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We Have One Week to Save the Grand Canyon

jacob

George W. Bush has a vision for the Grand Canyon. But it’s not this.


It’s this.


These are photographs of Orphan Mine, an abandoned uranium mine on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Mining stopped there in 1972, but the environmental impact continues today:

Visitors walking along the canyon rim must detour around the site. The large headframe and other structures on the site attract curious visitors. The chain-link fence around the mine workings is often in a state of disrepair, and is only partly effective where it joins the rim. Hazards: The main shaft is 1,500 feet deep and is accessible via a ladderway exposed just below the canyon rim. The remaining structures, foundations, and trash also present physical hazards. Radiation levels are elevated throughout the compound and in a visitor-use area to the west, with combined beta and gamma sometimes exceeding 3.0 mR/hour…. Resource Impacts: Approximately ten acres of land on the rim are radiologically contaminated (in excess of 0.057 mR/hour) with ore and waste rock.

Bush is in a rush to ensure that Orphan Mine is only the beginning:

The Bush Administration is rushing forward with plans to mine the Grand Canyon for uranium, ignoring a command from Congress to cease such operations. Since 2003, mining interests have staked out over 800 uranium claims within five miles of Grand Canyon National Park. As Mineweb reports, “The Bureau of Land Management has published a proposed rule which rejects the House Natural Resources Emergency House Resolution enacted in June that bans uranium mining and exploration near the Grand Canyon National Park.” The Arizona Republic explains what’s at stake:

Never mind that the drinking water of more than 25 million people, served by the Colorado River, is at risk.

Or that Arizona Game and Fish warns about the impact on wildlife.

Or that Grand Canyon National Park is still dealing with the toxic mess from past mines.

The proposed BLM rule would not only reject the House’s emergency withdrawal of over one million acres of federal land near Grand Canyon National Park from new uranium mining, but also eliminate the provisions that allow Congress to make such withdrawals in the future. The proposed rule, published on Friday, has a remarkably short comment period, closing in less than two weeks on October 27. House Parks Subcommittee Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) blasted BLM’s action, saying, “This last-minute move by this ‘see if we can get it under the clock‘ administration is cowardly.”

Cowardly, opportunistic, and so very Bush. He is, once again, defying Congress and trying to impose his will by fiat. He is, once again, demonstrating his reckless disregard for the environment. He doesn’t care that the Grand Canyon is an irreplaceable natural wonder. He doesn’t care that communities such as Flagstaff depend on the tourism the Canyon brings. He doesn’t care that Native Americans still live on that land, and that to them, it is sacred.

We have only a week to speak out for the Grand Canyon. You can submit a written comment online here (click the yellow dialogue bubble by “Add Comments”). Some good talking points can be found here.

The environmental impact of uranium mining in Grand Canyon National Park can’t be overstated. This is fragile land, and once destroyed, it can’t be reclaimed.

Water quality. Water in Arizona is scarce and precious. Uranium mining will contaminate Colorado River tributaries and the local water table. Uranium levels in creeks contaminated by Orphan Mine are 3 higher than the USEPA drinking water standard.

Flooding. Northern Arizona is prone to flash floods, and the Grand Canyon suffers landslides. In 1984, a flash flood washed four tons of uranium ore from a mine in Hack Canyon. That ore has concentrations of uranium 2,000 – 3,000 times greater than the levels in natural soils, and it ended up washed into creeks that provide water to thousands of people.

Landscape. The damage is not limited to the mines alone, although that’s eyesore enough. Roads have to be built to those mines. Dust from those roads fills the air, reducing visibility at the Canyon. Powerlines are strung across once unobstructed vistas. Public land is removed from public use, posted with No Trespassing signs, and spoiled for generations due to dangerous debris and radioactive contamination.

Reclamation. In Arizona, the idea of “reclaiming” mined land is a sick joke. The topsoil, as one BLM architect has noted, is far too thin for reclamation cover. Attempts at revegetation fail due to low rainfall and invasion by intruder species. Even those invaders can’t hold the soil together, and Arizona’s sporadic but heavy rains cut right through ground not held together by healthy root systems. Drastic erosion results in gullies several feet deep. It’s not only ugly, it exposes the radioactive waste meant to be “reclaimed.”

Native flora and fauna. You can imagine what all of the above does to native species, not to mention Native Americans.

That’s just a brief summary from supplemental testimony sent to Congress by Chris Shuey from the Southwest Research and Information Center. If you search the intertoobz, you’ll come across several more impact statements, all just as depressing, if not more.

The Grand Canyon is enjoyed by millions
of visitors from around the world. It’s home to many plants, animals and people. It’s one of the most spectacular vistas on Earth, and the last thing it needs is to be strewn with uranium mines. Let the BLM know that this end-run around Congress in order to let mining interests take over a national natural treasure won’t be tolerated.

And please help me spread the word. Bush’s plan to give the Grand Canyon to mining interests isn’t an Arizona issue, or an American issue: this Canyon belongs to the world.

Don’t let him take it from you.

We Have One Week to Save the Grand Canyon
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Right Wing Too Stupid to Recognize Ohio State Flag

jacob4 Comments

These fucktards need a special education course in state flags:

Barack Obama gave a speech in Toledo, Ohio, the other day, and behind his podium were several American and Ohioan flags. Not exactly newsworthy stuff.

The problem is, Ohio’s flag features a prominent, large “O.” Obama’s right-wing detractors didn’t know this, and assumed that the Obama campaign had created its own flag to stand alongside the American flag. Conservative activists and talk-show hosts had a bit of a freak-out. Here’s a hilarious example.

On the October 15 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Bob Grant said: “[W]hat is that flag that Obama’s been standing in front of that looks like an American flag, but instead of having the field of 50 stars representing the 50 states, there’s a circle?” He then said: “Is the circle the ‘O’ for Obama? Is that what it is?” Grant later said: “[D]id you notice Obama is not content with just having several American flags, plain old American flags with the 50 states represented by 50 stars? He has the ‘O’ flag. And that’s what that ‘O’ is. That’s what that ‘O’ is.”

John Cole also noted a Townhall commenter who was outraged that Obama would “change” the American flag: “I don’t want to hear any looney left comments that they are only decoration. They ARE a modification of the American flag.”

Can you be this stupid and still be a real Amurkin Patreeit? Myself, I don’t think so.

Since words may be a little bit difficult for these people to grasp, let’s have some pictures.

This is the Ohio state flag:


It has an O on it because it’s Ohio’s flag.

This is Senator Barack Obama standing in front of the Ohio state flag:


He is standing in front of the Ohio state flag because he is giving a speech in Ohio. He is honoring them by displaying their flag along with Old Glory. If you are a right-wing fucktard who is upset that the Ohio state flag is a modification of the American flag, you will have to take it up with Ohio. Obama is not responsible for what Ohio did in 1902, even though their names both start with an O.

Are we clear? Or do I have to make you write it on the board 100 times?

Right Wing Too Stupid to Recognize Ohio State Flag

Happy Hour Discurso

jacob2 Comments

Today’s opining on the public discourse.

Michelle Bachmann goes down tonight. No excuses. The burning insanity’s just too dangerous to leave lying around Congress:

Appearing on MSNBC’s Hardball today, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) attacked the patriotism of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), based on his alleged relationship to former Weather Underground member William Ayers and the values of Obama’s former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. “I’m very concerned that he may have anti-American views,” said Bachmann. “That’s what the American people are concerned about.”

She then went further, suggesting that all liberal views — held by people such as Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, professors, and all Americans who identify themselves as “liberals” — are “anti-American.” When host Chris Matthews, stunned by her remarks, asked Bachmann how many people in Congress hold anti-American views, she responded, “You’ll have to ask them.”

Bachmann called on the media to conduct investigations into the anti-American activities of members of Congress, similar to Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s discredited House Un-American Activities Committee hearings in the 1950s. “I think people would love to see an exposé like that,” she claimed.

Outraged? Insulted? Appalled? Good. This boil on the ass of democracy is up for reelection. Delightful Red-to-Blue candidate El Tinklenberg is poised to kick her sorry arse out of the hallowed halls of Congress, and you can help by going here, getting jazzed up, and throwing a few bucks his way. Kossacks have already donated over $30,000 this evening. Let’s join the dogpile.

Politics is fun.

Speaking of getting their arses kicked, the Ohio GOP is going to have to look for other ways to disenfranchise that flood of newly-registered Dems:

A welcome ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court this afternoon.

The Supreme Court sided Friday with Ohio’s top elections official in a dispute with the state Republican Party over voter registrations.

The justices overruled a federal appeals court that had ordered Ohio’s top elections official to do more to help counties verify voter eligibility.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, faced a deadline of Friday to set up a system to provide local officials with names of newly registered voters whose driver’s license numbers or Social Security numbers on voter registration forms don’t match records in other government databases.

Ohio Republicans, spurred by a manufactured ACORN controversy, want state officials to compare the 666,000 newly registered voters against data collected by the state DMV. According to the Secretary of State’s office, about 200,000 of the new voters show at least some kind of discrepancy — out of nearly two dozen categories — some as minor as the misspelling of a name.

Today’s ruling, therefore is a big win, clears the way for those new voters to cast a ballot, and prevents broad disenfranchisement.

Victory, my darlings, is sweet indeed.

And the Obama campaign is going full-out on the whole voter fraud bullshit. Fair took my breath away, this did, and I hope Emptywheel at Firedoglake will forgive me for reproducing her fantastic post in full:

The Obama campaign general counsel, Bob Bauer, has demanded that Michael Mukasey expand the scope of Special Prosecutor Nora Dannehy’s investigation to include Republican claims of voter fraud in this election.

As a reminder, Dannehy was appointed to investigate the US Attorney firings. Arguing that Republicans’ bogus claims of “vote fraud” are the same kind of misconduct as firing a bunch of US Attorneys in 2006 was, Bauer says Dannehy should include current Republican activities in her investigation.

The Dannehy investigation concerns, most fundamentally, abuse of the law enforcement process to advance, in the name of combating “voting fraud”, a partisan political agenda. The appointment of a Special Prosecutor was required because the Department’s leadership was the focus of the investigation and unable to credibly undertake an independent, professional and credible inquiry.

Now, on the emerging evidence of recent conduct undertaken by Bush Administration officials, Republican party officials, and representatives of the McCain-Palin campaign, it appears that further misconduct of the same nature, directly relevant to the work of the Special Prosecutor, requires that the scope of the Special Prosecutor’s assignment be expanded.

Accordingly, I request that Special Prosecutor Dannehy’s inquiry incldue a review of any involvement by Justice Department and White House officials in supporting the McCain-Palin campaign and the Republican National Committee (“RNC”)’s systematic development and dissemination of unsupported, spurious allegations of vote fraud. It is highly likely that the very sort of politically motivated conduct identified in the Department’s investigation to date, necessitating the appointment of a Special Prosecutor, is repeating itself, and for the same reason: unwarranted and politically motivated intervention in the upcoming election.

Shorter Obama campaign: Republicans are already under criminal investigation for this stuff. Don’t let them get away with the same kind of criminal conduct again.

We’re not dealing with 2000 or 2004’s Democratic Party anymore.

Hell no, we’re not. The Dems aren’t mewling cowards anymore, snivelling “Not in the face!” They’re not fighting filthy, but they’re fighting strong, smart, and relentlessly. Obama has performed that miracle: he showed them where the backbones were stored and persuaded them to strap ’em on. It has been a lovely sight to behold.

And they’ve only begun to fight:

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, seeing an irresistible opportunity to make big gains on Election Day, has secured a $15 million loan from Bank of America that it will use to splurge on tight races during the last three weeks of the campaign season.

The $15 million loan is nearly twice the $8 million that the National Republican Congressional Committee was able to borrow recently and adds to the huge financial advantage that Democrats already hold over the GOP.

When combined with the cash-on-hand advantage that the DCCC has over the National Republican Congressional Committee — $54 million to $14.4 million as of Aug. 31 — the loan leaves House Democratic leaders with $47 million more than their GOP counterparts to pour into contested districts.

No wonder the Republicons are shit-scared and thus trying to press every racist, xenophobic, “patriotic,” fearful, hateful, and ignorant button they can with the electorate. They’re facing an election they very well might not be able to lie, cheat and steal their way to victory in. Fuck October Surprises. I do believe they could bring us the head of bin Laden, pull the troops out of Iraq, and shore up the markets long enough to stop the freefall, and the electorate would merely say, “That’s nice, but you’re years too late” before pulling the lever for the Dems.

It’s not like they have credible candidates to sway the American public with. John McCain’s become a crotchety old fart whose antics have folks whispering about dementia, and Sarah Palin is such a joke that she’s even getting snubbed by the White House:

This week, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Barack Obama (D-IL), and Joe Biden (D-DE) all were contacted by Defense Secretary Robert Gates or Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice regarding the Iraq security agreement.

In today’s White House press briefing, spokesman Dana Perino explained that the adminstration contacted the candidates “to keep them equitably informed.” “One of them is going to win the election, and they will be taking over and having to deal with these issues,” Perino explained. But nobody called Gov. Sarah Palin.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Even the White House, George W. “High Functioning Moron” Bush’s fucking White House, doesn’t think Palin’s a credible enough candidate that she needs to be informed of things like the Iraq security agreement. Apparently, they don’t believe she’ll be “having to deal with these issues,” most likely because she can’t.

I begin to think that Kevin Drum is correct:

Apropos of nothing in particular, I want to go on the record with a prediction that Sarah Palin will disappear into a well-deserved obscurity after the election is over. She is not a “comer.” She is not the future of the Republican Party. She will not run for president in 2012. In fact, she won’t maintain any kind of serious national political standing at all. At best, she’ll spend the next few years being a celebrity starter at NASCAR races and speaking at Republican prayer breakfasts. At worst, she’ll be an occasional butt of late night comics.

But you know what? I hope the fucktards on the right do run her in 2012. I hope they pin all of their hopes and dreams on her. I can think of few things more entertaining than to watch this woman try to run as head of the Republicon ticket against Obama and Biden.

I can think of few things more likely to push more conservatives into endorsing Democratic candidates:

On his talk show on WPHT today, conservative Philadelphian Michael Smerconish endorsed Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Listen HERE.

Smerconish did so by reading a couple paragraphs from his pending op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“I’ve decided,” he said. “My conclusion comes after reading the candidates’ memoirs and campaign platforms, attending both party conventions, interviewing both men multiple times, and watching all primary and general election debates.

“John McCain is an honorable man who has served his country well. But he will not get my vote. For the first time since registering as a Republican 28 years ago, I’m voting for a Democrat for president.

“I may have been an appointee in the George H.W. Bush administration, and master of ceremonies for George W. Bush in 2004, but last Saturday I stood amidst the crowd at an Obama event in North Philadelphia,” says the Republican.

This on a day when the conservative Chicago Tribune endorsed the Democratic presidential candidate for the first time in their history. That history, my darlings, covers 161 years.

History is being made this year. I think we can all drink to that.

Happy Hour Discurso

Friday Favorite Funny Political Videos

jacob1 Comment

This week has been an absolute treasure trove of political wit. Kick back, pour your favorite beverage, and enjoy!

We begin with an important Public Service Announcement. Just as it’s important for parents to talk to their kids about the dangers of drugs, it’s vital that kids talk to their parents about the dangers of McCain:

A McCain-Free America starts at home.

Recently, 20/20 aired a program odiously questioning whether young people should vote. After cherry-picking responses to maximize the appearance of youth ignorance, John Stossel in his infinite determined that young adults are just too dumb to vote and should stay home.

Note to John Stossel: it might be best not to go there, lest ye be PWND:

Stossel should be sentenced to weeks of having to watch that one on a loop.

I know the economy’s been much on our minds lately. It’s all because of the Pirates of Wall Street:

Aye, I’ll drink to that!

McCain’s private diary found its way onto YouTube. If you ever wanted to know how he really feels about Sarah Palin, wonder no more:

Just as I suspected.

And, finally, let us be under no illusions as to what John Cleese thinks of Sarah Palin:

He’s so right. So blazingly, scathingly, hilariously right. I have loved this man since high school. Every year, I love him a little more.

I’d like to raise a toast to our fucked-up political landscape, which has proven such a rich source of material for satire, parody and snark. Cheers!

Friday Favorite Funny Political Videos

Dave Letterman Hands McCain's Ass to Him

jacob

Holy fucking shit, Batman! Dave Letterman absolutely annihilates McCain over the Obama-associates-with-terrorists bullshit. PWNS him with G. Gordon Liddy:

Hoping to make amends, McCain appeared on Letterman’s show, hat in hand, and acknowledged that he’d erred. As it turns out, though, that’s not the interesting part. The real news here is that Letterman did what most reporters have been unwilling to do.

Questioning the premise of McCain’s relentless guilt-by-association attacks, Letterman noted that people in public life can’t necessarily be held accountable for everyone they’ve interacted with. When McCain protested a bit, Letterman asked two highly relevant questions: “Did you not have a relationship with Gordon Liddy?” and “Did you attend a fundraiser at his house?” McCain, looking confused, conceded to having “met” Liddy. After a commercial break, McCain added, “I know Gordon Liddy. He paid his debt, he went to prison…. I’m not in any was embarrassed to know Gordon Liddy.”

That’s an interesting response. Liddy is, of course, a convicted felon who has “acknowledged preparing to kill someone during the Ellsberg break-in ‘if necessary’; plotting to murder journalist Jack Anderson; plotting with a ‘gangland figure’ to murder Howard Hunt to stop him from cooperating with investigators; plotting to firebomb the Brookings Institution; and plotting to kidnap ‘leftist guerillas’ at the 1972 Republican National Convention — a plan he outlined to the Nixon administration using terminology borrowed from the Nazis.” Liddy also once famously gave his supporters advice on how best to kill federal officials (he recommended shooting them in the head because they might be wearing flak jackets).

Despite this scandalous past, McCain has accepted thousands of dollars in contributions from Liddy, attended a fundraiser in his honor at Liddy’s home, and told Liddy that he’s “proud of” him.

Also remember, Liddy can be fairly described as “unrepentant.” When asked if he regretted his felonies, “A vein twitches angrily on one of his scales, but he replies in a level voice, ‘No.'”

The fact that Letterman just slammed McCain in the gut with this is outstanding. It’s about time that stupid Republicon tricks like guilt-by-association came back to bite them in the arse.

Here’s the vid:

Memo to self: Do not under any circumstances ever piss Dave Letterman off.

Dave Letterman Hands McCain's Ass to Him

We Have 'em On the Run

jacob

How sweet it is:

Here’s yet more evidence that the Dems are poised for huge gains in Congress: The Cook Report has released a new set of updated rankings on 25 House races — and all 25 are shifts in the Dems’ direction.

Most of these show that a Dem incumbent who was leaning towards a win is now more likely to win, or that a Republican once thought solid or highly likely to win is now a weaker position, albeit still favored. But a few of these show serious changes in the expectations for the Dems to pick up seats.

For example, the open seat of moderate Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), who lost his primary for re-election, is now a toss-up in a district that voted 62%-36% for President Bush in 2004 — helped in no small part by the fact that Gilchrest has been campaigning for the Dem.

For what it’s worth, only one Democratic seat has recently been shifted towards the GOP: The seat of scandal-ridden Florida Rep. Tim Mahoney.

Savor that a moment. Districts that are overwhelmingly Republicon are now battlegrounds.

This is our opportunity. This is our year. We can sweep the neocons, theocons, and richophiles out of Washington. We have this chance to bring a progressive message to America. We can win people who wouldn’t have given us a nanosecond’s consideration before the dramatic failure of Republicon rule.

We can show them that the liberal, progressive agenda isn’t a thing to be feared, but a thing to be embraced. They’re open. They’re still uncertain, but they’re ready to listen.

They’re ready for new ideas about health care, to ensure that Americans can afford the care and treatment they need.

They’re ready for old ideas about the economy, realizing now that regulations don’t cripple business – they keep marauders from robbing Wall Street blind, prevent speculative bubbles that feel good while they’re expanding but hurt like hell when they burst, and ensure that business is conducted sensibly and sustainably.

They’re ready for intelligent foreign policy, a policy that treats our allies with respect and appreciation, approaches our enemies with strength and resolution, and relies on sensible diplomacy to resolve conflicts before they spiral out of control.

They’re ready for energy independence, and are open now as never before to the idea that you can have your environmentalism and your energy, too – as long as you do it right.

They’re ready for the restoration of the rule of law and the Constitution.

They’re ready for change. They’re ready for hope.

We can give that to them.

Nothing is going to be easy. It’s hard to change deep-seated attitudes, hard to reverse course, hard to face up to the tough facts and do what’s necessary to ensure we have a future. But we can do this together. I think Americans are ready to have that talk, the one that will identify principles the majority of us can sign on to. We’re ready to work together for a better country and a better world.

That’s what those numbers tell me.

It tells me that more Americans than ever are ready to turn to the left for solutions.

Make the pledge, here, now: We won’t let them down.

We Have 'em On the Run

Happy Hour Discurso

jacob

Today’s opining on the public discourse.

Glenn Beck, CNN’s resident Faux News blowhard, has finally faced facts and decided to make his Faux News “journalism” official:

Michael Calderone reports that right-wing talker Glenn Beck is leaving CNN and joining Fox News. “Beginning next spring, Beck will host FOX News Channel’s (FNC) 5 PM/ET weekday
program as well as a weekend show on the network,” a Fox News statement says. Fox News’s Roger Ailes remarked, “As we embark on a new political landscape, Glenn’s thought provoking commentary will complement an already stellar line-up of stars at FOX News.” Check out some of Beck’s worst moments here.


Goodbye and good riddance, Glenn. You should fit right in with the rest of the right-wing hacks.

Speaking of right-wing hacks, looks like we can add the Secret Service to that list:

Today in a Washington Post chat, Dana Milbank revealed that — in “a serious violation of their duty” — the Secret Service is now preventing the press from interviewing attendees at
McCain-Palin rallies:

I have to say the Secret Service is in dangerous territory here. In cooperation with the Palin campaign, they’ve started preventing reporters from leaving the press section to interview people in the crowd. This is a serious violation of their duty — protecting the protectee — and gets into assisting with the political aspirations of the candidate. It also often makes it impossible for reporters to get into the crowd to question the people who say vulgar things. So they prevent
reporters from getting near the people doing the shouting, then claim it’s unfounded because the reporters can’t get close enough to identify the person.


Congratulations, Georgie. You managed to turn absolutely every government agency into a right-wing enforcement machine.

The Secret Service decided after a one-day investigation that allegations of people screaming “Kill him!” at McCain/Palin rallies were unfounded. Remarkable effiency, that. Their basic premise is that, since they didn’t hear anything, it never happened. I’m sure we all feel safer knowing that the folks in charge of keeping our candidates safe apparently suffer from selective deafness. And apparently don’t watch YouTube videos.

In the meantime, McCain and the Republicons are working overtime to ensure the hate and fear are screwed up to a fever pitch:

When McCain/Palin offer sleazy attacks in a speech, it’s easy to hold them accountable. When they offer scurrilous lies in a television ad, it’s almost as easy, especially with the whole “approve this message” line and media scrutiny of campaign advertising.

But McCain, Palin, and the Republican Smear Machine save some of their most offensive work for automated robocalls, which fly just below the radar screen. It’s obviously abject cowardice, but decency and honor are the last things McCain is worried about now.

The first round of calls was in line with run-of-the-mill Republican nonsense.

The robocalls [in North Carolina, Missouri, Colorado, and Wisconsin] hit Obama for attending a celebrity fundraiser in Hollywood while efforts to address the financial crisis got underway in Washington.

A second round of robocalls, also from McCain and the RNC, hits Obama as a tax-hiker, and stops just short of criticizing the big bailout package that McCain has repeatedly taken credit for helping get passed.

The second round cranked up the sleaze a bit.

“Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats aren’t who you think they are,” the call says. “They say they want to keep us safe, but Barack Obama said the threat we face now from terrorism is nowhere near as dire as it was in the end of the Cold War. And Congressional Democrats now want to give civil rights to terrorists.”


And the third round, which is reaching households in Wisconsin, New Mexico, Northern Virginia, Maine, Florida, Missouri, and North Carolina, says a lot more about Republicans than it does
Obama.

“You need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge’s home, and killed Americans. And Democrats will enact an extreme leftist agenda if they take control of Washington. Barack Obama and his Democratic allies lack the judgment to lead our country.”


Isn’t that adorable? They want everyone to believe that the Democrats, Barack Obama especially, are the terrorists best buddies, and just waiting for you to elect them so that they can murder you in your beds. The only way they can get elected is if they make the voting public too shit-scared to risk those meanie Dems. Charming. Stay classy, GOP.

I th
ink we need to start returning fire. Let’s start with war profiteering:

International Oil Trading Company, which ships oil into Iraq for use by U.S. forces, “appears to have engaged in a reprehensible form of war profiteering,” according to the House Oversight Committee. The company is run by Florida businessman Harry Sargeant, who has raised at least $500,000 for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). From Rep. Henry Waxman’s (D-CA) letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates:

[T]he prices IOTC has charged the government are not “fair and reasonable.” A “price negotiation memorandum” assessing the company’s June 2004 contract concluded that the price charged by IOTC, $2.10 per gallon of jet fuel, was at least 36 cents per gallon too high. … Of the $210 million in profits received by the company, at least one third — $70 million — appears to have benefited a single individual: Mr. Sargeant.


If this was a Dem’s fundraiser, you know the GOP would be screaming for blood and demanding the tainted money be returned. We should pay McCain’s sleazy fundraisers the same courtesy.

Then let’s move on to demanding McCain disassociate himself with GOP officials who equate Obama with bin Laden:

Earlier this week, Time magazine’s Karen Tumulty reported on how Jeffrey Frederick, the chairman of the Virginia Republican party, gave GOP volunteers talking points on “the connection between Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden.” “Both have friends that bombed the Pentagon,” Frederick told 30 volunteers. “That is scary.”

[snip]

Frederick, for his part, is standing by his words. “It is just the hard facts,” he told the Washington Post. Despite Frederick’s outrageous comments, McCain is set to appear with him in Virginia on Saturday:

The McCain/Palin campaign announced today that Senator John McCain will visit Virginia once again this week. The Republican Presidential nominee will hold a campaign rally at the Prince William County Complex here in Woodbridge on Saturday, October 18th.

“Prince William is the key to Senator McCain winning Virginia, and his visit here will only reinforce that Prince William is McCain country,” said Delegate Jeffrey M. Frederick, Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia and a member of the Virginia General Assembly from Woodbridge.


Contacted by ThinkProgress today, the Virginia Republican Party said that Frederick is “expected to be there on Saturday.” During the debate last night, McCain said that “every time there’s been an out-of-bounds remark made by a Republican, no matter where they are, I have repudiated them.”

Instead of repudiating Frederick, McCain is set to appear with him.


Well, since McCain makes Obama repudiate any and every Dem who hurts McCain’s tender feelings, fair is only fair. Blast ‘im.

From there, we can move on the G. Gordon Liddy and all of those other delightful individuals McCain loves to pal around with who think domestic terrorism is a-ok as long as it’s right-wing domestic terrorism. And how about Sarah Palin’s adoration of secessionist parties? Let’s go there, too. And… well, the list of shady lobbyists, shadier campaign financiers, donors, and rabid crowds grows too long for me to ennumerate here.

You get the picture. If McCain and the GOP want to play guilt-by-association, let’s play back. We already know who’s gonna win.

Happy Hour Discurso

An Angry, Sarcastic, Washed-up Wingnut

jacob2 Comments

What did we learn about McCain in this final debate? Good fucking luck if you’re a woman in need of a life-saving abortion in a world ruled by McCain:

That’s right. McCain believes that abortion due to medical necessity is “the extreme pro-abortion position.”

Other than losing every woman outside of the rabidly religious variety, McCain managed to turn quite a few undecided voters Obama’s way by being a snide, eye-rolling, sighing, sarcastic jerk:

Frank Luntz: Early in the debate these people thought McCain was doing better, by the end of the debate Obama seemed to finish better. Brit.

Brit Hume: Question — you said that none of the people came in there for Obama, may I take it that that’s because they were undecided or because they were for McCain?

Luntz: No, they were undecided, we got 23 undecided voters. Brit, I chewed them out to make sure they were undecided. Did anyone switch your position tonight? We have one person… four people. Who did you go to?

Undecided voter #1: I lean more toward Obama.
Undecided voter #2: Obama.
Undecided voter #3: Obama.
Undecided voter #4: Obama.

Luntz: This is a good night for Barack Obama.

Yes, indeedy. That would be Faux News’s stable of undecided voters breaking handily for Obama. So far, from all that I’ve read, not one single person broke for McCain.

And the snap polls showed a definitive Obama win:

In the CBS poll of undecided debate-watchers, 53% say Obama won, only 22% say McCain won, and 24% say it was a tie.

The CNN poll was just read on the air, surveying all debate-watchers in general. It shows 58% saying Obama won, to 31% saying McCain won. Barack Obama’s personal ratings are 66% favorable to 33% unfavorable, way ahead of McCain’s score of 49%-49%.

McCain’s favorability rating actually went down. Strangely enough, Americans are more interested in a man who can lead over a grumpy old fart who can’t even mask his contempt for his opponent and progressive Americans.

This picture, I believe, states the case with an eloquence no words can match:


Ladies and gentlemen, one of these two men will be your next President. Choose wisely.

An Angry, Sarcastic, Washed-up Wingnut

Hey, Republicon Party: Grow the Fuck Up

jacob1 Comment

“The occasional nut,” eh?

Yesterday, the Sacramento County Republican party removed from their website images that likened Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) to Osama bin Laden. One of the images “encouraged people to ‘Waterboard Barack Obama’”:

waterboard2.jpg

The chairman of the Sacramento County Republican party, Craig MacGlashan, told the Sacramento Bee on Tuesday, “Some people find it offensive, others do not. I cannot comment on how people interpret things.”

There’s a rather large number of “occasional nuts” right there in the Republicon party leadership. This is a fucking chairman who can’t figure out that everyone aside from a xenophobic, mouth-breathing son of a bitch would find those images and sentiments highly offensive.

What the fuck is wrong with these people? How can a party be filled to the brim with this kind of disgusting, crude, bigoted hate and retain even a tiny shred of credibility in a civilized society? They’re dragging America down to the lowest common denominator of paranoid fuckwit. They think this sort of immature bullshit belongs on their official websites. And I for one am extremely pissed off that these fucking douchebags claim to be moral authorities.

The few good Republicans left standing out there need to clean these shitstains out of their party ASAP, before there’s nothing left worth saving.

Hey, Republicon Party: Grow the Fuck Up