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Seriously.
“This contraception thing, my gosh, it's [so] inexpensive. You know, back in my days, they'd use Bayer aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn't that costly.”
I’m rarely speechless.
Via Bob Cesca
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“First, if you're a business that wants to outsource jobs, you have that right, but you shouldn't get a tax deduction for doing it. That money should be used to cover moving expenses for companies like Master Lock that decide to bring jobs home. Give them the tax break.
Second of all, no American company should be able to avoid paying its fair share of taxes by moving jobs and profits overseas. So we've said, from now on, every multinational company should have to pay a basic minimum tax. And every penny should go towards lowering taxes for companies that choose to stay and hire here in the United States of America. Give them a bigger tax break.
Third, if you’re an American manufacturer, you should get a bigger tax cut. If you’re a high-tech manufacturer, creating new products, new services, we should double the tax deduction you get for making products here in America. If you want to relocate in a community like this one that’s been hard hit when factories left town, you should get help financing a new plant, financing new equipment, training new workers.”
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This was presumably done by Politifact, in order to kiss a little elephantine ass so that said elephants would stop calling Politifact a left wing tool. Of course, it didn’t work, and the end result is that they have now limited their usefulness in their efforts to bend way the hell over backwards to appear non-partisan.
Maddow said that she has "lost [her] mind more than once recently about how bad Politifact is, and how anybody who values the meaning of the word fact needs to stop citing them as an authority on the subject of facts." On Tuesday's show, Maddow discussed how Politifact looked into Sen. Marco Rubio's recent claim that the "majority of Americans are conservative."
"So, to sum up," Maddow said. "Marco Rubio says, 'the majority of Americans are conservative.' Politifact looks into that and finds that a majority of Amerians do not identify as conservative. And even if you wanted to extrapolate to parties...Republican-leaning instead of conservative...that still doesn't get you to a majority either. So, according to Politifact, Rubio's statement is false." Maddow then turned to Politifact's "truth-o-meter" which concluded that Rubio's statement is "mostly true."
Maddow yelled, "Seriously? Claim A: false. Claim B: false. Overall Politifact rating: mostly true!" Maddow was so angry that she told Politifact to "please leave the building." She asked the organization to leave the lights on as "we will need them to clean up the mess that you have left behind...You are a disaster."
Unlike whoever wrote the piece I quoted from Huffpost (author was unnamed), I think Maddow is spot on, and her indignation is richly deserved by Politifact, who I think should take the word ‘fact’ out of their name.
Barring that, they really need to take a step back from this idea of non-partisanship that they have. As we know, the truth has a liberal bias, and I am not being facetious when I say this.
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“It’s [contraception] not okay because it’s a license to do things in the sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be. They’re supposed to be within marriage, they are supposed to be for purposes that are, yes, conjugal, but also [inaudible], but also procreative.”
- The GOP’s uber-religious presidential wannabe, Rick Santorum, on who should and should not be able to access contraception, which he views as only for those who are married.
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“Well my own view is, it’s a great idea. People who are nreceiving welfare benefits, government benefits, we should make sure they’re not using those benefits to pay for drugs. I think it’s an excellent idea.”
We should start with drug testing the CEOs and other executives of companies who receive federal subsidies.
And then maybe move on to drug testig employees in our public schools, including colleges, since you know, our education system benefits from federal funding.
At this point, anyone who thinks that Republicans care about any other people except the wealthiest among us, is begging to be placed in a mental institution.
Via Bob Cesca
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Repeating much of what he told a Koch Brothers audience in November, Mitt Romney told Conservatives at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that he would cut Social Security and Medicare:
“We're going to have to recognize that Social Security and Medicare are unsustainable, not for the current group of retirees, but for coming generations. And we can't afford to avoid these entitlement challenges any longer.
We are going to slowly and gradually raise the retirement age for Social Security from the current 66 for full benefits. And we'll slow the growth rate in benefits for higher-income retirees.
Tomorrow's seniors should have the freedom to choose between Medicare and a range of private plans [think the Ryan Plan]. And if these future seniors want a more expensive plan, then they will have to pay the additional cost.”
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“[I]nterestingly enough, here is what they are forcing them to do — in an insurance policy, they or [sic] forcing them to pay for something that costs just a few dollars. Is that what insurance is for? The foundational idea that we have the [sic] government tells you that you have to pay for everything as a business. Things that are not really things you need insurance for, and still forcing on something [sic] that is not a critical economic need, when you have an economic distress, where you would need insurance. But forcing them even more to do it for minor expenses.”
(Maybe you see this as nitpicky, but honestly, I am very disinclined to once again call a man who can’t manage to speak the English language properly, the leader of the most powerful country on Earth. Not to mention the fact that we’re also the largest English-speaking nation on Earth.)
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The Washington Times/CPAC straw poll results of 3,408 conservative activists showed Romney with the support of 38 percent of respondents. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum was in second place at 31 percent.
When the results were announced, a packed ballroom erupted in both cheers and jeers as supporters of all four candidates sat in the room.
Does this mean anything? Probably not. Santorum currently enjoys a 15-point lead on Romney overall, according to Public Policy Polling. Mostly this just demonstrates something we already knew --- that Conservative voters are not all that happy with Romney. This doesn’t mean that he will not win the nomination, and I still believe that in spite of any and all setbacks, he will be the eventual GOP nominee.
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AP photo
The inscription currently reads:
“I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.”
Rachel Manteuffel, of the Washington Post:
“When I looked up the King quote, I found that the sin was actually worse than simply shoe-horning in an uncharacteristically immodest statement. The quote carved into the memorial on the Mall is not what Martin Luther King Jr. said. This is the equivalent of a Hollywood publicist pulling four words out of context from a newspaper review to make a bad film seem good. Except in this case, it’s the reverse: It takes the good out of context and makes it bad.”
“Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”
The paraphrased quote is clearly incorrect, and inadequate even as a paraphrase, and changes entirely the meaning of what Dr. King actually said, and thus the righteous controversy. Maya Angelou to the Washington Post:
“The quote makes Dr. Martin Luther King look like an arrogant twit...It makes him seem less than the humanitarian he was...It makes him seem an egotist." She also pointed out, "The 'if' clause that is left out is salient. Leaving it out changes the meaning completely.”
Kudos to the Obama administration, and to Secretary Salazar in particular, for ordering this rightful correction to the monument of an American hero to be made.
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Rick Santorum continued to rail against President Obama’s so-called war against religion during a town hall in Plano, Texas Wednesday night. The former Pennsylvania senator — who has spent the last several days criticizing the government’s requirement that insurers provide contraception coverage and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision striking down Proposition 8 — accused the administration of “crushing” religion and setting the United States on the path towards executing religious people by decapitation:
SANTORUM: “They are taking faith and crushing it. Why? Why? When you marginalize faith in America, when you remove the pillar of God-given rights, then what’s left is the French Revolution. What’s left is the government that gives you right, what’s left are no unalienable rights, what’s left is a government that will tell you who you are, what you’ll do and when you’ll do it. What’s left in France became the guillotine. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re a long way from that, but if we do and follow the path of President Obama and his overt hostility to faith in America, then we are headed down that road.”
And, according to the latest polling, this guy is the new favored leader of the Republicans. Seriously.
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“If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and frankly I’d be making it easier for Senator Clinton or Obama to win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.”
Via Bob Cesca
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“We don’t have shared goals with the Democrats.”
Huh. I guess this means that Republicans don’t share our goal of a safe and prosperous United States, Sen. DeMint? Or our goal to keep our country free from terrorism? Or one of the many other goals which we should certainly all share regardless of political affiliation.
Wondering where all their fake patriotic fervor went.
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“When Republicans act like Democrats, they lose. And in Newt Gingrich's case he had to resign. In Rick Santorum's case, he lost by the biggest margin of any Senate incumbent since 1980.”
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“This decision does not end this fight, and I expect it to go to the Supreme Court. That prospect underscores the vital importance of this election and the movement to preserve our values. I believe marriage is between a man and a woman and, as president, I will protect traditional marriage and
appoint judges who interpret the Constitution as it is written and not according to their own politics and prejudices.”
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“My goal is to try to resolve this diplomatically.”
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This is, beyond doubt, a great commercial.
But for whom?
To the best of my knowledge, Clint Eastwood is a Libertarian (a Republican). As such, he has, in my opinion, no right to make that ad.
After all, the ad implies that we’ve overcome such things as the Detroit auto crisis together (lest we forget, Republicans wanted to let Detroit “fail”.) Together, Republicans and Democrats.
The truth is something else entirely.
The Republicans have done everything in their power to cause this country to literally fail, in the service of their stated mission to make President Obama a one term president.
To that end, the obstruction, the willful, wanton obstruction and destruction of everything which could help us to overcome the economic crisis we faced in 2008, has been mounted by one party. The Republican Party.
This commercial would be a great ad, but only if it were an Obama 2012 ad. No Republican has a right to pretend that they contributed anything to any success this country has had since 2008.
Not a damn one of them.
Via Bob Cesca
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“I know he walked away with the hard drives in Massachusetts. But the video from the primary campaign is going to be hard to erase.”
Hell, Romney’s gone so far right, that he will find it difficult to tack to the center in time for the 2016 general election.
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Cartoonist, Dave Granlund.
Cartoonist, R.J. Matson.
Cartoonist, Joel Pett, as seen in the Lexington Herald-Leader (February 2, 2012).
Cartoonist, Jim Morin, as seen in the Miami Herald (February 1, 2012).
Cartoonist, Lee Judge, as seen in the / The Kansas City Star (January 30, 2012).
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“I’ll pay higher taxes. I look at it this way. I can pay higher taxes and people can have jobs, or I can pay lower taxes and I have my kid’s teacher asking me for a loan, which is true.”
Via JM Ashby
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“I've just gotten word that in the next hour, Shakira and Big Bird will also be issuing endorsements, and we'll be having live, Team Fox coverage of that! Shakira, Big Bird and Donald Trump.”
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“I actually think that is going to make economic sense, but for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus's teaching that ‘ for unto whom much is given, much shall be required ’.”
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I missed this news yesterday, but it seems to me to be important to take note.
The US plans to wind down its war in Afghanistan a year or more earlier than scheduled by ending its combat role in the second half of 2013.
Defence secretary Leon Panetta said no decision has been made on how quickly to draw down American and other Nato forces, but that the shift away from fighting is being brought forward. At the same time, Nato is considering reducing the planned size of the Afghan army because of the cost involved.
"Hopefully by mid to the latter part of 2013 we'll be able to make a transition from a combat role to a training, advise and assist role," Panetta said.
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“Mitt Romney has been exposed, like a character out of Orphan Annie, Daddy Warbucks, as an enormously wealthy person out of touch with ordinary Americans who simply wants to be president, as far as we can tell, because he wants to be President.”
Adding.......the character of “Daddy Warbucks” is a perfect characterization of the out of touch elitist, Mitt Romney.
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“I think that when Newt Gingrich parades around the country saying Mitt Romney is a liar and Mitt Romney parades around country saying Newt Gingrich is a liar, the conclusion most people draw is they’re both liars.”
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The DNC came out with a little vid to enlighten you if you weren’t already aware and appalled, and as the video points out, Romney is really only for one group of people. And you know which one that is.
Really, Mitt?
Adding.........did you know that according to Ezra Klein, via Bob Cesca, Romney is a real winner in the presidential wealth sweepstakes:
Add up the wealth of the last eight presidents, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama. Then double that number. Now you’re in Romney territory.
Two Bushes are in there, too, and they’re loaded.
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“Let Detroit go bankrupt.”
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“I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs a repair, I'll fix it.”
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