Because Newt is thinking about running for prez

I thought I'd start running some of his wonderful old hits. This is a post right after the horror at Virginia Tech, where he thought he could scrape off the blame on to liberals:

Newt Gingrich explains why liberals caused the Virginia Tech massacre

By trying to say his bizarre statement after the Columbine school shooting still applied. Read (and hear) his intelligent and logical response as to why the liberals are at fault:

GINGRICH: Well, who has created a situation ethics, essentially, zone of not being willing to talk about any of these things. Let me carry another example. I strongly supported Imus being dismissed, but I also think the very thing he was dismissed for, which is the use of language which is stunningly degrading of women — the fact, for example, that one of the Halloween costumes this last year was being able to be either a prostitute or a pimp at 10, 11, 12 years of age, buying a costume, and we don’t have any discussion about what’s happened to our culture because while we’re restricting political free speech under McCain-Feingold, we say it’s impossible to restrict vulgar and vicious and anti-human speech. And I would argue that that’s a major component of what’s happened to our culture in the last 40 years.

Aren't we already getting eight years of this weird make-your-own-reality stuff? I think we've had enough.

Besides.

Who wants a president named Newt?


(Picture of Warty Newt from here.)

Update 4/23: Mustang Bobby of Bark Bark Woof Woof reminds us of another time Gingrich worked very hard to link society's ills and liberals together.... and it didn't work:

It is easy for Mr. Gingrich to blame society for the ills and tragedies of one demented man. He has done it before, with the tragedy of Susan Smith, the woman who drowned her two children in 1994. At first Mr. Gingrich implied that liberals were to blame and that it would be advantageous for the Republicans in the upcoming 1994 mid-term elections by reminding voters that liberals could be held accountable: "Slightly more moving our way. I think that the mother killing the two children in South Carolina vividly reminds every American how sick the society is getting and how much we need to change things." He dropped that when it came to light that Ms. Smith had been molested as a teen by her stepfather, a prominent South Carolina Republican and leader of the Christian Coalition. But obviously that smack-down in irony has not been enough to deter him, and onward he goes, doing what Republicans do best: finding a problem, making people afraid of it, and then finding someone else to blame for it. He doesn't offer solutions, nor does he bother to contemplate the fact that it was under the Reagan administration that federal assistance for mental health services for people like Mr. Cho was cut back and the Republicans have been very successful in defeating every effort by the Democrats to restore it, leaving it to the states, who have barely enough resources to pay for existing facilities, or the private sector.

Run, Newt, Run! I'm going to post more about your family values and three wives in a bit!

crossposted at Rants from the Rookery

Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother

Welcome Back to Pottersville has been an occasional read of mine for a long time. I've always found Jurassicpork to be funny, spot on and credible.

But when I read this post I thought JP might have gone all Malkin on me. I was wrong. I did the research and JP is right.

Rather than link to such a hating person as Hal Turner I'm just going to quote what's on Turner's website and link to the Google cache:

THEY DIDN'T READ THE TRILLION $ BILL!

[...]
One of the Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton, writing in the Federalist Papers told us how to deal with betrayals. In Federalist 28, Par., 6 Hamilton wrote: "If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no resource left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government, . . . . . The citizens must rush tumultuously to arms, without concert, without system, without resource; except in their courage and despair."

In case you don't understand what Hamilton meant, he meant that we should pick up guns and shoot them. I agree with Alexander Hamilton.

In my opinion, it would be right for us to pick up guns, walk up to each of the 246 members of the United States House of Representatives who just spent a trillion dollars without reading the spending Bill and shoot them. Dead.

This weekend, I will be researching the home addresses and private home telephone numbers for each of the 246 members of the House that betrayed us. I will publish those addresses on the internet through file sharing sites and/or through public newsgroups so the private info is dispersed quickly and widely.

I want members of Congress to be confronted at their homes -- where they don't have massive security protecting them. I want members of Congress to be intercepted when they drive from home to the store.

I want to create the conditions necessary so that Congress never again dares to do something like this for fear what happens to these present political whores might happen again.

Oh, and if any of you US Attorneys, federal Agents of federal Judges start getting uppity and think you can do anything at all to stop me from inciting my fellow citizens to pay a visit to members of Congress, YOUR personal private info will get published too.

Nope, there's no mistaking that he just advocated the killing of 246 members of congress, federal judges, US Attorneys and anyone who disagrees with him.

And he's been successful in the past about having his targets assassinated by his redneck co-conspirators.

Why isn't this man in jail!? I'm so glad you asked. It's obviously a federal crime to threaten to murder government officials or anyone else, or to incite other people to murder anyone. But Hal Turner is an FBI informant, and the FBI has different standards for their informants.

Personal note to JP: As lonely as you may feel, you are not alone.



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Now, you knew damn well I was a snake, Before you brought me in

The Snake by Al Wilson

U.S. Congressman Frank A. LoBiondo [R-NJ] voted against the House version of the economic stimulus package.

LoBiondo signaled out the following examples of provisions within the House bill that do not meet the explicit requirements of immediately stimulating the economy:

* $1.9 billion for high-level physics research;

* $1.5 billion for universities to improve their biomedical research programs;

* $600 million for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to purchase new satellites to improve weather forecasts;

* $600 million to buy new cars for federal government workers, adding to the existing inventory of 640,000 vehicles; and,

* $335 million for education and prevention programs regarding sexually transmitted diseases.

Now reporters get a lot of things wrong. But since this is from The Honorable's own office I guess it's straight from the horse's ass.

And, while I don't know his voting record, and his office had a disclaimer before what I quoted, I say he's wrong to vote against this bill. But he's a republican and they vote in lockstep just to be obstructionists. They want President Obama to fail.

For one thing, all the provisions he can find to complain about only amount to 5 billion out of 800 billion. (1/160th of the bill.)

Now let's toss some more numbers around. 1.9 billion for 'High level physics research.' I don't know what programs he's talking about, but I do know that if this bill passes physics labs don't have to lose scientists, grad students, lab workers, janitors &c, &c, &c.

The same with biomedical research programs.

$600 million to build, buy and staff and launch weather satellites. Well gosh, the ones we have are failing and now more than ever we need to predict the weather better so our farmers, fishermen, neighbors &c, &c, &c can prepare and survive extreme weather. And an ounce of prevention IS CHEAPER than a pound of cure. And the folks in those fields get to keep their jobs and this will add new ones. It's sure nice to know that if you can graduate college you can get a job in a highly technical field that you love and the world needs.

$600 million to buy federal workers cars that are cheaper and more fuel efficient from our Big 3 auto companies.

Yep, no new jobs there! Just the autoworkers, designers, managers, parts makers, truck drivers, waiters & cooks and maintenance and sanitation workers, and their mangers &c, &c, &c.

$335 million to keep our children safer thru education and treatment that replace the failed abstinence programs that Bush & republicans insisted on. (BTW, nice job Gov Palin for keeping your daughter from getting pregnant out of wedlock ... and how is that shotgun marriage coming?)

Gee, all those are immediate jobs and infrastructure spending and pay off in the long run. And did I mention they were only 160th of the spending bill? And the only parts republicans are using for talking points?

Pardon me if I sound cynical, but republicans, all the way from their spokes model drug addict Rush Limbaugh, down to and including their rank & file members of congress, don't care about America or Americans.

Don't listen to what they say, watch how they act. 68% of the country has caught on. The only folks left are the rich, the pundits (also rich), and folks who can't afford teeth or health care for them or their kids and are too stupid to figure out that they've been lied to.

President Obama, We don't need bi-partisanship, we need solutions and fast. By catering to these copperheads all you are doing is slowing down the rest of the country's desperate needs and it won't help you get us what we need to survive.

Now you knew damn well they were snakes, Before you brought them in.



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Working hard or hardly working?

After Rescue, Bonuses Still Flow At AIG

Insurance giant AIG was given $152 billion in bailout money by the federal government since nearly collapsing in September. Now the company is planning to take millions of that money and hand it over to employees in a program that sounds a lot like bonuses.

AIG's new CEO is only taking a single dollar for his compensation this year and the top 60 executives won't be getting bonuses. But that hasn't stopped AIG from finding a creative way to keep some of their top employees in what they're calling "retention payments,"

Umm, when even lawyers and bankers are filing for unemployment, why do these executives need a 'bonus' to keep working? One would think just keeping the paycheck would be enough incentive.

In related news: The rethuglicans in the Senate trashed the auto bailout when Dems wouldn't give in to their demand that people making $28 per hour take a pay cut. When was the last time congress voted themselves a pay cut? [hint: NEVER!]

I did good work and good works this year and I make less than 10% of their salaries and less than 1% of Wall Street execs. I'm not getting a bonus this year and I'm not getting a raise this year and I didn't get $152 BILLION to bail out a predictably failed business model ... but I count myself lucky I still have a job.

Now excuse me while I comfort myself with bread and circuses (AKA the NFL.)


Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Project much, Senator?

SARASOTA, Fla. – Republican John McCain on Thursday spiced up a cross-state bus tour aimed at keeping Florida from swinging to the Democrats by accusing rival Barack Obama of saying "anything to get elected."

Just keeping track of McCain's ability to saying anything even if it's the opposite of what he just said....

McCain! The Flipflopper Express!



crossposted at Rants from the Rookery

From one who knows Palin

She lists the defects and lies:

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there’s a lot of people who have underestimated her and are regretting it.

Claim versus Fact:

* “Hockey mom”: true for a few years
* “PTA mom”: true years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since
* “NRA supporter”: absolutely true
* Social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconstitutional).
* Pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it.
* “Pro-life”: mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation
* “Experienced”: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska. No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000.
* Political maverick: not at all
* Gutsy: absolutely!
* Open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions.
* Has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
* A “Greenie”: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
* Fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
* Pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th century standards.
* Pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on residents
* Pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla’s history.
* Pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union doesn’t make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

Update: For those who want more information, here is an excellent run down at the Huffington Post.


crossposted at Rants from the Rookery

Simple directions

Via Pygalgia:

But what's puzzling you, Is the nature of my game

The Most Vulgar, Disgusting, and Foul Joke in the World
By: John Cole December 10, 2007 at 10:29 am

A well-known writer walked into a producer’s house and said to the producer that he had come up with a great act. The producer, intrigued, told the writer to briefly describe his idea.

“Well,” said the writer, “I have an idea for a political party who claims to be against the war in Iraq, but won’t do anything about it. The party will also claim to be against torture, but won’t do anything about that either. In fact, they will be swept into power precisely because of their public opposition to both of those things, but privately they will be informed of possible acts of torture performed by our government, and they won’t say anything about it. At any rate, they continue their two-faced behavior- publicly opposing the war and torture, but privately being apparently content with it, until the end of their congressional term, when they will all gather together on the floor of the House, where they will all publicly shit on the original version of the Constitution, on loan from the National Archives.”

The producer looked at the writer, and said, “That is really quite disgusting. What do you call the act?”

The writer responded, “The Democrats.”

While skippy thinks that's funny, and I agree on many levels, I gotta mention that John Cole just recently came over from the dark side, where he was an Iraq war cheerleader.

And the most disgusting joke in the world is not spineless, hypocritical dems, but the bastards who ignored Bin Laden determined to attack inside the U.S. The same bastards who still ignore him.

The bastards who wrote memos authorizing torture. The bastards who still defend torture.

The bastards who lied about Saddam's WMDs. The bastards who lie about Iran's WMDs.

The bastards who passed tax breaks for the wealthy while they refused to fund armor for our troops and refuse to take care of the troops injured due to the lack of armor.

The bastards who tapped our every form of communication, illegally.

The bastards who think a signing statement allows them to thwart the will of congress and the American people.

The bastards who vetoed Child Health Care and stem cell research.

Yeah, the dems suck! But blaming them is like blaming the whore instead of her pimp.




Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

I guess thats what I got my family for behind bars

It's so cute when Right-wingers try to think using actual logic and, you know, thoughts. It's even cuter when the agenda goes in search of a target. Columnist Steven Greenhut writes about allegedly corrupt OC Sheriff Mike Carona:

Carona "has been named in a wide-ranging corruption indictment … that accuses him and several close associates of scheming to exploit Carona's position for personal benefit, including accepting cash and appointing to the position of assistant sheriff an unqualified businessman who paid bribes." Carona also is charged "with witness tampering, including his attempt to convince [businessman Don]Haidl, as recently as August, to lie to a federal grand jury." Also named in the indictment were Carona's wife, Deborah Carona, and a woman the indictment describes as his "longtime mistress," attorney Debra Hoffman.

. . . What surprises me, however, is that many supporters really still believe that Carona is a decent, honorable guardian of the public trust. They don't say, "He's a bum, but he's our bum." No, they are completely taken in by him.

Sounds like a bad dude. Allegations, of course, are not convictions, so one might be circumspect in pronouncing Carona guilty just yet.

But then, like a Zombie Meme™ that won't go away, Greenhust segues to:

Carona is the Bill Clinton of local politics. Even Clinton's foes reportedly came away from personal meetings with him convinced of his basic decency and sincerity. Bill would look them in the eyes and was so convincing. I've met with Carona a few times, and he is exactly the same way. Most of us have known sociopaths who behave despicably but have an aw-shucks charm that suckers even people who should know better.

Right. Right-wing meme #14A: Clinton is a sociopath. Or a serial philanderer. Or was personally responsible for killing Vince Foster who was going to expose Hillary as a lesbian, or because he was sleeping with her. Whatever.

Seriously, how childish. This descends into Jonah Goldberg territory, complete with Cheetoh crumbs. There are lots of people who exude an oily charm that others find compelling, Ted Bundy comes to mind. But there's nothing anywhere other than on Right-winger blogs and glibertarian newspapers to indicate that Clinton is really a sociopath. And while there are many things liberals and progressives can fault him for, the sociopath tag has really become a Right-wing tic, a Pavlovian conditioned response to haering the name Bill Clinton.

Silly, shallow, deluded, cheap people.

More on Carona here.

Is it a crime that I still want you, And I want you to want me too

The astonishing thing about the current Republican Party is their stubborn refusal to let go of the anvil pulling them to the bottom of the lake. They continue to own the very things that are destroying them, i.e. GWBush's 24% support for the war. Giuliani is only the latest example:

Rudy Giuliani said Monday that if his achievements as president are as good as the crime-reduction results of his New York police commissioner, a man now under criminal investigation himself, "this country will be in great shape."

Giuliani, in an interview with The Associated Press, acknowledged mistakes by Bernard Kerik, who was police commissioner when Giuliani was mayor. But he said crime reduction for the city was more important.

So crime reduction is more important than the Police Commioners' own alleged crime. Sounds like situational ethics, moral ambiguity and relativism, things that Right-singers always rail against:

All this should be quite clear, but there is one aspect of moral relativism that confuses many believers in Judeo-Christian moral absolutes. They assume that situational ethics is the same thing as moral relativism and therefore regard situational ethics as incompatible with Judeo-Christian morality. They mistakenly argue that just as allowing individuals to determine what is right and wrong negates moral absolutes, allowing situations to determine what is right and wrong also negates moral absolutes.

This is a misunderstanding of the meaning of moral absolutes. It means that if an act is good or bad, it is good or bad for everyone in the identical situation ("universal morality").

As usual, what Prager is saying is that if you do it, it's moral relativism. But if he does it, it's situational ethics. Either way it's still a human deciding what's right. How hard is that to understand?

And so what if Kerik is bent as a dog's hind leg, as long as he produces results, he's A-OK:

As for Kerik, Giuliani said, "It was a mistake not checking him out as thoroughly as I should have. ... I don't like surprises. I don't like to find out things that I haven't found out myself. Not that it hasn't happened to me before. But I try to tighten up the whole thing and make sure we do a better job in the future."

Federal prosecutors in New York have spent more than a year pursuing criminal charges against Kerik, reportedly including bribery, tax evasion, obstruction of justice, providing false information and conspiracy to eavesdrop. Kerik rejected a plea deal in the spring, but meetings have continued.

"I made mistakes. I will continue to make mistakes," Giuliani said. "But what are the results? What kind of results do I get? What Bernie Kerik did wrong did not implicate what the results were for the public. What he did wrong, he's going to have to pay for."

Bastards.

you can call text me any day or night

Yet another story about 'Family Values', Oral, Dick and underage males:

Scandal Brewing at Oral Roberts U.

Twenty years ago, televangelist Oral Roberts said he was reading a spy novel when God appeared to him and told him to raise $8 million for Roberts' university, or else he would be "called home."

Now, his son, Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, says God is speaking again, telling him to deny lurid allegations in a lawsuit that threatens to engulf this 44-year-old Bible Belt college in scandal. [...] "This lawsuit ... is about intimidation, blackmail and extortion."
[ED: like god did when he threatened your father with death if he didn't come up with $8 mil!?]
[...]
Richard Roberts, according to the suit, asked a professor in 2005 to use his students and university resources to aid a county commissioner's bid for Tulsa mayor. Such involvement would violate state and federal law because of the university's nonprofit status. Up to 50 students are alleged to have worked on the campaign.

[...]
The internal document was prepared by Stephanie Cantese, Richard Roberts' sister-in-law, according to the lawsuit.

An ORU student repairing Cantese's laptop discovered the document and later provided a copy to one of the professors.

It details dozens of alleged instances of misconduct. Among them:

_ A longtime maintenance employee was fired so that an underage male friend of Mrs. Roberts could have his position.

_ Mrs. Roberts — who is a member of the board of regents and is referred to as ORU's "first lady" on the university's Web site — frequently had cell-phone bills of more than $800 per month, with hundreds of text messages sent between 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. to "underage males who had been provided phones at university expense."

_ The university jet was used to take one daughter and several friends on a senior trip to Orlando, Fla., and the Bahamas. The $29,411 trip was billed to the ministry as an "evangelistic function of the president."

_ Mrs. Roberts spent more than $39,000 at one Chico's clothing store alone in less than a year, and had other accounts in Texas and California. She also repeatedly said, "As long as I wear it once on TV, we can charge it off." The document cites inconsistencies in clothing purchases and actual usage on TV.

_ Mrs. Roberts was given a white Lexus SUV and a red Mercedes convertible by ministry donors.

_ University and ministry employees are regularly summoned to the Roberts' home to do the daughters' homework.

_ The university and ministry maintain a stable of horses for exclusive use by the Roberts' children.

_ The Roberts' home has been remodeled 11 times in the past 14 years.

I'm guessing it's easier to redecorate your home 11 times than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Knock Three Times On The Stall Door Ceiling If You Want Me, Twice On My Pipe If The Answer Is Blow Me No

Oh my darlings ... I was going to ignore the Senator Craig fiasco, but with his latest tap dance I just can't help swinging at the low hanging fruit:

Craig Moves to Block Senate Ethics Panel Complaint

[...]
Mr. Craig stunned Washington late yesterday with an announcement through his spokesman that he may return to the Senate despite announcing Saturday "my intent to resign from the Senate effective September 30"

Yet another exposure (eeek!) to Republican Family Values.

Just like "it's not the crime, it's the cover up", it's not the gay, it's the hypocrisy.

In the same way a War On Drugs aficionado is fair game when it's discovered he has, say, an OxyContin addiction, a toe tappin', two timin', close closeted, hypocritical Homersexual has no business complaining about and denying equal rights to Americans who don't share his narrow minded view ... as seen through the crack in his closet door.

Hatred is NOT a family value. Self-hatred doesn't count either.


Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

rejection never felt this good

Poll: Most Republicans Reject Evolution

The three Republican presidential candidates who indicated last month that they do not believe in evolution may have been taking a safe stance on the issue when it comes to appealing to GOP voters.

A Gallup poll released Monday said that while the country is about evenly split over whether the theory of evolution is true, Republicans disbelieve it by more than 2-to-1.

Coincidentally, evolution has rejected republicans 2-to-1.


(Cross posted at Vidiotspeak)

And I'm still so afraid

(image borrowed from the heretik)

It takes a real conservative to point out a phony one. Andrew Sullivan points out Giuliani's hysteria and fear-mongering:

Mark Steyn praises Rudy Giuliani for endorsing New Hampshire's state motto, "Live Free Or Die." I love the motto too. But isn't it exactly the opposite of what today's GOP stands for? The entire premise of Giuliani's positions is that, after 9/11, we should not live free in case we die. Last night, he spoke of two risible plots by total losers with no capability of doing serious damage as grave threats to America's survival. The Fort Dix goons and the JFK plotters are among the most pathetic, puny enemies this country has ever known. But Giuliani speaks of them as if they were the approach of global catastrophe - and he demands that Americans surrender their most precious liberties in order to remain safe from them. Live free or die? Giuliani's motto is: Live Under My Protection Or Die.

Indeed. And he smacks down the odious Steyn in the process. Andy continues:

The logic of today's GOP in the war on terror, moreover, is the inverse of New Hampshire's. In every choice of liberty versus security, the GOP now prefers security, without even publicly acknowledging the costs. And yet Mark Steyn sees no irony here. Do they really not see that their rhetoric on liberty is utterly hollow?

Here's what someone said about freedom a while ago:

Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the numbers of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it.

. . . Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

I'm pretty sure that Steyn, given the same choice, would opt for a medium-rare steak and a Coors lite. After all, freedom is hard work.