Rusty Stone World Map wallpaper
It might be time to consider three possibilities about Michele Bachmann’s brand of crazy. 1) She is deeply disturbed. Having collected government subsidies, saying that she is subservient to her husband yet is capable of being president and being a beneficiary of tax payer subsidized health care insurance. 2) She is not a complete vessel of self-destruction, but her tendency to ideological self parody suggests a strong self-destructive streak. 3) She is secretly a progressive liberal. Knowing that the 2012 elections will feature a Republican-lite candidate (Obama) versus someone running on an extreme Right platform, she is doing the best she can to elect the candidate closest to the center. Bachmann: ‘I Hope’ Higher Unemployment Will Help My Campaign
Appearing on CNBC this morning, presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) was asked about this morning’s dismal jobs report and whether higher unemployment rates might help her chances of winning in 2012. “Does it strike you that as the unemployment rate goes up, your chances of winning office also go up?” host Carl Quintanilla asked. “Well, that could be. Again, I hope so,” Bachmann replied.
By voting for the Paul Ryan (R-WI) to gut Medicare and increase the deficit Bachmann has in fact voted to sabotage the economy and pull the rug out from under seniors. In what amounts to a total 180 Bachmann has nixed Democrat and Obama administration proposals to cut as much as $4 trillion dollars in spending. Tied to her line in the sand over actually reducing the deficit, Bachmann has endorsed blowing up the economy by way of a default on the debt ceiling. A default that would indeed fulfill Bachmann’s fantasies about more unemployed Americans.
Bachmann has also signed the The FAMILY Leader’s Pledge. This pledge includes some language about eradicating porn. Whatever one’s personal opinion of porn, the Republican party has played a large role in the modern distribution of porn. Red states also tend to view quite a bit of porn according to one study. Considering the Republican investment of dollars and free time into the porn, that business is probably safe. Apparently Bachmann did not do her research into the habits of her fellow conservatives. Why would she think they were any less the hypocrite than she is. being too lazy or distracted with the sound of her own voice Bachmann shouldn’t be expected to check the pledge for historical accuracy or demeaning language directed at American of color, The FAMILY Leader’s Marriage Pledge Says Unwed Slaves Preferable Parents For African-Americans
There are so many conscienceless malicious conservatives in this country even a top one hundred list would make for many tough choices. One prime candidate would be former Bush 43 speech writer and currently WaPo columnist Marc Thiessen. Thiessen loves torture the most, except on the days when he loves telling the most malevolent falsehoods. He frequently combines the two as in a recent column. H/T to Alex Pareene for this post from Adam Serwer, Thiessen’s Definition Of “Catch And Release”. This is what the Thiessen wrote that the Washington Post had no problem publishing,
The United States’ top special operations commander told Congress that because the United States has no place to hold captured terrorists we have simply been letting them go. In his testimony, Adm. McRaven used the phrase “in many cases,” which seems to indicate that not only has this happened, but it has happened in numerous instances. Well, exactly how many al-Qaeda terrorists have been taken into U.S. custody on Navy ships and released by the Obama administration? Who are these terrorists? Where were they captured? Who decided to release them? Where were they released? And what has become of them since?
The use of “which seems to indicate” brings back feelings of dark nostalgia, the Bush era use of language which contained the infamous “plausible deniability”. A liberal blogger with some free time and an average intelligence could use Theissen’s technique of pulling an isolated quote out of context to make millions of Republicans look guilty of the worse kind of treason. Serwer puts up the part of the testimony that Theissen is referring to,
SEN. GRAHAM: What’s the longest we can keep somebody on the ship?
ADM. MCRAVEN: Sir, I think it depends on whether or not we think we can prosecute that individual in a U.S. court or we can return him to a third-party country.
SEN. GRAHAM: What if you can’t do either one of those?
ADM. MCRAVEN: Sir, again, if we can’t do either one of those, then we will release that individual.
SEN. GRAHAM: OK.
ADM. MCRAVEN: I mean, that becomes the unenviable option, but it is an option.
Nowhere does McRaven say that this has happened. He says its an “unenviable option,” but nowhere does he admit that “because the United States has no place to hold captured terrorists we have simply been letting them go.” It’s fair to ask whether this has happened, but Thiessen states flatly that it has been happening when he hasn’t the foggiest idea, and he states that McRaven said it’s been happening, which he quite plainly didn’t.
Thiessen has established quite the history of pulling opinions out of his overfed ass. He has complained several times about President Obama killing too many terrorists. Thiessen suffers both from Obama Derangement Syndrome and Democratic Derangement Syndrome. Other than a deep, disturbing and fetishistic belief in torture, the only other thing Thiessen believes in is hating anyone who does not share his dark nihilistic world view.
While we’re on the subject of lifting stuff out of context, What did Senior Obama adviser David Plouffe really say about unemployment?
Senior Obama adviser David Plouffe is getting widely pilloried on the right today for claiming that people won’t vote in 2012 “based on the unemployment rate.”
Not the worse thing anyone has ever said but considering the state of the economy, current talks to screw the working poor and middle-class to save tax cuts for billionaires, it doesn’t sound good either. Only it was in context of how many Americans gauge how their lives are going and contrary to the Beltway press corp it is not always through the prim of Washington.
QUESTION: Axelrod likes to say that every campaign has inherited [inaudible]. You know, an environment in which unemployment is [inaudible] percent when the president runs for re-election, what’s — what’s the Obama narrative about that?
PLOUFFE: Well, listen, I don’t — you know, we’re a long way from 2012. We’re a long way from knowing what’s going on in the world and exactly what the economy is and who are opponent is.
I would make a general statement, though, because there is a lot of attention focused on the unemployment rate. The average American does not view the economy through the prism of GDP or unemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers.
In fact, those terms very rarely pass their lips. So it’s a very one-dimensional view. They view the economy through their own personal prism. You see, people’s — people’s attitude towards their own personal financial situation has actually improved over time. You know, they’re still concerned about the long-term economic future of the country, but it’s things like “My sister was unemployed for six months and was living in my basement and now she has a job.”
There’s a — a “help wanted” sign. You know, the local diner was a little busier this week. Home Depot was a little busier. These are the ways people talk about the economy. They don’t talk about it in the terms of Washington.
And so their decision next year will be based upon two things, okay, how do I feel about things right now, and then, ultimately, campaigns are always much more about the future, and who do I think has got the best idea, the best vision for where to take the country?
I would submit to you that a healthy percentage of Americans, far more than a majority, believe the president has a very sound vision for where the country needs to go.
So, you know, people won’t vote based on the unemployment rate. They’re gonna vote based on, “How do I feel about my own situation? Do I believe the president makes decisions based on me and my family?”
It seems Plouffe was actually asked a question about whether and how the unemployment rate would impact the Presidential race. He replied by claiming that the number itself wouldn’t impact people’s votes. In other words, Plouffe himself didn’t initially establish the political context. Plouffe then launched into a discussion about how the anemic recovery is experienced by people on a personal level. It was in that context that Plouffe reiterated that people won’t vote based on the number alone.
[ ]…But as Dave Weigel notes, the quote in isolation is widely being distorted in the media as a sign that Obama’s advisers have their heads in the sand about the economy. And looking at the full exchange, it’s hard to see how Plouffe was expressing indifference to the economic plight that ordinary people are enduring.
No doubt some people do look at the headlines on job numbers and that influences how they feel, but it is seldom the only barometer they use. Clearly in the context of the entire statement his thoughts have probably been expressed around quite a few dinner tables and lunch counters. At least some of the ones I’ve been around.
They rarely pay a price for these dirty tricks so they keep on doing it, Wisconsin Republicans doing GOTV for fake Dem candidates
Not content with just running fake Democratic candidates in the Wisconsin recall primaries, Republicans are now doing GOTV for those fake candidates as well.
Allies of one of the top GOP targets in the recalls, state senator Randy Hopper, are circulating flyers in his district trying to get out the vote for the fake Dem in the Democratic primary against his Dem opponent.
You can view the flyer, which was found and passed along by We Are Wisconsin, right here. It urges voters to go out to the polls to vote for one John Buckstaff against the real Democrat, Oshkosh deputy mayor Jessica King, a strong candidate against the vulnerable Hopper.
The idea here is to get Republicans to vote in the Democratic primary, which is allowed under Wisconsin law. If the fake Dems can win the primaries, then Wisconsin Republicans won’t even have to face a real recall election.
I checked over that bastion of right-wing journalistic integrity Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government and I am shocked to find they are not covering the sleazy antics of Wisconsin conservatives.
The Long Goodbye 