TomCat

Nov 212012
 

The fascist five activist Republican Injustices on the Supreme Court are the willing Pawns of plutocratic billionaires like the Koch Brothers, as evidenced by the worst decision since Dred Scott, Citizens United.  Here we have an opportunity to see just how twisted their rationale for misinterpreting the Constitution has become.

21KochSuckersLast week, Justice Samuel Alito Jr. speciously defended the Supreme Court’s disastrous ruling in the 2010 Citizens United case by arguing that the ruling, which allowed unlimited independent campaign spending by corporations and unions, was not really groundbreaking at all. In fact, he said, all it did was reaffirm that corporations have free speech rights and that, without such rights, newspapers would have lost the major press freedom rulings that allowed the publication of the Pentagon Papers and made it easier for newspapers to defend themselves against libel suits in New York Times v. Sullivan.

“The question is whether speech that goes to the very heart of government should be limited to certain preferred corporations; namely, media corporations,” he said [Faux Noise delinked] in a speech to the Federalist Society, a conservative group. “Surely the idea that the First Amendment protects only certain privileged voices should be disturbing to anybody who believes in free speech.”

But Justice Alito’s argument wrongly confuses the matter. It is not the corporate structure of media companies that makes them deserving of constitutional protection. It is their function — the vital role that the press plays in American democracy — that sets them apart. In Citizens United, by a 5-to-4 vote, the court ruled that the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, in limiting the amount that organizations could spend, severely restricted First Amendment rights. The law’s purpose and effect, according to the court, was to keep unions and most corporations from conveying facts and opinions to the public, though it exempted media corporations… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Photo credit: What on Earth

The article’s author is absolutely correct that it is the function of media that sets them apart, but Alito, pictured above with the other two Injustices that associate openly with the Koch Brothers, ignored something even more basic.

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United Stats:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.  [emphasis added]

Although Alito interpreted freedom of the press as a part of the freedom of speech, the Constitution clearly defines freedom of the press as an altogether separate right.  If that is apparent to a legal neophyte like me, it is obvious that Alito and the others had to know it.  Therefore, they intentionally ignored the Constitution in an attempt to help plutocrats and their Republican lackeys take control of our nation.

The Supreme Court is the worst place for Koch suckers, because…

Corporations are NOT people!

Money is NOT speech!

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Did Rove Rig the Election?

 Posted by at 8:51 am  Politics
Nov 212012
 

I trust that by now you have heard that Anonymous claims that they prevented an attempt by Karl Rove to rig the vote counting in several swing states in the recent elections.  That may or may not be true.  The problem is that, since Anonymous is anonymous, anyone can claim to be anonymous.  While I recognize Rove’s long history of attempts at election theft, I cannot accept the claims of unnamed people as absolute fact.  However, it it is true, it is imperative that we find out.

21Rove…Then, during election night in 2012, it was suddenly Unger’s story all over again—almost. This time the Ohio, statewide, vote-tallying computers went down at 11:13 pm EST. That was thirteen minutes after voter analyst Karl Rove had begun to throw his 30-minute tantrum live on Fox News. Rove was angry that the Fox analysts had called the Ohio election in favor of President Obama at 11:00 pm EST. During his rant, Rove went into a detailed analysis about how that part of the yet uncounted voter—25%—would throw the election to Romney. And then, bingo—

The Ohio computers went down in the middle of Rove’s rant. But when they came back up there was no change in the vote. Obama still led. Rove looked even more perplexed. He then argued for another 15 minutes that Romney could still win Ohio. Finally, Rove conceded that perhaps Romney might lose the state.

Then, two days after the 2012 election, Anonymous released another video. The hackers explained that they had inserted a firewall into Secretary of State Husted’s software patch. That had stopped the Ohio election counters from using it. The hackers said that they had analyzed the patch and that it would have flip-flopped the vote in the same counties that Karl Rove, of Fox, had argued would eventually swing the Ohio election to Romney.

Interesting, on election night, when the Ohio computers came back online, the vote tallying went on without the patch, and Obama won.

This whole thing might mean that the patch should be subpoenaed into court and examined for its potential to rig an election—especially since no one dared to complain that it did not work. And the counting kept on going, anyway, unquestioned. But that’s not all.

Anonymous claims that Mitt Romney’s Orca program was a fake, also. It was not meant to be used as a get-out-the-vote program as stated by the Romney campaign. Rather, it was meant to be used to divert and flip flop the vote in two other states, Florida and Virginia. Like Ohio, both states have Republican Secretaries of state who resolve voting issues. Makes you wonder, right? But there is more…

…Yet, if you are a concerned voter, please contact the U.S. senators from your state at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm/.

This egregious attempt at vote rigging by Karl Rove and the Romney campaign—if true—must not go unpunished. At the minimum, Ohio, Virginia, and Florida should be forced to have a ballot paper trail. This would allow for a verifiable recount if this same thing turns up in 2016. The current electronic voting systems in those states cannot be used to do a legitimate recount… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Opposing Views>

Photo credit: Salon.com

First, I encourage you to click through to the original article and read the whole thing.  I provided enough bits and pieces to give you the flavor, but there is much more there.

Second, please contact your Senators and ask then to institute a full investigation to determine the validity of Anonymous’ claim.  If true, we owe them thanks for saving this nation, and the guilty Republicans must be prosecuted.

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Nov 212012
 

Everywhere I turn, I see optimism that Republicans will negotiate in good faith.  I hate to be a wet blanket, but the Republican Party has a long history of playing Lucy, while Democrats play Charlie Brown.  For example, remember that Chuck “snake in the” Grassley (R-IA) bragged about how he delayed ObamaCare long enough for Republicans to mount a propaganda blitz by pretending to negotiate with Democrats.  It especially concerns me that Paul “Lyin’” Ryan is now the point man for negations to head off the fiscal speed-bump, improperly called a cliff.

RyanBendOverHouse Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has tapped Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and two other senior Republicans for key roles as he prepares for negotiations on the fiscal cliff with the White House and Democratic leaders.

The Speaker is adding Ryan and Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Dave Camp (R-Mich.) to his daily management meetings “in preparation for the fiscal cliff talks,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said. Those meetings already include the top four members of the House Republican leadership team.

Ryan, the recently defeated GOP vice presidential nominee, is continuing as chairman of the House Budget Committee while Upton leads the Energy and Commerce Committee and Camp heads the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee…

Inserted from <The Hill>

Ed Schultz covered this story with Bill Pascrell and Robert Reich.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Putting Paul Ryan in charge of so-called fiscal-cliff negotiations is the equivalent of putting the fox in charge of guarding the hen house. Robert Reich is spot-on. Ryan represents privatizing Social Security and Medicare and gutting Medicaid.

I would like nothing better than to be told “I told you so” by those who are optimistic about Republicans’ intent.  However, until then, holding the line against Republicans’ attempts to hold America hostage is imperative.

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Nov 212012
 

I’m feeling somewhat better today.  I’m current with replies, albeit in brief manner.  Tomorrow I’m feeding people in my building, who are too poor to have Thanksgiving dinner.  I’m providing all the food, and they are helping do some of the cooking, so I will have three articles at most then.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:02 (average 4:58).  To do it click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Soledad O’Brien Makes This Guy Repeat Himself Until His Bullsh_t Sounds Dumb Even To Him

 

While I think CNN is right-biased overall, I have to admire Soledad’s bulldog tenacity, as mush as I disrespect Republican Bullshitology.

From NY Times: In a new turn in the scandals swirling around Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper outpost, prosecutors said on Tuesday that two former top executives would be charged with paying bribes of up to $160,000 to public officials, in addition to several earlier charges against them.

The Crown Prosecution Service identified the onetime aides as Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, both of whom have had close personal or professional ties to Prime Minister David Cameron. Mr. Cameron hired Mr. Coulson as his director of communications while in opposition and kept him on after coming to power in the 2010 elections.

The Tories appear to be in bed with Murdoch’s criminal activities, as I’m sure Republicans are here. We need more investigation on this side of the pond.

From Alternet: How Vulture Capitalists Killed the Twinkie

The demise of Hostess is a story of management that boosted its own salaries, while failing to make agreed payments into workers’ pension funds.

I strongly encourage you to click through to this extensive article that explains in detail how the failure of Hostess is a textbook example of Vulture Capitalism, similar to Bain. Republicans support Vulture Capitalism by wanting less regulation of Vulture Capitalists, when more is clearly needed.

Cartoon:

21Cartoon

The Republican Party was more honest back then.

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Nov 202012
 

Yesterday my COPD  flared up sufficiently to keep me from sleeping.  I have a large grocery order being delivered this morning, and unless I get some rest, getting it unpacked and stored will be horrid.  Therefore, this is today’s only article.  I am not current with replies, but, if I feel better later today, I’ll catch up then.  Tomorrow I have some errands to run, but should be blogging normally.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:25 (average 4:54).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

Here’s the latest from our Fantasy Football League, Lefty Blog Friends.

Scores:

TomCat Teabag Trashers

Progressive Underdogs

108.60

117.16

Texans Will Rise Again

Playing without a helmet

114.34

73.74

MittsMagicJock

hugos renegades

50.94

88.46

Standings:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Points

 

Rank

Team Name

W-L-T

Pct

Streak

Waiver

For

Against

1 (1)

TomCat Teabag Trashers

9-2-0

.818

L1

6

1277.96

1128.48

2 (2)

hugos renegades

8-3-0

.727

W3

5

1239.16

1027.76

3 (3)

MittsMagicJock

4-7-0

.364

L1

4

1068.22

1109.46

4 (4)

Playing without a helmet

4-7-0

.364

L5

3

1051.46

1177.54

5 (5)

Texans Will Rise Again

4-7-0

.364

W1

2

1058.64

1225.82

6 (6)

Progressive Underdogs

4-7-0

.364

W1

1

1116.38

1142.76

I’m surprised my winning streak lasted as long as it did.

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: JUST RELEASED: Audio Of Former Reagan/Bush Advisor Lays Out How GOP Planned To Win The Votes Of Racists (warning: explicit Republican racist epithets)

 

There can now be no doubt that today’s Republican "dog whistle" statements were specifically designed, years ago, to foster the same racism as the epithets of the 1950s.

From LA Times: Santa Monica may bar Nativity and other seasonal displays in public spaces, a federal judge tentatively ruled Monday.

In a case that has drawn national attention, Judge Audrey B. Collins of U.S. District Court in Los Angeles denied a church coalition’s request that the court require the city to allow Nativity scenes to be displayed in Palisades Park this year, as it has for nearly 60 years.

I would allow the display, if and only if the city provided equal space and time for a displays for any other religious group requesting permission to create one. If atheists objected, it would be perfectly reasonable for followers of the atheist religion to have a display on the birthday of a famous atheist, giving them equal treatment.

From CNN: The intelligence community – not the White House, State Department or Justice Department – was responsible for the substantive changes made to the talking points distributed for government officials who spoke publicly about the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, the spokesman for the director of national intelligence said Monday.

So much for the bullshit arguments from McConJob, Lindsey Poo, et al.

Cartoon:

20Cartoon

Many convicted there committed crimes less egregious than Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc.

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The Middle East Conflict

 Posted by at 8:31 am  Politics
Nov 192012
 

I have waited to write on the latest Middle East conflict, until I had a better understanding of what actually happened.  Ahmed Jabari, a Hamas leader and former terrorist, was working to stop the occasional rocket attacks against Israel.  Israel targeted him for assassination, and killed him in an air attack.  Palestine reacted with increased rocket attacks against Israel, and the conflict escalated from there.

19JabariJabari was killed in a surgical airstrike on Wednesday as part of a larger Israeli offensive in Gaza. "This is an operation against terror targets of different organisations in Gaza," an Israeli spokeswoman said at the time.

Called Operation "Pillar of Defence," the offensive dashed hopes of progress toward a truce between Israel and Hamas that might have ended months of roiling tensions and violence in the region.

Since Wednesday, conflicts has escalated. Palestinian militants reportedly "barraged Israel with nearly 150 rockets on Thursday," and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated plans for "significant widening" of military strikes…

Inserted from <Huffington Post>

The best coverage I have seen on this story came from Chris Hayes.  He covered the story in four segments with Noura Erahat, Noam Sheizaf, Yousef Munayyir and David Frum. His panel was balanced and provided all points of view, some of which differ from my own conclusions.  In the first, he outlined how the most recent conflict came about.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Note that previous Israeli attacks on Palestine, this year, have killed 314, compared to 25 from Palestinian attacks on Israel.

In the second, they discussed Israel’s tactics of targeted killings.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Targeted killings and military assault by Israel is not a long term solution, and cannot lead to peace.

In the third, they discussed the context of the most recent conflict.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

It certainly appears that Israel prefers maintaining the status quo of occupation and attrition through illegal settlements rather than implementing a two state solution, to which they committed themselves in Oslo.

In the fourth, they explored incentives for peace.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The prospects for a long term solution look grim.  For there to be peace, Israel must abide by the terms to which they agreed in Oslo and stop trying to pummel Palestine into submission.

As much I tend to place the bulk of the blame on Israel, doing do will not help the prospects for peace either.  Therefore, in the meantime, we need to support those people on both sides who are working for a nonviolent resolution of the conflict instead of taking Israel’s side as a knee-jerk reaction.

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Nov 192012
 

Life has been a little dicey over at Fox, AKA Faux Noise, the propaganda wing of the Republican Party.  The election demonstrated that their propagandists are so full of fertilizer that their eyes are brown.  Since then, occasional guests, invited so they could parrot Republican talking points, forget to goose step in lock step, causing extreme consternation.  Here, Ben Stein actually put being an economist ahead of being a Republican.

FoxProp

Ben Stein gets honest on Fox News with Greg Gutfeld (a Coulter wannabe), and tells him that if we go off the ‘fiscal cliff’ nothing bad will happen and then asks him this, "What do you care if we raise taxes on some rich person?" You gotta love it. Gutfield’s response to Stein after he demands tax increases on the rich is typical Fox News stupidity…

…I wonder if Greg forgot who Ben Stein is and how important his presence has been to the Fox Business Channel shows for him to treat him like he does every liberal who might cross his path… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Crooks and Liars>

The video with the article was not embeddable, but I found it on YouTube,

Now I ask you, did Gutfield get his panties in a bunch or what? Look at his face. He looks like he ate a bad clam! Ben Stein is a conservative’s conservative, but anybody who refuses to goose step with the Republican Ministry of Propaganda gets called a communist.

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Nov 192012
 

I thoroughly enjoyed my meditation with the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb yesterday, but unless my place kicker scores 10 points tonight, Rob will beat me at fantasy football.  I’m current with replies.  Tomorrow is my monthly grocery delivery, so my articles may be late.

Jig Zone Puzzle:\

Today’s took me 3:24 (average 4:24).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Religious Ecstasy:

1118-Broncos30-Chargers23

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: In 2012 American Ladies Sent A Message, And It Was Awesome

19Women

This is good news, but it does not go far enough.  Click through for more good news for women.

From Think Progress: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has not hesitated to voice his distaste towards U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice, who may be nominated to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. On Face the Nation Sunday morning, McCain went even further than simply opposing Rice’s nomination and said that, “until we find out all the information” on the Benghazi consulate attacks, he would not support any Secretary of State nominee.

The more time passes, the more McConJob acts just like a Republican.

From TPM: They are few, but they are vocal: the pro-same sex marriage, pro-choice, pro-tax Republican activists. For years, these groups have labored off the radar, trying to convince a party unwilling to listen that it needs to moderate on issues from social to fiscal. But after the Democrats’ decisive victories on Nov. 6, the Republican Underground says its finally time to go mainstream.

While I whish these Republicans every success at reforming their party, I hope that they will come out from among them, if they fail to do do.

Cartoon:

19Cartoon

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