Teabagger Theory of The White Penis And The Dumb Housewife

Brilliant socio-psychiatrist Bill Maher does it again. (Brett, you should've stayed retired):

TEA PARTY Remedial Education: Your Candidates Are Financed By Outsource USA Jobs, Inc. Do You Care?

Watch carefully, Teabaggers:

So what can we conclude:

First, you’re being played like a Deliverance mandolin. Got that, Teabaggers? You don’t have to hear it from Bubba Clinton. Just get the facts, for a change, starting right here.

Second, the Chamber of Commerce president is on record singing the praises of outsourcing USA jobs. You don’t have to take it from a “socialist” with a darker skin tone. It’s coming right out of the horse’s mouth. They’re playing you, they’ve co-opted your Astroturf  movement a long time ago, and you don’t even know it. You’re working for Wall Street, the banks, big insurance companies, and foreign corporations. In your universe, by your own absolutist standards, this amounts to treason against America. Sounds about right.

Get used to it, Teabaggers. Honestly, I have never seen a bigger bunch of T.O.O.L.S in my life. And I’ve seen my share of them.

Third, your leader, talk show terrorist Glenn Beck, is playing you with malice aforethought. This multimillionaire charlatan, who is far more chummy with Chamber president Tom Donohue than he lets on to his audience, announced a $10,000 donation to the Chamber to get you to open your collective wallets and donate millions more. How many of you, Teabaggers, are so dependent on Beck’s lunacy, so brainwashed, that you’ll take him up on it?

Can you spell L.E.M.M.I.N.G.S, too, ye Tea Party Patriots? I hope so, but I’m not holding my breath.

Tides CEO Has Had ENOUGH of Glenn Beck's Hate Speech

The founder and CEO of the Tides Foundation, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting social justice, has had enough of Beck's hate speech and incitement to violence. A frequent Beck target himself, Tides CEO Drummond Pike broke his silence after narrowly escaping assassination by a disturbed Beck listener (for details, see "Glenn Beck And The TEA PARTY Armies of The Damned" below) whose plot was foiled by police in a wild shootout.

In a letter to major Fox advertisers, Drummond asked them to drop their sponsorship of the Fox News program or the next assassin may succeed and "if so, there will be blood on many hands."

"I respectfully request that you bring this matter of your company's sponsorship of hate speech leading to violence to the attention of your fellow directors as soon as possible. I believe no responsible company should advertise on Fox News due to its recent and on-going deplorable conduct.

While we may agree to disagree about the role our citizens and our government should play in promoting social justice and the common good, there should be no disagreement about what constitutes integrity and professionalism and responsibility in discourse - even when allowing for and encouraging contending diverse opinions intelligently argued. This is not a partisan issue. It's an American issue. No one, left, right or center, wants to see another Oklahoma City.

The next "assassin" may succeed, and if so, there will be blood on many hands. The choice is yours. Please join my call to do the right thing in this regard and put Fox News at arm's length from your company by halting your advertising with them."

Spot The Civilized Crowd

President Obama Meets With Young People at MTV Event, 10-14-2010

TEA PARTY racism:

Bill Maher on the Teabagger mentality: It’s all about ... you guessed it.

Gay Texas Councilman Makes Emotional Plea to Gay Teens

This is all the more remarkable because it happened in Texas, heart of red state USA. I’m left with two impressions there are hopeful signs: (1) Homophobic, anti-gay attitudes such as expressed by Tea Party candidate for governor in New York, Carl Paladino, are largely generational. Young people simply do not carry with them the attitudes and prejudices of their elders. Paladino’s own nephew, who is gay, repudiated what he said. And (2) social conservatism, which includes the Christian Right (47% of Tea Party identifiers) and has manifested within the Tea Party with such ugliness in this campaign — from gay bashing to Islamophobia and extremist anti-government rhetoric — is about a mile wide and an inch deep.

The Tea Party reflects the narrow, dying convulsions of a generation of older, whiter bigots who were seemingly bypassed by the major civil rights advances of the past half century. It does not represent the America Councilman Joel Burns of Fort Worth, Texas, an openly gay man, lives in and most of us recognize. They will not succeed in bringing our country down or turning back the clock. As Councilman Burns said:

“Attitudes will change, life will get better, you will have a lifetime of happy memories if you just allow yourself and give yourself the time to make them … High school was difficult, coming out was painful … I want to tell any teen who is watching this, life will get better.”

AMERICA FOR SALE: Chamber of Horrors Has Chuck Todd Depressed but FASCINATED

Chuck Todd says “it’s kind of a depressing outlook, the fact that we think that being public about where you stand on an issue, you don’t want to go public because of — you just fear some sort of potentially negative retribution.”

Gee, Chuck, do you think you need a prescription for Xanax or something? While Chuck was sulking, ThinkProgress, the progressive blog that broke the story and has been doggedly pursuing it, followed up with an exclusive that the Chamber is receiving at least $885,000 from over 80 foreign companies in disclosed donations alone. Todd emerged from his funk long enough to interview a shill for the chamber of horrors. The question remains why he didn’t interview someone from ThinkProgress to get the opposing view, since it has become abundantly clear that Chuck is constitutionally incapable of asking the tough, off-putting to his guests, or upsetting questions. Much too “depressing.”

Here’s the Todd interview, such as it is, with the chamber of horrors spokesman given free rein to propagandize. This “intimidate and harass” whine from the Chamber is a strawman argument. The outrage is the lack of disclosure. The accidental disclosure, e.g., Target, then fuels the outrage, once people discover why these individuals and corporations were so keen to stay anonymous in the first place. It’s a circular argument that would be invalid under the pre-Citizens United climate of required disclosure. The actors were largely the same. The Chamber was making political ads. But the sunshine kept the shady groups and, let’s be blunt, criminals out of it, to the benefit of our political system. Our disclosure laws may have needed improvement, but they weren’t broken. What the Supreme Court did was break the system, with far-reaching and downright scary consequences.

To cap it all off, this parting Todd remark is all the more outrageous: “It’s an interesting argument and I am fascinated by it …”

Oh go jump in the lake, Todd. Seriously. Go to CNN.

I can’t even begin to say how FED UP progressives are with all this FASCINATION going on in the only semi-progressive cable outlet for liberals and progressives. Indeed, the FASCINATION thing from the Todd-Norah-Luke weasely wing of MSNBC implies a sense of detachment from stronger emotions, e.g., OUTRAGE … a “new normal” that may well be medication-induced.

Evidently, Chuck Todd, Norah O’Donnell (presumably still fascinated to see a Senate filled with Teabaggers, and doing her best to make it happen), and anyone else afflicted with the FASCINATION bug as a substitute for OUTRAGE are obviously not acquainted with the craft and purpose of journalism. They are incapable of mustering a modicum of adversarial skepticism to substitute for the sense of helpless outrage those who cannot match the corporate money deluge feel as we see our democracy slip away from us. Instead of asking the incisive questions — check out Keith Olbermann’s segment below for some J-101 tips — Todd laments the “depressing outlook” in public funding of campaigns.

We can do without your angst, Chuck. We’d much rather see a journalist sitting where you sit. It’s an increasingly privileged position, one not to be taken lightly. Whatever his flaws, at least Chris Matthews isn’t afraid to ask tough questions and show moral outrage. Where’s the outrage? Where’s your moral compass, your backbone, that necessary sense of journalistic ethics?

Talk about a “depressing outlook.” Watching the Chuck Todds of this world and so many unschooled pseudo journalists in prominent anchor spots is enough to depress anyone concerned with getting the truth and the facts to the public. The stakes for our future couldn’t be higher.

Creepy, Crawly Wingnut Misogyny (Best Read On An Empty Stomach)

In case you're wondering where repulsive wingnut James O'Keefe learned his misogynistic chops, it didn't necessarily come from a CD in a plain brown paper wrapper. Here's O'Keefe's slimy mentor, Glenn Beck:

O'Keefe's self-serving defense to sexual harassment (or worse), in which he confuses principle for "principal", and consent for assault, actually expects us to believe he didn't really intend to "seduce" the CNN reporter as the document she obtained describes:

"I provided CNN with a clear statement that the document in question was objectionable. Still, they sent their “Special Investigations Unit” out in a failed attempt to discredit me. They do this not because they want to get to the truth, but because they are threatened by a bunch of independent journalists with video cameras uncovering the stories that they went to J-School to find."

C'mon boy, what’s to discredit? You’re already a joke, forever branded with “WC” which alternately stands for flush toilet, wingnut creep, or perhaps ... closet. What woman could possibly turn down such a strapping example of American manhood as this:

Idiot Punditocracy Watch: Chuck Todd's Fondest Hope

Heard on the Chuck & Savannah “Daily Rundown” show:

“The Chamber of  Commerce is an advocacy organization dedicated to the creation of jobs.” – Kevin Madden, Republican operative.

Right. Um Kevin, you must mean outsourced USA jobs in China, India, Mexico, et al. The rejoinder from Chuck and useless idiot pundit DeeDee Myers was exactly: Zero, zippo, nada.

CHUCK TODD RIDES GOP "WAVE"

Let’s fill in the gaps, shall we: The Chamber is a partisan pro-Republican organization. (Check their director bios, match them up against the GOP, then run a percentage of their campaign spending on the Republican vs. Democratic parties: 20-1, 30-1, 50-1?) Chuck is too timorous to challenge the constant stream of bullshit coming from his Republican pals. But he gets real excited with electronic clipboard in hand, peddling his fondest hope of a GOP “WAVE” (Chuckie’s revealing all caps) with lots of poli-sci mumbo jumbo.

Dang! I knew there was a good reason I don’t watch Chuck and Savannah … don’t want to heave my breakfast. Or maybe it was Savannah saying something akin to “you complete me.”

MSNBC's Lean Backward Miner Rescue Coverage

Compared with CNN's early coverage, from Anderson Cooper to Larry King, MSNBC had everything to grab the breaking news viewers with superior reporters on site, Kerry Sanders and Natalie Morales. Especially with a cranky Larry saying impatiently as a waiting period ensued before the hoisting of the second capsule with pregnant silences among his guests: "They're 'prepping' the capsule; what the hell does that mean?"

Here's the thing: It's a relatively simple repetitive process. It takes about 16 minutes each way for the capsule to make its way down 2,040 feet to the trapped miners and hoist them to safety. One would think the producers are timing this for commercial breaks and canned footage. Unbelievably, however, the personable but apparently scatter-brained Chris Jansing, who assumed coverage from the competent Lawrence O'Donnell, lost track of rescue number 4. As the capsule was making its way down (16 minutes) she kept repeating, "as we wait for the capsule to go down," apparently unaware that it was on its way.

Then, minutes from the capsule reaching the mine below — whose surreal live feed is no doubt one of the most interesting aspects of the coverage (supplanted only by the family reunions above ground) — Jansing cuts away to a commercial and returns with canned coverage of an earlier rescue, completely missing the live feed as miner number 4 is being prepared to be hoisted up in the capsule. Considering this aspect of the operation is the most perilous in terms of what could go wrong, this was an appaling lapse. At least CNN had the relevant live feed, despite the anchor with an Aussie/New Zealand accent.

It's not brain surgery; the producers and anchor can actually time the descent and ascent, and plan their cutaways, interviews, and commercial breaks accordingly. But when the capsule goes down and when it arrives, you really want to be there live.

One gets the sense that when these networks do wall-to-wall coverage of such events, they go into auto-pilot mode, and daytime folks like Jansing start nodding off before they get their Starbucks fix. For example, Chile's first lady was charming in comforting the families as they waited for their loved one to make his way up. But no one picked up on this. The underutilized Sanders and Morales might have some insights, but they were never asked. They get an A for their limited but vivid and enthusiastic reporting; MSNBC gets a C- for its inconsistent coverage. They could have creamed CNN.

Another Jansing gem: In one window one of the rescued miners is talking away describing his experiences in an interview seen silently. it would be nice to have Morales around to translate his words. From his gestures, he sounds interesting and relevant. Instead, Jansing is going blahblahblah with inconsequential and boring fill-in guests. It seems her main attribute is an ability to talk nonstop. Meanwhile, her viewers everywhere lean so far forward they're tipping over into sleep mode.

Glenn Beck And The Tea Party Armies of The Damned

When Teabaggers say they want to “start a revolution,” this is what they mean. Lately, Glenn Beck has been practicing behavior known in the psychiatric world as projection:

“In Freudian psychology, Psychological projection or projection bias is a psychological defense mechanism where a person unconsciously denies their own attributes, thoughts, and emotions, which are then ascribed to the outside world ….Thus, it involves imagining or projecting that others have those [attributes],” in Beck’s case, V.I.O.L.E.N.C.E.

Beck is most likely lashing out at the Left, specifically Media Matters, for calling him out on his wild conspiracies and outright lies. For example, Media Matters completely debunks Beck’s lies about Soros and the Obama administration purportedly making a loan to Petrobrás. Not true. But as can be seen with the reaction of disturbed Beck followers like Williams (see below), such outrageously irresponsible allegations have real-life consequences.

So, when Beck makes inflammatory statements about impending violence coming from the Left, he is projecting onto the Left his own daily dose of violence and hatred. The result of his sick mind’s daily projections to “hundreds of thousands” of indoctrinated, impressionable followers who hang on this charlatan’s every word, is this:

“Glenn Beck is going to deny everything about violent approach, deny everything about conspiracies, but he’ll give you every reason to believe it. He’s protecting himself, and you can’t blame him for that. So, but I understand what he’s doing. So now they’ve got Beck labeled as this guy that is trying to incite violence. And what I say is, if the truth incites violence, it means that we’ve been living too long in the lies … There’s hundreds of thousands of us yes. And more and more people are waking up.”
- Byron Williams

From the Huffington Post:

“The 45-year-old ex-felon opened fire on California Highway Patrol officers who had stopped him on an Oakland freeway for driving erratically. For 12 frantic minutes, Williams traded shots with the police, employing three firearms and a small arsenal of ammunition, including armor-piercing rounds fired from a .308-caliber rifle.

When the smoke cleared, Williams surrendered; the ballistic body armor he was wearing had saved his life. Miraculously, only two of the 10 CHP officers involved in the shootout were injured.

In an affidavit, an Oakland police investigator reported that during an interview at the hospital, Williams 'stated that his intention was to start a revolution by traveling to San Francisco and killing people of importance at the Tides Foundation and the ACLU.'”

Glenn Beck is setting himself up and his millions of followers to be smeared with the blood of innocents if a disturbed individual like Williams acts out Beck’s words. We can only hope the law will stop such individuals before something tragic happens. There are three words to describe what Beck does: Talk show terrorism.

Democrats Open Fire Against Traitorous Chamber of Commerce

The U.S. (a misnomer: Chinese, Russian, Indian, Saudi, Bahrani — take your pick) Chamber of Commerce continued to deny and avoid questions it was soliciting and using foreign money to influence and fund our midterm elections in favor of Republican candidates while it was hosting an event for the Bahrain Banks Association, with arrogant disregard even for the appearance of impropriety. Whether what the Chamber is doing is illegal in this brave new (post-Citizens United SCOTUS decision) world  is beside the point; it is unethical to the nth degree, unpatriotic, and un-American.

Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, who is not up for reelection this year, has asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate the matter. White House senior adviser David Axelrod demanded that the Chamber open its books and prove it isn’t using foreign money to fund its campaigns. President Obama has ramped up the criticism of this threat to our democracy following up on his blunt warning in last year's State of the Union address, in which right wing Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito was seen shaking his head and mouthing the words, “not true.” What about now, Joe Wilson ... er, Sam? Traitorous bastards. Working class hero, Ed Schultz, tells it like it is:

“The DNC ad is rubbish,” said Tom Collamore, senior vice president of Communications and Strategy for the U.S. Chamber. “The U.S. Chamber will continue to discuss ways to create jobs and grow the economy no matter how often others may try to change the conversation. We've been working for growth, jobs, and opportunity for 100 years and we won't be deterred now.” In a Freudian slip, Collamore used a Britishism, rubbish, as the Oxford English Dictionary defines it:

(British English, informal) (also used as an adjective) something that you think is of poor quality
I thought the play was rubbish!
Do we have to listen to this rubbish music?
They said I was a rubbish boss.

Before joining the  Chamber, Collamore was a Republican operative, serving as CEO of the Friends for Fred Thompson Committee. Before that, he spent 14 years with international tobacco giant Altria Group, Inc., as vice president of Corporate Public Affairs. He served George H.W. Bush during the Reagan and Bush administrations, and continues to serve the Republican Party, a wholly-owned subsidiary of corporate America and its funding arm, the Chamber of Commerce. Collamore belongs to the permanent shadow corporate government that includes among its virtual board of directors, the Bush family as well as the funding nations.  

They pay to play in U.S. elections to subvert our democracy.

The Democratic Party is fighting back with this ad. As Big Ed said, this is not a Democratic or Republican issue; this is about our freedom and democracy. If we don't stop this now, we'll be fighting a rearguard acrtion on our own shores to prevent foreign multinationals from turning our democracy into a globalized fascist state, a third world oligarchy for our billionaire rulers to dump their cheap products, an unregulated marketplace playground, as they hoard their money in overseas tax havens and invest it in more overseas jobs or Chinese speed rail and planet-chocking coal burning plants.

This is our future — the end of history — if we don't take a stand and stop it.