Politics Plus

I’m writing for tomorrow and feeling quite tired after yesterday’s appointment, so I’m going back to bed to try catch up on rest.  If all goes well, I’ll be blogging more normally this weekend.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:29 (average 5:34).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: A Sexist Reporter Tried To Box Her In, But She Took Everything And Threw It Right Back In His Face

The show "Scandal" is full of pioneering moments for strong female characters on television, exemplified by this truly kick-ass response from Lisa Kudrow’s character, Congresswoman Josephine Marcus, to a reporter who tried to … well, just take a look and get ready to high-five someone.

Magnificent. We need to start seeing that more in real life, not just TV fiction.

From YouTube and YouTube: John "Two Inch" Boehner (R-Whiskey) made two statements just hours apart. First he promised two kids he’d do everything in his power to pass immigration reform this year.

Then that lying sack of shit Republican (apologies for insulting shit) announced that he opposes it and will not allow a vote on it.

Agent Orange is the Speaker of the House. All he has to do to keep his promise to those kids is to bring it to the floor, where it has the votes to pass.

From Mediaite: Senator Elizabeth Warren got on the Senate floor on Wednesday to charge that her Republican colleagues are still so bitter about the election results last year, they are doing everything within their power to “nullify” the results of that election by fighting President Obama at every turn, including filibustering Cabinet and judicial nominees.

Warren reminded Republican senators that they may hate the policies Obama’s pushed for, but he ran for reelection on them and won handily. Warren called them out in particular for blocking Obama’s nominees to fill the vacancies on the D.C. Circuit Court, explaining that this is a constitutional duty of the president, and “there is no clause that says ‘except when that president is a Democrat.’”

Is that telling it like it is or telling it like it is? But long before Lizzie ever said so, I said so!

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I’m writing for tomorrow, still feeling a bit under it, and missing my guys, because I cannot go to prison today.  Tomorrow is my Resident Services interview for the new building, and I’m going to that, even if I have to travel by RepubliCare Limousine, aka a hearse.  On the plus-side, Stuck on Stupid moved upstairs a couple days ago.  It’s amazing how a little thing like sleep can improve one’s mood.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:19 (average 4:25).  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:

If Rob’s R/W/T had not been injured on the opening drive Monday Night, he might well have beaten me.

Standings:

I’m still two games out.

Short Takes:

From YouTube: Rachel Maddow – VA changes vote count rules while counting

As, a 1960s activist I have been watching politics for a long time, and the only other time I have seen such a blatant attempts at election theft is when Republican staffers physically assaulted Florida poll workers to prevent them from finishing the recount, before Supreme Court Republicans gave the 2000 Presidential election to Crawford Caligula and the ChickenHawk.

From The New Yorker: In an explosive accusation, the House Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa (R-California) today charged President Obama with “using all the resources at his disposal to make the Affordable Care Act work.”

Accusing the President of participating in “a wide-ranging conspiracy,” Mr. Issa told reporters that “behind closed doors, the President has quietly assembled a high-tech brain trust that is working around the clock to fix the Healthcare.gov Web site—at government expense.”

Rep. Issa said that he would call for a new round of hearings and would subpoena “all those persons suspected of being involved in the ongoing plot to fix Obamacare.”

That’s what it is! A Nazi, Communist, Socialist, Satanist, Kenyan, Yankee conspiracy!! 😉

From Daily Kos: Republicans in Wisconsin aren’t done regulating lady parts despite 2 bills passed earlier that vastly restrict abortions and mandate ultrasounds.   The quickly rammed through bills were signed in secret by Scott Walker who wanted to avoid the publicity that dogged Republicans in Virginia and caused the Governor of that state to be renamed "Governor Ultrasound".

They’re not done exerting more control over womens bodies and one State Senator is promising "all out hell" if they proceed.

Rachel Maddow is all over Scott Walker, Fartfuhrer of Fitzwalkerstan.

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

Kudos to the Democrats in captive Fitzwalkerstan. Ladies, get Republicans out of office or prepare to be legal chattel, as follows:

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I’m writing for tomorrow, day 150, starting to feel slightly better, and staying down to continue that trend  This and the holiday greeting are all, and I am spending  today meditating on the holy Ellipsoid Orb from bed.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:15 (average 5:26).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Religious Ecstasy:

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Texas is the state that can proudly claim that it is the winner in a dubious category: Texas has more uninsured citizens than any other state. Yet its governor, Rick Perry, says the Affordable Care Act is "a criminal act."

President Obama visited Texas yesterday to thank those that are working very hard in Texas to help people sign up for insurance under the Obamacare:

During his speech, Obama mentioned how badly many Texans were in need of affordable health care because the state is home to the highest rate of uninsured Americans.

Of course, the Republican did what Republican politicians always do when faced with an inconvenient truth.  He lied.  Medicaid is not broken.  Blaming the website on Obama, albeit partially justified, is a waste of time. He’s getting it fixed as fast as possible. Blaming Obama for the scams by Big Insurance to hoodwink their customers into more expensive policies that they need is an injustice. Obama cannot control what corporate criminals do, when Congress refuses to legislate to protect consumers. Blaming Rick Perry and other Republicans for preventing citizens from receiving health care, for no reason other than ideologue spite, is where media should focus. Just say yes accepting the federal funding for it.

From Alternet: Larry Pratt: Trayvon Martin’s broken family is what killed him.

It’s never too late to pile more pain onto the grieving parents and loved ones of slain teenager Trayvon Martin. His killer is free, Trayvon has been blamed for his own death, and now, taking it one step further, Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America has suggested that Martin’s dysfunctional family is responsible for the boy’s death.

That’s what he said in an interview with NewsMax’s Steve Malzberg this week: Trayvon Martin was killed because he had a “broken family.”

Who else can you blame? Triggerman, neighborhood-watch volunteer George Zimmerman was just lawfully “standing his ground” when he shot unarmed Martin. “Stand Your Ground” laws can’t be to blame because, as Sen. Ted Cruz explained to Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton in a Senate hearing on the controversial law, she’s just “mourning the loss of her son.” Stand-your-ground laws in fact “protect those in African-American communities,” he said.

Facts be damned, gun nuts and Tea Partiers agree. According to Right-Wing Watch, a recent “Tampa Bay Times analysis of stand-your-ground cases in Florida found substantial racial disparities in the application of the law, including that ‘people who killed a black person walked free 73 percent of the time, while those who killed a white person went free 59 percent of the time. A national study found a similar disparity.”

But, it’s Trayvon Martin’s family’s fault he’s dead. Probably his mother’s.

This is only one out of ten Republican whackos from last week alone, and this one is nowhere near the most obscene case of TEAbuggery. Click through for the other nine.

From Crooks and Liars: Today, as part of the Obama administration’s continuing efforts to increase access to mental health services, the final rule implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 was issued.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Friday that new regulations will require health insurers to treat mental health coverage like all other aspects of healthcare, the culmination of a long effort to achieve parity for mental health coverage and part of Obama’s effort to curb gun violence. The regulations put into effect a 2008 law, and will affect nearly 85 percent of Americans with health insurance. Insurers will be required to pay as much for mental health as they do for medical and surgical procedures, and cannot limit the geographical area where mental health care is covered.

I think this is more than fair for the Obama Administration to mandate equal coverage for the services Republicans need most. 🙂

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I’m writing for tomorrow and am still down and continuing in minimum part-time mode.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:53 (average 7:40).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: I found this article on The National Memo about a speech given by Wendy Davis.

Apparently, she dared to give her definition of what it means to be "pro-life":

“I am pro-life,” she told a University of Texas at Brownsville crowd on Tuesday. “I care about the life of every child: every child that goes to bed hungry, every child that goes to bed without a proper education, every child that goes to bed without being able to be a part of the Texas dream, every woman and man who worry about their children’s future and their ability to provide for that future. I care about life and I have a record of fighting for people above all else.”

“This isn’t about protecting abortion,” Davis explained in the same appearance. “It’s about protecting women. It’s about trusting women to make good decisions for themselves and empowering them with the tools to do that.”

Republicans, on the other hand, are pro-death.

From NY Times: The Food and Drug Administration proposed measures on Thursday that would all but eliminate artery-clogging, artificial trans fats from the food supply, the culmination of three decades of effort by public health advocates to get the government to take action against them.

Artificial trans fats — a major contributor to heart disease in the United States — have already been substantially reduced in foods. But they still lurk in many popular products, like frostings, microwave popcorn, packaged pies, frozen pizzas, margarines and coffee creamers. Banning them completely could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year, the F.D.A. said.

I’m expecting a Republican counter-proposal banning all natural fats and allowing only corporate trans fats, with a special tax break for ones loaded with GMOs.

From TPM: Fox News host Bill O’Reilly said Friday that he can’t evaluate New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) policies because the governor won’t agree to appear on his show.

“He won’t submit to an interview with me,” O’Reilly said on “CBS This Morning,” as quoted by Politico. “Christie will not. He just won’t do it. So I can’t tell you policy-wise how versed he is because I’ve never seen him under that spotlight.

I trust I don’t have to tell you that I am NOT, a Chris Christy fan, especially since he is disappearing Sandy relief money, holding out on thousands of flood victims, who really need it. Nevertheless, when a Republican I dislike does something right, I admit it. Snubbing O’Lielly is ALWAYS a good choice.

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