Michele Bachmann introduces bill to repeal health care reform

By GottaLaff

The Loon Ranger is going to introduce a bill to repeal health care reform legislation, but who's going to introduce her to reality?

Bachmann:

President Obama and Democrats in Congress "have ignored the will of the people and have chosen to ram through their trillion-dollar health care bill despite the American people's overwhelming objection to it," Bachmann said in a written statement. [...]

"[T]he American people won't ever forget the irresponsible actions of this Administration and Democratic Majority."

Let's take this carelessly worded statement one faulty declaration at a time:

--"Ignored the will of the people" says she. Oh really? Would that be the same landslide of people who elected those very representatives, because they promised health care reform? I thought so.

-- "Trillion-dollar health care bill", says she. What the...? She's right! Just ask Ezra Klein:

In the second 10 years -- so, 2020 to 2029 -- it will reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion.

-- "Overwhelming objection to it", says she. Absolutely correct, as long as-- surprise!-- she ignores the American people who say the bill didn't go far enough, or who are actually familiar with the components of the bill itself. Then there's all kinds of support. Imagine that.

-- "The American people won't ever forget the irresponsible actions", says she. Right again! They won't ever forget the irresponsible actions of-- ta da!-- the GOP and the Tea Baggers. Maybe a better word would be "reprehensible" actions. Between the vitriol, the bigotry, racial slurs, and obstruction, the American people have a whole lot of nasty stuff stored in their memory banks.

Michele, allow us to introduce you to Facts. Facts, meet Michele. Now why don't the two of you go somewhere private and get to know each other.

Bill Kristol: GOP Should Repeal Obamacare Before Public Gets To Like It

By GottaLaff

Bill Kristol's track record is so fantastically fantastic, we should all be hanging onto every single word he utters.

Why, here are some now!

Luckily, key parts of Obamacare — especially the subsidies — don’t go into effect until 2014. So what Republicans have to do is to make the 2010 and the 2012 elections referenda on Obamacare, win those elections, and then repeal Obamacare.

Yes, thanks to Greg Sargent, we see that...

... he’s urging Republicans to hurry up and repeal it before Americans decide they like the fact that government’s defending their interests.

This reminds me of the misleading meme about polls reflecting America's dislike of the health care bill... but oops! Once they were polled on each component, it got great reviews.

Is it any wonder Kristol's the go-to guy... for self-annulling, unsound commentary?

Iowa Family Policy Center: Gay marriage more destructive than smoking

By GottaLaff

There's this group, The Iowa Family Policy Center. They oppose stuff like, you know, equal marriage rights for same-sex couples, that kind of stuff.

They sound like a reasonable, open minded bunch, don't they? Of course they do. You can tell by this, from Chuck Hurley, their president:

“The Iowa Legislature outlawed smoking in an effort to improve health and reduce the medical costs that are often passed on to the state. [...] The secondhand impacts of certain homosexual acts are arguably more destructive, and potentially more costly to society than smoking. [...] Homosexual activity is certainly more dangerous for the individuals who engage in it than is smoking.”

There now, nothing wrong with that... if you're a small-minded, despicable little bigot.

Apparently, his "logic" stems from this report saying gay men have higher rates of HIV and syphilis.

Or from the fact that he's a small-minded, despicable little bigot. How're those family values goin' for you, Chuck?

Newsflash: Heteros spread disease too. In fact, you're spreading some nasty stuff yourself, there, Sparky.

Here's an idea: How about addressing the STD issue rather than condemning your fellow man. Shouldn't you be loving them or something?

It is your hateful attitude that is "more dangerous than is smoking". And just as costly.

People matter. Who they love is none of your damn business, and comparing people who love each other to death sticks makes me want to... offer you a cigarette.

VIDEO: Why David Gregory should not be hosting Meet the Press

By GottaLaff

C & L's Heather opines as I would. Please go read her rant. I'll simply remind you of who currently hosts Meet the Press, and why NBC made such an egregiously misguided choice:

Attaboy, David. Show us how objective you are. Give us a little peekaroony at what great judgment you have. Let us in on your profound insights.

Iraq war v. health care reform.

Illegal war that murdered thousands v. a plan to save millions.

Bush v. Obama.

Gregory v. true and accurate reporting.

Puh-leeze.

Christians claim Matthew Shepard hate crimes law "criminalizes the Bible"

By GottaLaff

:sdrawkcab denmad os era elpoep esehT

A Christian group in Michigan has filed a lawsuit alleging that a package of hate crimes laws named after murder victim Matthew Shepard is an affront to their religious freedom.

Conversely, Shepard's murder was an affront to his, you know, life.

Filed by the Thomas More Law Center -- which bills itself as the religious answer to the American Civil Liberties Union -- the complaint claims that protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people "is an effort to eradicate religious beliefs opposing the homosexual agenda from the marketplace of ideas by demonizing, vilifying, and criminalizing such beliefs as a matter of federal law and policy."

Thomas More chief counsel Richard Thompson:

"Of the 1.38 million violent crimes reported in the U.S. by the FBI in 2008, only 243 were considered as motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation," he wrote on the group's Web site. "The sole purpose of this law is to criminalize the Bible and use the threat of federal prosecutions and long jail sentences to silence Christians from expressing their Biblically-based religious belief that homosexual conduct is a sin."

So... silencing a life because of sexual orientation is okay. Laws making that illegal aren't. .sdrawkcaB

However, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act clearly stipulates that it does not apply to constitutionally protected speech.

See, what the actual act stipulates doesn't matter. Legalities don't matter. Justice doesn't matter. Bigotry, hatred, homophobia, and "belief" trumps law, decency, and ethics.

It's the naciremA yaw.

DNC gave $500K to anti-public option Ben Nel$on's health care ad campaign

By GottaLaff



This will ruffle more than a few feathers, mine included:

Americablog discovers the DNC sent nearly $500,000 to the Nebraska Democratic Committee to run advertisements defending Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-NE) vote for health care reform.

"Nelson announced his support for the much-weakened Senate health care bill on December 19, 2009. He cast his vote for final passage on December 24, 2009. The DNC transferred money to the Nebraska party on December 28, 2009. You do the math."

More from Sudbay:

So, not only did Nelson get bought off with Medicaid funding from the federal treasury, it now appears he got TV ads, paid for by supporters of real health care reform, praising him for killing real reform. As David Dayen noted last week, Nelson was fully prepared to torpedo the bill anyway.

Most state parties would greatly appreciate a $500,000 infusion of cash from the DNC. That doesn't happen very often.

It sure doesn't. Imagine those who could have made, you know, good use of money like that, instead of anti-public option, anti-Medicare-buy-in, anti-abortion rights Nelson.

Way to unify the party, DNC. Enjoy siding with obstructionists much? Apparently, real health care reform and the lives of millions of Americans weren't a huge priority.

As Greg Sargent puts it:

Joe Sudbay reports that your donations to the DNC may have funded ads praising Ben Nelson for watering down reform — perhaps not the goal you intended.

No, perhaps not. Not even close.

VIDEO: Alito mouths "not true" as Obama criticizes SCOTUS for ruling

By GottaLaff

The Supreme Joe Wilson:



Oh my. As Glenn Greenwald tweeted, Justice Alito breached protocol in more serious way than Joe Wilson did.

Wow. Just wronger than wrong, "Judge".

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito shooked his head no, and mouthed "not true," while President Obama criticized the Supreme Court for their recent decision permitting lobbyists and corporations to exert more influence on elections. This is highly inappropriate of a Supreme Court justice - they don't even clap at the State of the Union, they're supposed to be so impartial.

H/t: AMERICABlog

The AP DESTROYS the Phony Climategate Scandal

By GottaLaff

Neener. Nanner. NeenernannerNeenernannerNeenernanner. And yes, I'm being immature and childish because I am sick to death of wingy memes monopolizing the media and accepted as truth:

This is significant because it sweeps away any quasi-legitimacy the Global Warming deniers have had in isolating or trumpeting certain doubts that individual scientists may have had.

The 1,073 e-mails examined by the AP show that scientists harbored private doubts, however slight and fleeting, even as they told the world they were certain about climate change. However, the exchanges don't undercut the vast body of evidence showing the world is warming because of man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

There is more fun over at Kos. Go visit, then dance in circles, point and laugh at the Deniers, and call everyone you know.

I will resume adulthood after I post this. So there. Pfft.

45-minute WMD claim 'came from an Iraqi taxi driver'

By GottaLaff

Next time you're out on the street screaming, "Taxi!", consider this:

An Iraqi taxi driver may have been the source of the discredited claim that Saddam Hussein could unleash weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes, a Tory MP claimed today.

Gee, I hope he was at least licensed. But I digress:

Adam Holloway, a defence specialist, said MI6 obtained information indirectly from a taxi driver who had overheard two Iraqi military commanders talking about Saddam's weapons.

And then he divulged that one commander was in the middle of a messy affair and was leaving his wife. But MI6 didn't think he was credible on that score, so we never heard any of the juicy details.

Oh, but I kid the MI6.

After the war the dossier became hugely controversial when it became clear that some of the information it contained was not true. An inquiry headed by Lord Butler into the use of intelligence in the run-up to the war revealed that MI6 had subsequently accepted that some of its Iraqi sources were unreliable, but his report did not identify who they were.

That would have been too embarrassing. It's a good thing it didn't leak out. That wouldn't have ended well.

Oops.

Holloway, a former Grenadier Guardsman and television journalist who is now a member of the Commons defence committee, wrote:

"Under pressure from Downing Street to find anything to back up the WMD case, British intelligence was squeezing their agents in Iraq for information. One agent did come up with something: the '45 minutes' or something about missiles allegedly discussed in a high level Iraqi political meeting.

"But the provenance of this information was never questioned in detail until after the Iraq invasion, when it became apparent that something was wrong. In the end it turned out that the information was not credible, it had originated from an émigré taxi driver on the Iraqi-Jordanian border, who had remembered an overheard a conversation in the back of his cab a full two years earlier.

"Indeed, in the intelligence analyst's footnote to the report, it was flagged up that part of the report probably describing some missiles that the Iraqi government allegedly possessed was demonstrably untrue. They verifiably did not exist.

"The footnote said it in black and white ink. Despite this glaring factual inaccuracy, which under normal circumstances would have caused the reliability of the intelligence to be seriously questioned, the report was treated as reliable and went on to become one of the central planks of the dodgy dossier."

Bus drivers are so much more reliable. Had they been smart, they would have gotten more bang for their buck, er, pound, er, Euro, had they relied on public transportation.

There is much more here.

H/t: DCPlod

Pentagon thought Canada spied on us via Canadian coins

By GottaLaff

Note: I have made corrections and amended the title. Thank you to those who caught my mistake.

Yes, it's true, according to an e-mail, the Pentagon thought Canada had implanted radio transmitting devices into coins in order to spy on the U.S. of A.

Espionage warnings from the Defence Department caused an international sensation a few years ago over reports of mysterious coins with radio frequency transmitters, until they were debunked. The culprit turned out to be a commemorative quarter in Canada.

But at the height of the mystery, senior Pentagon officials speculated whether Canadians were involved in the spy caper, according to emails marked "Secret/NoForn" and obtained this week by The Associated Press under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

No, not Canada! Not our BFF! 'Kay, we would so break up with them over that.

Not that we'd ever really, really doubt the Canadians, right?

"I don't think it is an issue of the Canadians being the bad guys," the Pentagon's counterintelligence chief wrote, "but then again, who knows."

What? Wait. "Who knows"? "Who knows"?? Eeks! Dude! That's even more uncool than some famous celebrity athlete guy cheating on his wife and leaving incriminating voice mails!

Canada is among the closest of U.S. allies, its continental northern neighbour and the leading oil supplier for the U.S. The intelligence services of the two countries are extraordinarily tight and routinely share sensitive secrets.

Oh em gee, I so know! We totally confide in each other at, like, every meet-up, and that whole oil thing is, like, amazing! This whole double ultra superdupersecret spy coin thingy is so bogus. I mean, I am so seriously serious.

In sensational warnings that circulated publicly in late 2006 and early 2007, the Pentagon's Defence Security Service said coins with radio transmitters were found planted on U.S. army contractors with classified security clearances on at least three occasions between October 2005 and January 2006 as the contractors travelled through Canada.

No way. Like, I mean, that was during the BushCo years! OMG, were the contractors, like, Blackwater dudes? Come on, tell! Isweartogod I can keep a secret.

In January 2007, the government abruptly reversed itself and said the warnings were not true.

'K good, cuz that would have so been a major deal breaker and there is like, no way we coulda stayed together.

What suspicious contractors believed to be "nanotechnology" on the coins actually was a protective coating the Royal Canadian Mint applied to prevent the poppy's red colour from rubbing off. The mint produced nearly 30 million such quarters in 2004 commemorating Canada's 117,000 war dead.

This is totally humiliating. I want. To. Die. No, seriously, totally, I mean it. I hope we can still be BFF. Pleeeeze? It will never EVER happen again. Sweartogodandeverythingprecious.

Many of the emails were censored over what the Pentagon said was national security and personal privacy.

Kewl. Cuz, I mean, if anyone saw those, we'd be so grounded and laffed off Facebook and the world stage.

Serious.

H/t: Tymlee

Jindal Fires State Employee Day After She Criticized Him, Blames It on Katrina

By GottaLaff

Ruh-roh! Ba-Ba-Ba-Bobby did someone wrong:

A state worker fired the day after publicly criticizing state government last week was actually told she was terminated because of problems pertaining to Hurricane Katrina four years ago, her attorney said.

Melody Teague, a state Department of Social Services contract grants reviewer, was informed she was fired because of problems with the disaster food stamps program that she was drawn into during the Katrina aftermath, her attorney, Mark Falcon said.

Teague will go through the Civil Service appeals process to undo her firing, Falcon said.

He called it a “secondary” matter that she was fired one day after criticizing state privatization efforts and Gov. Bobby Jindal during an Oct. 1 state Commission for Streamlining Government forum in Jefferson Parish.

Of course it was. Secondary, that is. One always fires someone for something they did four years ago, as opposed to, you know, what they did the day before.

So what's an unfairly fired state worker to do?

Don't expect an outspoken political appointee to go quietly. That's the lesson Gov. Bobby Jindal's learning after he tried unsuccessfully to force out one of his picks for the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Tammie McDaniel not only refused to leave the job, she coalesced support from other board members, education officials and community leaders to stay in the post.

As the episode unfolded, McDaniel made the Jindal administration look secretive, heavy-handed and engaged in the kind of back-room dealing the governor decried when he took office.

Wait. Don't tell me. Ba-Ba-Ba-Bobby comes off as a ... hypocrite? Again? A guy with a face like this?

But he looks so sincere!

The problem is Jindal can't remove her from the position because the appointment runs concurrent with the governor's four-year term, and McDaniel has refused to step down. [...]

Jindal said he was disappointed with McDaniel's decision -- but he's never explained why he wanted her to resign. He's repeatedly insinuated she didn't support his "reform agenda," saying recently, "The members that we appoint to any commission or board, we expect to support our reform agenda. If they don't, they can certainly expect to hear from us."

But he hasn't described what that agenda might be or which votes she cast that conflicted with the governor's views.

The Great Communicator.

"We obviously don't comment on private meetings or conversations," Jindal said.

The matter's not exactly private when McDaniel, other BESE members, north Louisiana education leaders and lawmakers are talking about it -- and speculating publicly.

Bobby, Bobby, Bobby... See, "private" means "not public" and "public" means "not private". Got that? I knew that you would.

Since the governor isn't talking, all that's available is speculation the governor's trying to muzzle an appointee with an independent streak who questions Jindal or the education superintendent he supports.

That's not the message a governor who talks about transparency in government should want to convey. And it might not even be the whole truth. But no one knows since the Jindal administration is keeping its decision-making under wraps.

Never fear, Bobby's poor reputation is intact. The inability to muzzle an employee is just one of a long list of failures... right after wrongful termination. See? Consistent epic fail.

H/t: Hippie_Cyndi

Equipment burned, nurses fired... hospital administrators got new cars

By GottaLaff

An L.A. Times letter to the editor:

Re “Conserva-care,” Opinion, Sept. 20

What nonsense. William Frist wants to "incentivize" folks to live a healthy life, thereby shrinking costs. OK -- but try getting couch potatoes to do it. And those like me -- living the healthiest of lives, yet I've fought back cancer twice only because Medicare authorized the right tests.

David Frum wants non-state-regulated insurance companies that will "squeeze" their suppliers. If doctors like my son are squeezed any further, most will quit medicine.

And Richard Viguerie: "Don't discourage profit ... [it] drives better prices, service and products." Ridiculous. When our local, nonprofit hospital became for-profit, all the best nurses were fired. Their incompetent replacements burned up equipment in the autoclaves. However, within weeks, a dozen administrators had new cars.

Brought to you by the Department of Driving while Rome Burns.

Obama Calls Shooting of Anti-Abortion Activist 'Deplorable'

By GottaLaff

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Unlike many of his Rushpublic counterparts, the Head Dem knows that shooting people who disagree with you is wrong:

President Obama is calling the shooting of an anti-abortion activist "deplorable."

The White House on Sunday released a statement from the president on the shooting of James Pouillon. Obama says that "whichever side of a public debate you're on, violence is never the right answer."

He might want to clue in these people:

Back story here.

VIDEO- Keith Olbermann's Special Comment calls out Joe Wilson

By GottaLaff

As always, Keith nails it:

In a Special Comment, Countdown’s Keith Olbermann calls out South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson not just for his shameful incivility in interrupting President Obama’s health care speech before Congress but for being so glaringly, stupidly, publicly wrong.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Obama’s drug czar: Marijuana ‘has no medical benefit’

By GottaLaff

Tell it to the suffering patients who have been grateful for a little relief:

When President Barack Obama appointed former Seattle, Washington police chief Gil Kerlikowske to lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy, activists supporting marijuana policy reform were cheered by the news, however briefly. [...]

Even though Kerlikowske’s former city is famously tolerant of marijuana — which is less harmful and less addictive than America’s most popular, legal intoxicant, alcohol — that did not stop America’s new drug czar from demeaning the president’s position on medicinal use, telling a crowd in Fresno, California on Wednesday that marijuana is “dangerous” and “has no medical benefit,” according to The Fresno Bee.

He has no medical training and did not qualify his statements with any opinions from medical professionals.

Kerlikowske was discussing “Operation SOS — or, “Save Our Sierra” — which has been underway in California for the last 11 days.

“More than 314,000 plants were uprooted in 70 gardens — numbers expected to rise as the enforcement action continues,” the paper reported. “Agents also seized $41,000 in cash, 26 firearms and three vehicles.”

When Kerlikowske was announced as Obama’s choice for drug czar, the organizers of Seattle’s famous annual Hempfest welcomed the move. [...]

The plant can provide significant relief to sufferers of many chronic and life-threatening illnesses, such as cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, arthritis, muscular dystrophy and numerous others. [...]

It has also been shown to alleviate symptoms of less-threatening disorders such as uncontrollable anxiety, depression and insomnia, among others. [...]

Advocates of legalizing medical marijuana on the federal level also point to the fact that it is virtually impossible to die from overdosing on the substance; a stark contrast with other common pain relieving drugs such as aspirin, Ibuprofen and acetaminophen, which cause thousands of U.S. deaths every year according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. [...]

Kerlikowske’s 39-year-old son Jeff is in jail in Florida for parole violations stemming from marijuana-related charges. Kerlikowske said he has not spoken to or seen Jeff in over a decade.

Iraq Watch: DickFail

By GottaLaff

The Failed Nation of Dick fails again. How can one person be so wrong so often? I suppose if we really wanted an answer to that, we could go to Miss Personality Disorder... or BushCo en masse. Now DickFail is showing what a giant burlap bag of hindquarters he is on the subject of Iraq... again:

Cheney argued the Obama administration's policy may produce a new round of violence and squander recent gains. What Cheney neglected to mention is that the Obama administration is simply following through on the SOFA deal negotiated by the Bush/Cheney administration.

As Fred Kaplan explained the other day, "[T]he withdrawal is not the doing of President Barack Obama. Rather, it was negotiated during the Bush administration, at -- more to the point -- the Iraqi government's insistence. The Iraqis are the ones who wanted, and ordered, us out. Even if John McCain had won the 2008 election, we'd still be pulling out of Iraq's cities."

If Cheney doesn't like the Status of Forces Agreement, signed in November 2008, he should take it up with Bush.

Take it up with Bush? He never did that while in office, why start now?

Shallow Thoughts: "Abortion Doctor" edition

By GottaLaff

Today's Shallow Thought:

Despite the label that the corporate media insist upon pinning on the assassinated Dr. George Tiller, he was not an "abortion doctor". He was an OB-GYN.

Tee Vee News no longer exists. Biased reporting for the sake of corporate sponsorship and all its monetary rewards, at the expense of an informed public (read: democracy) is the exasperatingly poor substitute.

That was today's Shallow Thought. Thank you for wading in.

VIDEO-- Military Preacher urges "hunting people for Jesus" in Afghanistan

By GottaLaff

I just heard Thom Hartmann mention this on the Radio Machine. It's called crossing a line:

A U.S. church raised money to send Bibles, printed in the Pashtu and Dari languages, to American soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, a report on Al Jazeera documented Sunday night.

It is against military rules to proselytize -- a regulation one of the soldiers filmed by the network readily acknowledged. "You cannot proselytize, but you can give gifts," says the soldier. It is a crime in Afghanistan to attempt to convert anyone from Islam to any other religion. "I also want to praise God because my church collected some money to get Bibles for Afghanistan. They came and sent the money out." The footage is said to be roughly a year old.

The Al Jazeera report also shows a military preacher urging army parishioners to "hunt people for Jesus."

"The Special Forces guys, they hunt men. Basically, we do the same things as Christians. We hunt people for Jesus. We do, we hunt them down. Get the hound of heaven after them, so we get them into the Kingdom. That's what we do, that's our business," he says.

A White House spokesman referred questions to the Department of Defense, which did not immediately return a call. A military spokesman did tell Reuters, however, that none of the Bibles were, as far as she knew, ever actually distributed. [...]

President Bush created an international uproar when he referred to the "war on terror" as a "crusade."

No. Just, no. Wrong.

VIDEO: That DHS report about right wing extemists? It started with BushCo

By GottaLaff


Herridge’s report comes in at the end of the video.

Paddy posted earlier about the outrage--the outrage!-- of the Rushpublics over the Department of Homeland Security report that was leaked about the rising radicalization of “rightwing extremists”. How dare the Obama administration! Sputter! Froth! Spitty protest!

But wait! What did a little Think Progress birdie just tell me? Why... this!

[T]his morning, Fox News’s Catherine Herridge revealed that the report, along with an earlier report on radicalized left-wing groups, was actually “requested by the Bush administration” but not completed until recently:

HERRIDGE: Well this is an element of the story which has largely gone unreported. One looks at right-wing groups, as you mentioned. And a second is on left-wing groups. Significantly, both were requested by the Bush administration but not finished until President Bush left office.

Herridge’s reporting undermines her network’s own “reporting” over the past 24 hours. Since news of the DHS assessment broke yesterday, Fox anchors and guests have been seizing upon the report as evidence that the administration is trying to intimidate tea party goers or “stifle speech”.

Who knew Bush was such a commie pinko socialist fascist traitor? Hands? Hmm, whassat? Oh, okay, let me rephrase: Who knew Bush was such a fascist traitor? Look at that! Everyone's hands went up at the same time!

[T]he Obama administration was apparently following the lead of the Bush Homeland Security Department in assessing the very real threat of violent right-wing extremism. Indeed, Bush appointees such as FBI Director Robert Mueller have acknowledged the threat of right-wing extremism multiple times.

As Emily Litella would say:

Panetta: No one to be punished for interrogations

By GottaLaff

"I was just following orders" makes it all okay? This is so wrong:

CIA Director Leon Panetta says agency employees who took part in harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects are not in danger of being punished. [...]

He said then that he would oppose prosecutions of any CIA employee who adhered to their legal guidance on interrogations.

I strongly oppose what he would strongly oppose.