Weston, Missouri Kicks Westboro Baptist Ass (figuratively)

MoonHowler

 

Sweet revenge. Westboro Baptist got run out of town. The citizens of the ‘Show Me’ state showed the Bastions of Hate the door. Sgt. First Class C.J. Sadell did not die in vain.

Now the mongrel churchand their sleazels plan on coming to Prince William County to protest at Woodbridge Senior High School on November 15.  After that, they will go to the Coast Guard Recruiting Station. Why is Woodbridge Senior High School any worse than any other school? Casual Observer posted their schedule. I won’t provide a link to their hate site. No free advertising here. They should be ignored. Unless they go on private property, the school won’t see them. Knowing the traffic in Old Bridge Road, they will be lucky not to get run over. Maybe they should go out to Nokesville and protest Ken Cuccinelli’s home. Actually, they should love him. He didn’t sign on the amicus brief against them. 🙄

George Bush: Decison Points

MoonHowler

 

Former President George Bush’s new book, Decision Points, goes on sale today. Kindle, the Nook, ibooks, and other electronic modes began sales after midnight. Those not using electronic books will have to wait until stores like Barnes and Nobel open.  Meanwhile, the ex-pres has made the rounds of Hannity, Lauer, and Oprah. The Oprah Show airs this afternoon.  I don’t believe he will appear on Jon Stewart. 

The former president discusses his youth, his old drinking days, a grizzly fetus in a jar story that supposedly etched his anti abortion stance in stone, 9-11, Katrina, immigration reform, Saddam, torture and the wars. He apparently does not talk about President Obama. He indicated that is how he would have liked to have been treated.  He also gives us a glimpse of what his new life is like, in a post-Bush world.

Who plans on reading his book? Are all presidential books dry or will the Bush humor creep into his book? How revealing will the former pres be?

 

Some folks have said that this book is the beginning of Bush’s vindication. Do most Americans agree with this statement?  Has the former pres become less of a lighning rod for criticism?  What has been the most unfairly exaggerated criticism of George Bush?  

 

 

 

 

Tea Party Electees Struggle to Suggest Budget Cuts

MoonHowler

The Huffington Post:

Signaling how difficult it will be for the Republican Party to live up to its campaign promises of cutting spending while preserving the Bush tax cuts and not cutting benefits for seniors, Tea Party favorites Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Sen.-elect Rand Paul (R-Ky.) struggled on Sunday to actually name any specific cuts they plan on making.

On ABC’s “This Week,” Christiane Amanpour repeatedly pressed Paul to move beyond “slogans and platitudes” to “direct information” on how the Republican Party will balance the budget and cut the deficit.

Paul immediately reiterated that he was going to push for a balanced budget amendment and said that cuts needed to come from across the board — including defense spending. Whenever Amanpour asked whether a specific program — such as Medicare, Social Security and health care — would be cut, Paul simply kept reiterating that he was going to be looking “across the board.” He was unable, however, to actually name anything significant that would be on the chopping block.

It’s easy to criticize when someone else has the ball.  Now the ball is in DeMint’s and Paul’s court, it isn’t quite as easy to do the slice and dice thing on the budget.  Those who criticized the loudest will continue to be questioned, every single day.  The clock started Wednesday, November 3.  We expect great results.  Surely those with the best sound bites can come up with a cut or two.  So far all I have seen is BS and blather.  It seems we have evolved some since 1789.

AMANPOUR: One significant one. No, but you can’t just keep saying all across the board.

PAUL: Well, no, I can, because I’m going to look at every program, every program. But I would freeze federal hiring. I would maybe reduce federal employees by 10 percent. I’d probably reduce their wages by 10 percent. The average federal employee makes $120,000 a year. The average private employee makes $60,000 a year. Let’s get them more in line, and let’s find savings. Let’s hire no new federal workers.

 

Where is he getting these figures from?  How do we not hire more federal workers?  Someone today said to cut FBI agents.  Get serious. 

Angle and O’Donnell Stick around Post Election

MoonHowler

Both Sharon Angle and Christine O’Donnell lost their bid for election but both will probably remain on the political scene.  Both will put in many appearances on TV.  Why?  Both own huge national donor lists that are capable of bringing in up to $8 million dollars off of the Internet.  That is a lot of money and very little flesh pressing.  No rubber chicken dinners.  No wallowing with Sleazles.  Just clean, crisp political money.

According to Politico.com:

Both women worked with the same online fundraising consultant: Kurt Luidhardt’s The Prosper Group Corporation, an 11-person shop based in the Indianapolis suburbs. Luidhardt declined to go into specifics on the size of Angle and O’Donnell’s fundraising lists, but said each has “high tens of thousands” of online donors.

 

Both women own their own lists, not Luidhardt.  If I must see either, I want to see O’Donnell.  Her politics are dreadful but she, herself, is charming.  Maybe she will give Bill Maher another chance.

 

Clean Up Clean Up, Everybody Do their Share….

MoonHowler

Last night a friend made a casual comment that she saw herds of young people out cleaning up the Connolly signs, all over Fairfax County.  She said it sure made her feel good and that she hates seeing election waste a month after the election. 

I couldn’t leave it alone.  I had to ask about the other candidate’s yard waste.  She told me it was all still there.  So…

Cheers for the Connolly campaign for arranging to have signs collected after the election.  Is this a high school community service project or a collection of young Gerry-ites?  Whoever these kids are, good for them also. 

Jeers to Fimian until the mess is cleaned up. 

Keith Olbermann Suspended for Violating Company Policy

MoonHowler

The story really isn’t about whether you like Olbermann or don’t like him.  Cast your personal feelings aside.  Keith Olbermann was fired because he violated company policy.  He contributed to three political campaigns. 

Olbermann is a commentator, not a newscaster.  However, on the night of the elections, he was serving as a newscaster.  The company has policy that  says their people aren’t to contribute to political campaigns.  Apparently no distinction is made between newscasters/journalists or commentators. 

Senator Bernie Sanders had the following opinion in Politico.com:

It is outrageous that General Electric/MSNBC would suspend Keith Olbermann for exercising his constitutional rights to contribute to a candidate of his choice. This is a real threat to political discourse in America and will have a chilling impact on every commentator for MSNBC.

We live in a time when 90 percent of talk radio is dominated by right-wing extremists, when the Republican Party has its own cable network (Fox) and when progressive voices are few and far between.

At a time when the ownership of Fox News contributed millions of dollars to the Republican Party, when a number of Fox commentators are using the network as a launching pad for their presidential campaigns and are raising money right off the air, it is absolutely unacceptable that MSNBC suspended one of the most popular progressive commentators in the country.

Is Rachel Maddow or Ed Schultz next? Is this simply a ‘personality conflict’ within MSNBC or is one of America’s major corporations cracking down on a viewpoint they may not like? Whatever the answer may be, Keith Olbermann should be reinstated immediately and allowed to present his point of view.

 

 Thomas Fiedler, Dean of Boston University College of Communication sees it differently:

The instant a journalist contributes to a candidate or a political cause, no matter how worthy, is the moment she or he stops being a journalist and becomes an advocate. That is as true for commentators – as Olbermann would claim to be – as it is for news reporters

However, most news stations aren’t holding to that standard, as Senator Sanders points out.  The question becomes then, do we all wallow with Fox while they dominate the political landscape, and fight fire with fire or do some stations rise above the obvious bias and try to adhere to the standards of yesteryear?

NBC needs to rewrite its rules to level the playing field.  When one network produces its own political channel under the guise of ‘fair and balanced’ the rules of engagement need to be re-evaluated.  Olbermann isn’t one of my favorites but fair is fair.  Talk about bringing a totebag of David Sedaris books to a knife fight! (Thanks, Jon Stewart.)  Reinstate Olbermann.  NBC is cannibalizing its own.

 

 

President Obama on an Allowance?

MoonHowler

Many of the talking heads are now commenting on President Obama’s10 day trip to Asia. The purpose of the trip is to attempt to open up jobs in countries like Indian, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, etc.  The president is taking a business entourage  with him on the trip

Already misinformation is spreading about the cost of the trip. One rumor that surfaced and went viral is the the trip will cost $200 million per day which includes presidential protection. This figure is being vehemently denied as outrageous. The report that 34 war ships are accompanying him is also being denied by the Pentagon. News sources all report the disclaimer by the Pentagon spokesman:

“I will take the liberty this time of dismissing as absolutely absurd this notion that somehow we were deploying 10 percent of the Navy, some 34 ships and an aircraft carrier, in support of the president’s trip to Asia,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said. “That’s just comical. Nothing close to that is being done.”

The Sun News reports that both Glenn Beck and Michele Bachmann spread the cost  rumors as fact. The foreign press is adding to the rumor mill.  Bachmann, in particular, should be held accountable for spreading misinformation.  Beck, we expect no better from. 

Other critics are up in arms that during a recession, the president would leave the country again. Many feel he should be staying home (and off the golf course) and tend to domestic business.

Leaders in the last century and in the 21st century have traveled abroad. Teddy Roosevelt was the first president to leave the country. Presidents should be able to set their own agenda and as long as they are doing the business of the country, this travel should without criticism and certainly without government officials lying about the cost. Good will and jobs are excellent goals to seek.

Cut Spending–Long on Promise, Short of Specifics

MoonHowler

The election is over and  the House of Representatives is gearing up to usher in great reforms.  However, very few specifics have been given as to how to cut spending.  What does this mean?  What will be cut?  Will there be huge cuts in social security?  Medicare?  Medicaid?  Talk has been made of cuts coming from the general funds.  Specifically where would these cuts start?

It will take a long time to implement cuts, even longer if we don’t know what they are.  Apparently the mandage was only in the House of Representatives.  How are they going to implement the people’s mandate when that mandate didn’t go through the Senate?  The ball is now in the Republican’s court, at least in the House.  The American people want to know specific plans.

If the Republicans need a little time to get these promises into a plan, then when can we expect to see the plan?  Would 2 months be a fair expectation? 

This all has to go beyond sound bytes now.  All those who ran and won need to spell it out.  Where do they recommend the spending to stop? 

Way Different Objectives

MoonHowler

From the Huffington Post:

OBAMA YESTERDAY: ‘WE MUST FIND COMMON GROUND TO MAKE PROGRESS’

GOP SENATE LEADER TODAY: DUMPING OBAMA IS MY HIGHEST PRIORITY

Now who is taking the high road?  Certainly not Ed Schultz: 

Ed Schultz: Obama Stands Passively Mute While Republicans Walk Him Like A Dog

What ever happened to people setting goals and compromising on their way to implementing the goals?

O’Connell needs to develop some diplomacy.  If all he is going to do try to undermind the President, then he might as well just have at it now. 

So is Obama being a lapdog in suggesting that compromise is needed?  Is that a sign of weakness?

Open Thread Mid-Week November 3

MoonHowler

Post election open thread–thank goodness!  No more election commercials.  Fimian is giving his good night  speech.  It is/was a very close race.  Will there be a recount?  Did he concede?  Not really. 

Fimian thanked Corey personally.  Hmmmmm…is Corey Fimian’s new bff? 

I expect there will be a post mortum.  I would be interested to hear what ideas people have rather than what they hate.

Connolly is in the lead but not by much.

Seriously, who believes in a “voter referendum” anyway!

Elena

So, here we are, 2010, and THIS election is a “referendum” on the governance of President Obama.  Are we so sure?  Didn’t we hear that about the 2004 win of Bush, that Republicans were saying it was a “referendum” on the current Bush policies. 

O.K., so stay with me, move ahead to the 2006 election and take over of the house and senate by democrats.  It was a “referendum” on the Bush white house, at least that is what the left said.  It’s funny, what I recall the Right punditry saying was that it was simply an election cycle and we should not read too much into it. 

Now, fast forward to 2008 and the overwhelming win of President Obama.  His win was a “referendum” on Republicans!   Republicans were so pissed at Bush that they decided to stay home (kind of what is being said about democrat voters in 2010).  A “real” conservative was not on the ballot.  Somehow McCain did not count as a real conservative, but hey, I’m considered a leftie commie these days so what do I know!  

Now……yep, let’s fast forward again to 2010 and THIS election , really, this one for sure, is truly a referendum on the current administration, no joke.  Unless, of course, maybe there really is no such thing as a referendum.  Am I the only one noticing something funny?  The right will claim if they win it’s a referendum, and guess what, the left will claim it is just an election cycle. 

Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth……OY VEY, I am getting such a headache! 

So, what does this tell us?  It tells us nothing.  Well, for me, actually, it suggests that no matter who is in office, they need to remember that their is an entire electorate that just wants to make sure that their concerns are never forgotten.    Politicians need to just do what they believe is the best policy and hope, in the end, they used their noggin to the best of their ability.   They did their due diligence in fact finding, listened to different points of view, and made a decision they could be satisfied with, even IF they do not get re-elected. 

As the evening unfolds, I hope posters here will keep this thread full of current wins and losses.

Couldn’t Be Global Warming

MoonHowler

Greetings from West Virginia.  I took a few days off while the kids are out of school for teacher work days and went leaf watching.  Except the leaves really are bi-polar this year.  Some are green, some of the right color, some trees are half and half and some have lost all leaves.  There is no consistency.  I have seen nothing spectacular. 

October just ended and it was a warmer than usual month–again.  The past 8 months have, on average, shown temperatures 2.5 degrees above normal, according to the national weather service.  October was 2.7 degrees above normal October temperatures.  The report was released just a few hours before the first freeze warning of the year. 

Tonight there will be frost.  I think it is already below freezing where I am.  I can remember 30 years ago we had always had frost by Halloween.  Flowers weren’t still blooming this late in the year.  It was generally freezing on Halloween night.  What is causing this?  Why has our growing season extended by nearly a month? 

By the way, the internet sucks and my cell phone doesn’t work. 

Fake I.C.E. Agent Gets 10 Years

MoonHowler

Robert Fred Mejia will probably be going to jail for about 10 years.  Someone else will be driving his Ferarri.  Mejiea  tooled all over Montgomery County while trying to impress others.  According to the Washington Post:

Stretching over at least two years, Mejia would slip into the disguise of federal immigration agent “Jimmy Rico.” He wore combat boots, a thigh holster, and a shirt and hat bearing the letters ICE, for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He used a different car, one that looked like a police cruiser.

And for the right price – generally thousands of dollars – he and his conspirators offered citizenship and legalization papers to at least 90 people who thought they were getting the real thing.

Old “Jimmy” Rico seemed to forget his roots.  Judge Weinstein reminded him of what he had done to his own people.  This scumbag will be put on hold for 10 years and he will have time to think about his misdeeds.  A fake ICE agent indeed!  Actually I have heard several people laughingly suggest they get T-shirts made up that say I.C.E.  Perhaps these jokesters might want to reconsider that dumb idea.