Astronomy and Overnight Thread

Hesiodus Sunrise Ray
Image Credit & Copyright: Stefan Seip (TWAN) Explanation: Stark shadows of mountains and crater walls stand out along the lunar terminator, or shadow line between night and day, in this telescopic image. Of course, if viewed from the lunar surface near the terminator line, the Sun would be rising and still close to the lunar horizon. But the picture's inset at the left highlights a more elusive lunar sunrise phenomenon. Streaming through a gap in the eastern wall of 45 kilometer wide Hesiodus crater, the low-angle sunlight produces a long sunrise ray playing along the otherwise shadowed crater floor.

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Video- Heckler roughed up at Palin/McCain rally

Looks like one of JD Hayworth's Teabaggers ticked off Sarah's Teabaggers! It's so sad when Mommy and Daddy Teabagger argue. What to do, what to do...

MESA, AZ -- John McCain and Sarah Palin continued their reunion tour with a stop in Mesa Saturday, but the rally turned violent outside.

Palin implored Arizona to "send the maverick back to the United States Senate."

But just as Palin took the podium, hecklers began to disrupt the former Alaska governor.

Witnesses said one of the hecklers was pulled up by the hair by a McCain/Palin supporter.

As the man -- who said his name is Alex -- was taken out of the auditorium, he is seen in video being tackled by three men, one identified as a police officer in plain clothes, a man in a McCain T-shirt, and another man.

Witnesses say another protestor was also punched by someone in the crowd.

Video- Cal Thomas: Pelosi's "deliberately provocative" walk across Capitol was like "the march through Skokie, IL by the Nazis"

Exactly the same, how could I have missed it? Via Media Matters.

The World: Unplugged

By GottaLaff

I love it when the world comes together for a good cause:

Europe's best known landmarks - including the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and Rome's Colosseum - fell dark Saturday, following Sydney's Opera House and Beijing's Forbidden City in joining a global climate change protest, as lights were switched off across the world to mark the Earth Hour event.

In the U.S., organizers said some of the participating landmarks would be the Mt. Rushmore presidential monument, the glittering Las Vegas strip and the marquee lights of Broadway theaters in New York.

Millions of people were turning off lights and appliances for an hour from 8:30 p.m. in a gesture to highlight environmental concerns and to call for a binding pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions. [...]

"It's saying to our politicians - you can't give up on climate change," said WWF spokeswoman Debbie Chapman in the U.K. [...]

"Tackling climate change is urgent and vital to both safeguard our environment and our children's future. We can make a difference if we act now and act together," said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who switched off lights at his Downing Street residence in London.

Climate change is real. People can deny it all they want, but their irresponsibility will affect generations to come, including their own children and grandchildren.

Wake up. Conserve. Keep the planet healthy and alive.

Are you listening, righties? Or will you endanger your own families to make a few bucks off Big Oil?

Start small. Turn off the lights and...

FEC: Bachmann’s campaign finance errors a “serious problem”

By GottaLaff

For entire PDF go here

The Loon Ranger is in hot water:

"Although the Commission may take further legal action, prompt action by you to refund, redesignate, and/or reattribute of the excessive amount will be taken into consideration.”

Among the complaints identified by the FEC, Bachmann had “one or more contributions that appear to exceed the limits set forth in the Act,” “incorrect values in the ‘Election Cycle-to-Date’ field,” “contributions from individuals for which the identification is not complete,” and the report “contains entries for contributions made by more than one person.”

Michele Bachmann, you've got some 'splainin' to do to those law and order Tea Tantrumers you pal around with.

Another day, another threat to a Democratic lawmaker

By GottaLaff

Another day, another revelation:

The chairman of the House Democratic Caucus acknowledged on Friday his office had received multiple threats related to the passage of healthcare reform last week.

However, Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) declined to provide details about the threats, noting only during an event at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center that his office has "reported them to the appropriate authorities."

"We just don't go into the nature of them," he said, as reported by the Hartford Courant. "We report them immediately. There's a procedure you follow and that has been done."

Too bad those delivering the threats don't follow procedure...

Doonesbury: Ridiculous Phallic Toys at Starbucks edition

By GottaLaff

The Guns and Latte story arc continues:

(click on image to enlarge)

The Fuse Is Burning: Special Comment by my 72-year-old friend

By GottaLaff

My impassioned 72-year-old Twitter pal, who goes by the name 42bkdodgr, would like to share his feelings about something very worrisome (read: scary) that he feels is happening to America before our very eyes. I am more than happy to oblige.

But first, a personal note from 42bkdodgr:

Many of you may wonder why I chose to use the “ 72 year old friend” as the introduction to my Special Comments. I selected the moniker so readers could see that from my age and life experiences I give a different perspective to the issues of today.

Now for his Special Comment:

The Fuse Is Burning

Over the past few months I wrote several Special Comments about the growing hate in the United States:

Beginning of the End
It Can’t Happen Here
We’re Sitting on a Powder Keg
The Tumbling Boulder of Racism
The Mob Has Taken Over
It’s Happening Here

In The Mob Has Taken Over, I wrote:

“Until the moderates regain control of the Republican Party and denounce the antics, words and actions of the tea baggers, Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, Palin and Bachmann the hatred will continue and the division in the country will only get wider.”

In The Beginning of the End, I concluded with the following sentence:

“I hope it doesn’t take a climatic event to bring this great country back to its senses”.

In It Can’t Happen Here, I stated:

“If HCR is passed, the hatred will intensify; if it is defeated the haters will become bolder in their action.”

After watching cable and network news this week, I believe the above statements are even more relevant today than they were a few months ago.

It's not a good sign when in one news day you have :

* the former Republican Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain stating to the effect he has no intention of cooperating in any way for the rest of the year.

* the former Republican Vice President candidate Sarah Palin uses the word “reload” and the rifle “cross hair” symbol to identify those Democratic candidates who voted in favor health care reform as targets in the forth coming November election.

* Rep. Louie Gohmert proposing to eliminate the right of U.S. citizens to elect Senators.

* Reports of numerous Democratic offices, from N.Y. to Arizona, having their windows broken from thrown rocks or gun shots.

* A Militia leader telling his followers to get their rifles cleaned and ready.

These statements and acts are intended to rile the far right base of the Republican Party, and at the same time it moves the lit fuse closer to the powder keg.

I know if the powder keg should ever explode, the Republican leadership will react in the same manner as the police captain in the movie Casablanca, “I’m shocked" that there is so much hatred in the country.

I find it somewhat ironic that members of the Republican Party, who like to promote themselves as the party of law and order, always like to use words that can incite fear and violence.

So I beseech you Michael Steele, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell as leaders of the Republican Party, if you consider yourselves patriotic Americans, now is the time for you to denounce the hate and rhetoric coming from within your own party, the Tea Party movement, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and the far right media of our country, as time is running out before the powder keg explodes.

Its time to move your party in a different direction, not only for the safety of American citizens because the future of our nation may rest in your hands.

Many thanks again for another thorough, relevant piece, 42bkdodgr. You often say what many of us are thinking and feeling, and we thank you for your unique perspective

President Obama announces 15 recess appointments

By GottaLaff

Via a news alert from Politico:

President Obama announced 15 recess appointments on Saturday, including two new members of the National Labor Relations Board. "The United States Senate has the responsibility to approve or disapprove of my nominees,” Obama said. “But if, in the interest of scoring political points, Republicans in the Senate refuse to exercise that responsibility, I must act in the interest of the American people and exercise my authority to fill these positions on an interim basis.”

Obama also said that the average number of days his appointees had waited to be confirmed was 214.

Thumbs up, Prez O.

Not Joe the Not Plumber prefers Tea Bagger hypocrisy to John McCain

By GottaLaff

In a previous post, I had said that Sam the Fake Plumber was campaigning for J Sid McCain. That was wrong.

He likes anti-tax rallies, not McCain. Why, he won't tolerate so much as a penny going toward the evil taxes that pay for things Americans need and use:

PHOENIX - Joe the Plumber [...] led a rally against Proposition 100, the proposed 1-cent sales tax. [...]

"They like to blame somebody else for their shortcomings. They like to say well, we have to raise taxes because we misspent our money here... we can't do it anymore," says Joe the Plumber, whose real name is Samuel Wurzelbacher.

Here's the correction:

Joe the Plumber says he no longer endorses McCain.

What will J Sid ever do without the strong following Sam the Faker has? Oh that's right. He doesn't have one.

Samuel Joe Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber from the 2008 presidential campaign, used part of his speech to criticize the federal government and urge the estimated 150 attendees to get behind "good" candidates in the fall elections. Earlier, he told reporters that he was not being paid for his Arizona appearance and that he was attending the Ax the Tax rally to help educate people about issues.

"I'm here to try to generate excitement and get people involved," Wurzelbacher said.

Same the Faker is there to educate, generate, and involve. How exactly can someone with very little brain, following, or charisma do that again? Anyone?

There is one thing he can do, however... and that is, hop a bus:

He also is participating in the Tea Party Express, a bus tour that kicks off today in Searchlight, Nev., home of Senate Majority Leader , D-Nev. En route to its destination in Washington, D.C., the express will stop Sunday in Phoenix at the state Capitol.

Why, that's today! Why, that's the very event that MSNBC salivated over for hours this morning! Why, Sam the Faker has found a niche! Er, another niche. He's extremely niche-riche.

However there is one niche he's no fan of at all. Not Joe the Not Plumber back in February:

"I think his [Obama's] ideology is un-American, but he's one of the more honest politicians. At least he told us what he wanted to do." And Wurzelbacher also had common-sense views on the crazies who dispute Obama's nationality and compare him to Hitler. "The birthers, the truthers — if people are trying to bunch them [with tea partiers], that would kill us. That just pushes away Democrats and independents who might come out for our cause otherwise."

Nah, what's going to "kill" you are the extreme Tea Baggeritude, lack of focus on real issues, infighting, competition with the GOP, racism, irrationality, hostility, mob mentality, costumes, crazy hats, and the sheer group eccentricity.

Come to think of it, Orly Taitz and the birther gang pretty much fit right in.

H/t: VNDNBRG

The Abandonment of American Principles

By GottaLaff

Fayiz al-Kandari

Lt. Col. Barry Wingard

Lt. Col. Barry Wingard has graciously given me permission to post his latest op-ed in full:

For most of my military career, the United States followed the rule of law and resisted legal shortcuts that ran counter to our country's long-standing principles. We didn't beat or humiliate helpless prisoners. We didn't lock up alleged criminals and throw away the keys. We didn't let fear change who we are and what we believe. Then came Guantanamo. Political expediency replaced due process, and America started down a slippery slope of doing what is easy and politically popular rather than what is right.

I remember my early days in the military like they were yesterday. Two weeks after high school graduation, I talked my mother into signing the papers that allowed me to enter the Army at the young age of seventeen. Soon I was off to basic training at Fort Benning in Georgia during the height of the Cold War in 1984.

While in basic training, the U.S. Army instilled in us a set of principles and then promptly sought to test our resolve. We were told that it was routine for the Soviets to detain citizens of other nations without trials. The Army even had a fake Russian officer stand on a stage and attempt to rattle us young recruits by telling us that our weakness and sense of morality would lead to our demise.

Along with the other young basic trainees, I shouted down the Russian imposter and I remember leaving with a sense of triumph. I thought to myself, "I am an American damn it! Even the worst people get a fair shake." As President Dwight D. Eisenhower said in 1956 and the Soviet Union realized in 1991, "America is strong because we believe in the dignity of man."

Today however, I am deeply concerned that our country's greatest legacy of strengths - our sense of justice and dignity of man - are eroding. Redefining torture to allow for harsher treatment of suspects and detaining prisoners indefinitely represent a total abandonment of our principles. Remember we have released over 500 detainees the government was unable to establish anything at all against.

Throughout our country's history, we have prevailed time and time again over the most infamous and tyrannical of individuals - no matter the enemy, their strategy or tactics. During my more than two and a half decades in the U.S. military, I have witnessed firsthand the positive impact our country has had around the world.

As a young infantryman assigned to West Germany in the mid-1980s, I helped protect people from being placed in jail and beaten at the hands of the Soviets. I remember an old German man thanking me as an American not only for allowing his country to return to democracy, but also for harnessing the Soviet Union and its blind efforts at world domination. My thoughts reverted back to the faux-Russian officer in basic training attempting to ridicule me, my sense of morality and my pride in our country.

In Bosnia, I investigated crimes committed during and after the Bosnian war. Again, I was thanked by civilians for helping put a stop to the insane idea that a person's religion is indicative of his or her worthiness to inhabit the earth. I remember a Bosnian Serb official telling me, "You Americans act so damned principled, what do you know." For a moment, I was again reminded of that assembly at Fort Benning and I felt a sense of triumph.

While serving in Iraq, a newly appointed Iraqi governmental official told me that, if America were going to succeed here, it's time to pick sides. He then presented me with a list of names in Arabic. The implication was obvious - he wanted me to prosecute some political opponents. At the time, I laughed off the suggestion and never even had the list of names translated. We're Americans; we do not use legal powers for political purposes.

In 2004 I heard that the U.S. military was involved with abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib. My first thought was, "Oh, I bet these soldiers will be prosecuted to the fullest extend under the law." I was outraged when I actually saw the photos and wondered how American soldiers could inflict such harm on helpless and handcuffed prisoners. We are trained yearly on the Geneva Conventions; we in the military know better. In retrospect, the country had already veered dangerously off course, and I hadn't fully realized it yet.

Then came my assignment to defend Fayiz al-Kandari, a Kuwaiti who has been locked away in Guantanamo Bay for the past eight years. Initially, I was skeptical of my client and his claims of severe abuse and broken bones at the hands of my fellow service members. I remember thinking, "How bad could it be?" That was until one day when he insisted on showing me the multiple, large, horizontal scars that spanned the entire length of his back.

Still unconvinced that he had been beaten, I decided to obtain his medical records only to discover that many were missing during the timeframe Fayiz claims he was beaten. Meanwhile, the records I was able to review were severely redacted and hard to read. It was then that I realized Fayiz had been treated in outrageous ways. I really don't care if you refer to the treatment as "enhanced interrogation" or "torture," the fact remains that beating a handcuffed prisoner and shackling him in a fetal position for more than an entire day is both wrong and illegal by my estimation, period.

When it comes to Guantanamo, I'm still waiting for that Fort Benning sense of triumph. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem forthcoming. Rather than following our country's long-standing principles, today we are moved by fear and abide by the very worst policies and practices - indefinite detention, military commissions, secret prisons, and abusive interrogations. While these may be convenient in the short-term, the lingering and detrimental effects on our country will be felt for decades to come.

We in the military do not - and have never - supported harsh interrogations. We understand that we lose more than we gain if barbarity becomes the guiding force behind our military efforts. Ironically, I find that those who support torture and indefinite detentions tend to be amazingly light in military service. Meanwhile, those who oppose these un-American policies and practices are serving side-by-side with me and also fill the ranks of my senior leadership. As senior officers we must do a better job at making our voices heard to the world and, more importantly, the young members we lead.

Lt. Col. Barry Wingard is the U.S. military attorney for Kuwaiti detainee Fayiz Al Kandari, who still awaits his day court more than eight years after he was sold into US custody. The views presented are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the United States Department of Defense or its components.

****

All my previous posts on this subject matter can be found here; That link includes one specific to only Fayiz al-Kandari's story here. Here are audio and video interviews with Lt. Col. Wingard, one by David Shuster, one by Ana Marie Cox, and more. My guest commentary at BuzzFlash is here.

Lt. Col. Barry Wingard is a military attorney who represents Fayiz Al-Kandari in the Military Commission process and in no way represents the opinions of his home state. When not on active duty, Colonel Wingard is a public defender in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

If you are inclined to help rectify these injustices: Twitterers, use the hashtag #FreeFayiz. We have organized a team to get these stories out. If you are interested in helping Fayiz out, e-mail me at The Political Carnival, address in sidebar to the right; or tweet me at @GottaLaff.

If you'd like to see other ways you can take action, go here and scroll down to the end of the article.

Then read Jane Mayer's book The Dark Side. You'll have a much greater understanding of why I post endlessly about this, and why I'm all over the CIA deception issues, too.

More of Fayiz's story here, at Answers.com.

AUDIO/PhotOh! Hatred is alive and well in America

By GottaLaff

I woke up today to so much unpleasantness, all I can do is try to expose it, air out the airwaves and the Internets, and take a deep cleansing breath to rid myself of the poison.

It started with the ramblings of Sarah Palin at the Big Mesa Rally. Feel free to follow the link, if you have the stomach for it.

But compared to what's coming up next, that was nothing.

Hold on to your hats, grab some Pepto Bismol, get ready to write letters of protest, and join me as I share with you what has become a nasty, toxic state of affairs in this country.

Lizz Winstead linked me to this. As she worded it, "the worst thing I've ever seen". Judge for yourself:


That comes from ProteinWisdom dot com. I refuse to link. Here's some of her text:

Oh I know I’m going to get called names on this. But I’m not going to play that game anymore. [...]

I expect this will also flush out the usual Stockholm-syndrome “conservatives” who wring their hands and say “oh you can’t say that! People will take offense!”

Heck, I want to shake them up.

Some of the comments under it include:

Comment by sdferr on 3/23 @ 2:06 am #

He’s already out telling people how much she enjoyed it.

Comment by Mr. W on 3/23 @ 6:08 am #

Did you ever see one of those movies where the girl gets assaulted by the guy, but when the guy comes back for more she is ready, and she beats him into oblivion?

Yeah, it’s gonna be like that for Barry.

Comment by happyfeet on 3/23 @ 8:45 am #

The Barack Obama is a very rapey little dude I think. You know you love it he says.

There were others that were not offensive, to be fair.

Next, Joeyess linked me to a post he did over at DKos. He wrote, in part:

Give a listen to this radio spot. KMBZ claims they are forced by the federal government to run this ad. [...]

Their line-up includes such conservative luminaries as Mark Levin, Glen Beck, Limbaugh and an assorted local group of similar wannabees. [...]

The FCC should be notified. As well as the FBI and ATF about this organization.

Here is the audio:



Go here for more contact information.

There are a lot of very scared white people out there. They are feeling threatened, victimized (thank you Glenn Beck, et al. for fanning those flames), and now we're seeing an extreme backlash.

We've been transitioning from a white, male, Christian society to a more diverse one for decades. Some of the most worried among the dwindling majority are using the not whites as scapegoats.

There have been death threats against Democratic Congress members. Sarah Palin is posting maps on Facebook with Democrats in the crosshairs, using phrases like "reload".

And, sadly, we have more and more examples, like the ones in this post, and this one, of some of the worst offenders.

It has to stop before something tragic occurs... rather, even more tragic.

It's Sarah Palin Day on MSNBC

By GottaLaff

I'm watching MSNBC, and they have done their level best to hype the Palin rally, er, McCain rally in Mesa, Arizona. And let's not forget the Tea Tantrum rally that will follow the Palin, er, McCain rally. They're hyping that too.

The anchors are describing the thousands and thousands in the Mesa crowd, and the electricity in the air! Can you feel it? Next stop, Searchlight, Nevada!

Yes, this is a news story, but it is not the news story. You'd never know it by watching the Tee Vee Machine. One MSNBC reporter, one who was new to me so I don't recall her name, actually said-- out loud... on camera-- she was "excited".

Yes, a reporter reporting her report of the Palin, er, McCain rally, was giddy about Sarah Palin Day. How objective of her.

One 20-year-old woman was interviewed by Norah O'Donnell. The young woman said she was there to see Palin. She would not be voting for McCain, she was at the rally to see Palin. Palin is her hero and role model. McCain is just a prop.

Another someone on MSNBC (there were so many today, I've forgotten who this was) reported that Palin has never said a bad word about McCain. That was to justify Palin's stumping for someone with whom she clearly has no chemistry or love. She may "respect" him, feel loyalty toward him, but she's there to make him appear conservative, and to get more than 10 people to show up at his campaign stops.

However, the reporting was wrong.

[I]n Going Rogue, Ms. Palin called the McCain campaign disorganized and slow to focus on the economy."

I guess they meant she'd never said anything bad about him on a personal level.

Sidebar: A heckler was just removed physically from the rally, shouted at, booed at, and is screaming as he's being forced down the aisle and out the door.

Sarah:

"I hope he realizes that McCain spent 5 1/2 years as a P.O.W. fighting [for] the Constitution..."

In that case, the heckler has the right to free speech. But anyway...

Shorter MeMe McGrating:

Pelosi-Reid agenda. Maverick. Teleprompter. Hand notes. Freedom. You betcha. Men and women in uniform. Tea Party is grassrootsy beautiful. Defend the Constitution. Limited government. Obamacare. Limited government. Fidel Castro likes Obamacare. What a crock. Scott Brown. Common sense conservatives. New voices. Statesman/hero. Hero. Hero. Maverick. Maverick. Defend our Constitution. Obama is doing bad things to our country. Spreading the wealth. Obama/Pelosi/Reid agenda. Limited government. Freedom. Men and women in uniform. Real leadership, not rhetoric. Party of No is dandy... Party of Hell No is even better.

Get the kids out of the room. MeMe is swearing.

Another heckler is being forced out to boos and jeers. "There ya go again," says MeMe.

If the mainstream media was fair, they'd condemn that, says she. You're standing up for our freedoms, including freedom to protest, says she to a raucous audience, as the protester is being led away, because he/she practiced his/her freedom of speech.

The lame stream media says you're inciting violence, says MeMe to her flock. They're full of b.s. and bunk, says she. Violence isn't the answer, says the woman who used crosshairs on her hate map.

Shorter McCain: Repeal and replace.

By the way, neither CNN nor ClusterFox is carrying this event live. Only MSNBC.

Mid Day Distraction

Happy Obama Photos

Got suckered in by that first one, plus there's nothing going on. Pics via.

We are running our quarterly fundraiser so if you are able and so inclined, donations can be made at the widget below, the donate button to the side or email us at thepoliticalcarnival at gmail.com for a irl address.

We also now have a subscription service set up where you can pledge a small (or large) monthly amount to help us out. An extra added shout out THANK YOU to those who have already donated. We appreciate the hell out of you.

MSNBC Expanding Live Coverage To "Report" On McCain/Palin Rally?

Jeebus christo on a candy cane pogo stick, what the frack are they thinking? What the hell will there be to report on? Everyone hates Grampa and loves Shooty McWilderness? Maybe Cindy will finally lose it and scratch Sar's eyes out(while loudly critiquing her taste in clothes)? Shoot me now.

Video- Harvesting the Winter White House Garden

That's actually a pretty impressive haul for winter.

Cartoon of the Day

Click to enlarge, via.

Saturday Links

Coffee good, thinking bad. Maybe we'll have some sun today.

Alleged Holocaust soap prompts criticism

Astronomers discover 90 per cent more universe

Art of the Toilet Seat

Watchdog group wants Ronald McDonald to retire

18th century sex toys fetch $5,400

Believers tell how they heard the unmistakable voice of God

'Mob Museum' to open in Las Vegas

North Korea threatens nuclear strikes... as Kim Jong-Il moves to stop 2012 disaster movie 'jinxing lucky year'

Sex virus blamed for rise in head and neck cancers

Clash of the titans: Fossilised faeces points to fight to the death between shark and crocodile 15 million years ago

Video- President's Weekly Address: Two Major Reforms on Health Care & Higher Ed

VIDEO- Palin At McCain Rally: We're All Tea Partiers!

By GottaLaff



I liveblogged the whole thing here.

There were so many laughable lines, it must have been hard to isolate only a few for the above clip.

PhotOh! Debunking Eric Cantor

By GottaLaff

My pal VNDNBRG had an interesting comment under the Cantor: I Didn't Know Shot Was Random Until After My Presser post.

Cantor is a liar:

It was a nondescript building (no signage at all), bullet through 1st floor window (Cantor used 2nd floor for meetings once in a while), and building was not in his district (Richmond is in Bobby Scott's 3rd district). It was a threat all right!

Yeah, a threat to whoever was located on the first floor.

VNDNBRG was angry enough to do a little poking around.

He struck gold.

Here's a photo of the building that was hit:

The round struck with enough force to break the windowpane but did not penetrate the window blinds.” The building, as you can see from this picture, does not show any visible sign that it belongs to Cantor.

Here is a map of the district in question via Bobby Scotts homepage. The dot on Richmond closely corresponds with the Google map of building address:

(click on image to enlarge)

Here's a closer look:


Now check out the address at the bottom of Cantor's own page (click to enlarge):


That's right. Eric Cantor doesn't refer to the building that took the bullet. The address for their Richmond office:

March 25, 2010

The Richmond Police Department is investigating an act of vandalism at the Reagan Building, 25 E. Main St., Richmond, Virginia.

How does he dress himself in the morning? He apparently doesn't even know his own office address. And if he does use that other office, it must be only occasionally, because he forgot what floor it was on.

Maybe his advisers could remind him:

There is no sign identifying the light-green building as the campaign headquarters for Cantor, although its principal occupants, Ray Allen Jr. and M. Boyd Marcus Jr., are well-known in the political community as advisers to Cantor. It is identified as the Reagan Building.

Reminder of what Cantor said:

"Just recently I have been directly threatened. A bullet was shot through the window of my campaign office in Richmond this week, and I have received threatening emails," Cantor said, citing the fact that he is an elected official, and that he is Jewish.

Excellent work, Agent VNDNBRG!

RNC says "no" to joint statement calling for civility

By GottaLaff

Greg Sargent has two interesting tidbits to share with us.

Tidbit numero uno:

Has anyone else noticed that the Dem efforts to demand that Republican leaders condemn the threats and intimidation have suddenly gone silent today? I’m told Dems made a concerted decision to dial down the noise.

IMHO, they weren't noisy enough. But what do I know?

Tidbit numero dos:

Speaking of threats and intimidation, DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse emails that the DNC sent a letter to RNC chair Michael Steele today asking him to issue a joint statement calling for civility. The RNC declined, Woodhouse says, which makes sense, since GOPers wouldn’t want Dems to set the agenda on this story.

But of course they declined. Politics are much more important than the health and welfare of the country. Better to maintain the boiling hot tone than to show any sign of unity. Benefiting one's party is the priority, not benefiting the nation.

Well, at least the Party of No is consistent...ly wrong.

Cantor: I Didn't Know Shot Was Random Until After My Presser

By GottaLaff

Hey Eric. It's always a good idea to get your facts straight before you shoot your mouth off (no pun) to the press, blame Democrats for "dangerously fanning flames" (and boy, are their arms tired; rimshot), and claim a bullet was intended for you.

"Just recently I have been directly threatened. A bullet was shot through the window of my campaign office in Richmond this week, and I have received threatening emails," Cantor said, citing the fact that he is an elected official, and that he is Jewish.

(Follow the links above for more details.)

Timing is everything:

Cantor's spokesman is now claiming in media interviews that Cantor didn't know that the bullet was randomly fired when he revealed the incident on national television Thursday.

The incident occurred at 1 a.m. Tuesday morning -- more than two days before the Cantor press conference. This afternoon, spokesmen for Cantor told CNN and the Plum Line that Cantor did not know when he gave the press conference that the bullet was randomly fired.

Maybe he should have checked the police report. Others did.

Of course, ClusterFox jumped right on the pretend "Cantor's office was shot up" bandwagon:

The news of the "shooting" was apparently first reported in a Fox "exclusive." Within an hour of the press conference, Fox was framing the incident this way on TV: "Gunman Shoots Up Office Of Number Two Republican."

Oddy, Cantor's people didn't acknowledge the following out loud when it became public:

Things looked even worse for Cantor when the Richmond Police Department today began explicitly describing the incident as "random gunfire". But now, Cantor's office is claiming in media interviews that Cantor didn't know that the bullet was randomly fired when he held the dramatic press conference.

Let's recap:

A random bullet landed on the floor of an office in the same building that houses Cantor's office. It wasn't intended for him at all. Yet he pointed fingers at the Democrats and said it was an anti-Semitic attack on his very life, but that's okay because he claims he just. Didn't. Know.

How responsible of him.

Mr. Reliable. And voters are supposed to trust this guy? Or are they just supposed to go into auto-sympathy mode while he plays the finger-pointing victim?

Quickie: Which States Will Gain Power After Census?

By GottaLaff

Today's Quickie:

"The next round of redistricting following the census will re-allocate congressional districts and electoral votes among the states." [...]

The big winners: Texas, California, Florida, Georgia and Arizona.

That was today's Quickie. Will you still respect me in the morning?


More details here.

Obama White House offering podcasts for download

Pretty cool. Yes, I know I'm a geek.

Just a quick update. The White House now offers, count'm, seven podcast feeds. We've just added a feed for First Lady Michelle Obama and Music & the Arts, an exclusive collection of performances at the White House.

If you weren't aware that we even offered podcasts, now you know. So if searching and downloading video and audio every day sounds like too much work, simply subscribe to a feed and sync up your iPod, Zune, or Acme media player. You can have Press Secretary Robert Gibbs' daily press briefings delivered to you automagically** or keep up with the President's agenda with his weekly addresses released every Saturday.

** I am convinced this was done on purpose because it is a really cool new word.

Video- Beck repeats distortion to claim Obama was silencing tea party protesters

This is the meme du jour- the wingers on CSPAN this morning were all feigning indignation that they were being "demeaned" by the President. And check out that sweater! My my my.

Video- President Obama speaks on US/Russian Nuclear Treaty

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

O'Keef Watch: Connected white people rule

By GottaLaff

UPDATE:

Via an e-mail news alert:

Federal prosecutors have filed reduced charges against conservative activist James O'Keefe and three others accused of trying to tamper with the phones in Sen. Mary Landrieu's New Orleans office, the Associated Press reports.

For more information, visit washingtonpost.com:

Via MSNBC, he pleaded guilty to get the reduced charges.

ORIGINAL POST, BUMPED UP FROM AN EARLIER DATE:

Connected white people, indeed, "rule", and the injustice is nauseating. How nice for relatives of U.S. attorneys that they get breaks the rest of us don't.

Imagine if these little conservative brats had been "unconnected", "liberal" African Americans who approached a white employee... while duping the public into thinking they were dressed as pimps/hookers at the time.

Now imagine those same African Americans popping into a U.S. Senator's office to snoop around with a hidden camera, checking out the phones. Yeah, that would have gone over well:

Louis Moore, the magistrate judge for the federal district court in New Orleans, agreed Wednesday to motions on behalf of the four to extend the time by which the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District must seek a felony indictment, press misdemeanor charges or drop the case.

Moore said the extension, which was unopposed by prosecutors, would offer the parties "additional time to conduct informal discussions and discovery and avoid or lessen additional proceedings," suggesting the possibility of a plea deal that would likely spare the four from facing felony charges.

At the time of their arrest Jan. 25, O'Keefe, 25, Joseph Basel, 24, Stan Dai, 24, and Robert Flanagan, 24, were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purposes of committing a felony, a crime that carries a maximum term of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Whitewash.

H/t: Cody

Liveblog: Palin at McCain Rally Resorts to Old Lines

By GottaLaff

Liveblogging Palin at McCain rally. Palin's decked out in leather and zippers:

"A lot of things have changed since the last time we were together.... Nobody gave us a teleprompter this time around... I had to write my notes on my hand again."

Big applause. Good lord. She resorted to that again.

"I think he's gonna win this one."

She's full of respect for J Sid. That hasn't changed, she said.

Send the "maverick back to the U.S. Senate."

New material, Sarah?

"He's a man of the people..." she said of the man who owns eleventeen houses.

Oy.

"Washington D.C. elite machine."

Another new line. She's got a million of 'em.

"He's never been a company man."

I guess she forgot about all those corporations.

"Never been one to go with the flow... Only dead fish go with the flow."

Yet another old chestnut.

"Never been part of that good ol' boys club."

Nope, not him, as he calls his wife the C-Word...

"He always fought the [earmark] machine in Washington."

"In respect to Tea Party movement, BEAUTIFUL movement. We're all part of that movement."

We are? They are?

"We're all that Tea Party movement. Remember, in 1773? We'll tell big gov't. 'no more'. That's what we're doing today."

Then she made a joke about McCain BEING there in 1773. Hugs J Sid to prove it was a joke.

"Pelosi-Reid agenda" got big applause.

It was McCain who said soldiers deserved better when Obama "wavered" on Afghanistan.

"Obamacare"... boos. " I see today that Fidel Castro likes Obamacare but we don't. Doesn't that tell ya somethin'?

"McCain says transparency should be more than a campaign promise, a broken one."

Transparency, John? Like when you lied to Letterman?

Today, he's a critical vote against Big Gov't.

"We need this new blood comin' on into the system."

"We also need statesmen and heroes like McCain."

So Big Gov't. types like McCain are anti-government, eh Sarah?

"Would you send the maverick back to the U.S. Senate!?"

"Spreading the wealth"

Again. So 2 years ago...

"Inciting violence because we happen to oppose things in Obama administration?"

Um, yeah.

"We know violence isn't the answer. When we say takin' up arms, we're talkin' about our votes."

Um, no.

"Don't let the conversation be diverted."

"Louisiana's governor said-- we're accused of being Party of No-- but he says, we're the party of Hell No!"

"McCain hasn't stopped fighting for us..."

She said that in some sort of weird frenzy, fists clenched, eyes wide open, maniacally.

"Not the Party of No. McCain is leading the Party of Ideas.... "

What ideas? Name one.

"The Constitution provides a path to the more perfect union. Only limited gov't. can provide opportunity. Freedom is a God given right and it's worth fighting for."

"Men and women in uniform are nothing to apologize for!!" Cheers.

If you want real leadership and not just talk, blahblahblah, send the maverick back to the Senate!"

Wow. I haven't heard that many old lines since watching reruns of Milton Berle jokes.

Joe the "He really screwed my life up" now campaigning for John McCain

By GottaLaff

In February I posted this:

Not Joe the Not Plumber has turned on the very people who co-sponsored his 15 minutes of manufactured fame:

"McCain was trying to use me [...] I happened to be the face of middle Americans. It was a ploy.”

And yet, this is the very same Ploy Wonder who allowed himself to be used, and then some. Had he said-- What's that word? Oh yeah-- NO, then he wouldn't have been exPloy-ted.

By the way, how are those book sales coming along, Wurtzelewiywyzrtufshlocher?

"I don’t owe him s— [...] He really screwed my life up, is how I look at it.”

Via that same article:

He said he doesn’t support Sarah Palin anymore. Why? Because she’s backing John McCain’s re-election effort. “John McCain is no public servant,” he told the room, calling the 2008 Republican nominee a career politician.

Today Not Joe is campaigning for J Sid in Arizona.... with Palin.I guess his life isn't all that screwed up.

Or... it's so screwed up he had nowhere to go but up.

As for Fluffy McTwoFaced:

[I]n Going Rogue, Ms. Palin called the McCain campaign disorganized and slow to focus on the economy."

However, today on MSNBC, J.D. Hayworth, McCain's opponent, attributed Palin's support of J Sid to "gratitude". I guess she's thankful for his disorganization and lousy grasp of America's financial woes.

Why, I bet she was so grateful that she wrote him a thank you note and hand-delivered it.

Frum Says Donors Forced Him Out

By GottaLaff

David Frum had the nerve-- the nerve!-- to say that the health care reform bill would be the Republicans' Waterloo. He also popped out with a little nugget about the GOP being run by Fox, not vice versa.

Of course that was stating the obvious. ClusterFox virtually owns the party, promotes the Tea Baggers, and has many GOP Congress members cowering.

Frum's abrupt termination from the American Enterprise Institute came after her wrote a CNN piece about said GOP Waterloo, as well as an appearance on MSNBC where he repeated the point.

In other words, a policy of no compromising, going the radical route, would lead to a bad outcome.

It sure did for him.

And for the party. The GOP has been undermined by the word No, by the open hostility to reason, and by subservience to a Tee Vee network that spews extreme views.

Of course, we've been saying this for years.

Here's what Frum says:

David Frum told Mike Allen last night that "he believes his axing from his $100,000-a-year 'resident scholar' gig at the conservative American Enterprise Institute was related to donor pressure following his viral blog post arguing Republicans had suffered a devastating, generational 'Waterloo' in their loss to President Obama on health reform."

Said Frum: "There's a lot about the story I don't really understand. But the core of the story is the kind of economic pressure that intellectual conservatives are under... the elite isn't leading anymore. It's trapped. Partly because of the desperate economic situation in the country, what were once the leading institutions of conservatism are constrained."

The party has boxed themselves into a corner, just as David Corn said last night on Countdown. All that groveling and catering to the far right is not good for more reasonable members, nor is it good for the country.

There needs to be real debate, honest opinion differences for a democracy to work properly. When party leaders shout "Armageddon!" and do nothing but stand against things, this is what happens.

Well, Frum can always write another book.

Joe "You Lie!" Wilson "pledges" to repeal health care reform

By GottaLaff

Joe "You Lie!" Wilson wants everyone he knows to sign a "pledge" to repeal health care reform.

Maybe he meant to say, "pledge to donate to Joe 'You Lie!' Wilson":

(click on image to enlarge)

They can pledge all they want, it won't happen... and Wilson et al. know it.

This is all about money. This all about another scam to reach into voters' pockets.

Because, you know, we're all so flush with cash these days...

Poll-itics: Anti-government tea baggers want agressive government action

By GottaLaff

Think Progress has an interesting Bloomberg poll up. Why so interesting? I report, you scratch your head:

At the same time, 70 percent of those who sympathize with the Tea Party, which organized protests this week against President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul, want a federal government that fosters job creation.

They also look to the government to rein in Wall Street, with almost half saying the government should do something about executive bonuses. Supporters are also conflicted over whether private-enterprise elements should be introduced into government programs like Social Security and Medicare.

[...] Only 10 percent of tea party backers agreed that the Veterans Administration, the country’s “only true island of socialized medicine” where the government directly runs hospitals and services for veterans, is socialist. Meanwhile, 47 percent of responders thought that Social Security and Medicare, both of which are government programs, should stay public programs and not be privatized.

So they want less government.

So they want more government.