Right-wing blogger Dan Riehl: "Isn't It Time To Euthanize Reid's Wife?"

By GottaLaff

You're all well aware of the serious automobile crash that Harry Reid's wife and daughter recently experienced. Mrs. Reid has suffered very serious, longterm injuries. I can't imagine the pain she must be in.

Alan Colmes just pointed me to a post about it... a nasty, disgusting post. Dan Riehl needs to be exposed for the heartless sicko that he is:

If Democrats want so badly to abort babies [...] why are we bothering with someone who has a broken neck and back at 69? It sounds to me like she's pretty well used up and has probably been living off the taxpayers for plenty of years [...]

I don't see that she's worth it at this point, frankly. I can't recall her ever doing anything for me.

And it is, after all, all about Danny Boy, who seems pretty "used up" himself.

Yes, it's all about him: The car accident. The frantic worry about Reid's family. The horror and physical suffering. Wow, how could that insensitive Landra Reid allowed herself to end up hospitalized after all Riehl has done for her?

Come on, Harry - do your civic duty. [...] Pull the plug and get back to work. And don't bill us for a full day today, either. [...] Air freight her home, you can bury her during recess on your own time and dime. Or are you going to bill us for that, too?

I'd love the media to get hold of this story and put this guy out of business, allowing him to join the ranks of the unemployed.

That way he could very well find himself without medical coverage. Wouldn't that be ironic?

Then let's see how he'd feel about the pain of living in the Riehl world.

UPDATE: Celtic Diva has more.

Anti Glenn Beck activist gets Twitter death threats, slurs

By GottaLaff

This is what it's like for activist StopBeck when he tries to "stop" Beck (click on images to enlarge):

One:


Two:


For the record, @vatopdog also started harassing me today, but I blocked him immediately. He called a few of us "self-hating haters", whatever that means, which was so laughable that I didn't take him seriously...

... until StopBeck contacted me with these tweets.

Twitter would not delete the account, even after StopBeck lodged a formal complaint. They said it wasn't "specific enough".

The level of hostility and hatred is out of hand. It started to rev up over the summer with the gun-toting, screaming, out of control Tea Tantrumers at town hall meetings. It has crescendoed ever since.

How can there be any expectation of achieving any sort of rational communication when wingnuts such as @vatopdog persist in drowning out civil discourse with outright threats, slurs, bigotry, hate speech, racism, and extremism?

StopBeck asked my advice. Here is what I told him: I've had some degree of success by calling these nutcases out, exposing them, and letting as many people as possible see what and who they are. If we turn our backs, they will continue their despicable behavior unabated.

He agreed.

We have try to to put the fire out, or at least control it, or it will continue to spread.

VIDEO: A lone Tea Bagger gets media attention

By GottaLaff

Jane Devin is a friend, someone who has won my admiration because of her huge heart, intelligence, wit, and survival skills.

Jane is traveling across the country, documenting her travels both in writing and on video. It's called "Finding My America". Her latest stop was the Detroit auto show.

And what, or rather, whom did she trip over while she was there?

Why, none other than one solitary little teabagger who was protesting all by his lonesome.

And yet... And yet...

...he was interviewed by media all day. According to Jane's tweet to me, "the guy has an AOL address, a P.O. box, and invalid web certificate!"

Yes, a crowd of reporters encircled the one Tea Bagger, once again drawing attention to a cause that deserves shunning, not glory:

There was a protest expected outside of the Cobo Center, where the NAIAS was held, but it ended up being a lone self-described “teabagger” (Jeffrey McQueen,who has a PO box in Rochester and, at least according to my Safari browser, an invalid website certificate) against a dozen or so UAW members. Still, the media showed up to interview McQueen, which was both funny and disheartening. There were far better stories to be found inside Cobo, where talent and ingenuity — instead of dogmatic pessimism — prevailed.

Please read Jane's whole series, including this one. Here's her video:

UPDATED: "You Jewish f***."

By GottaLaff

My wonderful pal Joshua has given me permission to cross-post one of his blog entries in full. It is from his site, The Joshua Blog. Joshua is both gay and Jewish. What a crime, huh?

Got this lovely Pulitzer Prize winning gem today from chriskemp (christopherkemp@live.com):

You jewish fuck. Ever read Leviticua? Its a book in what you call the Torah. That means first five books. Anywhoo, you're penchant for sucking other guy's cocks is reason to have your worthless ass stoned.

I would not throw any stones, because I ain't a Jew. I would leave it for other Jews.

You are an ignoramus. If this nation that has given you and your ilk safe harbor should fall in full-fledged communism (which is what you are longing for in your leftward leanings) be afraid. Be very afraid. The government that you have helped empower may very well come after you.

Have you ever studied 1930's Europe? A little something happened there that you may want to take note of. It happened at the very same ideological hands that you seek to empower here.

Chris Kemp
Blythewood, SC

Show Chris some love guys: christopherkemp@live.com

He tried to post this on President Obama's West Point Speech (in Full), but it was really worthy of it's own post.

LOL.

UPDATE I:

Here he is on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ChristopherLKemp

Thank you, Joshua, for allowing me to share the "love".

Threats like these sure must make eensy weensy tiny gnat-sized Chris feel big and strong and powerful. I guess that's all he's got: Poorly spelled, badly worded, vile little outbursts.

Sadly, calling people like this out and exposing them has become all too common here at TPC. But I find it is one of the few (non-violent) ways to both fight back and gradually rid ourselves of ignorant, pathetic cowards such as Chris.

UPDATE, THE APOLOGY:

I got two e-mails today; both contained apologies from Chris. E-mail #1 is from one of our favorite Commenters and my Twitterpal Joeyess:

Laffy, I sent an email to chris from joshua's blog:

You do know that 1930's Europe was in the grip of fascism, right? Furthermore, you know that communism began in Russia, right? Russia. The continent of Asia? Why do you people so easily confuse fascism and communism? They aren't the same, you know? In fact, they were mortal enemies. Is your confusion ignorance or willful belligerence?

And what makes you think for one moment that this country is in any way leaning towards communism? Do yourself a favor, look up the word socialism in the dictionary, be intellectually honest with yourself and then look in the mirror and at your reflection say three times: "You're an idiot.".

You won't feel any better about yourself, but at least you'll be a little smarter and honest, and gosh darnit! people will like you!!

and here's his response:

From: christopherkemp@live.com

Subject: Re: nice fella.

Date: December 4, 2009 8:23:00 AM CST
To: joeyess

You are so right. I'm never going to be able to apologize enough for that stupid and hateful thing I did on Joshua's blog.

I have got issues that make my current life sound like a really bad country song. Laid off in Feb., divorced and missing my girls, within about 2 weeks of having my car repo'd and probably 60 days from foreclosure.

So my solution was to get torn up on about 9 beers the other night and flame out by projecting my crap onto someone else. I am really sorry for having done that.

I do understand the difference between socialism and fascism. You are right about it.

If its not communism that we are leaning toward, then what is it? Socialism is just communism-lite. The gov't is involved in so many areas that they have no constitutional authority to be in. Nothing gives them the right to take my money and my children's money and their children's money and spend it on bailouts for wall street.

I already beat you to the punch about saying "I am an idiot". I've been kicking myself all night while trying to sleep. I really was raised better. Even at 44, I don't want to endure the tongue-lashing my Mom would give me if she read what I wrote to Joshua.

If you have any connection with him, please pass this along - he has blocked me from posting to his blog. Like, duh, I'd do the same thing too.

Chris

The next e-mail was from Joshua himself. He got this apology:

Joshua,

I am so very sorry for the hateful and horrible things I typed on your Blog Tuesday night. I apologize to you personally and to all of your friends that visit this site. There is no excuse for my behavior. Whether I agree with your views or not is no reason to spew the crap I did.

I'm sitting here flushed with shame and embarrassment for having written such stupid things. I'm my own problem, not you or whomever is in DC. I've set the beer bottle down and stepped away from it.

Thankfully, someone "jane from hell" sent me an email last night to call me out on my hypocrisy - I had forgotten about my "posting". When I looked it up and read it in a sober state I was dumbfounded by my own foolishness.

I was laid off in February, have judgments against me for failing to pay debts, am close to losing my car and going into foreclosure. Six months behind in alimony and have an IRS lien. Obviously, the solution to all of that is to get blindingly drunk and post things on the internet.

I've received some well-deserved criticism by way of Facebook and emails and have responded to all of them with apologies. I surely don't deserve it, but I am asking to be forgiven. I'm not a christian nor do I go to any church or have anything to do with organized religion.

For whatever its worth, I wish you and all of your readers success and all of the best things in life. I won't bother you again.

Chris Kemp
Blythewood, SC

Joshua posted this response at his blog:

He sounds sincere. No, "I'm sorry IF I offended" half-assed sentiment we usually get from politicians and cable news haters.

Your thoughts?

UPDATE III:

Apology accepted, Chris.

After thinking about your apology for a while, I realized that I’ve said some terrible things that I later truly regretted (some of which still haunt me to this day). And, since your apology was sincere – one that came obviously from your heart – it would be awfully childish of me to not accept it.

My thoughts? I'm relieved to see Chris take the time and effort to send what look to be heartfelt apologies. However, I can't stop thinking about the Mel Gibson incident. Chris revealed a side of himself that came out when he got drunk and depressed. Why would anyone even think to say such hateful things if it weren't at least a small part of who he is and what he believes?

It has never so much as entered my mind to hurl racist or bigoted insults at anyone. Ever. Drunk or not. Furious or not. Depressed or not.

But that doesn't mean I wouldn't accept Chris' apology, because he made at least two sincere attempts at making amends and explaining himself. He stated how appalled and ashamed he was at his own behavior, and said so. So good for him for owning up and caring enough to go out of his way to address Joshua and Joeyess directly.

What a shame that it was necessary to begin with.

Laffy Note: I'd like to add that Joshua's generous acceptance of the apology swayed me some. I do have to ask though: Is Chris one of those people who, like an abusive husband, apologizes and then repeats the same behavior? We may never know.

Huffington Post joins White House press pool

By GottaLaff

The bloggers are invading! Who next?! Barbie McLipSchmutz, ace Facebook ghostblogger? Nooooo! We're all doomed!

On December 20, a HuffPo reporter will have White House pool duty, a role that requires following Obama throughout the day and filing reports that can be used by the rest of the press corps who will not be in such close proximity to the president.

Joining the pool falls in line with HuffPo's goal of increasing its Washington footprint, which surely has grown during the first year of Obama's presidency.

There goes the neighborhood.

Gasp! Another Obama secret off the record lunch with ...

By GottaLaff



That extremist zealot, Prez O. He's so clearly biased, constantly conducting clandestine meetings with evildoers like Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann and... wait, what? What's this?!

There was a secret off-the-record briefing that included... David Brooks? Disguised as a lunch? Why, I oughta...

And hey, how'd Josh Marshall sneak in? Isn't he a lefty liberal progressive commie ::dun-dun-dun-n-n!:: blogger?

Yes, shockingly, it's true. Today President Obama lunched with, per ABC News:

-Mike Allen, Politico
-David Brooks, New York Times
-Chris Cillizzaa, Washington Post
-Gail Collins, New York Times
-Howard Fineman, Newsweek
-David Gergen, CNN
-Mara Liasson, NPR and Fox News Channel
-Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo.
-John Meacham, Newsweek
-Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
-Andrew Rosenthal of the New York Times.

David Brooks is said to be courted regularly by the White House.

Ooo, I hope Davey liked the dozen long-stemmed roses and See's Special Ultra Deluxe Assorted Romantic Chocolates for Budding Lovers.

The inclusion of Josh Marshall, meanwhile, represents the White House's continued effort to reach out to the blogosphere.

Hey Paddy, have you noticed anyone over there reaching out to us yet? No? Me neither. Sigh.

Sarah Palin's excellent obsession

By GottaLaff

Via Celtic Diva, it seems Barbie McLipSchmutz is obsessed with us basement-livin', Cheeto-eatin', pajama-clad types:

A growing preoccupation with bloggers: There's not a lot about why Palin resigned this past summer as Alaska governor after less than a full term, except that it had something to do with "the extent to which she had allowed her critics in Alaska to get to her. The woman who had steadfastly faced down powerful oil companies two years earlier had now become preoccupied with bloggers."

That excerpt was from the book Sarah from Alaska. Maybe she could blog about bloggers on her Facebook blog.

Now you know why I adore Mudflats, Celtic Diva, and Shannyn Moore so much. They've been the most diligent, thorough, entertaining Palintology sources I know.

I'm sure Barbie adores them as much as I do. I just betcha she does.

White House Official Considers Gays Part Of Internet Left Fringe

Not helpful Rahm, and yes we know it's you. Jane and John both have something to say about this. The whole blogger/pajama/Cheetos axis of blogging is really over btw- I don't own pajamas and I'm not real fond of Cheetos- Chex Mix is much better.

Video- Chris Matthews Thinks Bloggers Don't Do Any Fact Checking

Via Heather.

I Was There For You

By GottaLaff

I am friends with someone on Twitter who calls herself Blondetwit, and we're pals for good reason.

Go read this post by her, at her blog.

Then come on back and let me know what you think. And please, comment on her site and let her know, too.

I'm letting her know what I think by referring readers to her wonderful post.

Thank you, Blondetwit. You are a gem.

AUDIO-- Obama to bloggers: "Robust public option the way to go"

By GottaLaff



Here is a snippet of audio to go with my previous post. The entire audio of the conversation can be found here.

Obama Calls On Bloggers To Keep Health Care Pressure On Congress

By GottaLaff

Now we're talkin':

In a reflection of a legislative strategy that has left no stone unturned, President Barack Obama on Monday called on like-minded bloggers to help his administration keep the heat on lawmakers to pass health care reform. [...]

In a roughly 25-minute session with a handful of prominent progressive bloggers, the president also asked for help combating disinformation about his health care plan.

Ahem, I wasn't invited. Sigh. I'm content to just be a "bl"--"bloggina"? -- not yet a full-fledged Big Guns Blogger.

Squeak!

"I know the blogs are best at debunking myths that can slip through a lot of the traditional media outlets," he said. "And that is why you are going to play such an important role in our success in the weeks to come."

Squeak!.... er, ROAR!

At various points in the call, the president offered a strikingly detailed synopsis of his political strategy and health care policy as a whole.

While he refused to insist that lawmakers stay in Washington during the August recess, he declared definitively that, "the time for talk is through."

"Now is the time for us to go ahead and act," Obama declared. "We are working as hard as we can and I have told Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi that it is critical that we have seen serious forward motion before people leave [in August]."

I love it when he gets tough.

Moreover, for the first time in recent memory, Obama floated the possibility that if it appears that health care reform lacks the 60 votes needed for passage, he might be open to reconciliation, which would allow for an up-or-down vote on budgetary and tax aspects of the bill.

"Keep in mind that the way we had structured the reconciliation issue several months ago, we moved forward on the basis of the assumption that we could get a bill through the regular order and the regular process by October," Obama said. "If I think that is not possible, then we are going to look at all of our options, including reconciliation. Not because that is my preferred option but because what I think would be unacceptable for the American people is inaction."

Perhaps sensing the ramifications that such a parliamentary maneuver could cause, the president added: "In fairness, I do think that what you are seeing right now is really serious hard work on the part of members of the Senate and those on the Finance Committee. [...] And I feel confident that we could pass a bill in the absence of reconciliation." [...]

[T]he White House is cognizant that a watered-down bill could insult the progressive base. [...] At various times during the call, not surprisingly, the president implored the participants not to let the perfect piece of health care legislation be the enemy of something fundamentally good. [...]

The status quo is unacceptable... People who would defend doing nothing are defending the indefensible."

Along these lines, the president insisted on multiple occasions that he remained committed to a public option for insurance coverage and even threw a bit of cold water on one of the alternative proposals.

"I'm still looking at the details of a co-op approach. I will tell you that there are some instances of co-ops being set up and just having a very difficult time getting off the ground because they don't have the scale and the resources to compete effectively," Obama said of the approach advocated by Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) "What I have asked my health care team to do is to look at what evidence we have that this could provide the kind of competition that drives or helps to promote insurance reform... If I can see some evidence that that would work then I would be happy to consider it. [...]

Repeating his statement on Monday criticizing the posture of some of his Republican opponents, Obama accused those who sought to delay the bill as trying to kill the prospects of reform and, by extension, his presidency.

"I think it was telling, some of you may have seen, a Republican senator this weekend saying, we are just going to delay and delay because if we can stop Obama on this one, this is going to be his Waterloo. We will break him," he said of the remarks made by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C). "That was a quote. And I think it indicates the degree to which a lot of folks may sincerely think that the more time we take the better off we are going to be but I also think there are some who deliberately want to delay this process because they know the longer the special interests have to run negative ads or lobby members of congress, the more difficult it becomes to get this done."

More here.

New service allows final Tweet from grave

Actually not as goofy as it first sounded. We've had commenters here and other people we knew online just vanish, never to know what happened.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 23 (UPI) -- A new service by a Swedish design student will allow people to have a final Tweet or Facebook status update made after they die.

Lisa Granberg told The Local her service will allow friends and family members to have the information necessary to access social networking accounts belonging to people who have died.

(snip)

Granger's Webwill service will allow registered users to decide how they want their social networking profiles to change following their death. Webwill can also allow users to create a final blog post on Blogger, or have their goodbye e-mail sent to friends.

"The service is designed to let the individual decide what will happen with their online profiles after they're gone," she said.

Blog-Iron: A Club and Presidential Dinner for Bloggers

By GottaLaff

Huh? What? Did someone mention bloggers?

President Obama's snub of the annual spring Gridiron Dinner hosted by big-deal old-school reporters has inspired new-media bloggers. Steve Clemons, Washington Note blogger and director of the New America Foundation, is pushing for the creation of a highbrow blogger club and a rival annual presidential dinner for his ilk.

He just wanted to say "ilk". Ilk! Ilk! Love that word.


Ilk.

Our own opinion editor and blogger Robert Schlesinger tagged it Blog-Iron. At a dinner where Clemons raised the possibility, Gridiron members feigned outrage. But likely Blog-Iron members said they felt confident that Obama, who chatted online himself this week, would attend.

Oooo, watch out, the bloggers are taking over. The world is about to end.