Politics Plus

I’m writing for tomorrow, waiting for Store to Door to deliver groceries and getting as much rest as I can.  Tomorrow is a prison volunteer day.  It’s our annual Community Outreach meeting.  We’re bringing in a couple dozen college students, and groups of them will have round-robin sessions with groups of my guys.  It should be a pretty big deal.  Please don’t expect much from me for the next couple days.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:53 (average 5:25).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From PRWatch: Today, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) released a new short film "Keystone PipeLIES Exposed" and major investigative report debunking key claims of proponents of the Keystone XL Pipeline as the State Department solicits comments from the public on its controversial environmental impact assessment.

Over the past seven months, CMD has interviewed experts and activists in Port Arthur, Texas; Detroit; and Washington, DC; and examined detailed tax, safety, economic, environmental, and campaign finance studies in assessing the claims made by proponents of the pipeline, which would carry more than 3/4 million barrels of tar sands oil a day from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries.

Keystone PipeLIES Exposed – Spills from Center for Media and Democracy on Vimeo.

There can be only one answer to Keystone XL: NO!

From Daily Kos: So take a gander at the states with the most miserable people:

10. Louisiana

9. Oklahoma

8. Missouri

7. Tennessee

6. Arkansas

5. Ohio

4. Alabama

3. Mississippi

2. Kentucky

1. West Virginia

Mississippi is thrilled that it didn’t top this list. West Virginia topped it by just being absolutely despondent about their future. And really, can’t say I blame them when water in Mexico is safer than the stuff coming out of their own tap.

Here we have a list that could be entitled "Who’s Who in InsaniTEA"!

From Washington Post: The annual Conservative Political Action Conference has long courted controversy over what its attendees and speakers say. For the past few years, they’ve almost earned more coverage for who they don’t invite to speak or attend — and what that says about the future of the furthest right fringe of the Republican Party.

Yesterday, CPAC organizers announced that they had changed their mind about inviting American Atheists to set up a booth at this year’s conference, which will be held March 6-8 at National Harbor. The group’s president said he was "really disappointed, but … not at all surprised" by the reverse of their fortunes. "We were going to CPAC specifically to combat the notion that one must be Christian in order to be conservative. We wanted to bring that to the forefront."

Lawrence O’Donnell offered excellent coverage.

If you don’t believe in Republican Supply-side Jesus (the antithesis of the real Jesus) and hate gays, blacks, Muslims, Latinos, libruls, and/or women who are not pregnant or wear shoes, you aren’t a real Republican and C-PUKE doesn’t want you.

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I’m writing for tomorrow, and my COPD is still severe, but I do have another article.  The ice storms are over, for now, and it looks like I’ll be able to get out, after today.  I hope you enjoy what Abe wants for his birthday.

Late Note:  I was right on the first short take.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:49 (average 4:25).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: The House is likely to vote Wednesday on a plan to extend the government’s borrowing authority into 2015 in exchange for reversing a cut to the pensions of working-age military veterans that Congress approved just two months ago to try to trim the budget deficit.

The plan, presented to House Republicans on Monday evening by their leaders, represents a dramatic reversal for the House after three years of using the debt ceiling to extract major spending cuts and conservative policy changes. In this instance, the debt ceiling deadline — looming at the end of this month — will be used to reverse the only difficult spending cut included in a budget and deficit-reduction deal reached in December.

For its part, the Senate voted Monday evening 94 to 0 to take up a Democratic bill that reverses the same spending cut without paying for it with other savings.

This sounds like an attempt at projection by Republicans, to hide a cave-in, because they were the ones who originally insisted on these cuts on the conference committee, and Democrats are the ones that have been trying to reverse these Republican cuts.  I doubt that Republicans will actually vote to repeal those cuts.  I think they are about to cave-in.

From Alternet: Crazy: Fox Host Lashes Out At Lego Movie for ‘an Anti-Business Message to Kids’

Barf Bag Alert!!

If the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, had their way, kids would get to see only The Birth of a Nation.

From Right Wing Watch: President Obama can do nothing right in the eyes of the GOP, it seems: Even the president’s National Prayer Breakfast speech defending religious freedom has stoked the ire of one Republican congressman.

Rep. Steve Southerland (R-FL) told Family Research Council president Tony Perkins on Washington Watch [Pseudo-Christians delinked] last week that he was “stunned” and “shocked” by the president’s speech and was angry that Obama would “insult those who really believe” in the freedom of religion — like him.

President Obama can do nothing right in the eyes of the GOP, it seems: Even the president’s National Prayer Breakfast speech defending religious freedom has stoked the ire of one Republican congressman.

Rep. Steve Southerland (R-FL) told Family Research Council president Tony Perkins on Washington Watch [Pseudo-Christians delinked] last week that he was “stunned” and “shocked” by the president’s speech and was angry that Obama would “insult those who really believe” in the freedom of religion — like him.

Barf Bag Alert!!

RepubliSpeak Dictionary – Religious Freedom: License to impose their beliefs and exclude those of others.

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I’m writing for tomorrow very early in the morning, because I have more work to do, and because I want to rest as much as I can before tomorrow’s trip for volunteer work.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:06 (average 4:54).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From We Are Ultraviolet: If this isn’t bullying, I don’t know what is

It’s impossible to ignore–Chris Christie is dominating our news feeds, Facebook posts, and political conversations. But what people aren’t talking about is the fact that he’s been a bully to women for a long time.

PIGnocchio is a misogynist, in addition to being a misanthrope!! Click through, please.

From Crooks and Liars: At least they’ve taken a break from bloviating about their phony "war on Christmas" for a while. Bill O’Reilly’s favorite wingnut pastor, Robert Jeffress was back, attacking President Obama and I think someone forgot to tell him to take his meds this Monday.

This is the norm for what we can expect from O’Lielly, The Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda (Faux Noise), and the Republican Party. The Antichrist for for Republican Supply-side pseudo Christians is the REAL Jesus!

From Globe and Mail: Outspoken real estate billionaire Donald Trump said on Tuesday he may seek the Republican presidential nomination for 2016, claiming he wants to undo President Barack Obama’s legacy.

If he goes through with it, the 2016 primary season could become a real hair ball.

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Yesterday I moved.  The day had two low points.  The first was discovering that, after losing my appointment for yesterday, Comcast cannot install my service until Tuesday, and learning that the landlord dies not allow a dish, so I can’t tell them to take a long flying ____ off a short pier.  The second was discovering that, after I had carefully left the wires attached to network equipment, the movers pulled them all off, leaving me with electronic spaghetti.  Kudos to me.  Everything works.  The high points were looking out my window onto 4th Avenue, Chinese food delivery, crawling into bed, and writing to let you know I’m back.  Today is a rest day, and tomorrow comes the task of unpacking lots more boxes.  Hopefully, I’ll be back to full time blogging within a week to ten days.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:58 (average 4:42).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: A Congressman Loses His Temper When Told To Not Talk About The People Suffering In The Room.

Kudos to both Democrats. Polis is right. It IS simple!  Americans overwhelmingly favor common sense reform, not racist Republican exploitation.

From The New Yorker:  With six fingers of Johnnie Walker swirling in his favorite tumbler, John Boehner speaks with the quiet assurance of a man on the brink of something big.

Just three workdays remain until Congress packs it in for 2013, and the House that Boehner presides over is about to set the record for the least productive year in its history—a quixotic goal that the tawny Ohioan set for himself when he arrived in Washington, in 1991.

“Like most of us, I came to this town hoping to make history,” he says, refilling his tumbler. “And, damn it, that’s what I’m about to do.”

Downing his glass in one gulp, he reflects upon “all the little things that had to go right” to make the year of epic underachievement possible…

Andy is so right. Agent Orange and his cronies have been the least productive Congress in history.

From Daily Kos: Al Sharpton did some great work on Monday’s PoliticsNation where he further exposed the politics of cruelty that have possessed the Republican Party.

Republicans want to cut food stamps, believe that kicking people off of unemployment insurance who cannot find a job in an economy where there are 3 people for every available position, and that a particularly evil and twisted version of "Christian faith" justifies punishing and hurting poor people as righteous deeds and acts that mark conservatives as the elect who are destined for heaven.

I am not a "Christian". But my understanding of the "historical" Jesus was that he was a man who died fighting State tyranny and would do anything to help the poor, the weak, and the vulnerable. The Tea Party GOP’s bastardization of Jesus Christ remakes him into a figure who puts his foot on the throats of the hungry, weak, the vulnerable, and the needy, in order to motivate them into self-sufficiency–or alternatively die from a lack of breath.

For the Tea Party GOP, either outcome is acceptable…

As a rule, I’m not a big Sharpton fan, but once again he deserves major kudos. Historical Jesus and Republican Supply-side Jesus are polar opposites.

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