Too Progressive

Republicans are so cute. The sad thing is, Republican politicians and their know-nothing minions (of course by “minions” I mean legions of “old, angry white people” accompanied by a smattering of self-loathing minorities) read a sentence like this and think “yep, that’s a good idea!” because they lack basic critical thinking skills.

McDonnell’s inauguration speech also took aim at leaders Washington. “The founders recognized that government closest to the people works best.” In an effort to curb the growth of government, McDonnell quickly created a commission on government reform and restructuring.

I mean, really? That’s like me announcing that I’m going to quit drinking alcohol while at the same time downing a bottle of champagne.

I wrote yesterday that I will not cast my vote for Creigh Deeds because of his statement during last nights debate proclaiming that he will opt Virginia out of a public option. Instead, I will be casting a write-in ballot and encourage others who are outraged by Deeds’ statement, but also don’t want to vote for McDonnell, to do the same.

I will be writing “public option” on my ballot and encourage others to do the same. Send a powerful message to the Deeds campaign who, let’s face it, has no chance of winning anyway, the DNC and Washington, DC. Let them know we want REAL health care reform, not a watered down compromise with the devil.

UPDATE: Real Democrats can win in Virginia (keyword: REAL).

Via CNN:

“This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the President’s remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill. While I disagree with the President’s statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility.”

Not good enough. Wilson embarassed himself, his state and the entire nation tonight. He should resign immediately.

The AP is reporting that Rep Joe Wilson called POTUS a liar during tonight’s address to Congress.

WASHINGTON — The nastiness of August reached from the nation’s town halls into the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday as President Barack Obama tried to move his health care plan forward.

South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson shouted “You lie!” after Obama had talked about illegal immigrants.

Please call Rep Wilson at 202-225-2452 and let him know that disrespecting the President, the country and millions of Americans who tuned in is NOT ACCEPTABLE. You can also contact the Congressman through his website.

UPDATE: Website has been crashed, presumably by the overwhelming response?

9:35pm UPDATE: Website still not working, phone lines are still busy.

9:47pm UPDATE: John McCain calling on Wislon to apologize.

9:49pm UPDATE: CNN has a photo.

10:07pm UPDATE: Contribute to Joe Wilson’s 2010 opponent, Rob Miller, by clicking here.

10:48pm UPDATE: SC Democrats release statement: “Once again a South Carolina Republican has embarrassed our state.” How long before Joe Wilson apologizes?

11:27pm UPDATE: Rob Miller has already raised $40,000 tonight!!

11:32pm UPDATE: Wilson’s Wikipedia entry has been locked due to vandalism.

The only reason conservatives don’t want their kids to hear a speech from President Obama encouraging them to stay in school is because an educated populace means less votes for Republicans.

Oh hey there, remember last year when, during the election, John McCain’s pathetic campaign resorted to offensive yet hilarious attacks against those of us who live in Northern Virginia? Remember how they called us communist and “fake Virginia.” Yes!? Well guess what!! Now the tool bags are coming here to hold the first in a series of events where they will feverishly try to figure out why they suck and what they can do to fix it.

“Reeling congressional Republicans launched a new policy effort days after their latest setback - the sudden defection of Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania to the Democrats,” the Boston Globe writes. “House GOP Whip Eric Cantor announced yesterday that the National Council for a New America will hold its first event tomorrow in suburban Washington, D.C.

Talk about irony!!

I am so sick and tired of listening to right wing fundies rail on and on about how much they support the troops and love America but then at the same time shit themselves every time they have to pay taxes which, by the way, PAY THE WAGES OF THOSE AFORE MENTIONED TROOPS.

This is obviously all my fault for expacting something more, though. I should have known better than to expect something more from a bunch of people who name their wannabe grassroots efforts after a fucking sex act. Also, what the fuck Rick Perry? Treason, much?

Anyone who didn’t see this one coming wasn’t paying attention.

Bristol Palin and her fiancé Levi Johnston have broken up, two sources tell PEOPLE.

The split happened “a few weeks ago,” according to a source close to the couple, but it’s unclear what precipitated it. “It was a mutual thing,” adds the source.

Bristol, the 18-year-old daughter of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, spoke with FOX News in February and told Greta Van Susteren that she and Levi – who are parents to 2-month-old son, Tripp – expected to get married after they completed high school.

“It kind of just happened,” says the source, referring to the split. “I thought they would stick it out. But I think they can work together to raise Tripp.”

Ha ha, it just kind of happened.

I’m sort of, kind of in the middle of packing for a trip to New York City tomorrow, but this video is so hilarious I have to take a break and post it. Look here at what the McCain campaign has been reduced to:

Wow. Just wow. Former Bush speech writer and apparent psycho David Frum appeared just a few minutes ago on The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC and accused Rachel Maddow of inciting violence through satire and humor. Video forthcoming.

UPDATE: Commenter Bryan makes an excellent point:

The point that Frum doesn’t get is that Maddow isn’t on C-Span. She’s on a channel where ratings matter. She has to be as entertaining as she is informative or GE will replace her with someone who will be, especially when you consider the time slot that she’s in.

UPDATE II: As promised, here is video of David Frum accusing Rachel Maddow of inciting violence and hatred through satire and humor. Unbelievable.

Lilibet Hagel, wife of Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), held a press conference today in Old Town Alexandria near Waterfront Park (about a block away from your editor’s place of employment) and  endorsed Barack Obama.

Hagel, R-Neb., has made no endorsement. Lilibet Hagel said in an Associated Press interview that her decision was independent of her husband. She said she didn’t know whether he would make an endorsement or whom he would support.

“You’d have to ask him,” Lilibet Hagel said.

She said it will be her first endorsement of a Democrat and that perilous world conditions were a factor.

“The fact is we’re in two wars, two of the longest we’ve ever been in. We’ve run up a third of our nation’s debt in just the past eight years. We’re in the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression,” she said.

The Hagels know John and Cindy McCain, and she said her endorsement was not meant to slam them.

“This isn’t anti-McCain. This is pro-Obama. I’m just convinced he’s the right person,” she said.

I’ve never been one to be swayed by another person’s endorsement and very seriously doubt this will have much of an impact. The only exception would be if she could convince her husband to follow with his own endorsement of Obama which could potentially help sway some independent or soft Republican voters.

[h/t Cobalt6]

Joe McCain (John McCain’s none-too-intelligent brother) has this to say about those of us living in Northern Virginia:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s brother made an apparent joke at a campaign rally this weekend that might not play well in parts of newly competitive Virginia.

Joe McCain, speaking at an event in support of his brother, called two Democratic-leaning areas in Northern Virginia “communist country,” according to a report on The Washington Post’s Web site.

“I’ve lived here for at least 10 years and before that about every third duty I was in either Arlington or Alexandria, up in communist country,” Joe McCain, a Navy veteran, said at an event in Loudoun County, Va.

First of all, who brags about living in Loudoun county (a suburban NIGHTMARE) and then tries to bash those of us in Arlington and Alexandria who like to practice responsible urban planning instead of hellish sprawl? Especially when Arlington is consistently ranked among the most educated counties in the entire country, and Alexandria and Fairfax aren’t too shabby either. Also, I wonder if Joe McCain even knows the meaning of the word communism? In fact, I wonder if any Republican truly has a grasp on what communism even is? I hear it thrown around a lot to describe anyone who dare challenge the insane Republican platform but they never quite use it to correctly describe something that is, you know, actually communist.

Via Democracy In Action:

For more than 200 years, federal laws have protected the American people against the use of military forces on our own soil.  Strengthened in 1878 by the Posse Comitatus Act, these laws have guaranteed that the federal government could not use the military for domestic law enforcement purposes.

Without such protection, the federal government could use the might of our army to violate state and individual rights.  Moreover, minor incursions by the military into domestic law enforcement activity could lay the foundation for the imposition of martial law at a moment’s notice.  This is one slippery slope we don’t want to start sliding down.

That is why we should all be deeply disturbed by the news that President Bush has assigned the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team to be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army component of Northern Command (NorthCom).  According to an article in Army Times, the soldiers could be called upon for a variety of tasks, including quelling “civil unrest.”  They are apparently engaged in training with shields and batons, beanbag bullets, and Tasers.

I’m just going to go out on a limb and say this was probably done because the Bush administration expects the economy is more than likely about to totally collapse under the weight of the failed Bushenomics of the past eight years.

Watching Chris Matthews take McCain senior policy advisor Nancy Pfotenhauer to task during Hardball yesterday was fun, but McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds being told off on all three cable news networks is even better!

When I watched this during the 5pm airing I thought for sure Pfotenhauer was going to walk off the set. Matthews really stuck it to her and she simply had no answers.

While many Americans are still becoming familiarized with Alaska Governor and Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin, Republicans are doing their best to spin a positive light on their new favorite culture war hero.  In 2000 and 2004, Republicans used, among other things, scare tactics, cheap smears and 527 groups (and let’s not forget Kitty Harris too) in order to “divide and conquer” the American electorate.  This year, they’re still relying on the same old repertoire or tricks, but are depending even more heavily on perfecting the art of deceitfully worded speeches and flat out lying.  Also, as in the past, we once again see Republicans attempting to pit Americans against one another by revving up the culture wars.  This time, though, there’s a new face leading the march of ignorance, so here’s a brief (yet brilliant) overview of Sarah Palin I stumbled across on Facebook this morning.

A woman and anti-choice

A mother and pro-war

Anti-corruption and currently under investigation for abuse of power

A governor for 20 months and more experienced than Barack Obama

A foreign policy expert and a woman who only got her passport in July ‘07

A woman who is a “leader in climate change” and a woman who believes humans do not contribute to global warming, also a woman who shoots moose for fun and supports oil drilling in her state’s wildlife preserves.

From a family of educators and pro-creationism-in-the-classroom

The GOP’s responses to all of this?

“You get more experience to be president in a month of being governor that you do in several years of being a senator…Sarah Palin had more executive experience as the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, than Barack Obama has had in his entire life.” – Mike Huckabee

“Palin knows about foreign policy because Russia is right next door to Alaska.” – Steve Doocy

“Now, this establishes Undeniable Truth of Life Number 24, which says, ‘Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society.’ I guarantee you these messages Dawn is getting are probably pretty typical of liberal women across the country, and what it boils down to — you know it and I know it –is jealousy. They’re just jealous of her, Dawn. That’s it, pure and simple.” – Rush Limbaugh

OK. To sum up:

Being a senator doesn’t count, proximity to foreign countries constitutes foreign policy experience, and if you don’t like Sarah Palin you’re probably a whiny ugly shrew. Vote McCain-Palin!

Remember, this is a woman that, if elected, would be just one heart beat away from the Presidency.

[Cross posted on Daily Kos and Raising Kaine]

Two weeks ago the Democratic party held their convention in Denver, Colorado and spent an entire week offering up real solutions to the myriad of problems facing our nation.  Last week, however, Republicans met in Saint Paul, Minnesota and spent the entire time distorting the positions of the Obama/Biden ticket (more on that in a moment), smearing those who dare disagree with their regressive “platform” and doing their best to somehow separate themselves from Republicans currently serving in Congress and especially the failed Bush/Cheney policies of the past eight years.

Following the conclusion of the Republican convention, California Senator Barbara Boxer issued the following statement in response to fellow Senator John McCain’s acceptance speech.

Last night at the Republican National Convention, John McCain used the word “fight” more than 40 times in his speech.

In the 16 years that we have served together in the Senate, I have seen John McCain fight.

I have seen him fight against raising the federal minimum wage 14 times.

I have seen him fight against making sure that women earn equal pay for equal work.

I have seen him fight against a women’s right to choose so consistently that he received a zero percent vote rating from pro-choice organizations.

I have seen him fight against helping families gain access to birth control.

I have seen him fight against Social Security, even going so far as to call its current funding system “an absolute disgrace.”

And I saw him fight against the new GI Bill of Rights until it became politically untenable for him to do so.

John McCain voted with President Bush 95 percent of the time in 2007 and 100 percent of the time in 2008 — that’s no maverick.

We do have two real fighters for change in this election — their names are Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

The distortion of facts by Republicans last week (most notably, in my opinion, Mike Huckabee and VP nominee Sarah Palin) was actually so bad that the Associated Press accused the party of stretching the truth.  In fact, while guest hosting Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann on Friday night MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said the distortion of facts (and clever yet extremely deceptive wording of the speeches) was so bad that it amounted to flat out lies:

Also, I wonder if the McCain campaign would care to explain why he (McCain) wasn’t wearing an American flag lapel pin Thursday night.

Via LA Progressive:

“So Sambo beat the bitch!”

This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama’s win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat’s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively.

Wow.  Just.. wow.

UPDATE: Wonkette has picked up on this one too.

Republicans get more and more batshit crazy with each and every passing moment.  I would like to note though that they’ve dropped the term “liberal” when attacking the media.  Perhaps they realize that Americans are no longer scared of being proud open minded people who are free from bigotry?

Via MSNBC:

Alaskans say no one from McCain camp asked them about eventual VP pick
A Republican with ties to John McCain’s campaign says the team assigned to vet McCain’s running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, had not arrived there until the day before McCain announced his vice-presidential choice.

Free press coverage has been almost none existent as a result of the total lack of enthusiasm for this year’s Republican Convention (although they have tried to mask it by “cancelling events” due to the situation along the Gulf Coast) and the revelation that the McCain campaign completely neglected to carry out any sort of vetting process on VP nominee Sarah Palin.  Folks, we would be witnessing a total collapse of the McCain campaign just two months before the election.  Also, anyone besides myself think we could also see a potential switch in VP nominees too?

[Read also: Palin hires attorney for Troopergate investigation, Palin disclosures raise questions about vetting]
[Earlier: UPDATE: I was right, Sarah Palin had not even been fully vetted by the McCain campaign]