Cat Daddy went to the dawgs!
Jun 152014
TomCat
Jun 152014
Here is the forty-ninth article in our Republicans on Parade series, featuring individuals who personify what the Republican Party has become. Today’s honoree is Jared Padgett. He is so honored for finding a Second Amendment Solution to the sin problem for Republican Supply-side Jesus (the exact opposite of the real Jesus). It is the first time this award has gone to a minor or been awarded posthumously.
The diary of the 15-year-old Oregon high schooler who shot and killed a classmate and injured a teacher before turning the gun on himself revealed that the teen was a religious fundamentalist who was out to kill “sinners.”
According to the New York Daily News, freshman Jared Padgett was known at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Gresham, OR as being quiet, but was “highly regarded for his spirituality” by church elders.
Padgett walked into Reynolds High School last Tuesday carrying “an AR-15 type rifle, a semi-automatic handgun, ammunition and a large knife,” and opened fire, killing freshman Emilio Hoffman. Portland’s KGW reported that police found the teenager’s journal while searching through the belongings he left behind.
A police source told the TV station that Padgett did not name specific students or teachers in his plans, but was rather on a mission to cleanse the world of “sinners.”… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Raw Story>
Here’s the video.
As long as Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians keep preaching violence as a means of enforcing their invasive piety codes on others, they forfeit the claim that there is no blood on their hands, when one of their own acts it out.
Jun 152014
I’m writing for tomorrow, and I must still be pretty pooped, as I slept through the morning. I hope the weekend is being kind to you. Day 55.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:04 (average 4:34). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker: House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) unveiled an ambitious plan on Thursday to avoid making eye contact with outgoing House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) until Rep. Cantor leaves Congress, in January of 2015.
Speaking to reporters, Boehner acknowledged the difficulty of avoiding eye contact with the Virginia Republican for the next seven months, but he stressed the importance of his new plan.
“If I make eye contact with him, he might misconstrue that to mean that I want to talk to him,” Boehner said. “And, let’s be honest, none of us has to do that anymore.”
It’s only temporary, Andy. All the Republicans will love Cantor, when he comes back to pass out those K Street bribes.
From Upworthy: An anonymous person took a bunch of old Coke ads and merged them into the most blunt and honest Coke ad ever. If all ads were as honest as this one, we’d be so much healthier. Of course, they’ll totally never do this. Either way, watch this.
Dang! Coke is almost as bad for Americans as Koch!
From Daily Kos: In a shameful and mind-numbingly insensitive move, CNN has decided that of the 74 school shootings which have occurred in the last 18 months, 59 incidents in which 25 people were killed and 40 were injured simply do not count.
This patently ridiculous conclusion can be found in an article at CNN entitled, "A closer look: How many Newtown-like school shootings since Sandy Hook?" It is within this article that the following rationale is given as to why we should ignore most of the incidents reported by gun control advocacy groups:
CNN determined that 15 of the incidents [gun advocacy group] Everytown included were situations similar to the violence in Newtown or Oregon — a minor or adult actively shooting inside or near a school. That works out to about one such shooting every five weeks, a startling figure in its own right.
Some of the other incidents on Everytown’s list included personal arguments, accidents and alleged gang activities and drug deals.
Let us stop right here. CNN has just discounted 59 school shootings in which there were active shooters inside or near a school because, well, why exactly? Because they didn’t look like Newtown? Because they involved gang activity, or personal arguments, or so-called accidents? Incidents in which 25 people were killed?
CNN is Faux Noise Lite on this one. How many of you think it shouldn’t count as a school shooting, if your kid gets killed or wounded as a bystander to a personal argument, a gun accident, a gang bang, or a drug deal gone bad?
Cartoon:
When Ben was flying the kite, his wife called out, "Ben, you need more tail!" Ben replied, "Last night you told me to go fly a kite!"
Jun 142014
There was never any doubt, after the Bush Reich toppled the dictator that held Iraq together, that the nation was destined for long term, pent-up sectarian strife. The Maliki regime concentrated all power in the hands of the Shia faction, and it was only a matter of time before the Kurds and Sunnis rebelled. The Republican Party is doing what Republicans always do in a case like this. They are blaming Obama for what Bush did, and trying to get us back into the war. Don’t do it! Hands off Iraq!
This is what Maliki did with all the money and manpower we invested in training his army.
Observers around the world are stunned by the speed and scope of this week’s assaults on every major city in the upper Tigris River Valley — including Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city — by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. But they shouldn’t be. The collapse of the Iraqi government’s troops in Mosul and other northern cities in the face of Sunni militant resistance has been the predictable culmination of a long deterioration, brought on by the government’s politicization of its security forces.
The politicization of the Iraqi military
For more than five years, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his ministers have presided over the packing of the Iraqi military and police with Shiite loyalists — in both the general officer ranks and the rank and file — while sidelining many effective commanders who led Iraqi troops in the battlefield gains of 2007-2010, a period during which al Qaeda in Iraq (the forerunner of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) was brought to the brink of extinction.
Al-Maliki’s "Shiafication" of the Iraqi security forces has been less about the security of Iraq than the security of Baghdad and his regime. Even before the end of the U.S.-led "surge" in 2008, al-Maliki began a concerted effort to replace effective Sunni and Kurdish commanders and intelligence officers in the key mixed-sect areas of Baghdad, Diyala and Salaheddin provinces to ensure that Iraqi units focused on fighting Sunni insurgents while leaving loyal Shiite militias alone — and to alleviate al-Maliki’s irrational fears of a military coup against his government.
In 2008, al-Maliki began replacing effective Kurdish commanders and soldiers in Mosul and Tal Afar with Shiite loyalists from Baghdad and the Prime Minister’s Dawa Party, and even Shiite militia members from the south. A number of nonloyalist commanders were forced to resign in the face of trumped up charges or reassigned to desk jobs and replaced with al-Maliki loyalists. The moves were made to marginalize Sunnis and Kurds in the north and entrench al-Maliki’s regime and the Dawa Party ahead of provincial and national elections in 2009, 2010 and 2013…
Inserted from <CNN>
30,000 Iraqi soldiers turned tail and ran from 800 fighters.
Those of you who remember Vietnam should be getting a sense of déjà vu from current events in Iraq.
Rachel Maddow covered this story in two parts. Apologies in advance for the intros. In the first she puts the current situation in Iraq in the historical contest of the War in Vietnam.
In the second, she covers the Republican lies used to get us into the that GOP war for oil and conquest, and how Republicans are lying now want to get us back into that war, just as they tried to get is back into Vietnam.
Long before Barack Obama became President, I said that no so-called coalition government could stand in Iraq. I suggested that the country would be better off as three separate entities, with a federal structure solely to share oil revenues among them. The Maliki regime has proven to be just as corrupt as the Chalabi regime that the Bush Reich tried to impose on that nation. It will fall. The only question is when.
The best thing the US can do is stay away and let them deal with it themselves. Otherwise, we will only make a bigger mess of that nation than we already have. When they return to some semblance of order in their own way, we should recognize our national culpability and provide humanitarian (NOT military) aid.
Moreover, we need to stop the cycle economic imperialism. We need to allow nations to manage their own resources for the benefit of their own people, not install dictators to manage them for the benefit of American vulture capitalists.
Jun 142014
I’m writing for tomorrow, and I’m feeling pretty groggy, because I slept most of the day. Fortunately I got most of my research done, before I ran out of gas. I’ve fallen behind on housework, and I thought the gal I pay to help was coming over today, but she couldn’t make it, so for the next few days, I’ll have to be on a major cleaning jag including the most dreaded task of all. Day 54.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:59 (average 4:30). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: OR-Sen: In the wake of McLaughlin & Associates’ epic debacle in the Eric Cantor race, anyone thinking about releasing any internal polling from any GOP pollster right now should consider his or her decision very carefully—especially if your numbers cut against the bulk of data already out there. Even Republican pollster Frank Luntz acknowledged this reality and shredded his own party:
"Right now there are 230 House Republicans who are waking up praying that they do not have Eric Cantor’s pollster. Honestly, and I’m one of them, we Republican pollsters suck. We have no ability to be able to analyze the electorate."
Now, Monica Wehby may think it’s unfair—after all, she’s using Tarrance, not McLaughlin—but she doesn’t seem to have realized the credibility problem she’s facing in publishing a poll that shows her trailing Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley by just a 41-39 margin. Just a few weeks ago, after all, the much more reliable PPP found Merkley up 50-36.
But Wehby’s timing could not have been worse, because a brand-new independent poll from SurveyUSA for KATU-TV in Portland dropped just hours later. What did SUSA find?
Merkley: 50
Wehby: 32
Next time, listen to Frank Luntz… [emphasis original]
It won’t matter. As a rule stalkers, like Wehby, ignore the facts in favor of belief in a super-optimistic outcome for their dysfunctional behavior. If she had an accurate pollster, she would fire the company, because it isn’t what she wants to hear.
From Vimeo: Every year, Store to Door volunteers make 7,000 deliveries of fresh food, medications, and household items to Portland area elders.
Nourishment. Connection. Dignity. from Store to Door on Vimeo.
I couldn’t resist sharing this video from the volunteers that bring me my groceries every week. Every community needs such a service, and they do it extremely well.
From The New Yorker: The morning after Tuesday’s stunning Tea Party victory in Virginia, House Republicans unveiled a sweeping new legislative agenda, proposing an end to Social Security, a return to child labor, and unprecedented gun rights for pets.
“The Republican Party is the party of common sense,” said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). “And such common-sense proposals as electronic ankle bracelets for immigrant babies and a barbed-wire fence with Canada are long overdue.”
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) echoed Speaker Boehner’s sentiments as he touted his signature legislation, “to put Americans under the age of twelve back to work.”
“Instead of spending all day playing with Xboxes, our kids should be in factories assembling them,” he said.
As for what is perhaps the most controversial G.O.P. proposal, guaranteeing gun rights for pets, Boehner said, “It’s clear that the authors of the Second Amendment meant it to apply to all mammals. All our new law says is, if you have four legs and a tail, you get a gun.”
LOL Andy!! I can’t speak for dawgs, but for Republicans to arm cats would be a big mistake! Dirty litter? Dry food in the bowl? BLAM!! 😉
Cartoon:
Jun 132014
I’m writing for tomorrow and feeling quite tired. Physical therapy was tiring and painful, and every time I’ve gotten to sleep, I’ve gotten a phone call. Day 53.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:05 (average 4:43). To do it. click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker: In a development that few had thought possible, Republicans in the Seventh District of Virginia on Tuesday night found an even bigger tool than Rep. Eric Cantor to represent them in the United States Congress.
Apparently deciding that Cantor was insufficiently heartless to represent their district, Republicans turned out to the polls to elect David Brat, a man whose political views “border on sociopathy,” according to exit-poll responses from voters who supported him.
During his concession speech, Rep. Cantor reflected on the mistakes that might have led to his defeat: “Should I have cut more school-lunch programs for poor children? Perhaps. Should I have cast more votes to screw over disaster victims? Definitely. Should I have not said the thing about treating children of immigrants like human beings? Man, do I wish I could take that one back. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, but at the end of the day I was just too damn empathic for this district.”
Andy’s satire rings completely true.
From Upworthy: No one would argue that learning disabilities don’t exist or shouldn’t be diagnosed, but let’s take a step back to see what happens to some kids who get that label.
This picture truly IS worth a thousand words.
From Daily Kos: After only one day Fox News has already eliminated coverage of the Tea Party Cop Killers in Las Vegas who went on a murderous rampage Sunday. On Monday, Fox’s primetime programs (Bill O’Reilly, Megyn Kelly, and Sean Hannity) were silent on the subject except for four sentences on Kelly’s show.
On Tuesday morning’s edition of Fox & Friends, the curvy couch potatoes failed to mention Jerad Miller and his wife Amanda. Later, on Happening Now, Fox ignored the story entirely. Outnumbered also declined to report on the Millers, despite having guest co-host "doctor" Keith Ablow who has psychoanalyzed every criminal, politician, and other public figure this century (without ever examining, or even meeting, any of them)…
…Fox has replaced the Sunday massacre with older stories about the Bergdahl prisoner swap, the Veterans Administration, and Hillary Clinton’s book release and presidential aspirations. The producers and editors at Fox News have never been shy about reporting acts of alleged terrorism, even before any evidence has emerged. But for this story they have refused to even refer to the crime as terrorism.
There are some obvious reasons why Fox would skew their reporting and ultimately remove this story from their news coverage. And all of them represent biases that are a long-standing part of what can be called the Fox News Creed: Racism, Guns, Anti-Government, and Tea Party.
Is it any surprise that the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, is not covering an act of terrorism committed by a Republican designated patriot? If the sheeple found out, it could be very, very BA-A-A-A-A-AD!
Cartoon:
Jun 122014
I have said many times that the Republican Party has sown the wind by embracing the racism, hatred and extremism so beloved by the Tea Party pseudo-patriots. I have said many times that they shall reap the whirlwind. But beyond those general predictions I was a surprised as everyone else that one small manifestation of that whirlwind would be the TEAbuggery that will kick Eric cantor from the House Majority leader’s chair and send him scurrying off to K street.
The House Republican leadership, so solid in its opposition to President Obama, was torn apart Tuesday by the defeat of its most influential conservative voice, Representative Eric Cantor, the House majority leader. His demise will reverberate all the way to the speaker’s chair, pull the top echelons of the House even further to the right and most likely doom any ambitious legislation, possibly through the next presidential election.
Conservatives who have helped fuel some of the most contentious showdowns over the last three years on issues such as immigration and raising the federal debt ceiling are likely to be emboldened by Mr. Cantor’s shocking loss as they seek to replace him with someone even more closely aligned with their views.
Further, House Republicans began to immediately plot a new leadership structure that before Tuesday night had hinged merely on whether Speaker John A. Boehner would seek to keep his post next year.
One measure of the extraordinary defeat could be seen in the candidate’s finances. Since the beginning of last year, Mr. Cantor’s campaign had spent about $168,637 at steakhouses compared with the $200,000 his challenger, David Brat, had spent on his entire campaign. With Mr. Cantor out, members from solidly Republican states will almost certainly be vying for one of the top jobs, if not Mr. Boehner’s gavel. The current Republican leadership slate is filled with members from swing states where the pressure to moderate views on topics such as immigration looms… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <NY Times>
You can be sure that virtually any House Republican who was considering the slightest compromises will be running scared because of this. That bodes ill for America, because it guarantees a continuation of Republican sabotage, obstruction, and sedition. Our only hope is that continuation causes a backlash that sends centrists to the polls in November to kick them out.
The best coverage of this story came from Rachel Maddow, and I have five clips from her coverage.
I do predict that one effect of Republican retrenchment even further to the right will be to alienate themselves even more from the American people, making a Democratic sweep probable in 2016.
Jun 122014
I’m writing for tomorrow, and trying to get as much rest as I can, because tomorrow is a physical therapy day. Because that is sure to involve pain, I may have little or nothing to post on Friday. Day 52.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:02 (average 4:58). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Upworthy: Here’s a video that sorta shows what could happen to different cities as the tides rise. I get it; we don’t know exactly what that world will actually look like after this goes down. I’m guessing there will be levees, water pumps, sandbags, and other city-saving devices to protect the coasts for a little while. However, this artist wanted to make a point — an important point — about protecting what we’ve got.
You can be sure that the 1% will allow is the exclusive use of inundated dwellings.
From The New Yorker: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today that she is “seriously considering” not running for President in 2016 after reading an avalanche of scathing one-star reviews on Amazon for her new book, “Hard Choices.”
Secretary Clinton said that she was “shattered” to discover that dozens of people had apparently purchased her book on its first day of publication, read all six hundred and fifty-six pages in one sitting, and judged the finished product so unsatisfactory that it only merited one star on Amazon.
“These people all read my book cover to cover on the very first day it was published, so they must have really been looking forward to it,” a shaken Clinton told reporters. “It’s devastating for me to think about how I must have let them down.”
But Andy, we already knew it stunk, because you told us Idiot, Son of Idiot, Named after Idiot refused to plagiarize it.
From Daily Kos: Guns everywhere does mean everywhere:
Montgomery, Alabama officials have mere weeks to sort out whether gun-toting voters should be allowed in polling places under a new state law.
Differing interpretations of the new law became a problem in Tuesday’s primary after men showed up with guns in at least two precincts near Birmingham. Also, an east Alabama county first banned guns from polling places only to change the policy.
A law enforcement leader in Shelby County says someone needs to sort out the confusion before the runoff election on July 15. Two armed voters tried to cast ballots there.
Boy, I sure would hate to be a black voter in Alabama when a bunch of open carry nuts decide to show up with their high-powered rifles and Confederate T-shirts. Let me guess the response from the gun nuts: "Hey … just exercising our rights! Wanna make something of it?"
When Bill Maher coined the term Ammosexual, did he nail it, or what?
Cartoon:
