By GottaLaff
St. Ronnie of SaddleSore is fifty dollar bill-worthy, according to, you know, America:
A Marist Poll finds that 79% of Americans think it's a bad idea to replace President Ulysses S. Grant on the fifty dollar bill with that of President Ronald Reagan, while just 12% say it's a good one and 9% are unsure.
By GottaLaff
If Bossy McRudderless thinks the Tea Tantrumers shouldn't have a leader, then who is she to bark orders at them?
Shorter McRudderless: "ReaganReaganReaganSeeTheLightReaganReaganReagan. Do what I tell you to do. Reagan."
Oh, and she believes in freedom. She's a believer.
In freedom.
I'm sure the GOP will be armed and ready for that dizzying Tea Coup ride.
You know what else is "uncomplicated", Bossy? Your empty little noggin.
H/t: Coopster04
By GottaLaff
Saint Ronnie is alive! Alive, I tells ya!
And Rushpublics and Tea Tanrumers think our Amurkin educational system is just dandy the way it is.
Which explains these:
By GottaLaff
Once again TwitWit McFacebook shares her flare for hypocrisy and all around moronitude. First, after speaking at the Tea Tantrum Convention, she comes out against a formal third Party-O'-Tea. Then she mocks Twitter, something she has used to impart her pearls of wisdom regularly:
When she was asked what she believed was the number one threat to America today, several audience members shouted, "Obama!"
Arkansas Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb, who moderated the Q&A session, responded by adding, "Besides Obama."
Palin then chimed in as many in the crowd laughed.
"See, they said that, I didn’t," she said. "Just you watch now, too, because somebody will be here with their little Twittering thing, and it’s going to be on the Internet any minute now."
[F]ewer than half the seats “in the lower bowl were occupied, and the entire upper level was shrouded by black drapes.” In the hours before the Palin event, “the Arkansas GOP was advertising on its web site a heavily discounted ‘$20 ticket special.’”
"Now the smart thing will be for independents who are such a part of this Tea Party movement to, I guess, kind of start picking a party," Palin said. "Which party reflects how that smaller, smarter government steps to be taken? Which party will best fit you? And then because the Tea Party movement is not a party, and we have a two-party system, they’re going to have to pick a party and run one or the other: ‘R’ or ‘D’."I betcha the Tea Tantrumers who believed in her at the Big Convention didn't like that little nugget.
Palin used her 45-minute speech and the Q&A session that featured pre-selected questions from the crowd to sound off on everything from what she called the "snake-oil science" of global warming to politicians who are "addicted to ‘O-P-M’-other people's money."
By GottaLaff
CPAC: It's CBa-a-a-ack:
A panel discussion on the threat posed by "Islamic supremacism," Shariah and political correctness has been scheduled for this week's Conservative Political Action Conference, stirring complaints from some American Muslims that the exercise amounts to Muslim-bashing.
"It's unfortunate that a conservative conference would be in any way associated with Muslim bashers and Islamophobes," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "It's a free country. They're free to be anti-Muslim bigots if they like, but it's really up to the organizers of CPAC to determine if they're going to allow their conference to be associated with the hate-filled views of those who will be speaking."
[Pamela] Geller, publisher of the AtlasShrugs.com blog, is putting on the talk with Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer. Both are fierce critics of Islam.
By GottaLaff
What not to do on the Tee Vee Machine: Make assumptions about Ronald Reagan to his son:
Ron Reagan: My father knew what he stood for... he could explain what he stood for. ...She can't explain where she stands on anything. [...]Yes, you heard right. They said, "clit" on CNN.
Did you ever meet my father, Pam? ... Why don't you rely on someone who knew him very well to tell you what he'd think of Sarah Palin? Thank you."
By GottaLaff
Via L.A. Times letters to the editor (bolding mine):
********
Re “ ‘Tea party’ convention a forum for woes, worries,” Feb. 6
Hey, Tom Tancredo! Giving the opening speech of the National Tea Party Convention, you told an audience that "people who could not spell the word 'vote' or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House -- name is Barack Hussein Obama."
I am an immigrant; I voted for Obama; and I know how to spell that word: v-o-t-e.
I brought my children with me and raised them in this country. I am sure that they know how to spell too: They attended Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA and Harvard. (By the way, they also voted for Obama.)
Reading about your past and present activities, I learned how to spell some other words: h-a-t-e, o-b-s-e-s-s-e-d, b-i-g-o-t-r-y.
It is your turn to learn some English words such as "democracy" and "civil rights." You might also listen to a popular Spanish-English phrase: "Hasta la vista, baby!"
Re “ ‘Put your faith in ideas,’ Palin tells convention,” Feb. 7 The Republican Party, starting with Ronald Reagan, has systematically thrashed the economy and the federal government.There were no letters to the contrary, which tells me that nearly 100% of the letters were like this, if not all of them. And for good reason.
After each Republican administration, the Democrats were left to clean up the mess, which under George W. Bush had grown into an unbelievable catastrophe.
Now Sarah Palin is rallying her troops by ridiculing President Obama for not cleaning up the Republican mess fast enough, and Republican candidates are lining up to dog-pile Democrats across the country. What is wrong with this picture?
By GottaLaff
Drunk or just dazed and confused?
The Hill finds a "rather bizarre" video clip of Nevada Senate candidate Danny Tarkanian (R) "stumbling over his words as he apparently tries to talk about Reagan's '11th Commandment' -- thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican."
Tarkanian refers to the famous slogan as the "11th Amendment" and repeatedly attributes it to Reid, not Reagan.
I just didn't want anyone to forget that today is the 99th Anniversay of Ronald Reagan's birth, as Fox News was happy to remind me yesterday with a lengthy segment on King Ron. So dust off your astrology flag , check the branches on the ketchup tree and prepare to give the day the gravitas and solemnity it deserves. You know you should.
By GottaLaff
Why, this must mean everyone has been wrong! The punditiots have been wrong, the memes have been wrong, the wrongistas have been wrong.
Yes, as difficult as this is to process, the Democratic Congress (that is apparently in dire straits, especially after President Scott Brown got elected) has been successful.
Under President Obama's leadership.
Democratic.
Congress.
Successful:
Norm Ornstein argues that despite poor approval rates "this Democratic Congress is on a path to become one of the most productive since the Great Society 89th Congress in 1965-66, and Obama already has the most legislative success of any modern president -- and that includes Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson. The deep dysfunction of our politics may have produced public disdain, but it has also delivered record accomplishment."Imagine that.
By GottaLaff
Just a few months after school officials in Utah's Republican strongholds adamantly opposed any effort to allow schoolchildren to watch an address from the president of the United States at school, Utah County schools are collaborating with the Utah County Republican Party to hold an essay contest for sixth-graders extolling the greatness of Ronald Reagan."The greatness of Ronald Reagan." Why, without him, our economy wouldn't be what it is today! Trickle down became a household phrase, and... Oh, what the heck. Reiterating all his saintitudiness would just bore you.
Besides, you can hear it all you want, daily, from the Rushpublic punditiots on the Tee Vee Machine.
I wonder who in particular would sponsor such an indoctrinatey love fest?
The e-mail, from the district's social studies curriculum director Todd Billings, said the Republican Party is sponsoring the essay contest for sixth-graders in the Provo, Alpine and Nebo school districts -- all within Utah County -- with a $250 first prize, $100 second prize and $50 third prize.Oh, so they're paying the kiddies for their efforts. Isn't that socialistic of them, spreading the wealth like that.
Would you like to join the fun?
The essays are to be submitted to essaycontest@utahcountygop.orgMy bad. I see I'm getting my back up for nothing. See, there's a difference between this tribute to St. Ronnie's legacy and President Obama's speech, see:.
But Provo district spokeswoman Laken Cannon says there is no improper use here. Reagan is a past president, like Washington or Lincoln, she said, and not someone currently running for office. Plus the students are not required to participate. It's voluntary.
Voluntary indoctrination is so much more acceptable. Please disregard this entire post.
Yeah, I'm sure this is really going to appeal to a new generation. I mean, all the guys I know will go with this as opposed to a Shakira app. I love the fact it's called iReagan.
You've loaded up your iPhone with Yelp for restaurants and Shazam for music. Now get ready to download a dose of "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" from a popular political figure of the past: the Gipper.
The Ronald Reagan iPhone app, introduced this week, promises to "deliver Ronald Reagan right to your fingertips," offering the speeches, sayings and photos of the "Great Communicator" to a potentially wider and younger audience, thanks to the popular mobile technology.
(snip)
"What's smart about it - and why you'll see it happen more and more - is that people are just living on their mobile devices," says Wade Randlett, a Silicon Valley Democratic activist and major fundraiser for President Obama. "They're giving up on laptops because the mobile device does everything you need."
By GottaLaff
Kick more people out of the Party of WTF in the name of Ronald Reagan! What a plan! Except, oops:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
ThinkProgress has conducted an analysis that finds at least 40 current Republican members of Congress have violated at least one principle of the purity test.I'll give you an excerpt of one of my faves, but go here for the whole endangered list:
Purity Pledge #5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants
– The McCain-Kennedy 2006 immigration bill would have “legalized millions of undocumented immigrants already in the U.S. if they paid fines, paid back taxes and learned English.” Republican Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Dick Lugar (R-IN), George Voinovich (R-OH), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bob Bennett (R-UT), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Susan Collins (R-ME), Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) voted for the bill.
I'm actually pretty curious about all of the hoopla over this. An updated guest list for tonight is here.
By GottaLaff
The resolution would prohibit RNC money from flowing to any candidate who disagrees with more than two itemized planks of the GOP platform -- playing off Reagan's maxim that anyone who agreed with him 80% of the time is not 20% an enemy. [...]There is a lot more for you to read in the piece, but here is the resolution:
Text from Jim Bopp's resolution, as circulated among several RNC members:
"THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Republican National Committee identifies ten (10) key public policy positions for the 2010 election cycle, which the Republican National Committee expects its public officials and candidates to support:
(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama's "stimulus" bill;
(2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare;
(3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;
(4) We support workers' right to secret ballot by opposing card check;
(5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;
(6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;
(7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;
(8) We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;
(9) We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and
(10) We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership; and be further
RESOLVED, that a candidate who disagrees with three or more of the above stated public policy position of the Republican National Committee, as identified by the voting record, public statements and/or signed questionnaire of the candidate, shall not be eligible for financial support and endorsement by the Republican National Committee; and be further
RESOLVED, that upon the approval of this resolution the Republican National Committee shall deliver a copy of this resolution to each of Republican members of Congress, all Republican candidates for Congress, as they become known, and to each Republican state and territorial party office.
Chief Sponsor:
James Bopp, Jr. NCM INSponsors:
Donna Cain NCW OR
Cindy Costa NCW SC
Demetra Demonte NCW IL
Peggy Lambert NCW TN
Carolyn McLarty NCW OK
Pete Rickets NCM NE
Steve Scheffler NCM IA
Helen Van Etten NCW KA
Solomon Yue NCM OR"
Welcome to the Soup Nazi Party.
H/t: Markos Moulitsas
By GottaLaff
Say you're czar-ry, Rushpubs:
Czar(ry) seems to be the hardest word.In today’s Washington Post, attorneys David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey, who served under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush [...] argue that in fact, subjecting all these advisers to a Senate confirmation process would perhaps be unconstitutional:
The White House czars are presidential assistants charged with responsibility for given policy areas. As such, they are among the president’s closest advisers. In many respects, they are equivalent to the personal staff of a member of Congress. To subject the qualifications of such assistants to congressional scrutiny — the regular confirmation process — would trench upon the president’s inherent right, as the head of an independent and equal branch of the federal government, to seek advice and counsel where he sees fit.
[T]hose benign Bush Czars, which included:
By GottaLaff
Paul Krugman on why the public option matters in political terms:Let me add a sort of larger point: aside from the essentially circular political arguments — centrist Democrats insisting that the public option must be dropped to get the votes of centrist Democrats — the argument against the public option boils down to the fact that it’s bad because it is, horrors, a government program. And sooner or later Democrats have to take a stand against Reaganism — against the presumption that if the government does it, it’s bad.
That's the crux of the crux of the matter
By GottaLaff
Max Boot deploys a new one (they keep coming up with them):
It would be easy to conclude with a “high degree of confidence” that one of the most effective intelligence-gathering tactics in the war on terrorism — the aggressive interrogation of captured terrorists — has been eliminated and, along the way, the agency charged with being on the front lines of the war has been severely degraded in operational effectiveness. In other words, the Obama administration has taken some of the most effective changes implemented by the Bush administration and reversed them in what could be a Carter-style emasculation of American intelligence capabilities.
"Aggressive interrogation of captured terrorists" needs translation into plain English. It means "the torture of captives suspected of being terrorists."
Thank you. Thank. You.
Next:
"One of the most effective intelligence-gathering tactics in the war on terrorism" also needs translation, since there is no evidence, as Bush DHS official Frances Townsend and every neutral observer has noted, that the intelligence, if accurate, could not have been achieved by legal, American and ethical means.
I'm drowning in gratitude here, Sully. More? Bring it on:
We also know for a fact that the majority of all those who have been abused and tortured by the US under Bush and Cheney were innocent of any terror offenses. (At Abu Ghraib, one of the test-sites for Cheney's methods, up to 90 percent were completely innocent, according to the Bush administration).
Home run.
Now take a peek at what "aggressive interrogation" means. Hint: It means torture:
"Aggressive interrogation" means, in plain English, stripping suspects, hooding them, beating them, putting a collar around their neck and launching their bodies against a plywood wall up to thirty times, subjecting them to sleep deprivation in one case as long as 960 hours over 54 days, shackling them in stress positions used by the Vietnamese against John McCain, denying medical care in some cases, sexually traumatizing them, using Islam as a weapon against them, putting them in upright coffins, threatening to kill their children and spouses, threatening to drill their skulls with power-drills, freezing them in iced water or freezing air-conditioning until near-death, subjecting them to extreme heat, and sensory deprivation in isolation for months until they become mental and physical shells.
Don't believe him? Read The Dark Side by Jane Mayer, or this, from the L.A. Times. Or the series I've done on this subject (see below).
It means Abu Ghraib, the one place where we have been able to see what neoconservatism has come to stand for: the brutal torture and abuse of Arabs and Muslims. It means murdering over a hundred of such prisoners - merely because they are suspects and Arab Muslims. [...]
As for "Carter-style emasculation", let us also remember that the return to ethical, legal treatment of prisoners is just as easily described as "Reagan-style emasculation." It was Reagan who signed the UN Convention on Torture which these neocons have torn up and despise.
They want euphemisms? Here are some now: BushCo consisted of a collection of brazenly criminal sphincters who have done to this country what Phillip Garrido did to Jaycee Lee Dugard. Interesting how the authorities didn't insist that we don't look back/just look forward when it came to that series of crimes.
****************
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.
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..jpg)
