corrupt s.o.b. retires to k-street money pile

DUMB RIGHTWING CROOKED ASSHOLES

Jerkoff To Retire From Congress

by Ken Layne 3:59 pm January 12, 2012

Indefensible lifelong asshole Jerry Lewis, Republican crook from California’s “Inland Empire,” will finally retire from the House because his district is no longer a geometric abomination carved out by his GOP cronies. Lewis, a hateful clown in a white fright wig, has spent his career being a complete asshole while lavishing pork projects on his district as long as they were named for “Representative Jerry Lewis.”

A Democrat will easily win the new district, the lines of which were drawn up by a committee of voters, so they reflect the actual population in the region (heavily Latino) of poor and working-class Californians. Jerry Lewis will spend the last years of his miserable life greasing palms on Capitol Hill for some lobbying firm or another. He sucks. [LA Times/Huffington Post]

When both Rolling Stone AND Andrew Breitbart claim you're the most corrupt congress critter ever, you know you've taken the grand champion prize.

the old gray lady has alzheimers

Journalismism

'Times' Poll: Should or Should We Not Print Lies?

By Choire Sicha | January 12, 2012

Everyone is pretty aghast and/or in stitches over today's weird and kinda embarrassing escapade by the New York Times public editor, Arthur Brisbane: "I’m looking for reader input on whether and when New York Times news reporters should challenge 'facts' that are asserted by newsmakers they write about." Not just when; whether! A list of people currently making fun of this runs from editors of city papers to New Yorker correspondents to totally random unemployed people to... well, the Times staffers are all sitting on their hands right now. GOSH, HOW THAT MUST BURN.

How does this argument even go, anyway? PRO: Sure! Let the record reflect whatever people say, that way we have a record of it. CON: No, definitely not! The newspaper should report all lies unchallenged!

(Also, oh yes, let's have readers—aka BLOG COMMENTERS—provide the "input" on these issues. Er, no offense, some of my best friends are blog commenters.) Anyway, haven't seen Twitter make so much fun of one person since, hmm... a SuperBowl half-time show, or maybe that time that ESPN became the LeBron network? Hey, only 18 months till Arthur Brisbane's term is up.

lolling around

gop rep proposes treason - film at 11

I really enjoy Bob Cesca.  He has a way of distilling the absurd down into bite-sized bits.

A Word from the Crazy Caucus

Posted on 01/11/2012 at 11:30 am by Bob Cesca

A member of Congress recommended a military insurrection.

Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), who doesn’t make much of an effort to hide his extremism, argued on a right-wing radio show this week U.S. military leaders should consider ignoring the orders of their commander-in-chief. He wasn’t kidding.

Say it with me now — if Allen West was a Democrat and the president was a Republican, Allen West would have to go on a nationwide apology tour after Congress passed a resolution scolding him.

 

Remember when you couldn't even question why we were in a war of choice with a country that had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks?  I do.  Funny how that all gets flipped on its pointed little head now.

sad

another example of a little thing called mittzpah!

All I can say is that the frikkin "liberal" media better start doing their damn jobs.  If they let the lies of Mittens go unchallenged they all ought to be fired.

Mitt Romney is a Lying Liar

Posted on 01/11/2012 at 2:30 pm by JM Ashby

Mitt Romney, who may be under the mistaken belief that his New Hampshire victory means people actually like him, appeared on CBS’s “This Morning” today and unleashed a series of lies that most Republicans haven’t even gone near. Romney’s past suggests he should stay clear of it too.

Mitt Romney, under attack by his opponents over his record of layoffs and restructuring at Bain Capital, said Wednesday that President Barack Obama was also forced to lay off people in the auto industry.

“In the general election, I’ll be pointing out that the president took the reins of General Motors and Chrysler, closed factories, closed dealerships, laid off thousands and thousands of workers. He did it to try to save the business,” Romney said on CBS’s “This Morning.”

“We also had the occasion to do things that are tough to try to save a business,” Romney said. “We started a number of businesses, invested in many others and, overall, created tens of thousands of jobs.”

If Romney’s strategy for confronting accusations that he fired people for profit at Bain Capital is to say “yeah, well, the president fired people too!” he’s not going to get very far with that. Because that’s not just a lie. It’s completely absurd.

Many employees did lose their jobs and many dealerships were forced to close when the auto industry was bailed out, however it was General Motors and Chrysler who decided which ones, not the president or his administration. Furthermore, many of those who were laid off were hired back after the dust settled, and if the Obama Administration had done nothing, the entire American auto industry could have imploded.

Another reason this is a losing argument for Mitt Romney is this. Let Detroit Go Bankrupt!

Blaming President Obama for firing people at General Motors was not the only whopper blurted out by Mitt Romney during this segment of CBS’s “This Morning.” There was also this gem of dishonesty.

“We started a number of businesses, invested in many others and, overall, created tens of thousands of jobs.”

He created tens of thousands jobs? What happen to the claim that he created 100,000 jobs?

Oh. This is what happened. It was shredded.

quid pro quo, clarice

Revolving Door: From Top Futures Regulator to Top Futures Lobbyist

Among people who follow these markets for a living, the Lukken hire had an embarrassingly over-the-top quality, like a CEO who goes the appearances-be-damned route and puts his 23 year-old secretary/mistress on the board of directors.

Mike Masters is head of the Masters Capital Management hedge fund and also chairman of Better Markets, a new non-profit advocacy group that promotes the public interest in the labyrinthine vagaries of the financial markets, and especially the commodities markets. He describes the hiring of Lukken as an extreme example of revolving-door politics.

“It’s not the revolving door. It’s the express elevator,” he says.

Taibbi is spot-on as always in pointing out the flaws in the system.

There is no way our government regulators will ever function as they are supposed to as long as their main goal is to angle for a cushy private sector job as a reward. 

good news

Bill Moyers: Back With a New Series

The lack of civility and common sense that has paralyzed our democracy, the vast economic and social inequality that sends both left and right raging into the streets, the corrosive influence of money in politics - we're in a tailspin with little hope for a course correction from our elected leadership or corporate-dominated media. The need for voices of reason, simple and eloquent, has rarely been stronger.

The return of Moyers is welcome news.  So much cacophny rattling around the tee vee and interwebs...wisdom and reason are seriously needed.

the nightly lol lounge

Philosoraptor says...

Lenin Cat says...

Business Cat says...

Donald Trump Cat says...

John Steinbeck On Socialism In America

A classic Steinbeck quote on socialism in America:

“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”

Stolen from Political Ironing on Prose Before Hos.

edumacation featuring the 3 Ks?

Our daily dose of the derp from the good people at Wonkette:

DEPARTMENT OF WTF

Georgia School Brings Slavery, Slave Beatings Into Math Questions

by Liz Colville 5:00 pm January 9, 2012

Georgia’s Gwinnett County School District is coming under fire after parents came across math homework featuring some really atrocious questions involving slavery. Two questions in particular — one involving the number of oranges picked by slaves and another about the number of times Frederick Douglass might have been beaten in a week — were apparently aimed at teaching third graders about multiplication. Nine teachers at Beaver Ridge Elementary School insist they were “attempting to do a cross-curricular activity with a book the children had read about abolitionist Frederick Douglass in their social studies class.” Um, which book? These teachers might be decent at math, but they are terrible at social studies.

The offending questions read as follows:

Each tree had 56 oranges. If eight slaves pick them equally, then how much would each slave pick?

If Frederick got two beatings per day, how many beatings did he get in one week?

No words. A school district spokesperson, Sloan Roach, has responded by saying, “We’ve been working with human resources to determine what staff development is needed for the teachers and what actions may be warranted.”

“Staff development.” How about SCHOOL, Billy Madison style. [CBS News]

Oh jesus christ on a cracker, these fucking people.

truthiness

wise old ladies are wise

Three Wise Men With Extra Cheese Please

So that leaves us with Romney, Paul and Santorum.  Three wise men who couldn’t find a star on a moonless night much less a family of three in a manger.  And even if they could, Romney wouldn’t be able to decide on which star to follow;  Paul would want to argue about the price of  gold, frankincense and myrrh;  and Santorum would be too busy molesting the cattle lowing in the stable.

Folks, let’s get serious.  Since 2008 we’ve reduced our wars by 50%, avoided another Great Depression, advanced women’s rights in the workplace, ended Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and passed a law intended to provide healthcare for the sick and the poor.  Not bad for a Muslim born in Kenya.  Republicans not wanting to re-elect Obama isn’t exactly newsworthy.  They like war and they hate gays, women and those damn government-cheese-sucking poor people.  But wanting to put Rick Santorum in the White House?  He thinks birth control should be outlawed.   Without birth control you’re going to have more government-cheese-sucking poor people.

This is how the Republican Party recovers from nominating Sarah Palin as VP?  Honey, that man-on-dog just don’t hunt.  If this pack is truly the best your party has to offer, maybe you should consider a new party – one where they don’t serve tea. 

Forget 2012 and nominate a serious candidate in 2016.  I mean it.  Really.

If you haven't read Margaret and Helen, you need to start.  Now.

money makes the world go around

Hey, Media: It's Not About Romney; It's About Money:

...the reason that Mitt Romney is winning is because there is no one who can touch him on money. Whether it's campaign contributions or PACs, this nomination process was over before it began because the very, very rich Romney is Wall Street's pick. This is not news. But with the rise of Super PACs in the wake of the Citizens United decision and the no-ceiling spending they can engage in under the guise of "free speech" (remember: if money equals speech, then some people have more speech than others, no?), we've moved into a new realm of crazy. That's news. Big-time fucking news. But it's pathetic when Stephen Colbert is one of the only media figures making the effort to expose how corrupting Super PACs are.

Mr. Rude Pundit is correct.

yet another cautionary tale

Credit Card Firms: They Don't Just Steal From Cardholders

... we can't live with big firms simply taking money out of bank accounts for no reason, and daring people to sue to get the money back. That's theft by bureaucratic force, not mere greed.

Where is the GOP outrage?  A small business owner is being repressed!  Oh, wait - that's right.  In the GOP lexicon, small business owner = hedge fund millionaire and repression can only be the result of gubmint regulations, not due to widespread corporate malfeasance.

in which i give props to guy that usually pisses me off

Rep. Paul Ryan announces opposition to SOPA

Good for him.

in which i feel sorry for the residents of wichita, ks (after calling their state stupid)

Rat Bastards

Posted on 01/07/2012 at 3:00 pm by JM Ashby

The citizens of Wichita, Kansas are about to learn what it feels like to be trickled down on.

This week, defense and aircraft manufacturing giant Boeing announced that it will be closing the Boeing Defense, Space & Security facility in Wichita by the end of 2013, which “means the loss of 2,100 well-paying jobs at its Kansas facility, which was once considered the centerpiece of Wichita’s claim as the air capital of the world.” Boeing will instead be performing the operations that were scheduled for Wichita in San Antonio and Oklahoma City.

Boeing’s decision — which it blames on possible defense cuts that may take place in the future — is devastating to Wichita community, which also includes more than four hundred Boeing suppliers. [...]

The announcement is particularly shocking given the fact that Boeing had repeatedly promised to keep jobs in Kansas and add many more if it were able to land a $35 billion contract for an aerial tanker. Kansas lawmakers went to bat for the company in early 2011, with Sen. Pat Roberts (R) even calling on “everybody who’s out there tweeting, chirping and Facebooking” to push for the Air Force to grant the tanker contract to Boeing rather than European rival EADS.

I’m sure everyone recalls the shitstorm that was the fuel tanker contract which saw Republicans losing their minds and whispering impeachment over the Pentagon offering the contract to a European company rather than to Boeing.

Ultimately, Boeing did land the $35 billion dollar fuel tanker contract, and the state of Kansas offered them millions of dollars in tax breaks to keep them in the state where Boeing promised to remain if awarded the contract.

Despite recieving both the $35 billion contract and the tax incentives, Boeing is closing its Wichita plant because of “possible defense cuts that may take place in the future.”
Possibly. Maybe. Who knows?

I’m sure the 2,100 local employees and over 400 local suppliers and their employees would like a better explanation than that.

It’s true that there will be considerable defense cuts over the next decade, however Boeing is not a company that is hurting financially or anywhere even close to it. According to Bloomberg, Boeing saw roughly $68.6 billion in revenue in 2011 and is projected to see $78.7 billion in revenue in 2012. Boeing is also among the 30 corporations that paid no federal taxes between 2008 and 2010.

deep-seated fear and loathing no longer so deep-seated

This Is a Lot Worse Than YoMama 'Jokes'

By Charles P. Pierce at 12:00AM

 

And, suddenly, the dogwhistles have turned into air-raid sirens.

I think, maybe, it's time for the nation to rise up and point out to the Republican party that, root and branch, it is a racist embarrassment to democracy and a blight on this nation that all the world can see. Whether it's N. Leroy Gingrich's chirping about how all the black people are on food stamps, or Rick Santorum's talking about the mysterious Blah People, or this clown whom the other clowns in the Kansas House elected to lead them, there is a steady, noxious river of bile flowing through the entire Republican party, and through the conservative "movement" that empowers it. It should marginalize the party to whatever back lot of hell it is in which a crosseyed James Earl Ray attempts to shoot an apple off the head of Byron De La Beckwith for all eternity.

No, I don't accept your apology, you ignorant old fart. No, Rick, I don't believe for a moment you meant to say something else and it came out "Blah people," you Bible-banging coward. Nobody's talking in code any more. It's right out front there, for all the world to see. How dare these people? How dare their evil souls?

this is what's wrong with kansas

GOP speaker of Kansas House prays for Obama’s death, calls First Lady “Mrs. YoMama”

This.  GAH.

This is just one more in a continuing long list of examples of why my kids will not be attending university in Kansas.

Nebraska Motto:  At least we're not Kansas!

in which i give props to king derp

“Now I have no doubt that Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips — whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out because his company Bain Capital with all the jobs that they killed, I’m sure he was worried that he’d run out of pink slips,” Perry told the crowd at Mama Penn’s restaurant.
~ Rick Perry!

Huzzah!

Greedy One Percent

~ The Top 5 Tax Myths Of The GOP Spin Machine

Do clicky over to the post.  It's got a handy-dandy fun chart for each myth.

And here are the myths - full explanations and supporting evidence courtesy of Citizens for Tax Justice:

The Top Five Tax Myths to Watch Out for this Election Season

1) Myth: 47 Percent of Americans Do Not Pay Taxes
Fact: All Americans Pay Taxes

2) Myth: The American People and Corporations Pay High Taxes
Fact: The US Has the Third Lowest Taxes of Any Developed Country in the World

3) Myth: Cutting Taxes Creates Jobs and Raises Revenue
Fact: Tax Cuts Reduce Revenue And Are Not Associated with Economic Growth

4) Myth: The US tax system is very progressive because wealthy individuals already pay a disproportionate amount of taxes.
Fact: At a Time of Growing Income Inequality, the US Tax System is Basically Flat.

5) Myth : The “Fair Tax” or a flat tax would be more “fair”
Fact: The “Fair Tax” or a Flat Tax Would Make Our Tax System Even More Regressive

kindergarten-libertarianism

An absence of government regulation, for most people, just means domination by unconstrained private actors. 
~ Scott Lemieux - Lawyers, Gun$ and Money

So many politicians are in love with the idea of their simple ancestors and their great American reinvention.  Their immigrant ancestors spoke English the minute they hit the shores (bullshit!).  Their immigrant ancestors immediately started to assimilate into being the 1950's definition of a good American (bullshit!).  Their immigrant ancestors came from deplorable European conditions and enjoyed the true and total personal freedoms that American had to offer (bullshit!).

Santorum's 'Freedom' is Pretty Much Slavery

"He left to the coal fields of Southern Pennsylvania. He worked in the mine at a company town, got paid with coupons, he used to call them."

Let us dwell on that. Grandpa Santorum lived in a company town where he was paid in "scrip" in lieu of cash. That means what his grandson calls "freedom" was, well and truly, something more like slavery.

Perlstein does one helluva job of dissecting this conserva-libertarian hogwash about "freedom" and what it really means.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

~ Inigo Montoya, "The Princess Bride"

One of the things that perturbs me on a regular basis is when a word is used by someone, usually in a quasi-authoritative manner, and it's obvious that they don't know fuck all what it really means.

Say, for example, the word "factoid" - it actually means something that isn't really true, but is presented as such.  Then so many talking bobble heads and others on the tee vee started using it interchangeably with "fact" and then threw the actual word they wanted completely out the window.

And so it scorches the cockles of my black, little heart when I see yet another misuse of a word.  But it is not a surprising thing coming from one of the GOP "presidential" field.

Ron Paul: ‘Entitlements are not rights’

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul claimed on Sunday that Americans don’t have a right to entitlements like Social Security and Medicare.

Seriously.  This guy is presidential material.  Of course he is!  He's brilliant compared to the other dim/sparking bulbs he's competing against.  The article then points out:

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of entitlement is “a right to benefits specified especially by law or contract.”

 These things make my brain cry.

let me introduce you to one of my favorite bloggers

CNN Sucks Really Bad

Consider: CNN's idea of political balance was a panel consisting of a Bushie clown, a Tea Party bozo, a centrist Democrat operative who helped sell out the progressive wing of the party to "triangulate" away from labor and blacks to a "center" in the 1990s — and, finally, poor, permafucked Roland Martin. This was "balanced" in the same way that a yardstick can span three feet — yet, on the left end, have a marking of 1 INCH and on the right end have a marking of 1 MILE. There's a middle there, in the media's abstracted math, and it doesn't matter to them what kind of see-saw real geometry creates.

Really, go visit Et tu, Mr. Destructo?

i am born

I poke my little, pointed head out.  I open my eyes.  I scream.  I try to retreat to the warmth of my fetal past to no avail.  Sucks to be me.

There is not much that I can write that hasn't already been written.  I just need a place to "air it out" - a place that without my usual self-censorship.  It's pretty cheap therapy.

No vaginas were harmed in this birthing.