Crazy is as crazy does

Let's see the election happened on November 6th, Obama is constitutionally barred from running again, and Romney won Mississippi so naturally...

This week, Taitz filed new papers with a federal court in Mississippi in an effort to get Obama removed from the ballot in that state.

I guess it beats these folks spending money on cross-burning.

Naturally

McCain and Graham have clearly stepped into the bullshit this time -- I'm sure they'll be punished and shamed appropriately.

No?

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) noted that Petraeus "was adamant there was no politicization of the process, no White House interference or political agenda. He completely debunked that idea."

The names of terrorists believed to be involved were removed for reasons of national security, and all of the relevant intelligence agencies signed off on the edited text. As Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) explained to the AP, "[I]n an unclassified document you want to be careful who you identify as being involved."

Susan Rice then relied on the intelligence community's findings to update the public five days after the attack, and everything she said reflected the best information available at the time.

And before Fox News suggests Petraeus is still lying in order to protect the Obama administration, let's not forget that Petraeus is no longer part of the Obama administration. He's a private citizen, free to speak his mind -- and in this case, everything Petraeus is saying is consistent with everything the White House has said. Petraeus' remarks have left the right's conspiracy theories in tatters.

No.

This Sunday:

Meet the Press -- Lindsay Graham

Face the Nation - John McCain

I'm sure they'll be "really" challenged.

So how about something you can sneak on your parent's computer over the holidays

That tells them the right-wing bullshit mass email they are about to forward to you is, in fact, bullshit before you write them back and tell them -- and add "stop watching FoxNews you look like an idiot" causing hard feelings all around.

This is the App to handle the matter.

Of course, the first time this happens there are two possible scenarios.

1.  They freak out and think the black helicopters are after them.

2.  They call you to badly describe the problem for you and expect you to use your barely passable IT skills to fix the problem and tell them there is an "any" "anykey".

So I guess you can just block them.

And THAT'S how you do it

The GOP has obviously decided that the Benghazi matter has a blue dress somewhere and yesterday in a House hearing Dana "I sure loved me the Taliban" Rohrabacher proclaimed the matter worse than 'Watergate' -- which must have made the loss of the marine's in Lebanon under Reagan worse than all the Wars EVER! in comparison.

But New York Rep. Gary Ackerman had enough:

Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) unloaded, first sarcastically: "Let's just hang the guilty parties."

"The stench of hypocrisy that hangs over this city today emanates from this room," Ackerman said. "I've listened to my colleagues talk about the President of the United States and others in the administration using [the] terms 'deliberate', 'lies', 'unmitigated gall', 'malfeasance,' which is malicious and knowing evil-doing, 'disgust', 'coverups'."

He continued, "If you want to know who is responsible in this town, buy yourself a mirror!"
Ackerman went on to say that Republicans had "the audacity to come here" when the administration requested, for worldwide security, "$440 million more than you guys wanted to provide. And the answer is that you damn didn't provide it!  You REDUCED what the administration asked for to protect these people. Ask not who the guilty party is, it's you! It is us. It is this committee, and the things that we insist that we need have to cost money."

He added, "Could you tell me which of my colleagues on this committee was as bodacious in their insistence that we provide more money for American security in the State Department budget. I would appreciate it."

Ackerman then asked them to raise their hands and gave them a count of five to do so. None did.

Safe District

If you are wondering about how effective the 2010 census was in redistricting for the benefit of the Republican Party look no further than this guy:

Records released Thursday from Rep. Scott DesJarlais's (R-Tenn.) 2001 divorce appear to confirm previous reports that DesJarlais had sexual relationships with patients while a practicing physician in Tennessee. The Chattanooga Times Free Press obtained the documents, which reveal that DesJarlais, who opposes abortion rights, supported his ex-wife in obtaining two abortions before their marriage.

In a profession famous for hypocrites the self-proclaimed "family values" conservative Scott DesJarlais stands at the very top by having a morality dealt from the bottom of the deck.

All of this information was pretty well covered in the press before the 2012 election as DesJarlais ran for his second term. But DesJarlais had the greatest of weapons in his arsenal an (R) behind his name. The result confirmed it as the voters of Tennessee's 4th District returned him to Congress with 56% of the vote, only 1% less than he had received two years before.

 The nation's demographics may favor the modern Democrats, but the GOP has managed to gerrymander a stable majority out of a minority in voting by creating districts represented by people like Scott DesJarlais.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Of course he did

"Mr. Straight Talk" alright a report from CNN:

I have to tell you something that just happened on Capitol Hill, and that is our senate producer Ted Barrett just ran into John McCain and asked about something that we’re hearing from Democrats, which is John McCain is calling for more information to Congress, but he had a press conference yesterday instead of going to a closed briefing where administration officials were giving more information. Well, Ted Barrett asked John McCain about that, and it was apparently an intense very angry exchange and McCain simply would not comment on it at all.

Not a denial mind you...just a freak out that someone in the press wasn't on their knees with their hands out and mouth open.

Their "outreach" to minority voters

Is sure to win a whole bunch of new converts:

Maine's outgoing Republican Party chairman plans to investigate claims that "dozens of black people" unfamiliar to local officials voted in rural Maine towns, the Bangor Daily News reports. 

“In some parts of the state, there were dozens of black people who came in to vote,” Charlie Webster said in an interview. “Nobody in town knew them.”

Mr. Webster forgot to also add, "and they all looked-alike".

Yes, can no one end this scourge of invisible black people that suddenly appear in rural Maine every four years for the literal crime of "voting while black"?

Although I do wonder how Paul Ryans "urban voters is why we lost" theory matches up with the theory that the same "urban" voters invaded the back woods of Maine?

Oh, I'm sorry, logic doesn't apply to Republican voting theory.

For all the secessionists

Here's an old chestnut for you.

Still works.

And here's one that also still works.

Awesome

From here.

Way to handle it jackass

At least John McCain waited a couple months before becoming a bitter asshole...well, bitter-er.

A week after losing the election to President Obama, Mitt Romney blamed his overwhelming electoral loss on what he said were big “gifts” that the president had bestowed on loyal Democratic constituencies, including young voters, African-Americans and Hispanics.

As opposed to doing the "honorable" thing and just give "gifts" to rich white guys.

The New Copperhead

Sean Hannity:

Hannity Responds To Caller: "I'm Not For Secession, But I Understand Why People Might Be"

Nah, it is not fair to compare Hannity to a Copperhead...they have value.

Well, of all the people to lie to us once again...

Who would have ever picked (other than many other times) the Oil Companies?

West Coast gasoline price spikes in May and October were widely blamed on refinery outages, but new research to be released at a California hearing Thursday shows that refiners continued to produce gasoline in periods when the public was told the contrary.

*Shakes Fist at Toby Lundberg* How did they get away with that one?

...in May, at a time when Royal Dutch Shell’s Martinez, Calif., plant was reported to be down for maintenance for two weeks, it appears to have been making gasoline for at least half that time. That conclusion is reached from state environmental documents showing nitrogen oxide emissions had returned to normal at the refinery a full week before it was reported to have come back on line. The research also concludes that gasoline inventories actually were building in May during a time in which West Coast motorists paid at least 50 cents more per gallon than the national average

But I'm sure it's just all a product of the market, the sweet ginned-up "free" market. [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Still looking for all his lost clues

This surprised you?

A guy who's pro-choice and not opposed to gay marriage caucusing with the majority part that also does...yes, really really shocking.

Vatican and Republican Approved

The World they'd love to have in the U.S. of fuckin' A:

A woman has died from blood poisoning after Irish doctors allegedly refused to perform an abortion stating ‘this is a Catholic country’. 


An investigation has been launched into the death of Savita Halappanavar, who was 17 weeks pregnant and suffering a miscarriage and septicaemia.

The 31-year-old dentist’s husband Praveen says his wife had complained of agonising back pain when admitted Galway University Hospital.

She was found to be miscarrying, but doctors repeatedly refused to carry out a medical termination because the foetus's heartbeat was present.

Mr Halappanavar, 34, also claims that after several requests by his late wife for a termination, they were told: “This is a Catholic country.”

Abortion is illegal in the Republic of Ireland.

Via Atrios 

And speaking of the world they want -- a scientific study (the first known one) of women and abortion has been published and managed to show ever right-wing, anti-choice argument is as spurious as every other argument they make about every other subject as summarized at Balloon Juice:

• Turnaways (from abortions) were more likely to stay with their partners, and as a result, were more likely to be victims of domestic violence.

• Women in the study who were denied abortions were more likely to be in poverty than the women who had abortions.

• There was no indication of lasting, harmful mental health issues for women who had abortions when compared to those turned away. But, there was a clear finding that being denied an abortion was a risk to physical health, with childbirth being more dangerous than abortion.

And right now Rick Santorum has the biggest boner of his life.

Let's compromise

I know many of you are sick of Petraeus' stories...and so am I...as I have now run out of material (a few posts ago, but still, I've learned to spell Petraus on the first or second try).

So let's compromise.

And write about some other over-covered story of an over-rated individual.

Tim Tebow*

Tebowmania may have captivated the NFL last season, but Tim Tebow’s new team doesn’t believe that he’s a savior.

More than a dozen Jets players and members of the organization painted a sobering picture of the player who rallied the Broncos to the playoffs last season. In their eyes, he’s simply not very good.

The prevailing thought in the organization is that Tebow is nothing more than a gimmick.

“He’s terrible,” a defensive starter told the Daily News.

How terrible is he?

But most members of the Jets don’t believe that what they saw from Tebow last season is sustainable. “We can’t win running that shit,” one player said.

So, who wants Tebow to be the starter?

“Nobody,” a member of the team said.

*compromises also suck

The best article today

The Williams-Sonoma Catalog of X-mas crap that should start a revolution every god-damned year...and the comment of the year about it:

Pearls of Wisdom Everyone go to your nearest Williams-Sonoma store and grab every catalog (do they call it a catalogue?) they have. Carry at least one around at all times, so the next time any person starts talking about repealing Obamacare and how the government has no place telling rich people how to spend their money, just hand them one of these.

Morons gonna "Moronate"

Good to see that the Unskewed Polls guy had about 48 hours of reality-time before getting back to the paranoia:

(click to make bigger and more susceptible to pointing and laughing)

Those who know them best

Not only did Romney lose every "home" state he has and every one he has a home in (other than Utah) but Paul Ryan's home state too...and even the hometown:

Even though Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) won re-election at the same time he was on the national ticket, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel notes he was crushed in his hometown of Janesville, WI by challenger Rob Zerban (D), 55% to 44%. Ryan had never lost Janesville in a re-election campaign before. In addition, the Obama-Biden ticket defeated Romney-Ryan ticket in Janesville by a whopping 25 points, 62% to 37%.

The Legacy he should have

As Petraeus' career and prospects go up in the flames, Michael Cohen of the Guardian notes that his real legacy isn't his broken marriage vows but the Afghan surge that has failed miserably.

...it's worth remembering that when asked by President Obama, point blank, if a surge of troops to Afghanistan could turn things around in 18 months, Petraeus responded: "Sir, I'm confident we can train and hand over to the ANA [Afghan National Army] in that time frame." Petraeus was wrong – badly wrong. And more than 1,000 American soldiers, and countless more Afghan civilians, have paid the ultimate price for his over-confidence in the capabilities of US troops. And it wasn't as if Petraeus was an innocent bystander in these discussions: he was working a behind-the-scenes public relations effort – talking to reporters, appearing on news programs – to force the president's hand on approving a surge force for Afghanistan and the concurrent COIN strategy.

Of course, ultimately it is on the President, when these policies are approved and do not work, but all that death without any real achievement should have some of it also placed on its advocates and architects door. And this:

The greatest indictment of Petraeus's record is that, 18 months after announcing the surge, President Obama pulled the plug on a military campaign that had clearly failed to realize the ambitious goals of Petraeus and his merry team of COIN boosters. Today, the Afghanistan war is stalemated with little hope of resolution – either militarily or politically – any time soon. While that burden of failure falls hardest on President Obama, General Petraeus is scarcely blameless. Yet, to date, he has almost completely avoided examination for his conduct of the war in Afghanistan.

All his cultivation of the media -- which also led to his downfall -- will also ensure there is no examination of his military leadership made widely known to the public. Yet another orphan of a disastrous war.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

The Base

Why not just ask to secede like the slightly less crazy (but still really crazy) people?

Police say a woman who was upset over the outcome of the presidential election ran over her husband because he didn't participate in his civic duty.  Police allege Holly Solomon ran over her husband after they had an argument over the 2012 presidential election.

Holly Solomon, 28, chased her 36-year-old husband Daniel Solomon with the family Jeep SUV on Saturday night over a political argument stemming from the fact he didn't vote, CBS station KPHO in Phoenix, Ariz. reported. She pinned him between the underside of the SUV and the curb when he tried to run for help.

The husband told investigators that Solomon believed her family was going to face hardship from President Barack Obama's re-election.

Because if he had voted for Romney, the outcome in Arizona would have been no different (probably) and Romney would only have lost nationally by 1 vote less than the 3.3 million plus he's behind now.

But then again, rationality clearly has nothing to do with this.

BTW, the husband is still in critical condition.

The Petraeus thing is one "Drew Peterson" away from a Lifetime Movie

So make it happen Oprah Network!

Not only with porn-like names

But now close-in-name non-pornographic actors are getting nearly porn plots:

Gen. John Allen, the top American and NATO commander in Afghanistan, is under investigation for what a senior defense official said early Tuesday was “inappropriate communication'’ with Jill Kelley, the woman in Tampa, Florida who was seen as a rival for David H. Petraeus’s attentions by Paula Broadwell, who had an extramarital affair with Mr. Petraeus.

Jill Kelley had a lot of guys being really socially awkward with her.

This is opposed to the women I have dated over the years who to my knowledge have had only had to suffer one guy being socially awkward with them.

Teabaggery

The New York Times has some background on some of the characters in the Petraeus matter and one individual in particular seems right out of the Clintonian 90s with an extra-touch of teabagging douchery:

Ms. Kelley, a volunteer with wounded veterans and military families, brought her complaint to a rank-and-file agent she knew from a previous encounter with the F.B.I. office, the official also said. That agent, who had previously pursued a friendship with Ms. Kelley and had earlier sent her shirtless photographs of himself, was “just a conduit” for the complaint, he said. He had no training in cybercrime, was not part of the cyber squad handling the case and was never assigned to the investigation. 

...

 Later, the agent became convinced — incorrectly, the official said — that the case had stalled. Because of his “worldview,” as the official put it, he suspected a politically motivated cover-up to protect President Obama. The agent alerted Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, who called the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, on Oct. 31 to tell him of the agent’s concerns.

This idiot has future contributor to Breitbart all over him...along with baby oil.

(via Josh Marshall)

How about a fresh round of misogyny?

Neither I nor most people know the "juicy" details of David Petraeus's love life -- in fact, I'd rather not thank you very much. But as ever there are only two stories that the national political media are capable of following. The horse race and a sex scandal -- and with the election just over... But the reaction that follows the immediate reaction of a sex scandal is always depressingly the same -- it was the woman's fault as Mother Jones summarized yesterday:

After information came to light about Paula Broadwell, the alleged mistress, Business Insider posted a piece from writer Robert Johnson, who talks to an unnamed "senior military source." The source praises Petraeus' "honor" in admitting that he was having an affair with a woman who "got her claws—so to speak—in him."

Ah yes, poor honorable General Petraeus. I'm sorry who is the person of cheap virtue here?

Prominent members of conservative, Washington-based defense think tanks were given permanent office space at [Patraeus] headquarters and access to military aircraft to tour the battlefield. They provided advice to field commanders that sometimes conflicted with orders the commanders were getting from their immediate bosses.

Oh awesome, the Kagan family does like to play soldier. And I'm sure John Bolton's advice on swinging was much appreciated...at the time.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Oh I do love my double entendres

Today's best headline from the WaPo:

ba-dum-bah!


  And when you read the article the "funny" joke becomes the outrageous one:

Prominent members of conservative, Washington-based defense think tanks were given permanent office space at his headquarters and access to military aircraft to tour the battlefield. They provided advice to field commanders that sometimes conflicted with orders the commanders were getting from their immediate bosses.

John Bolton undoubtedly was invaluable when it came to how to live the swinger's lifestyle.

Well I'm guessing it was a quiet weekend...too quiet...at the Petraeus' household

Apparently there is another individual allegedly making it a "lust" triangle, her name is Jill Kelley.

Waiting for Petreaus's other alleged intimate relationships to be exposed -- Jenny Jameson, Mary Ann Chambers, Nina Hartleby, and -- of course -- Sanka (and if you got all those references you are totally middle-aged and realizing you have wasted your life).

It is hardly a surprise

That Allan West -- for whom everything has always been logical and classy -- would be a gigantic asshole after losing a close election.

Pissing and moaning

One need look no further at the jackassery of the Papa John's pizza guy's complaining about health care reform than saying he'll cut employee hours (so a person without health insurance can make your food -- ooh, increased risk of hepatitis, good plan!) while he lives like this.

This large and over the top mansion is owned by the founder and CEO of Papa John’s, John Schnatter. The house is 40,000 square feet and it resembles a castle. One interesting feature on this 16-acre estate is the 22-car underground garage, complete with an office for valet parking, a car wash and even a motorized turn table to move limousines. The home also has a state-of-the-art exercise suite and a huge 6,000 square foot carriage house.

Pope Canute yet to google Santorum

In the wake of three more American states voting for legalized same-sex marriage bringing the number of States in this country that do so to nine plus the District of Columbia, the Roman Catholic Church is not only standing fast, but becoming bigger jerks in opposing it:

In a front-page article in Saturday’s Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, the Holy See sought to frame itself as the lone voice of courage in opposing initiatives to give same-sex couples legal recognition. In a separate Vatican Radio editorial, the pope’s spokesman asked sarcastically why gay marriage proponents don’t now push for legal recognition for polygamous couples as well.

That's right, they are not only opposing it, they are endorsing the Rick Santorum position of false equivalencies.  

I guess you'd expect that from folks who are clearly experienced in marriage.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Of course they do

The GOP isn't going to change until the same folks that voted in 2012 show up in 2014, the GOP base is NOT going to accept they need to change, they'll just continue their other reality:

The widely syndicated conservative radio host Mark Levin, a hero to many in the tea party movement, could barely contain his rage at the establishment after the election results were in.

"The very people who keep nominating moderates now call us purists, the way the left calls us purists," Levin said Wednesday. "And we have to hear this crap from pseudo-conservatives and Republicans."

 Again with the surreality, we do not call you purists.

The Ground Game

I have been impressed by the Obama "ground game" since they were everywhere the night of the 2008 Iowa Caucuses.  But you always wonder if their effectiveness is overstated in a general election.  You wonder, but they are.

Here's an excerpt from a discussion with an Obama campaign manager:

In describing the ground game, the official told of a conversation he had with a top field director on Monday. The GOP had tweeted that they had knocked on 75,000 doors in Ohio the day prior. Not to worry, the [Obama] director said, 'we knocked on 376,000.'

"Then the president came in, and this aide said, 'Tell him the door thing.' So he did. And the president responded, 'That's my team.'"

FoxNews....wrong again, No!

Inconceivable...the paranoid delusion that Obama orchestrated the Patreaus deal has been the trumped up phony story on FoxNews this weekend...

Who could have anticipated they'd be wrong...yet again?

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor spoke to an FBI whistle-blower two weeks ago who accused then-CIA Director David Petraeus of having an extramarital affair and potentially jeopardizing the security of classified information, according to a news report.

Cantor’s chief of staff, Steve Stombres, later spoke with FBI officials to pass on the accusations from the whistle-blower, the New York Times reported on Saturday night.

Now they're going to have to recalibrate their outrage.

Boom!!! Explains a lot

Via Roger Ebert:

No cure for Crazy

Good plan dumbass:

Adding another title to his list of self-proclaimed expert

Remember when Chuck Todd thought himself the judge of what weather news is worthwhile?


Well he's apparently an expert in other matters now too -- and just as accurate:

A self-proclaimed master of what women think.

Giving them something to really attack you over

"Newsnight"  which is the BBC's version -- probably even more revered version -- of Nightline not quite a year ago suffered the indignity of having its network shelve a story it was going to run about a long-time BBC children's star, Jimmy Savile, having been a pedophile (he was).

Well, in the wake of that huge scandal in the UK, comes this complete fuck up in what was clearly of an overreaction caused by the first fuck up:

The BBC said that it was suspending all Newsnight investigations after the programme's accusations that a "leading Conservative" had been involved in child abuse unravelled, with the programme's star witness admitting hours earlier that he had mistaken the peer's identity.

The broadcaster, which is still coping with the fallout from the shelving of a Newsnight investigation into Jimmy Savile, also apologised unreservedly as a senior executive was parachuted in to supervise Friday's edition of the programme, on which the question of its own continuing survival was raised by presenter Eddie Mair.

So I guess

When many folks figured that Patraeus was getting serviced by a fawning press corps it also happened to be l-i-t-e-r-a-l-l-y true.

So what you will about Robert Caro, he never slept with LBJ.

For those who think the GOP is about to change

This is a party that doesn't believe in science, whether it is evolution or the big bang or scientific polling -- hell they have problems conceding there is gravity.

Their leadership was as enthralled of miracles over reality as much as their base.

What fucking reason is there to think they are going to suddenly accept actual voting?

Right now the GOP is thinking, well the minorities won't turn out in 2014 so no need to change now.

If you WANT them to change you better find a way to make sure your base turns up in non-Presidential election years.  IF that happens, THEN they'll have no choice.

But until then?   Nothing, they'll just keep hoping for the worst -- and doing everything in their power to MAKE the worst come about.

Again, the Republicans commit most of the Voting Fraud

And Project their behavior upon others:

Two Republicans in separate states were taken into police custody during the past week for allegedly attempting to test how easy it would be to commit voter fraud.

Yes!

Thanks to the votes still being tallied I am pleased to report that Mitt Romney's percentage of the electorate has slipped into the optimal ironic range of 47%.

You may now point...and laugh.

Republicans and the reality of numbers at cross-purposes again

Look at statistical analysis gettin' up so soon after the election and slapping around Republicans again!

A new report by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office reminds legislators that tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect automatically in January threaten job growth significantly in the coming year. But for the first time, CBO has analyzed (PDF) the economic consequences of specific provisions within the sequester. And it turns out the least harmful component of the coming fiscal consolidation is precisely what Democrats are demanding: the expiration of the Bush tax cuts for high earners.

So the best part of "austerity" is...the part that is not austerity at all but against the whole Republican way of "thinking" about life as opposed to actual life itself.

It's almost as if there's a track record or something...

Ladies and Gentlemen

You know it was inevitable.

Nate Silver...in a wizard's hat:

From Kevin Roose.

Lemme guess, "NOBODY COULD HAVE PREDICTED" is the line you are thinking of?

It's one thing for a the usual right-wing blog brigade to unskew polls and reality, but the fact that Romney, Ryan and their pollsters did it too let's you know that they really did live in a world hermetically sealed off from reality.

...they believed the public/media polls were skewed - they thought those polls oversampled Democrats and didn't reflect Republican enthusiasm. They based their own internal polls on turnout levels more favorable to Romney. That was a grave miscalculation, as they would see on election night. 

Those assumptions drove their campaign strategy: their internal polling showed them leading in key states, so they decided to make a play for a broad victory: go to places like Pennsylvania while also playing it safe in the last two weeks. 

Those assessments were wrong.

Goodness knows that would have worked out reaaaaaaallllll well if they were at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Too much "Dixie" even for Dixie

On a night when Republicans lost the nation as a whole their transformation into the Democratic Party of the 1870s became complete.

But even in the old Confederacy there isn't that much love for actual out-and-out old time Confederates:

THE THREE REPUBLICAN STOOGES: David Kizzia of Malvern beat neo-Confederate Republican Loy Mauch of Bismarck; Harold Copenhaver of Jonesboro defeated another Republican slavery apologist and imnmigrant hater, Rep. Jon Hubbard, and James McLean beat the wacky former Republican Rep. Charlie Fuqua in Batesville. A flurry of last-minute publicity about these races (yes, it was driven by the Arkansas Times and this blog) helped Democrats immeasurably and tightened the final House count considerably.

You may recall these three as the trio of Arkansas Republicans who thought slavery wasn't all that bad...especially for the slaves. And you cannot even be that racist as a Republican...at least so overtly.

You can only Bilbo it up so far these days, even in the South...someday not at all.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

The Wango Tango-ie Final Countdown

On or about April 14, 2012 frequent gun-pointing threatener Ted Nugent said this:

"If Barack Obama becomes the President in November again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year."

So unless Ted recants it is only our duty...and bad taste...to debut the:

 TED NUGENT DEATH OR IMPRISONMENT COUNTDOWN!

 

Golly, how'd these folks EVER lose?

A telling quote from a Romney insider tells you just the mindset they have about any non-white guy:

“We didn’t think they’d turn out more of their base vote than they did in 2008, but they smoked us,” said one Romney operative. “It’s unbelievable that that they turned out more from the African-American community than in 2008. Somehow they got ‘em to vote.”

Even in giving them props, they play on stereotypes.  They never consider their message no only turns off people who are NOT white men -- especially when it involves overtly trying to prevent them from voting -- but motivates voting against them.

I'd say "unbelievable" but of course, it is entirely believable.

Speaking of the filthy rich

A couple of little nuggest of schadenfreude:

Rove even suffered the indignity of being insulted on Twitter by the blustery Donald Trump, who had attended Romney's election night party here on Tuesday night, but left early after it was clear that Obama had won a second term.

Okay it is only fitting that Trump flew his private jet to Boston for a stay long enough to get the best prawns and then left...and then went back to deranged twittering with his stubby fingers.

Although there is no indignity being tweeted about by Trump, all the indignity starts at the end of the tweeter's vienna sausage-like digits.

Oh...and this:

Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas casino magnate who gave Mitt Romney’s super PAC $20 million, also backed a heap of Republican candidates who lost last night. The Forward reports:

“In Virginia, Tim Kaine won the governorship over George Allen, whose super PAC had received $1.5 million from Adelson. In Florida, Bill Nelson won the Senate seat over Connie Mack, who Adelson had backed with $1 million. And in New Jersey, Adelson-backed Orthodox Jewish Republican Shmuley Boteach lost to Democratic incumbent Congressman Bill Pascrell.”

In addition, Adelson backed Allen West, who wound up losing his House seat in Florida. The one bright spot for Adelson was Shelley Berkley’s loss to Republican Dean Heller in Nevada’s Senate race.

Well, at least he's still handsome.

A handful of Charles Guiteaus with money

I wouldn't sleep too soundly Turd-Blossom...and don't walk without security to any train stations:

Many of the lightning bolts were aimed at none other than Karl Rove, the former Bush administration political genius who oversaw the deployment of nearly $400 million in campaign spending through outside groups American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS toward the presidential race and toward numerous Senate and House races. 

"The billionaire donors I hear are livid," one Republican operative told The Huffington Post. "There is some holy hell to pay. Karl Rove has a lot of explaining to do … I don't know how you tell your donors that we spent $390 million and got nothing."

I want my cruel irony dammit!

The election returns continue to come in and Mitt Romney's share of the popular vote continues to incrementally shrink (for many conservatives it ended around 10 pm Tuesday just before Romney's total fell behind Obama's).

Mitt Romeny is now at 48.0 percent.

Another tenth and he'll be in the 47s...and dammit that number is more than deserved and like an earthquake much more significant only in terms of comedy.

The Blessings of "Freedom"

More awesome news for the Greek people:

Greece's government voted by a razor thin margin on Thursday to approve an austerity package needed to unlock vital aid and avert bankruptcy, despite an internal rift and violent protests at the gates of parliament. Lawmakers approved the spending cuts, tax hikes and measures making it easier to hire and fire workers after nearly 100,000 Greeks waving flags and chanting "Fight! They're drinking our blood!" descended on Syntagma Square in central Athens.

Well now the Greek's Conservative Party run government can get the economic aid they were promised by the Germans and others. And it is sad that they had to do that to their people -- to make so many suffer -- but I'm sure they had no choice:

Anger has also been growing at the relaxed approach consecutive governments have taken towards catching tax cheats, with many saying officials have dragged their feet on investigations to protect a wealthy elite.

Clearly these people do not understand who government is there to serve.

[Cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Now THAT'S a photoshop

From Twolf...awesome:

So they're taking it really well

Here are some truly awful human beings. Have fun Secret Service.

GREATEST. PROJECTION.EVER!

Great "patriotism" too, calling America "shallow" is short-hand for "God damn America" -- but at least Jeremiah Wright is a complex human being. I guess in Brian Kilmeade's defense if anyone knows "shallow" it's the "Brown-haired guy that isn't Steve Doocy who's employer is FoxNews".

So Much To Savor

Ah, memories:

I do not know what the Democratic Party spent, in toto, on the 2004 election, but what they seem to have gotten for it is Barack Obama. Let us savor.

What do the kids say?

Oh, right: 

Heh, indeedy.

BTW

Nate Silver appears to have gone 51 for 51 in predicting every State and D.C.'s result in the Presidential Election.

Man I'm going to hate that guy when and if he picks against Democrats in future elections.


Other good news. Same Sex marriage appears to have gone 4-for-4 in Maine, Minnesota, Maryland and Washington -- oh and Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin, first openly gay Senator.

"The Math"

Bender

Well the Unskewed Polls guy seems to have taken Election Day off -- unlike Nate Silver.   Of course he pretty much took reality off up until then -- unlike Nate Silver.

No tweets after Nov. 5 -- a constant stream of garble until then.

I'm sure he's just re-calibrating to go on some combination of conspiracy and victimhood.

Night of the Chalupas

The twitter meltdown of Donald Trump and Victoria Jackson captured here.  I know it is hard to believe...but it might have been their most insane night ever.

The 50-year tradition

The same place that rioted over James Meredith attending class while black in 1962 continued its PROUD legacy by having a slightly smaller riot when a black guy got re-elected.

Stay proud Ole Miss.

Schat-their-pantzen-freude

Well tomorrow we can start our fretting about the coming "grand bargain" but at least for tonight there's relief.

Yay, the sinking of Tea Party favorites...a lesson that will surely not be learned -- they'll be back dumber than ever.  Good luck with that mainline GOPers, that's a bed you've happily made.

Yay, Elizabeth Warren.

And now we can point at laugh at the following:

1.  Unskewed Polls guy.
2.  And on that note, this site "NateSilverisWrong.Com" just went up yesterday.  Good timing.
3.  Dick Morris (just replay your laugh from 2008).
4.  Peggy Noonan, who said she thought Romney would win and Obama loses through the power of her observation skills of reading the face.  She gets a LOT of money for that kind of analysis.   And she'll never want for a salary for it.

But hey, at least the 1% got to party in style.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

A campaign that "reflects" America

Make way for Trump and the rest of the self-made inheritors of great wealth!

We have a Winner

For those of you who participated in the "When Will FoxNews" play the New Black Panthers Card...?

We have a winner (all else, especially the "truth" losers)

What time does Drudge put up the first bullshit Exit poll for Romney?

Place your bets.

I'm calling 4:01 p.m. Eastern.

It's like the old National Enquirer Psychic Preditions Page

Only with a lot more Type-II Diabetes. Behold the National Review's prognosticators 2008.

Kenneth Blackwell, the precurser to a run of bad Ohio Secretaries of State opined:

Kenneth Blackwell The latest FOX News/Rasmussen Reports battleground poll presents a plausible scenario for a narrow John McCain victory. While most pundits have written McCain’s political obituary, he is extremely competitive in Florida (McCain leads 50 percent to 49 percent), North Carolina (McCain leads 50 percent to 49 percent), Missouri (tied at 49 percent) and Ohio (tied at 49 percent). Factor in Monday’s Mason-Dixon Virginia numbers (Obama leads 47 percent to 44 percent) and this election is far from over.

The other wild card is the upset brewing in Pennsylvania. The McCain campaign actually thinks it will win that state, giving them a lifesaving electoral firewall.

Final results 2008:

Florida: Obama by 3
North Carolina: Obama by 0.3
Missouri: -- McCain by 0.1 (blind squirrel alert)
Ohio: Obama by 4.6%
Pennsylvania: The "wild card" the "upset" the "life-saving firewall" -- Obama by 10.2%


See them in 2012.


Good luck seeing them all in 2016 because the mortality tables creep ever forward -- actually come to think of it they already are all different.   Transfats win again!


(via Booman)

Somebody is already thinking of getting work in the next cycle

When your pollster is trying to cover his ass on Election Day it is a bad bad sign:

Really, the story of our times

The headline really does say it all at Alternet:

Voter Fraud Is Rare – and in This Cycle, It's All Been Committed by Republicans.

So they have a lock this cycle on both fraud and suppression.

I'd be surprised if the Fox&Friends crew don't show up this morning with purple fingers and stories of the New Black Panthers.

52 Years and this shit

In October 1960 when Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested for taking part in civil rights sit-ins and then thrown in a Penitentiary on a four month sentence.  JFK acted while Nixon, who had heretofore a modesty pro-civil rights record (it was the GOP stance until Goldwarter) sat on his hands.

More than a half-century later Republicans are ACTIVELY trying to keep African-Americans from voting.

The country has moved toward justice with the arc of Universe...the GOP it trying to bend it back.

Unskewed tries to get un-screwed

Like Dick Morris at a prosthetic store Nate Silver's wizard-h8r tries to concoct a late-charge for trying to look sane.

Quite a change in a week-and-a-half:

Just think

A little over 48 years ago, 17 year old Dick Morris was masturbating in a pair of pantyhose in the fitting-rooms of the nearest JCPenny and predicting a landslide for Goldwater.

It's only fair

To put forth my own prediction, though no should care :

By the way, if Virginia is called for Obama, you might as well get some sleep, because he can lose Ohio, Florida, Colorado and even Iowa and still be reelected.  Though as you can see my prediction has Obama going 4-for-4 -- admittedly Florida is a bit optimistic.

But Obama certainly isn't losing all four of those, at worst he'll split.

You can do your own predicted map, here.

Assholes

So the Romney camp decided to pitch a fit NOW over this (smooth move fellas):

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was effusive in his praise of President Barack Obama when the two leaders toured damage from Hurricane Sandy last week, turned down a request by Mitt Romney to appear with him at a rally on Sunday night in Pennsylvania, The Huffington Post has learned. ... "You can't tell me he couldn't have gone over there for a night rally," a Romney campaign source told HuffPost.

Can you imagine the reaction in New Jersey if Christie went over the state line to attend a Romney rally?

These folks are complete out-of-touch tools.

But they are not blaaaa...

So the Randian rules of "taking" don't apply to them in Republican circles:

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said in May that he’d written off votes from 47 percent of Americans who are collecting government aid. Turns out many of them are part of his political base.

Seventy percent of counties with the fastest-growth in food-stamp aid during the last four years voted for the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data compiled by Bloomberg. They include Republican strongholds like King County, Texas, which in 2008 backed Republican John McCain by 92.6 percent, his largest share in the nation; and fast-growing Douglas County, Colorado. 

That means Romney is counting on votes from areas where lower-income people have become more reliant on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as food stamps. Mark Baisley, who heads Douglas County’s Republican Party, said many recipients will back Romney in hopes he’ll improve the economy.

Their base

Is extremely base:

Democratic House Candidate’s Campaign Vandalized With ‘Baby Killer’ And ‘N*gger Lover’

That would be the campaign headquarters of Wayne Powell who is the opponent of House GOP leader Eric Cantor.

Obama makes Republican's dream come true

You think Christie's going to publicly talk up Romney now?

New Jersey’s famously tough-talking governor finally got a hug from his longest-running unrequited love. Speaking Monday at a briefing on storm recovery. Gov. Chris Christie revealed he unexpectedly spoke with Bruce Springsteen earlier in the day. Christie had been discussing storm-related matters with President Barack Obama when Obama handed the phone to Springsteen, who was traveling with him as part of a campaign trip. Christie also said he got a hug from Springsteen at Friday’s benefit concert for victims of Superstorm Sandy.

Sorry Peggy

Peggy Noonan -- no longer humping Reagan's casket says Romney is going to win because:

All the vibrations are right.

Uh, that's not Romney's campaign Peggy, it's your Hitachi Magic Wand. Honestly it might the most hilarious mish-mash of "my gut" you have ever seen. On Wednesday we can all point and laugh.

The always do the things they accuse the Democrats of doing...

In a just world these folks would ALWAYS lose just for these things:

According to a report by Phoenix, Arizona’s NBC affiliate, Rep. Jeff Flake’s (R-AZ) U.S. Senate campaign called Democratic voters telling them to vote in the wrong precinct — in some cases as much as 11 miles away from their actual polling place. After telling the Democratic voters to vote in the wrong place, the calls also encourage the voter to “vote Flake for U.S. Senate.”

Deutschebags

But of course...they are poor so who gives a shit right?

German pharmaceuticals firm Merck KGaA is no longer delivering cancer drug Erbitux to Greek hospitals, a spokesman said on Saturday, the latest sign of how an economic and budget crisis is hurting frontline public services.

Nothing can top the absurdity of reality

Animal Farm

This was actually written by the braintrust (such as it is) of Politico in 2012:

If President Barack Obama wins, he will be the popular choice of Hispanics, African-Americans, single women and highly educated urban whites. That’s what the polling has consistently shown in the final days of the campaign. It looks more likely than not that he will lose independents, and it’s possible he will get a lower percentage of white voters than George W. Bush got of Hispanic voters in 2000.

A broad mandate this is not.

Shorter MASTERS VandeHei and Allen:

All voters are equal,
White voters are more equal than others.

(pic from here)

Well THAT'S inspirational

Mitt Romney had an early morning rally in Michigan yesterday, one of his many "home" states and one he is almost certain to lose -- possibly badly. But the 2,000 people the campaign says showed up (so you can guess that half were photoshopped in) heard Mitt make a rare truthful statement:

"It's made me strive to be more worthy of the support I have received across the country and to campaign as I would govern, to speak for the aspirations of all Americans, not just some Americans."

He wants to campaign and govern the same way?

So just doing what FoxNews tells him then?

Well, I guess it couldn't be worse than what I would expect -- I guess because that is exactly what I'd expect.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Oh good plan

The Romney supporters (and this is something his campaign supports) sure give their workers a reason to give 'em the ol' bird:

 The Mitt Romney campaign and its business allies are driving home a final message unlike one we've seen in past presidential campaigns: Vote Romney, or you're fired.

The pressure on workers in swing states to toe the GOP line hasn't been restricted to any particular industry. Corporate apparel makers in Ohio, truck stop attendants in Ohio and Virginia, casino employees in Nevada, construction workers in Florida, gift-card purveyors in Colorado and Florida, car-parts makers in Michigan, software technicians in Florida and Colorado, coal miners in Ohio, dock manufacturers in Wisconsin, frozen-food packers in Michigan, resort staff in Florida, Virginia and Nevada, and people all over the country who work -- or used to work -- for Koch Industries or another Koch-owned company have all been given notice by their boss that an Obama victory could lead to layoffs or otherwise harm the company and its workers.

I'd say the Kochs are like the two assholes from trading places, but every day they seem more like the Python's Piranha Brothers.

And here's the real demo I'm sure they'll be able to persuade:

Even workers who'd already been laid off by the Kochs were mailed letters urging them to vote Republican or else "suffer the consequences" of Obama policies that would harm the company.

Okay, this looks even better than the Daniel Day Lewis version

Plus, it also looks like it could include some selections from Puccini.

(Note it's Hulu so you have to suffer an ad)

Romney inflate crowd figures?

No!

The campaign announced that 30,000 people attended, but Secret Service sources said just 15,000 went through metal detectors. And local law enforcement counted the crowd at 18,000.

 
And many left early too.

Don't worry they'll just photoshop in another 15,000.

Will wonders never cease?

The Washington Post truly takes it to Romney:

THROUGH ALL THE flip-flops, there has been one consistency in the campaign of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney: a contempt for the electorate.

...

Mr. Romney....seems to be betting that voters have no memories, poor arithmetic skills and a general inability to look behind the curtain. We hope the results Tuesday prove him wrong.

It's called letting FoxNews run a campaign.

Outta steam

Oh poor Willard:

First of all, I'm stunned people show up to see Kid Rock perform, I think you'd get chlamydia just by being in the same general vicinity of that guy. But I'm sure it was something to watch people get the fuck out of there while Willard was touching base with "the common person".

Being in Des Moines, our one gift for putting up with the months of constant political ads is that on Monday afternoon Obama is going to be in the East Village (Des Moines' trendy spot just beneath the Capitol building) with some guy named Bruce Springsteen.

If nothing else, the Democrats always win the talent portion of the quadrennial beauty contest in a landslide. 

So, everybody knows she's only a little bit country

Early Taylor Swiftian/LaToya Jacksonian Mormon Hybrid Marie Osmond takes a stand.

But where does Tito Jackson stand?

Yes, they are so pro-woman

Wisconsin GOP candidate Tommy Thompson, who normally has his son say the dumb stuff, has a very "quaint" excuse for needing to go out and be a "lobbyist" -- it's his wife's fault:

So I left. I left the government after four years, after George Bush got elected the second time. And my wife likes to shop. Okay? And she said, "you know, Tommy, you have been in politics for 38 years. Why don't you go out and see if you can make some decent money so I can go shopping without having to put everything on a credit card.

America's fucked up pundit culture in a paragraph

A thoughtful post on Deadspin about Nate Silver and the conservatives who must not accept statistical analysis ... they do not like:

In fact, we’ve reached the point in our screwed-up political media culture where the polling companies and forecasters—not the pundits, not the spokespeople, and certainly not the candidates—are the only people being evaluated rigorously on the substance of their arguments. If Nate Silver and Sam Wang screw up, their popularity will suffer as a result, and they’ll have to reconsider their models. Meanwhile, if Brooks, Jordan, Scarborough, Rubin, or Byers make another poor argument, they’ll continue to collect their paychecks as if nothing had happened.

Show me the birth certificate!

Never underestimate the idiocy of internet movements.

Internet evangelist Bill Keller is urging the faithful to promise to vote for Jesus for president in this election. So far, his website, VotingforJesus.com, says it has more than 1.6 million pledges to write in the name of Jesus on their ballots instead of any other presidential candidate. If even half of those who signed the pledge vote accordingly, this could signal real trouble for Mitt Romney in close races by reducing the pool of voters who usually opt for the GOP.

I kind of doubt that...but I guess if the election is close it is going to be because of a battle for "show" between Jesus, Jill Stein, and of course:

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Ha ha ha

Trump's descent into self-self-parody gets the appropriate response from a pertinent source:

Mr. Gilles is Chrysler's VP of Product Design.

Well the irony should be rich today

Daily Fucker and Drudge (not gonna link) are pushing the story of New Jersey senator Menendez paying "lady" prostitutes in the Dominican Republic. Menendez denies and the rest of blown out New Jersey could really give a shit.

Although it should be good fodder for Rush Limbaugh who has no history of sex acts in the Dominican Republic with mature women.

Mock-ward

Poor Willard, so far from liked, so close to being a footnote:

Speaking at a Tampa airport hangar in his first stop since campaigning was put on hold by superstorm Sandy, Romney alluded briefly to the hurricane by saying it was a demonstration of how Americans pull together in time of crisis. "We're going through trauma in a major part of the country," he said. "It's interesting to see how people come together in a circumstance like this. We see folks from all over the the country step forward and offer contributions." But the Republican candidate avoided praise for the government's relief response and did not touch on questions dogging him about a statement he made last year saying he would scrap Fema, which has led the post-Sandy recovery efforts. Romney hasn't been helped by the Republican New Jersey governor Chris Christie's praise of Fema and Barack Obama's handling of the crisis. But the former Florida governor, Jeb Bush, did weigh in at the Romney rally. He reminded the crowd that Florida was hit by eight hurricanes and four tropical storms in 2004/5. He added that, from his experience, "local level and state level" is better at handling the response than Fema. The audience cheered.

Oh yeah, your brother's FEMA...the one run by "Heckuva Job" Brownie, who has recently returned to us for a reprise of his poorly received performance art.

I know more than a few of these married couples

From here.

"Fine, whatever, just leave me alone"

After ignoring reporters the last few days to have the world's most political non-political events, Mitt Romney found himself needing to say something about FEMA given his earlier statements that he would sure enjoy killin' that varmint with one of his bullet-shooting devices.

As one could imagine saying you want to keep the Federal Government out of tasks it clearly needs to be involved with just as such tasks are badly needed is, well, bad politics. Compounded by your surrogates doubling down on it.

So Williard had to come forth today and say something between gritted teeth:

"I believe that FEMA plays a key role in working with states and localities to prepare for and respond to natural disasters," Romney said in a statement supplied by his campaign Wednesday. "As president, I will ensure FEMA has the funding it needs to fulfill its mission..."

He then said he was in a hurry to go lie about JEEP some more.

Of course, Obama's budget proposals are not exactly covered in glory in regard to FEMA funding; his budget has a cut of 3%.  However Romney, nebulous assurances notwithstanding, has proposed cuts in FEMA of approximately 40%.

I imagine the money that's left can go toward setting up competitive bids so Romney's corporate buddies can get the contract to clean up (i.e. go all Galveston) after Hurricane Biff or whatever frat name he'll order they be given.

[Cross-posted at Firedoglake]