep sending him and your favorite preachers your Social Security checks to help them better insulate themselves from the consequences of what they are actively promoting when the shit hits the fan.

Never fear, Teabaggers. They have a plan for you, too. Once Beck and Limbaugh et al get their tax cut bonus distributions and your personal contributions, as Wall Street bankers hunger lustily over what’s left of the Social Security trust fund, you’ll get your very own ax cut — a trickle-down voucher to fatten the pockets of the health insurance companies and reward those that find ways to give you the least health coverage for the most poached Medicare paycheck contributions. (It's our money set aside to fund our health care and Social Security retirement; They are not entitlements. So why does the Idiot Punditocracy including that *%$@ Luke Russert insist on calling them "entitlement benefits"?!)

So much for your private health system at work over that evil socialist system — Medicare — one that has given seniors full, quality health care and a dignified life in retirement at much lower cost than the for-profit market ever could by any measure or metric.

Who would be insane enough to want something like that socialist Medicare, right?

DOUBLE DOWN — WELCOME BACK, KEITH!

LEANING FORWARD into the camera in his usual fighting trim. And I love the lack of slickster production values — they spell TRUST and AUTHENTICITY.

ABOVE THE LAW

They have an appointment for LIFE. They are not bound by the code of ethics that governs federal judges. They can rule on cases that directly impact their self-interest unfettered by the code of conduct that constrains the lower courts. Their decisions can affect the composition of the other two purportedly "co-equal" branches of government for generations. And the only thing stopping them from abusing their power is the "honor" system. They are the Supreme Court of the United States.

What happens when a Supreme Court Justice or Justices goes bad? For one, the Supreme Court no longer becomes the court of last resort where justice is served; but rather the place where justice for the least among us, but theoretically equal under the law, comes to die. Where the interests of the flesh-and-bone individual are no longer equally weighed against the interests of the corporate entity as generic representation of the individual.

Theoretically they can be impeached by the House of Representatives. But when impeachment is rendered quasi-impossible by a decision, Citizens United, that stacks the corporate oligarchs party in a commanding position against the wannabe corporate party, then the people lose. Republicans in the House, at least for now, are immune from the people's electoral wrath, having ascended to elective office on a mountain of well funded lies and unlimited corporate money laundered through myriad shady front organizations, thanks to the entrenched oligarchy, the kingdom within, that the Supreme Court has become.

Yesterday was a good day for the corporation and a blow to 1.6 million women seeking gender-neutral equality in the workplace. By a 5-4 decision, five Supreme Court men ruled against three women Justices to deny women employees of Wal-Mart such equality of opportunity, once again elevating the corporation (too big to sue) over the individual. It passed with nary a sniffle from a distracted and misinformed electorate as part of a wider and sinister conspiracy on multiple fronts to wrest democracy away from the people. If the states were once called the "laboratories of democracy" then today, under the yoke of one-party Republican control not seen since 1928 on the cusp of the Great Depression, states across this land from Florida and New Jersey to Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Arizona, have become the laboratories of tyranny.

The tyranny of the Supreme Court is exemplified by its most right wing and brazenly unethical member, Justice Clarence Thomas. His standard of misconduct and conflicts of interest would be grounds for immediate removal in any lower court in the land. Yet Clarence Thomas has immunized himself from the people's reach through self-serving decisions protected by the Court's impervious fortress against the storms of democratic self-rule and constitutional checks.

Thomas Jefferson, speaking in another context and another time, anticipated the Court's and Thomas's malfeasance with amazing clarity:

"You seem ... to consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions; a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy. Our judges are as honest as other men, and not more so. They have, with others, the same passions for party, for power, and the privilege of their corps.... Their power [is] the more dangerous as they are in office for life, and not responsible, as the other functionaries are, to the elective control. The Constitution has erected no such single tribunal, knowing that to whatever hands confided, with the corruptions of time and party, its members would become despots. It has more wisely made all the departments co-equal and co-sovereign within themselves."

Jefferson also had a thing or two to say about revolution. When all else fails. (Look it up.) We're not there yet, but if the safety valve that is our electoral process is irretrievably corrupted WE, THE PEOPLE, may be compelled to adopt a Jeffersonian solution.

The Inside Dope On Keith: More Trash Talking From Griffin

It seems that MSNBC's SUIT NUMERO UNO, Phil Griffin, is so skeert Keith Olbermann and CURRENT TV will poach some of their contributors away that he's renegotiated contracts for several of the 'good guys' at MSNBC to keep them from straying. It seems silly, though. There should be room for everyone, especially now that MSNBC has decided to carry more DEAD WEIGHT like regular Dana Milbank and most recently, the disastrous signing of Michael Steele — the SINGLE STUPIDEST DECISION the network has made to drive away its viewers with a poke in our collective eye.

On the other hand, it's nice to see Keith's influence over MSNBC hasn't waned even from afar as he causes a "bidding war" for rising stars like Chris Hayes, Ezra Klein, and old stalwart Gene Robinson, among others I'm sure, to get more MSNBC money enticements to stay put. All the while striking FEAR AND LOATHING in MSNBC's REACTIVE boardroom.

Some "community." Here's a challenge for the MSNBC suits. Why don't you ASK US, the erstwhile loyal viewers, what we think of Milbank and Steele as regular FUCKING POLLUTANTS on our favorite shows?! I hit the mute button the minute they are on or check out CNN. The more Milbank and Steele steal time away from Ezra Klein, Chris Hayes, Sam Stein, Howard Fineman, Gene Robinson, David Corn, and Alex Wagner, THE MORE MSNBC's ratings will be depressed. Mark my words. It's like a slow erosion of viewer support. One thing Griffin doesn't seem to understand is, the RIGHT WING IS UBIQUITOUS ON CABLE. We're not interested in what the right OR ITS DERIVATIVES — so-called "libertarians" and "independents" — have to say AS PAID CONTRIBUTORS.

I have never seen anyone so successfully CON a network into paying him for his noxious 'yellow journalistic' views as Dana Milbank has. It's either REALLY poor judgment or simply spitefulness on Griffin's part, since Milbank was justifiably BANNED from Countdown for trashing President Obama during the 2008 campaign and refusing to retract or clarify his inaccurate statements, i.e., hit job. Recently, he wrote a hit job on the Progressive Caucus's alternative budget to Paul Ryan's and flirted with racism by mocking Latino Congressman Raul Grijalva's neckwear. Milbank's hit piece was ripped to shreds by the Huff Post's Jason Linkins, its best progressive columnist. Meanwhile, the clueless Cenk Uygur has had his "friend" Milbank on his show frequently without ONCE calling him on the carpet for his despicable hit job on the Progressive Caucus budget, which Cenk claims to "LOVE." Let's see if the "Aggressive Progressive" has the balls to put Milbank on opposite Rep. Grijalva to defend what he wrote about the Progressive Caucus budget — as well as Grijalva's choice of clothing apparel.

Or is it more Cenk The Meek, aka Dana Milbank's chump. But that's not all. I have NEVER seen a fellow columnist writing for the SAME newspaper, WaPo, publicly chastise Milbank for shoddy journalism as David Broder did a year before his death. The esteemed Broder was known as the "Dean" of the Washington press corps. As if that wasn't enough, from the viewer's standpoint, the worst SIN committed by Dana Milbank — this odious excuse for a 'journalist'— is an amazing narcissistic self-delusion that he has ANY comedic talent at all! The dude's attempts at humor are BEYOND lame; they're so off-color that they cause viewers to groan audibly and roll their eyes. And hit the MUTE button or flip the channel.

There's only so much an MSNBC viewer can tolerate. Griffin's "community" is beginning to fray as MSNBC post-Olbermann becomes more like CNN with Steele-as-Castellanos and Milbank-as-Howard Stern, and less like the innovative, STRONG liberal voice that distinguished it when Keith reigned supreme.

But wait ... Relief is on the way: Keith's back! So my advice to Phil Griffin and the rest of the Fear And Loathing suits is to tack back to the true Left where its loyal "community" resides. STAT.

PS - I forgot to add Eric Boehlert from Media Matters and Joan Walsh of Salon to the list of 'good guys' with less MSNBC air time.

PPS - Anti-lib plagiarist Mark Halperin as MSNBC "senior" political contributor is a JOKE.

Monday Programming Reminder

I hope our friend Ruthie at our favorite wingnut rag, The Daily Caller, can curb her enthusiasm (and other embarassing emotions) sufficiently — stock up on the smelling salts, Ruthie! — to sharpen those wingnut zingers aimed at her not-so-secret lib obsession ...

And our buddy Treach might be inspired again to add some content to his minimalist blog other than a lot of C&P and non sequitur one-liners with snarky headline: "... Piqued Netroots Nation Freaks ...":

Huh?? What-EV-errrrrr!!

No worries. Keith's return is sure to pique our wingnut friends at the DC into more hilarious freakish reactions. Fun times!

Speaking Of Punking ... Obama Impersonator Makes GOPers Titter Nervously

The guy wasn't bad.

What I'm wondering is, what did he say, or was about say, of Michele Bachmann when his sound was cut off and he was escorted off the stage? I hope we can get an uncensored redo in friendlier territory, like the late night comedians or SNL.

Ya think maybe the joke was on the attendees of the Republican Leadership Conference? Watch:

Checkbook Journalism: How The Media Became PART Of The Anthony Weiner Story

As I said re: the media's role in playing the Weiner story out of all proportionality: Take a look in the mirror before piously deflecting your responsibility for Anthony Weiner's resignation. Chris Cuomo defends his employer ABC's practice of paying "licensing fees" of between $10,000 to $15,000 for tittilating photos of one of former Rep. Weiner's private online correspondents because, he says piously, it's the "state of play." Really?

Thanks for the heads-up, Chris. But we're way ahead of you. We already know your industry is rotten to the core, unethical, fundamentally corrupt and dishonorable. Licensing fees?!? Is THAT what you call IT? The mutually beneficial term of "art" for pole dancing checkbook "journalists" is MEDIA WHORES, and it's been around for quite a while. Here's the Urban Dictionary definition:

MEDIA WHORES

Media whores is a term used in the early 60's during campaigns and refered to publishers and editors of newspapers that would not cover a candidate without an ad buy. The buy was refered to as a "little kiss". The more money a candidate had the more of a story they would get from the "media whores". If a campaign made an ad buy and counted on a good story but were then disappointed they would "kiss off" the buy with a cancelation.

When the MEDIA becomes part of the story with 'pay to play' arrangements with principals and sources, the MEDIA assumes responsibility for the story's final outcome. No wonder an MSNBC news reader told Karen Finney to be "nice" to Andrew Breitbart.