The Grey Matter

I give you the lovely C Street abode, or aka Animal House.
Stumble It! |

Priceless. We endlessly debate and procrastinate regarding global warming and alternative energy, but once China (of all countries) plows forward in earnest, determined to become the dominant global player in green energy, then the U.S. cries foul!
Stumble It! |

The Anonymous Liberal has an excellent summary of the entire Sarah Palin embarrassment. And of course, there's always the now famous take-down of Palin from the right, ala Peggy Noonan.

Just remember, we always have 72-year old cancer survivor John McCain to thank for this, Mr. Country First. To think she would've been a heartbeat away from running things in the White House is a nightmare that still keeps me up some nights....
Stumble It! |

Classic. A constituent asks Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) how he can get the same health care coverage that the Senator has, understanding that it's cheaper and better. Grassley replies just go work for the government. See for yourself.

The only way we can get such terrific coverage is to work for the federal government, so says this top-ranking Republican. And yet the GOP is the party that decries big government -- but that doesn't stop Grassley from urging his constituents to join the government's payroll, effectively endorsing the idea of bigger government. Logic once again gets in the way of a Republican's point.

Another outrage is Congress has the public health care option, but they don't have to accept it. They can always refuse it and shop around for supposedly superior private health care insurance -- like the majority of us have to do.

Anyone aware of a Senator or Rep ever refusing their "public option" coverage?
Stumble It! |

We continue to learn more about the Dark Lord's patriotic decisions:

The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney, the agency’s director, Leon E. Panetta, has told the Senate and House intelligence committees, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said Saturday.

The report that Mr. Cheney was behind the decision to conceal the still-unidentified program from Congress deepened the mystery surrounding it, suggesting that the Bush administration had put a high priority on the program and its secrecy.

Mr. Panetta, who ended the program when he first learned of its existence from subordinates on June 23, briefed the two intelligence committees about it in separate closed sessions the next day.

Efforts to reach Mr. Cheney through relatives and associates were unsuccessful.

Efforts to reach Cheney were unsuccessful, quite a shocker. When he wants to spread propaganda and lies in his defense, he's everywhere, giving speeches, blathering on TV, but when it comes to little stuff like this, he's back hiding in the cave.

I'm sure his decision to conceal this program had everything to do with putting country first -- despite the fact that the same can be said for other countries where similar orders are given and carried out (hint: those countries are not democratic).
Stumble It! |

This video clip is great. Catch the deafening silence (and isn't it so adorable of Todd to go in the weeds!).

For how long, and how many times, have we heard the right inflame about judicial activism from the bench.... Well, we just observed it from -- wait for it -- the right wing of the Supreme Court. They recently legislated new law -- exactly what they fear from liberal justices.

And let's not forget the ultimate judicial activism from the right wing Supreme Court justices, the never-to-be-used-as-precedence ruling in favor of Bush over Gore.

To be conservative or right wing is to be for hypocrisy, plain and simple. Happy 4th!
Stumble It! |

It wasn't just Bush/Cheney in on the fix, Blair was complicit.
Stumble It! |

The rightwing disinformation campaign continues in full force (see here, here, and here).
Stumble It! |

What a shocker. Saddam never had WMD, the UN inspectors were correct all along.
Stumble It! |

Yes, Sanford's press conference was a rambling mess, much of it making little if any sense whatsoever, but I'm willing to cut him some slack on this since he had nothing prepared and was just shooting from the hip (heart).

That's not to say I feel pity for him. If he were not like so many other Republicans we've witnessed over the years who strongly condemned Bill Clinton for his behavior only to then see these same characters commit the exact same sin(s), then I would feel somewhat badly for his circumstances. However, Sanford was one of the more vocal advocates for impeaching Clinton. He was, and remained, one of the many holier-than-thou Republicans who tossed rocks in glass houses.

But the hypocrisy doesn't just stop with adultery. Sanford said the following in his press conference:

I am here because if you were to look at God's laws, there are in every instance designed to protect people from themselves. I think that that is the bottom line with God's law -- that it's not a moral, rigid list of dos and don'ts just for the heck of dos and don'ts. It is indeed to protect us from ourselves.

Sanford makes the case that man is inherently evil or has a very dark side that God's law is supposed to protect him from. It's as if man is capable of doing many bad things, all the time, and if it weren't for God we'd be a nation of 24/7 sinners.

What a lovely view of life and mankind! That if it weren't for God we'd be a bunch of ravaging savages, committing unspeakable atrocities and spreading chaos. Is this what the religious right truly believes?

Oh, and if it's true what Sanford portrays about man, the need for him to be protected from himself, than doesn't that argue for regulation in our capitalist society? If we are inherently capable of wrong doing, and many in the country are not aware of "God's law," then one would think regulations should be in place to serve as a check against man and his dark side. Heck, even guys like Sanford (and Ensign) -- who presumably know God's law -- were not able to resist giving in to their evil or dark side.

I wish one of the reporters at his press conference posed these questions to him.... Again, the hypocrisy and inconsistent logic runs well beyond anything sexual in nature.
Stumble It! |

Another "family values" Republican hypocrite...

Ensign last week, Sanford today. Both were not shy about playing up their Christian values (to curry votes?). The marital cheating is their business, it's the hypocrisy that should outrage everyone.

But then again, it's Bill Clinton's fault, right? He ruined the moral fiber of this country, gosh darn it!

I wonder which Republican will be making an awkward confession next week? In the meantime, Sanford apparently was an up-and-comer for 2012 -- poor GOP, back to having Palin as their rock star.
Stumble It! |

Distortion Machine in Overdrive

We can argue about just how many Muslims reside in the U.S. No one seems to know for certain what is the right number. But regarding this video clip, it's not the point. In an attempt to bridge global relations and repair the damage GW inflicted for many years, Obama points out in an interview that if you considered all of the Muslims living in America, we’d be one of the largest Muslim countries on the planet.

Cut to Sean Hannity who claims Obama categorically stated that the United States was a Muslim nation. It's a completely false allegation.

Watch the video. Any person with an IQ greater than a birch tree will realize that Hannity is flat-out lying.

The depth of their desperation equates to the severity of their troubles. The right-wing kooks are really feeling the pressure, almost to the point where I feel pity for them (but don't).
Stumble It! |

The Not-So-Great Entertainers

Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly and the rest of the yammering clowns say they’re entertainers. The quotes are out there. It's no shocker to us, we’ve always known that sad fact. The problem has always been that their fans either don’t acknowledge this fact or don’t care. Instead, they continue to tune in with baited eyes and ears, believing the many lies and distortions.

Here's an idea, the next time these charlatans criticize a celebrity/entertainer for having and conveying a political point of view, let’s be certain to remind them of their self-proclaimed entertainer status. Last time I checked, these fellas were pontificating quite often about all things political.

Just more of that hypocrisy we've come to expect....
Stumble It! |

The $2 Trillion Swing

When Bill Clinton exited office, he left behind a hefty $850 billion budget surplus. Enter GW and a GOP-controlled Congress and it didn't take long for that surplus to vanish.

The deficit is now projected to be $1.2 trillion and this chart breaks down how much of that shortfall is on Obama's head, versus GW.

Of the $2 trillion swing in good fortune, it appears to me that Obama is responsible for just about $200 billion, or 10%. Remember that figure the next time you hear a Republican bemoaning spending and deficits.
Stumble It! |