Well, well, well, William Tell

Remember Mine Company Asshole of the First Rank, Don Blankenship?

As you "should have anticipated":

A former president of a Massey Energy subsidiary has implicated the coal company's ex-CEO in safety violations as he pleaded guilty to charges resulting from an investigation into the 2010 explosion at a Massey mine that killed 29 men.

David Hughart entered the plea to two federal conspiracy charges on Thursday in federal court in Beckley. He was accused of working with others to ensure miners at Massey operations got advance warning about surprise federal inspections.

When asked by the judge where the orders for the advanced warning came from, Hughart said it came from the company's chief executive officer. The CEO at the time, Don Blankenship, was not mentioned by name, and federal prosecutors declined comment after the hearing.

John Roberts ponders "Whether I'm saying Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine is more racist than Highlights?"

I think this answers it...Holy Shitballs, that's racist.

In which the "power of google" demonstrates someone is quite the piece of shit

Oh looky here -- I forgot about this kiss-assery of the past.

November 16, 2005:

Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward testified under oath Monday in the CIA leak case that a senior administration official told him about CIA operative Valerie Plame and her position at the agency nearly a month before her identity was disclosed. 

In a more than two-hour deposition, Woodward told Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald that the official casually told him in mid-June 2003 that Plame worked as a CIA analyst on weapons of mass destruction, and that he did not believe the information to be classified or sensitive, according to a statement Woodward released yesterday.

And -- of course:

It would also make Woodward, who has been publicly critical of the investigation, the first reporter known to have learned about Plame from a government source. 

Because it might threaten Woodward's precious black-mail like access he's maintained like a ramora to succeeding Administrations for the last 40 years.

And now he's making up non-existent threats.

WHAT.

AN.

ASSHOLE.

But hey, don't credit me, credit 15 seconds on "Google", something no one in the beltway who is paid to "commit journalism" seems capable of doing.

And now JEEBUS, even Tucker Carlson's vanity project "The Daily Caller" is calling out Woodward as a gigantic douche.

But today, things look different. P0litico has posted the exclusive email from Gene Sperling to Woodward. It begins, “I apologize for raising my voice in our conversation today.”
(Frightening, I know!)

Sperling’s email eventually does say, “I know you may not believe this, but as a friend, I think you will regret staking out that claim.” But this is clearly not a veiled threat of retaliation, but rather a warning that the reporter was about to get the story wrong.

When Woodward tells of being warned he would “regret” challenging Obama, it sounds ominous. But if Politico’s reporting today is correct, it seems much more innocuous than that.

Looks like we were played.

We'll see how this plays out but...

On the same day Justice Roberts asks, "Is it the government’s submission that citizens in the South are more racist than citizens not in the South?”

This happens...

Mississippi Mayor Candidate Found Dead — First Openly Gay Candidate in State He is also African-American. 

Foul play is suspected -- who knows the reason, but when the words "Mississippi"; "African-American"; "Candidate"; "Murder" and "Gay" appear in one sentence it's hard not to suspect the type of assailant it will end up being.

And why is that Mr. Chief Justice?

History and experience.

SLUUUUUUUURRRRRPPPPP!

I'll bet you are:

Der Popenfaust

I have no idea whether the soon to be ex-Pope is gay or not.   I'd add I don't care, but obviously I must care enough to comment on this from the blogosphere's most melodramatic person.

So Benedict’s handsome male companion will continue to live with him, while working for the other Pope during the day. Are we supposed to think that’s, well, a normal arrangement? I wrote a while back about Gänswein’s intense relationship with Ratzinger, while noting Colm Toibin’s review of Angelo Quattrochi’s exploration of Benedict, “Is The Pope Gay?”.

I'm pretty sure just getting to live in the Vatican...let alone getting to retire there; keep everything but your ring and red shoes; all while avoiding any criminal conspiracy charges is ALL outside a normal arrangement.

And that's just before we get to the lifestyle priests are SUPPOSED to maintain to begin with -- which is violated so frequently because it is not at all normal.

All the above doesn't make a person gay or straight.   Just different, very different.

The cobwebs of the recent past

Did I just live through a day where Bob Woodward wanted a President of the United States to wantonly violate the law? Ugh.

Sounds familiar

Figures he'd be Nixonian about it.

Is he first going to talk to his staff and mention his father's "zitrone-ranch" or how "meine Mutter war ein Heiliger"?

"Problem Solved!"

The conservatives of the Supreme Court sure reflected their rich life experiences in discussing the Voting Rights Act yesterday. Of course Antonin Scalia self-proclaimed "originalist" showed that his original thought ends with whatever he heard on FoxNews last week.

Justice Antonin Scalia suggested that the continuation of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act represented the "perpetuation of racial entitlement," saying that lawmakers had only voted to renew the act in 2006 because there wasn't anything to be gained politically from voting against it.

That, again, comes from a guy who says legislative intent is bunk. Something is certainly bunk.

How can I explain this in a way he'll understand?

Ugh.

 “Is it the government’s submission that citizens in the South are more racist than citizens not in the South?” Roberts asked.

My suggested response would be...

"You bet your Cracker-Ass they are, Mr. Chief Justice."

 The worlds "Slavery"; "Jim Crow"; "Miscegenation Laws" mean anything to you?

America...ugh

And where else but Tennessee, Alabama, Utah, North Dakota, Louisiana, Texas, Florida?

Gregory Dale Lanier, 35, of Frostproof, Fla., told police Saturday that he and his dog were in their truck in nearby Sebring when the dog kicked a gun that was on the truck's floor, the Highlands Tribune newspaper reported. 

The gun went off, shooting Lanier in the leg, Sebring police said.

...

The incident is only the latest in a string of bizarre shootings in Florida. Just last week, a woman in St. Petersburg was wounded when she was shot by a friend's oven.

Of course they did

Fresh off being repeatedly frustrated in expressing their desire to burn down Mosques, the home of Ernest T. Bass, Esq. and the Scopes Trial continues its proud tradition of cartoon intolerance.

A proposed law in Tennessee would allow student organizations at public colleges to forbid people from joining based solely on their religious beliefs.

State Sen. Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet), a member of the Tennessee Religious Freedom Caucus, has introduced a new version of a bill that Gov. Bill Haslam (R) vetoed last year after a controversy erupted over Vanderbilt University's non-discrimination policy.

Lemme Guess...

1. They still maintain their own blog.
2. They write under a pseudonym.
3. They cannot bother to think of four more ways to recognize a narcissist because it doesn't affect them personally.


(via HuffPo)

Easy for you to say

Perhaps he just gets to invoke the royal "we"?

Like most soft-spined Americans, you probably have painful memories of the financial crisis and consequent recession. Perhaps you even think of those things as "bad." Fortunately, Jamie Dimon is not like the rest of you losers. That is because, unlike you, Jamie Dimon is CEO of JPMorgan Friggin' Chase, America's greatest bank, which just so happens to snack on financial crises and recessions like so much KIND bar. "This bank is anti-fragile, we actually benefit from downturns," Dimon bragged to his bank's investors at a conference on Tuesday. And it is true! The bank definitely benefited from the last downturn. It got to buy Bear Stearns in a government-backed fire sale, getting itself a brokerage business on the cheap in exchange for shouldering only a few tiresome legal burdens. It also got billions of dollars in government handouts, from $25 billion in TARP funds to billions in savings from low-interest-rate borrowing programs to a permanent subsidy arising from the idea that the government will bail out the bank if it ever gets in trouble.

There's a simple explanation or this

Phenomena:

Shep Smith, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity all saw huge drops in the demo from the same point in 2012. Hannity fell a staggering 35 percent from 2012, and O'Reilly fell 26 percent. It was the two mens' worst performance in the demo since 2006 and 2008, respectively.

Simple demographics explains it. Audience is dying off. To match the brain death that occurred sometime earlier.

BRAINZZZ

One really has to admire, in a sick and sad way, the straight out lack of scruple at FoxNews sometimes.

They love burning coal -- ("It's good for the environment!").

They love nuclear power -- ("Fukushima will prove it's awesome!").

They love fracking natural gas -- ("fracking is as safe as it is awesome!").

And, of course, "drill baby drill!".

However, when it comes to wind power.

OH MY GOD, THE TURBINES WILL KILL US ALL!

It's enough to hope for a meteor hit. Either me or FoxNews headquarters, at this point I may not care which anymore.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

And the GOP's collective response will be "Are not ... I'LL KILL YOU!""

Keep on fuckin' with your AR-15:

At a time when the Republican Party’s image is at a historic low, 62% of the public says the GOP is out of touch with the American people, 56% think it is not open to change and 52% say the party is too extreme.

So he still gets to be a Virgin?

Shouldn't he at least have to wear a T-Shirt that says, "I'm Not the (Holy) Father"? -- it's what the "Maury"-level audience that makes up the hardliners would be into.

Pope Benedict XVI will be known as "emeritus pope" in his retirement and will continue to wear a white cassock, the Vatican announced Tuesday, again fueling concerns about potential conflicts arising from having both a reigning and a retired pope.

I guess it beats shackles and an Orange jump suit like he might deserve.

I'd say this might have made Dick Cheney's heart skip a beat

But Cheney literally does not have a beating heart.

Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) suggested on Saturday that former Vice President Dick Cheney will have to answer in the afterlife for his role in taking the country to war with Iraq. "Congress will not hold anyone to blame," Jones said during a speech in Raleigh, N.C. "Lyndon Johnson's probably rotting in hell right now because of the Vietnam War, and he probably needs to move over for Dick Cheney."

At least LBJ has some mitigating bits of humanity in there. He was at least "tortured" over Vietnam. He did get Civil Rights laws passed and medicaid. Cheney on the other hand has Iraq and torture. So if there's a Hell, he'll be burning it up.

Somehow, this just feels right

This should happen ... all the time.

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman brought his basketball skills Tuesday and flamboyant style - tattoos, nose studs and all - to a country with possibly the world's strictest dress code: North Korea.

Good look posting up against the world's greatest player inside the paint, Kim Jong-Un.

Good...and who will listen?

Funny how those completely unaffected usually are the biggest assholes -- while those who went through the experience are the most understanding.

Two top officials who were held hostage in Tehran in 1979 called Monday for expanded diplomatic outreach to the Iranian government... "Only sustained, robust, and comprehensive diplomacy based on the premise of mutual compromise can break this cycle, which threatens to enflame the region," Laingen said. "And until we have an established channel for communication between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic on the many interests we share, our countries will continue to teeter on the brink of war."

But what could they possibly know that Sean Hannity doesn't...other than everything?

It's like there's an agenda or something...

I suppose it is only natural that within the effort to gut the Voting Rights Act -- one of the most successful pieces of legislation in history -- there is an agenda to eliminate voting rights entirely -- well for one type of voter.

William Consovoy also last year argued on behalf of Republican officials in Florida and Ohio, who in both cases were seeking to significantly reduce the days allotted for early voting, which blacks take advantage of more than whites. Consovoy, a former clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas, is a partner at Wiley Rein, a Washington, D.C., law firm that bills itself as the best in the country for election law. Bert Rein, one of the firm’s principals, also is listed on court documents as representing the plaintiffs.

And of course, there is a bedfellow:

Consovoy, who did not respond to a request for comment from MSNBC.com, will likely find a friendly audience from at least one Justice: his former boss Thomas, who has written that Section 5 is unconstitutional.

I'm sure Mr. Consovoy is paid quite a bit per hour, so that we know his soul's price for being the person who's legacy is depriving people of their rights. [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

And the world's hipsters gulp in terror!

Well, it is in the glue they sell when there's assembly required:

Ikea has halted sales of its meatballs in Sweden after meatballs set for sale at its stores in the Czech Republic were found to contain horsemeat.

And the hits keep coming...

Another day another scandal.

Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric has resigned amid allegations of inappropriate behavior made by priests.

The Vatican said Monday that Pope Benedict XVI had formally accepted the resignation of Cardinal Keith O’Brien, archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh. The Observer newspaper reported Sunday that the Vatican had been notified of allegations of inappropriate behavior stretching back 30 years.

And of course, you will be shocked that this guy has been a prominent basher of gays for years.

Self-loathe much?

Forever stupid

Continuing his epic comedy the man who picked Sarah Palin to be his VP says...

Republican Senator John McCain on Sunday said his former colleague Chuck Hagel was not qualified to be U.S. defense secretary

Good thing Republicans are going to eliminate "irony" from "Conservopedia".

So I missed the Oscars again

But I imagine the coming freak out over Anne Hathaway's dress and Michelle Obama's mere appearance will keep the right-wing hacks busy for days.

For different reasons.

From your ears to God's lips

Didn't we mock Oral Roberts for this sort of statement a quarter-century ago?

To applause and cheering from the crowd, [the Pope] said he had been "called" by God to devote himself to a quiet life of prayer and reflection.

Funny, years of scandal (most of which occurred under his predecessor John Paul II -- the Ronald Reagan of Popes [i.e. criminally overrated]) and cover up did not seem to be a good enough reason, but the Lord speaks through the process of aging -- doesn't seem very miraculous.

Okay.

Of course, I'm sure this had NOTHING to do with it.

La Repubblica, citing unnamed sources familiar with the investigation, alleged that the investigation revealed a series of scandals involving sex, money and power that touch cardinals, priests and lay people that work in the Vatican. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi declined to comment on La Repubblica's article in a media briefing on Thursday.

History will not be kind to Benedict XVI -- in fact it will probably be even crueler as the failures of John Paul II (of which Ratzinger played a major part) are dumped upon him to preserve the memory of the former. But, like any ancient post that has seen its ups and downs he can take comfort in not even being close to being the worst Pope ever.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

So anything happening this weekend?

I know if the Sequester happens it is partly my fault because I've spent the weekend "Game of Thrones(ing)".

So blame me Khaleesi.

Well at least they're only lying and acting crazy about it

So business as usual for these shitheads.

Gun Activists Warn Obama is Raising a Private Black Army to Massacre White Americans

Are we sure this isn't a preview of the upcoming Arrested Development?

Because if we were to design a twitter page for a right-wing politician -- I'd think this is what we'd figure it would be.

Via Gawker.

Oh this really helps

For those who think the GOP is full of out-and-out racists, here's some more evidence from Iowa Senator, and embarassing twitterer, Chuck Grassley.

Republicans have offered a number of reasons why they oppose the Violence Against Women Act. Some think it’s unconstitutional. Others argue that it’s just a meaningless bill with a patriotic title.

On Wednesday, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) added a new one: Native Americans supposedly aren’t capable of holding fair trials.

Ugh.

I'm ready for another meteor

It either lands on Louie Gohmert or me, I don't really care which anymore:

Appearing on The Voice of Freedom, Gohmert said he “hoped and prayed” that Congress rejects gun safety legislation, arguing that Americans may need to use the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment to avoid succumbing to Muslims

Theodore Bilbo would be proud.

About everyone else on Earth, ashamed.

And meanwhile we've got one week before we emulate them

Ugh.  Who could not have anticipated except everyone that doesn't live in beltway?

The eurozone will not return to growth until 2014, the European commission said on Friday, reversing its prediction for an end to recession this year and blaming a lack of bank lending and record joblessness for delaying the recovery.

The 17-nation bloc's economy, which generates nearly a fifth of global output, will shrink 0.3% in 2013, the commission said, meaning the eurozone will remain in its second recession since 2009 for a year longer than originally foreseen.

Oh, but by all means let's do it here!

Lucky us

Snowmaggeddon, the Whitening, only left about four or five inches of "not news" on Des Moines it appears, so it looks like we were lucky.

Still enough to justify working from home though.

So I'll take it.

Good news for John McCain

Ugh.

David Gregory has re-upped as host of "Meet the Press."

NBC News shared no details, but described the new deal as "a long-term commitment."

How much is his pay compared to McCain?

This could only be a job for Judicial Activism

McClatchy interviewed now retired Federal Judge Vaughan Walker as the United States Supreme Court gets ready to visit Perry v. Schwarzenegger and his ruling that California's ban on same sex marriage was unconstitutional.

This has been noted before if the Supreme's actually follow the record, they will have a tough time overturning Walker's finding:

...to Walker's surprise, after lawyers for same-sex couples put on a parade of witnesses, gay marriage foes put on scant evidence, offering just two witnesses, including one who later came out in favor of same-sex marriage rights. "I did think the proponents of Proposition 8 would put on a case," Walker said.

"It never occurred to me that they would ... ," and his trademark baritone trails off. Walker asks for the correct baseball term for taking a swing and a miss at a pitch and then just shrugs.

 Years of legal precedent dictate that "the record" is the primary factor in determining whether a decision below is affirmed or reversed.

To reverse on this record would really require a Justice to go out of their way to actively flout how court's are supposed to work, a real bit of judicial activism.

And we've got just the justices to go out of their way.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/02/21/183782/judge-who-struck-down-californias.html#storylink=cpy

We suck

Human beings...especially the male variety...often suck.

More than one in three men surveyed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's war-torn east admits committing sexual assault, and three in four believe that a woman who "does not dress decently is asking to be raped", researchers have found.

Some 61.4% of men interviewed said women sometimes deserve to be beaten; 42.7% think that "if a woman doesn't show physical resistance when forced to have sex, it's not rape"; and 27.9% believe that sometimes women want to be raped.

Well over 40% of the men polled asserted that a man should reject his wife when she has been raped.

Now that's working ALL 140 characters

You may not have to respect the message, but you have to respect the multitasking.

 

We are not the only fucked up place on Earth

By any means.

 The Investigating Officer In the Oscar Pistorius Case Faces 7 Counts of Attempted Murder

USA!  USA!  USA!

Bribe 'em high

Oh Silvio Berlosconi, how are you not already in jail...let alone so close to a comeback?

Italian voters on Wednesday began receiving the first letters in a gigantic mail shot ordered by Silvio Berlusconi, promising to pay them back billions of euros in tax.

The former prime minister's initiative, which drew accusations of foul play and even criminal wrongdoing from adversaries, appeared to be a final attempt to win over undecided voters before Italy's general election on Sunday and Monday. The last opinion polls to be published before a ban took effect on 9 February showed the media tycoon-turned-conservative leader trailing the centre-left by between five and six percentage points.

Representation without y'know representation

Democratic government works swell, as long as it excludes those filthy commoners.

The new study was performed by Thomas Hungerford of the non-partisan Congressional Research Service. Though the study is not a CRS product, Hungerford’s data is widely cited on both sides; he’s an impeccably objective analyst.

Here’s what Hungerford found: The single greatest driver of income inequality over a recent 15 year period was runaway income from capital gains and dividends.

This, of course, is exactly what the Democrats are arguing in supporting closing loopholes and benefits the richest American's get in their taxes.

It is the opposite of what Boehner and the GOP wants.  After all, for the only people that apparently matter, it's been one hell of a recovery.

When you look at the economic recovery's first two years, the top one percent (which by 2011 meant any household making more than about $367,000) captured 121 percent of all pre-tax income gains.

So by all means use the "dream policy" of austerity to keep those rich people in velvet and the rest of us in burlap.

It's what modern American democracy is all about.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Hilarious

And answered two of my questions.

1.  Why the audio of some of these inside the dash cameras revealed no one screaming "Oh my God!"; "Oh Shit!"; "Holy Fuckballs!" or as it would be in my case, "I have wasted my life!";

2.  Why are there so many dashboard cameras in cars?

Oh and it is fucking crazy funny!

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Lie down with dogs...

How are your late-life choices treating you John McCain?  
AP-Matt York

I'd like to know

In how many interviews has Trump called for tort-reform and decried "frivolous litigation"?

Trump's attorney, Alan Garten, has sent a letter to Angelo Carusone, who launched an online petition urging Macy's to drop Trump, saying that Trump will sue Carusone for damages "not less than $25,000,000" if he continues his campaign.

Mr. Garten must have done well in his ethics classes.

Race to the Bottom

I thought Kansas wanted to the the Florida of the Midwest (as opposed to Florida which just hopes to avoid become the Tennessee of America) but Missouri is so competitive.

Missouri state representative Mike Leara wants to make sure that Missouri is yet another gun-infested state where everyone can live in fear that the next crazy person they see at the movie theater, or the local nursery school, is about to let go with a  spray of automatic weapons fire.

You see, Rep. Leara, a Republican, has offered legislation that “specifies that any member of the general assembly who proposes legislation that further restricts an individual’s right to bear arms will be guilty of a class D felony.”

The gun-nuts literally dream of a world where the other Bill of Rights and half the 2nd Amendment are scratched out and all that is left is the dangling last half.

They are really getting back on the tracks

You would think after several months of embarrassing themselves by saying one demeaning thing about women after another GOP officials would learn.

But learning is not their strong suit.

Rep. John "Jimmy" Duncan Jr. (R-Tenn.) said he doesn't know if he will vote for a renewal of the Violence Against Women Act...

"Like most men, I'm more opposed to violence against women than even violence against men," Duncan said. "Because most men can handle it a little better than a lot of women can."

Yep, he said that.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

This twitter account has been "SANCHIZED!"

I never thought I'd write this, but Scott Brown apparently needs to learn how to tweet from Chuck Grassley.

In an interview with a Boston-based Fox affiliate that aired Monday, former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) finally offered an explanation for the mysterious, early-morning messages that surfaced on his Twitter account late last month, saying they were the result of a "pocket tweet" and denying emphatically that he was intoxicated at the time.

Brown's tweets addressed a man named Matt and included one that was clearly a butchered attempt at the word "whatever." "Bqhatevwr," Brown wrote, in what almost immediately rose to meme status.

But the former senator said that anyone with the latest version of the iPhone should empathize.

"Anyone ever hear of pocket tweet, pocket dial? I mean it was pretty simple. I have an iPhone 5. If anyone has iPhone 5, the keys are small," Brown said. "It's very, very sensitive."

The Perils of Hubris in Advertising

The dating site Christian Mingle has a rather interesting and straight-forward claim as to how their dating site works.




"God's Match for You" -- ugh.  Think about the implications of that as a slogan even under the best of circumstances?

 Which makes this both horrific and awkward.

Sean Patrick Banks, 37, of Del Mar, Calif., was charged last week with two counts of sexual assault and one count of residential burglary. He has pleaded not guilty and posted $500,000 bail, KSWB-TV, San Diego, said Monday. Now police are trying to determine if Banks had targeted other women using the dating website ChristianMingle.com. The alleged sexual assault happened last November in the woman's La Mesa, Calif., home. The victim only knew Banks though his online avatar, "Rarity." It took detectives months to track down Banks and identify him as the suspect. "This individual traveled around a lot," said La Mesa police Lt. Matt Nicholass. "And we are concerned that there are people obviously outside of La Mesa or potentially outside of San Diego County that could be a victim."

Short sighted to say the least

I think Booman is on to something regarding the retirement of Mike Johanns from the Senate as being somewhat motivated by the treatment of his friend and fellow Republican Chuck Hegel simply to have a fit about the Black guy.

Ye Olde Freak Show

The humorous thing about CPAC is that there is no new blood.  It's just the same crazies year after year, becoming ever less relevant and saying more desperately sad shit to stay in the news.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) will speak at next month’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

“We are pleased to again welcome Governor Sarah Palin to CPAC in March,” American Conservative Union (ACU) Chairman Al Cardenas said in a statement. “Governor Palin electrified the crowd in 2012 and we are thrilled to welcome her back this year.”

And she's just the opening act for the headliner, Ann Coulter eating a sandwich before purging.

Well, he doesn't have a glass jaw that's for sure

Human and Chelonii hybrid Mitch McConnell has narrowly survived many a bruising election campaign. But despite all of his anti-legislative skills his political career is in trouble.

A recent survey from Democratic firm Public Policy Polling revealed him to be the least popular senator in the nation

Ashley Judd is mentioned as a possible candidate for the Democrats in 2014, but one would think their will be a long-line of potential candidates for a seat that is so clearly competitive.
Oh, and of course, if there's one group even less popular than McConnell it is this.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) could see a primary challenge from local businessman Matt Bevin, who sources say is reaching out to Tea Party groups in the state to gauge support for a 2014 Senate run.

Bevin is quite loaded too as he became rich the old fashioned way -- he inherited it.   If he can just avoid discussing wacky theories on the power of lady parts until after the primary, he may be quite a threat to McConnell.

So don't look for Ol' Mitch to be less of a right-wing jackass in the near future. He may soon out whine Lindsey Graham.

[Cross-posted at Firedoglake]

The "cutting edge" of social progress

It is 2013, and Missippi Mississippi finally got around to banning slavery.


And amazingly no one voted "nay" on the proposal.

I've literally never seen a show jump one Shark only to land into another Shark's Mouth Before

Downton Abbey, w-t-f!

Well, I'm sure FoxNews can build a show around him

As he's now available for employment -- Joe Rickey Hundley -- is probably already a loyal viewer, and now he has time to watch even more FoxNews  -- perhaps soon in jail:

[The boy's mother Jessica] Bennett, 33, told authorities her son was crying as the Delta Air Lines flight prepared for landing. Hundley, 60, was sitting next to her and slapped the boy in his face, causing a scratch under his right eye, she said.

Hundley "told her to shut that (N-word) baby up," FBI special agent Daron Cheney said in a sworn statement. "Ms. Bennett received assistance from several people on the plane."

What a guy, huh?

Kansas, Florida of the Midwest

Full of geniuses:

Authorities say two brothers accidentally blew up their house after celebrating a $75,000 winning lottery ticket by purchasing marijuana and meth.

Wichita police Sgt. Bruce Watts says one of the brothers was taken to a hospital and the other to jail after Friday’s explosion. The Wichita Eagle reports that the injured 27-year-old brother is in serious but stable condition with second-degree burns on his hands, arms and chest.

Watts says the explosion happened after one of the brothers went to the kitchen to refuel the butane torches they planned to use to light their bongs. The brother emptied a couple large cans of butane lighter fluid, leaking butane into the air.

No report yet on which of these two is the next Governor.

Fuzzy math

Yesterday the Canadian Ambassador to the United States, who you may be surprised to learn is not Don Cherry but Gary Doer, spoke about how terrible this continued non-approval of the Keystone XL pipeline is.

“Twenty people protesting do get more attention in the media than the 65 percent of Americans that prefer to get their oil from Canada rather than Venezuela or the Middle East,” Doer said in an interview broadcast Sunday on Platts Energy Week TV.

"Platts Energy Week TV" does sound like a quality television program to follow Girls on HBO but nonetheless about that claim of  the Keystone XL pipeline or no Canadian Oil in favor of other nations.   I'm pretty confident we're getting a lot of that Canadian Crude here already...and so is reality.

Canada reigns as the United States' leading oil supplier, exporting some 707,316,000 barrels of oil per year (1,938,000 barrels per day) — a whopping 99 percent of its annual oil exports, according to the EIA.

And about those "Twenty people protesting":

Over 35,000 people descended on the National Mall in Washington on Sunday, huddled together against a stinging cold wind to deliver a message of opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline.

Mr. Doer is really good at math.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Golly, I wonder why he's suddenly being pushed to the front then?

I mean the GOP has shown us over the years it is nothing if not completely cynical.  But this time I'm sure they aren't -- and also my tinfoil hat just came in.

Until recently, Rubio has not shown much interest in immigration reform. But in the last few months he has cast himself as a leader on the issue, seen as a crucial one for Republicans after their poor showing with Latinos in the 2012 elections.

Fair and balancing us into the abyss

Chuck Todd, ugh.

Elizabeth Warren's first chance to ask questions as a member of the Senate Banking Committee and to take some of these SEC chairs to task for not prosecuting anyone on Wall Street for their behavior, apparently hurt some of the bankers' feelings. MSNBC's Chuck Todd used the occasion to play the Villagers' favorite false equivalency game and compare wingnut McCarthyite Sen. Ted Cruz to Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Funny, how he sounds an awful lot like that anonymous Wall Street executive who was complaining about her.

And as Susie also pointed out, Warren telling the truth is not the same as Cruz' sorry display. What's really pathetic about Todd and and his cheap shot at Warren here is that even his colleague Chris Matthews went after Cruz and his attacks on Hagel for being the "new McCarthyism" in one of his segments on Hardball this Friday.

Priorities!

Good to know the GOP has learned the lessons of the election -- which apparently is "get the most crazy and awful policies passed we can, while we can".

At the Wisconsin Right to Life Legislative Conference this week, the state’s top Republican lawmakers assured attendees that they will do everything in their power to enact a forced ultrasound bill, which would mandate an invasive transvaginal probe for some women seeking first-trimester abortions. “This bill is a priority,” Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) said. “It is long overdue.”

Well, something is certainly long over due, perhaps a conscience.

Freeance!

Awesome...why not just turn all everyone's webcams on 24/7 too?

A future in which unmanned drones are as common in U.S. skies as helicopters and airliners has moved a step closer to reality with a government request for proposals to create six drone test sites around the country.

The Federal Aviation Administration made the request Thursday, kicking off what is anticipated to be an intense competition among states hoping to win one of the sites.

The FAA also posted online a draft plan for protecting people's privacy from the eyes in the sky. The plan would require each test site to follow federal and state laws and make a privacy policy publicly available.

Yeah, I'm sure that last part will be foolproof.

More good PR

CNN's coverage, in particular, of the Carnival Cruise from Hell, has been particularly over-the-top. But I have to admit, it has been an experience that is going to have a lot of stories come out of it.

As a final indignity perpetrated on the passengers of the disabled Triumph cruise ship after it reached port last night, a bus ferrying tired and disheveled tourists back to their homes broke down halfway to New Orleans this morning. 

Could watch all day

Seeing Elizabeth Warren asking revealing questions of bank regulators.

The new sharks

It was just a matter of time before something like this happened.

A meteor streaked across the sky above Russia's Ural Mountains on Friday morning, causing sharp explosions and injuring more than 400 people, many of them hurt by broken glass. At least three people were reported hospitalized in serious condition.

"There was panic. People had no idea what was happening. Everyone was going around to people's houses to check if they were OK," said Sergey Hametov, a resident of Chelyabinsk, about 1500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Moscow, the biggest city in the affected region.

Let's just end this whole thing.

Another quarter, another sign that the long-lasting fugue-state "Hey, let's try austerity again, it'll be awesome this time"  in Europe is really reaping benefits.

A deepening recession in the 17-nation eurozone sent shares lower on Thursday amid evidence that the problems of the single currency's crisis-hit periphery were spreading northwards to affect monetary union's core economies of Germany and France.

Despite an easing of financial tensions in the second half of the year, gross domestic product in the members of the monetary union dropped by 0.6% in the final three months of 2012, a heftier decline than the markets had been expecting.

... The US grew by 2.2% in 2012 and Japan by 1.9%, while GDP in the eurozone contracted by 0.5%.

 Meanwhile in this country we stand on the precipice of "super austerity".

 “I’ll tell you the same thing I told my Republican colleagues at our retreat,” Boehner said. “The sequester will be in effect until there are cuts and reforms that put us on a path to balance the budget in the next 10 years.”

That, of course, is pretty much the Ryan Plan for a Randian Starvetopia.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

I'm pretty confident

Wayne LaPierre would not pass a mental health review for a gun license...so no wonder he's fighting so hard.

Also, black helicopters.

Well, this is awful

So much for that feel good story.

Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius was taken into custody and was expected to appear in court Thursday after his girlfriend was shot dead at his home in South Africa's capital, Pretoria.

Police Lt. Col. Katlego Mogale told The Associated Press officers received a call in the early hours of the morning that there had been a shooting at the double-amputee runner's home in a gated housing complex.

Mogale said when police arrived they found paramedics trying to revive the woman, who had been shot an unspecified number of times. Mogale, who was speaking to the AP from the scene, said the woman died at the house.

There are some reports that this may have been an accident (that Pistorius mistook his girlfriend for an intruder -- making it the kind of murder Wayne LaPierre can only wish happened in this country -- yes, tasteless, just like everything following or preceding the words that come from Wayne LaPierre).

Awwwwwww

So comically sad.

Less than 24 hours after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) delivered a Tea Party response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, TheTeaParty.net, a well-known conservative group, reached out to supporters to say that it is "deeply embarrassed" to have failed to raise enough money in the last several weeks to fund a nationwide series of pro-gun rallies scheduled for Feb. 23.

Couldn't afford Ted Nugent's contract demands, huh?

Shocking, I know

President Obama's call to raise the minimum wage and tie it to inflation went on the road yesterday:

Obama pushed for the rise again Wednesday while touring a manufacturing plant in Asheville, North Carolina. "If you work full-time, you shouldn't be in poverty," Obama said.

And rich guys you are on:

Business Roundtable president John Engler said: "We should be focused on our country's 'no wage' problem. We need an economic growth agenda to get our economy going and put Americans back to work."

The article "forgot" to mention that John Engler was also the Republican governor of Michigan from 1991 to 2003. He sure left that state in good shape, huh? Oh and he left to to resume his career as a highly-paid member of several Boards, including Munder Capital Management.

 And...of course, Mr. Tangerine Man had to add an old trickle down bromide.

"When you raise the price of employment, guess what happens? You get less of it," Boehner said.

The problem with trickle down bromides is they almost always leave a nasty stain on your shoes. Lies can do that.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

We officially have our bizzare old-time sports story

Of the day:

"So I guess Ohio State had lost the bowl game, so Earl Bruce brings in Woody Hayes. I had been there just a week and I'm thinking, 'Holy, this is Coach Hayes.' I'm sitting in the back. Coach Hayes was not healthy at the time, but stands up and starts laying into the coaching staff about toughness. That we have no toughness in the program. That's why we lost the game. On and on and screaming, this old guy pounding the table. He says, 'We have no toughness, and the reason is because you're not tough. No one on this staff is tough enough, and that's a problem.' "He reaches down and grabs this box, slides the top and there was something in the box moving around. He reaches in and he pulls out this turtle. He reaches down, this turtle's snapping and he says, 'I'm going to show you toughness.' He unzips his pants and takes out whatever he takes out. The turtle reaches up and snaps at him. You see the veins and the sweat (on Hayes). He screams at the coaches, 'That's toughness! That's f'n toughness!' He reaches down, pokes the turtle right in the eye and it falls off. He wipes the sweat off his forehead and says, 'That's the problem. We don't have anybody in this room tough enough to do that right there. "(One assistant) raises his hand and says, 'Coach, I'd do this. Just promise not to poke me in the eye.'"

So, how about it Lindsey Graham?

A little something for Poland Springs Rubio

A Tradition like no Other

Hilarious GOP responses to Obama. Glug, glug, glug.

Better punish the poors while we can

Right, Beltway Knob-Throb Chris Cilizza?

Because stuff like this might make a poor person think they'd like to be able to have a right to a modicum of benefits and respect.

In figures released last week, the Congressional Budget Office said it had erased hundreds of billions of dollars in projected spending on Medicare and Medicaid. The budget office now projects that spending on those two programs in 2020 will be about $200 billion, or 15 percent, less than it projected three years ago. New data also show overall health care spending growth continuing at the lowest rate in decades for a fourth consecutive year.

But never mind the good news, the poor and needy must be punished for being poor and needy.

[cross-posted at  Firedoglake]

"Hey, thanks for being an asshole God"

L'il Ricky Santorum -- candidate to be Pope Frothy I:

I believe and I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created -- in the sense of rape -- but nevertheless a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you.

"Sorry 'bout letting you get raped, but I'm not a romance kind of Deity, plus my mysterious ways and all"
-Sincerely God.

"Pay ATTENTION TO ME!!!!!!"

North Korea explodes a nuclear bomb because it is lonely all for the cost of feeding several thousand starving citizens.

Father of the Every Year

As I was saying the other day, when he starts his PAC to fight the slightly less crazy Republicans the court will know what to levy.

Former Rep. and Tea Party darling Joe Walsh has filed a request in Cook County Circuit Court to cease paying child support payments because he is no longer employed, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on Monday

America's Concern Troll

Short version: "All those wars I advocated a decade ago in the region did not go so well -- but they are winding down now, so how about another?! I demand it! Not that I'll participate mind you, there are ladies to chat up."

That about sums it up

Republicans remain determined to prove that government doesn't work by trying to make sure nothing works...so they can blame Obama in 2014 and stay in control of the government they make sure does not work. Awesome. Booman sums up the idiocy in regard to Hegel:

Filibustering a major cabinet position like State or Defense would be unprecedented. The reasoning is just plain nuts. There are currently 12 Jewish Senators (all Democrats) who are all going to vote for Hagel's confirmation, yet we're supposed to believe that some Presbyterian yahoo from Oklahoma [James Inhofe] knows better than they do who is and is not a friend of Israel? A man whose main accomplishment in life has been to drive the Quaker Life Insurance Company into bankruptcy and liquidation? A man so deep in the pockets of Big Oil that he's been calling climate change a hoax since 2003? A man who is such a reckless pilot that one man complained to the FAA, “I’ve got over 50 years flying, three tours of Vietnam, and I can assure you I have never seen such a reckless disregard for human life in my life. Something needs to be done. This guy is famous for these violations.”

What no drone invited in the spirit of bipartisanship?

Well, compare and contrast amongst the invitees to Tonight's State of the Union.

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX), who threatened President Obama with impeachment over his plan to reduce gun violence, has offered a ticket to the State of the Union to Ted Nugent — whose criticism of the president once resulted in a sitdown with the Secret Service.

“I am excited to have a patriot like Ted Nugent joining me in the House Chamber to hear from President Obama,” Stockman said in a statement Monday. “After the Address I’m sure Ted will have plenty to say.”

Yeah, I'm sure this pair of invitees would be happy not to hear it:

A White House official says the parents of a Chicago teenager slain just days after performing during President Barack Obama's inauguration will attend his State of the Union speech. Hadiya Pendleton, 15, was shot to death Jan. 29 in a park close to the Obama's Chicago home. Police say a gunman hopped a fence and opened fire on a group of young people.

And which one will our Villagers point their cameras at?

You know the answer already.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Boy this whole open Pope Position

Means Districts and Regionals are bigger than ever this year!

I sure hope Nicky Minaj and Mariah Carey can find out who the winner of Ol' Timey Latin Idol is gonna be this year.  It is said that Cardinal Rainer Woelki has the voice of a German Angel.

We'll have to see the 40-times in the forthcoming Combine in Indianapolis and then maybe Mel Kiper will have some insight.

Keep your eye on Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan who is believed to have the voice of a seasoned Clay Aiken and still runs a 4.6 like an old Percy Harvin.

The aforementioned Cardinal Woelki on the other hand is known for his hard defense and transition to offense like a theologically astute Franz Beckenbauer.

I'm gonna blame Twitter

Or a Kardasian sex tape!


Benedict to resign, first pontiff since Middle Ages to quit Now he and Sarah Palin have something in common.

The Huffington Post's Journalism

Has hit DefCom Double-D -- Alert the Pulitizer Committee!

The odds

So? At what time do the uberdouches of Fox & Friends postulate "What Global Warming?" for the first time today?

-- Once again showing the most base misinterpretation of what climate change actually means?

Which one will utter it first? I'd bet on Doocy.

He's even has an INXS CD still inside his old sony discman in his basement!

Jeebus,

Sunday on ABC’s This Week,  GOP operative Nicole Wallace argued that Rubio was good for the party as a whole because, “he knows who Tupac is.” That knowledge, she said, proved that he could connect to young voters, a demographic the GOP has typically sruggled to court.

The bilking Dead

Well you cannot say the Los Angeles Diocese of the Catholic Church hasn't gone out of its way to compound error.

Pressed to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars to settle clergy sex abuse lawsuits, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony turned to one group of Catholics whose faith could not be shaken: the dead.

Under his leadership in 2007, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles quietly appropriated $115 million from a cemetery maintenance fund and used it to help pay a landmark settlement with molestation victims.

The church did not inform relatives of the deceased that it had taken the money, which amounted to 88 percent of the fund. Families of those buried in church-owned cemeteries and interred in its mausoleums have contributed to a dedicated account for the perpetual care of graves, crypts and grounds since the 1890s.

It's not like they could talk back, I guess.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Wow, it's like a Newt Gingrich 2016 Rally!

She should be able to see oblivion from her porch by now

So long.

Sen. Mark Begich, a Democrat in Republican-leaning Alaska, is sure to be targeted by Republicans in 2014, his seat a “must” pickup if the GOP hopes to retake control of Congress’ upper chamber. But Begich is showing surprising strength and popularity, according to a new survey of the 49th State by Public Policy Polling. He has a 49 percent job approval rating, with only 39 percent disapproving of the job he’s doing. And Begich leads a bevy of likely Republican challengers. He has a big, big lead — 54-38 percent — over former Gov. and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Palin was recently jettisoned from her pundit’s position by the Fox News Channel. She quit as governor in mid-term to make money. Palin does have financial resources, but her days of 80 percent popularity ratings are long gone. “Palin’s numbers are a reflection of her continuing to be very unpopular on the home front — 34 percent of voters see her positively to 59 percent with a negative opinion,” the pollster reported.

Here's a frightening thought, squared

Consider the possibility that the LAPD someday in the future got the ability to control and fire drones?

In a press conference Thursday morning, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck confirmed that police shot innocent bystanders during the hunt for Dorner. He detailed the two victims' gunshot wounds: "One has a minor gunshot wound and is in the process of being released. The second person is in stable condition, with two gunshot wounds," said Chief Beck. "Tragically, we believe this was a case of mistaken identity by the officers." Sources tell the Los Angeles Times that the people shot by police were two women delivering newspapers. One was shot in the hand and the other in the back.

Of course, the two individuals killed shot and wounded were not the very large African-American gentleman searched for in a dark 2005 Nissan pickup, but two older latino women in a different make and color of pickup that the police shot up, immediately, to the point it looked like Bonnie & Clyde's Death Car. Good job.

"Oh, yeah, various anonymous and unverified 3rd world taxi-drivers disagree!"

Krugthulu speaks the truth about Tom Friedman:

Krugman said that Friedman was often very wrong about the economic issues currently facing the country. "I often disagree with Tom," Krugman said. "I often disagree with a school of thought of which he is a member. Times etiquette is, I talk about the school of thought, not the guy. Tom's a good guy, but I think that, on these issues, he's just much too close to the Beltway conventional wisdom.

There are times when conventional wisdom is right, but right now, it's really, really wrong."

Krugman also spoke about columnist David Brooks. "David's a conservative. He and I really disagree on what kind of society we ought to have," he said. "I don't think Tom and I really do disagree, but Tom has a different view of how we get there. I'm much more confrontational ... on the straight economics, I've been taking positions that seem outlandish to a lot of Beltway types, except I've been right!"

The horrorer, the horrorer

I'm not an advocate of hacking personal emails and such -- but I have to say I'm rather bemused (because it beats saying "creeped out") by the notion that George W. Bush paints; that he sends recent paintings to his sister; AND that said paintings are of him in shower and bath tub.

Cross-eyed look at reality

Virginia Foxx, who's sentience at this moment bears a lot of similarity to Red Foxx, has the latest right-wing talking points down pat.  

In criticizing the private college presidents, Representative Virginia Foxx, the North Carolina Republican who leads the subcommittee on higher education [ED -- WHAT?!], adapted the famous statement from the German theologian Martin Niemöller on Germans who ignored Nazi persecution. ("First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.") 

" 'They came for the for-profits, and I didn't speak up...' " Foxx said. "Nobody really spoke up like they should have."

Yes, regulating for profit colleges equals Holocaust case (and mind) closed.

A royal ass-kicking of Not News Coming

Time to remind you once again, that Chuck Todd is a jackass.

Good luck Northeast.

New England braced on Thursday for a possibly record-setting winter storm, with forecasts of up to 2 feet (60 cm) of snow already causing airlines to cancel thousands of flights and utilities to prepare for power outages.

Time for Steve Doocy to ask what global warming?  By not understanding the effects of Climate Change again.

But then what in life does he understand other than depositing a paycheck?

The Polite Society

"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life" - Robert Heinlein

And this throwaway line in a seventy year-old science fiction novel has formed the intellectual basis for gun advocates ever since. It's totally worked out that way, huh? In the wake of the manhunt for a former LAPD officer who went on a rampage yesterday, we see how the "armed society" has worked its magic.

Los Angeles police reportedly shot and injured two women delivering newspapers by accident while on a search in Torrance, Calif. for a former fellow officer who is suspected in several shootings. A second shooting was also reported involving Torrance police officers, but there were no known injuries.

There is no doubt that in these situation where police are looking for an armed assailant that nerves are on edge, the victims apparently drove a blue pickup truck that does not seem all that similar to a dark colored 2005 Nissan Titan pickup truck the former LAPD officer is thought to be driving. Similar pickup trucks should narrow the potential suspects in Los Angeles down to several tens of thousands.

But even if the LaPierre mantra of "only a good guy with a gun" can stop a bad one has any validity it is quite obvious that they are also quite good at stopping other non-involved people completely with the same deadly force.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

It goes without saying

That more Republican legislators seem to introduce the most patently stupid or hateful bills than Democrats (not that the latter are immune), and so without further adieu here is the latest incident of stupid is as stupid proposes:

State Sen. John Goedde has introduced legislation that would require Idaho high schoolers to read and pass a test on Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” before graduating, The Spokesman-Review reported.

“That book made my son a Republican,” Goedde said, when asked why Rand was his pick.

Well, your son, I assume is made of the same genetic gooberesque material you've got so it is not surprising he's as dumb as you.

Bill Donohue will be unavailable for comment

Though he'd never be asked.

The Irish Prime Minister gave a partial apology today for the government’s role in a 74-year scandal in which, a new official government report says, over 10,000 women were forced to work without pay at commercial laundries called Magdalene Laundries, operated by the Catholic Church for “crimes” as small as not paying a train ticket. ...

The last Magdalene laundry closed in 1996.

Women were locked in, couldn’t leave Magdalene Laundries for months, sometimes years The women were locked in and not permitted to leave. And if they tried to get away, the cops would catch them and bring them back. They were quite literally Catholic slave labor working for the government and even Guinness, which would pay the laundries for the women’s slave labor.

Half of the girls enslaved in these Catholic Church prisons were under the age of 23. The youngest entrant was 9 years old.

The ultimate HuffPo Left-hand column article

If that Asteroid hits, at least they went out big.