Gettin' jiggy wif' it
Greetings, Dot Calm Readers
and fellow Truth Crusaders!
I'm still experimenting with format and content, so bear with me. If this post gets enough page views, I may make its format a thing.
Meanwhile, I've been kicking around a few ideas for new original content--a la the biblical literalism quiz. If the posts run a little thin for a few days, you'll know that it's because I'm working hard on that new content.
Enjoy reading about the great anthropology experiment that is this great nation of ours, and have a great weekend!
-- Dot Calm's shadow
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My Tea Party Christian friend swears
that Beyoncé's half-time show costume
was in honor of the Black Panthers.
Was she wearing cat ears and a tail,
like Josie and the Pussycats,
and I missed it?
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Holy kimchee, Batman!
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Americans against the Tea Party has a lot of articles from the Bipartisan Report lately...
Oh wow. The irony is just too much.
This is beautiful. Planned Parenthood for the win!
Hey! They snuck in something from NewsCorpse:
Donald Trump is covered obsessively by the press mainly because they are hoping to catch him in a juicy controversy or a slap-fight with an elderly widow. Via News Corpse
And yet poor old Grumpy Gramps McCain is a whole passel of crazy himself...
John McCain seems completely reasonable compared to the rest of the GOP field. Donald Trump has moved the crazy bar VERY high.
Crap. BOY, do we NEED Bernie!!!!!
Not news so much (because we already knew) but still funny:
Just a reminder... Jeb Bush sucks.
They stared them down, then just attacked. Marco Rubio has come unhinged.
So...who else thinks that the Republican nominee will fall all over himself to ask this jewel, this prince of a man, to be his veep? The betting starts...now!
This is the same Ted Nugent who called President Obama a "subhuman mongrel" and whose assassination laden tirades brought the FBI to his door.
Another cop story--heroic cop defends himself against four-year-old little girl thug and her evil attack Boxer-Terrier mix small dog that never got close enough to bite--or tried to. Do you think Wayne LaPierre collects all these gun-gone-wrong stories and gets off on them? How many cops are laughing their asses off at the family for being stupid enough to ask them for help?
Unbelievable.
The article is horrifying. Here is an excerpt:
Ellis says that Patches barked, but never lunged at the officer, and never got close enough to bite. She also said that Patches was trotting back into the house after seeing the officer pull his weapon, and it was then the officer shot in the vicinity of the pup and children.
Officer Trigger Happy says the little dog went after him so he decided instead of taking a snip on the leg, he’d fire his service weapon directly towards two small children.
This is a man of courage, America, take notice.
The women and children begin screaming after seeing that Ava is lying on the ground in a pool of blood with a clear hole straight through her thigh. Her femur had been destroyed.
Kelly asks Officer Thomas why he shot her niece and Thomas told her not to yell at him, then walked to his patrol car, and drove away without tending to Ava’s wounds whatsoever.
He left before paramedics could even get there!
Can you imagine having to start kindergarten in a wheelchair? Little Ava may never walk well again for the rest of her life. I sure hope she enjoyed walking well for the few short years she was able to.
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Oh, Pru-nella!
-- Bugs Bunny
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David Franke's friend Arnie Steinberg takes on Hillary
I feel validated that I'm not the only one who sees Hillary's campaign as being so negative and who thinks she's hurting herself far more than she's hurting Bernie. To me, everything she says against Bernie just makes him look stronger and more positive. It's clear to me that he is just trying to hold her accountable without actually attacking her--a gentleman, he is handling her with kid gloves. Do ya think he'd remain so gentlemanly against the Republican nominee, or would he start delivering those knock-out punches I suspect he's capable of? Of course, let me remind you that, if Bernie loses the nomination, we will nonetheless have to get out the vote for Hillary--anyone who cares the least little bit about individual rights dare not risk electing a state-mandated-Quiverfull Republican (i.e., whoever wins the nomination) into office to appoint 2+ SCOTUS justices. We could lose our reproductive freedom, freedom to marry, and freedom of religion in one swell foop.
-- Dot Calm's shadow
THE BLOG
Will Hillary's Campaign Self-Destruct (again)?
02/10/2016 02:39 pm ET
·
Arnold
SteinbergPolitical strategist and analyst
Now that Bernie Sanders has won New Hampshire handily, perhaps
we should ask whether Hillary's campaign may be repeating its self-destruction
of eight years ago. In her concession speech last night she mounted an arcane
attack on the Supreme Court's Citizens
United decision and positioned herself implausibly as a
champion to take on Wall Street. She is now debating the campaign on Bernie
Sanders terms, not a good place to be. At times she wandered - talking about
the firing of "LGBT people because of who they love" as part of a
hodgepodge of constituencies she enumerated -- from firefighters to hungry
children. She seemed incoherent, subsuming every sort of "right" as a
"human right."
She suggested she had work to do among young voters. The reality
is that the only age group she carried was seniors. Perhaps it reflected her
two prominent surrogates -- Madeline Albright, 78, and Gloria Steinem, 82.
Let's look at the backdrop for what happened last night.
Monday in Milford New Hampshire, former president Bill Clinton
was on the attack against Bernie Sanders. It seemed part of an overall campaign
mosaic, within which Hillary Clinton's campaign did everything possible to assure
Bernie Sanders of a decisive victory in New Hampshire and momentum down the
line.
We all recall over the years Hillary Clinton's repeated
protestations of poverty, the unfortunate (for her) Clinton-greed backdrop for
how this campaign is developing. In 2014, Hillary again complained that the
Clintons left the White House "dead-broke." No wonder Bill and
Hillary have collected $153 million in speaking fees - to get out of poverty.
Last year Regnery published Peter Schweizer's Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign
Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich.
Coverage of the book's release helped dampen Hillary's poll numbers but the
book has been little discussed this year. Still, in 2015 it helped frame and renew
the distrust of the Clintons as money predators and remains indirectly in the
back of the mind of many voters. Expect to see the book back in the news soon.
I consider the number one issue among Democratic Party voters to
be special interests, in general, and Wall Street, in particular. This
"economy is rigged" matrix could be the ball game for Hillary. And
it's also one reason why Donald Trump is strong among Republicans, who are
attracted to a "self-funder" who supposedly will stand up to the
crony capitalists. Many Republican voters believe the big banks and brokerages
self-deal and manipulate Wall Street to the detriment of individual investors.
In last week's debate Hillary was quite unprepared for the
entirely predictable question about her Wall Street connections and
contributions, in particular the $675,000 Goldman Sachs paid her for three
talks. In a prior debate, she improbably explained her massive Wall Street
contributions by invoking 9/11, and Sanders jumped on that explanation, and
journalists ridiculed it.
And just week Hillary told the debate moderator about the
$225,000 per Goldman Sachs speech: "That's what they offered."
Incredibly, Hillary implied she would not have accepted the fees if she knew
then she would run for president. The problem for Hillary is FOURfold. First,
Hillary did know she was running. Second, Hillary implies expediency, that she
would not have accepted the fees because she looks bad. Third, Hillary's
explanation reinforces the perception that she is into money. Fourth, Hillary
clearly is not that strategic or shrewd, or as Trump would say, "not
smart."
If Theodore White were writing The Making of the President 2016,
Hillary's awful response to the Goldman Sachs question might be a defining
moment. The triple honoraria, which amount to more money than many Democratic
voter households make in a decade, will have high retention among voters.
Daughter Chelsea Clinton is part of the impoverished Clinton
clan. She gets $65,000 per speech. She had no journalism experience, but ABC
nonetheless hired her a couple of years ago, starting salary $600,000 a year
for a few "special reports." Everyone needs an entry-level job, and
the minimum wage is just too low, which is why Bernie wants to raise it to $15
an hour.
In a New York Daily News interview that same year, Chelsea
insisted she isn't "well off." She explained her job-hopping by
saying, "I was curious if I could care about money on some fundamental
level, and I couldn't." Perhaps that's why Chelsea and her husband, hedge
fund manager Marc Mezvinsky (whose father served five years in prison for
investment fraud, a nice touch in the Election Year of Wall Street) paid $10.5
million for a condo. Every young couple needs a modest starter home.
Chelsea Clinton has been a prop, testimony to Hillary's tender
love for her daughter and grandchild, with another one on the way. This was
part of the narrative of a softer, kindler, gentler Hillary. But a couple of
weeks ago all that changed. Chelsea Clinton--who seems to be off-limits for critical
analysis among many political reporters, made the astounding charge that
Sanders wanted to do away with Medicare. The simple answer is, of course, that
Sanders wanted "Medikeh fuh ul." Hillary defended her daughter 's
misleading - actually false -- accusation by citing her daughter's
"expertise" on health care. But the damage was done, not to Bernie,
but to Chelsea and Hillary's credibility. And political reporters will no
longer give Chelsea any slack.
Back to her father -- Bill Clinton was campaigning as a
surrogate for his independent feminist wife who, she has told us that upon her
election as president, might advise her sparingly, from the kitchen table.
"When you're making a revolution you can't be too careful
with the facts," Bill Clinton began, as he scoffed at Bernie Sanders theme
of a political revolution. In an appearance before several hundred supporters -
a nice crowd in New Hampshire, he criticized Sanders for hypocrisy and negative
campaigning, the same tactics Bill Clinton employed eight years earlier
criticizing Barack Obama, with disastrous results. It was after Bill commenced
his attacks against Obama eight years ago that Hillary's campaign truly
imploded. Back then, Bill was really off-message. This time, we don't know if
he's an unguided missile, or just going according to plan. But he's not doing
her any good.
Even before the 2008 primary campaign ago was in full stride,
Bill was demeaning Obama's candidacy. On December 15, 2007, Clinton told PBS's
Charlie Rose: "I mean, when's the last time we elected a president based
on one year of service in the Senate before he started running?"
A month later Bill Clinton was deeply concerned that Hillary's
campaign was not the easy cakewalk pundits predicted. "Give me a
break," Clinton said while campaigning then in New Hampshire. "This
whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen," he said, referring
to Obama and his foreign policy expertise. "Just because of the sanitizing
coverage that's in the media doesn't mean the facts aren't out there,"
Clinton continued, with a dual attack on what he termed Obama's negative
campaign and the media's pro-Obama bias. Now, they claim (probably true) Media
Bernie Bias.
Back then the Clintons leaked that the problem was the campaign
team, and the campaign retooled. Expect the same situation now, rather than the
candidate and her husband accept responsibility.
By the spring of 2008 Hillary's campaign was really falling
apart. "Hillary's opponent, in his entire campaign, every two or three
weeks has said for months and months and months, beginning in Nevada, that
really there wasn't much difference in how America did when I was president and
how America's done under President Bush," Clinton said in an April 17
campaign speech in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. "Now, if you believe that,
you should probably vote for him, but you get a very bad grade in
history."
Four days later during a radio interview that became a national
story, Clinton -- who had been called the "first African-American
president, said: "I think that they played the race card on me. We now
know, from memos from the campaign, that they planned to do it all along."
Four months earlier in South Carolina, Clinton had offended many African
Americans with this observation: "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84
and '88. Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here."
On Monday Bill Clinton was in good form, or bad form, depending
on your viewpoint, as he raised the specter of the Sanders backers'
"vicious trolling and attacks that are literally too profane, not to
mention, sexist, to repeat" on a Hillary female "progressive"
blogger. Bill Clinton's theme is not incidental; in the last debate Hillary
suggested that Sanders is attacking her character by "innuendo."
Meanwhile, Sen. Elizabeth Warren's new book suggests Hillary changed positions
in the Senate due to Wall Street money. Expect more on that in the coming weeks
as Bernie focuses on the "rigged economy."
Bill Clinton also faulted Sanders ofor misrepresenting newspaper
endorsements of Hillary by quoting the "good" things they said about
Bernie. For good measure Clinton then criticized the Sanders campaign for
misrepresenting the American Legion. Throwing in everything but the kitchen
sink, Clinton again reprised the matter of the Sanders campaign stealing data,
via the Democratic National Committee, from Hillary's campaign.
It's hard to attack Sanders because he comes across as positive.
In the first debate last year Sanders, in a moment that voters will remember,
seemed magnanimous when he proclaimed, "The American people are sick and
tired of hearing about your damn emails." Last week he began walking back
his graciousness and gently said the emails may be a serious issue. From this
point on, a threatened Hillary will attack Sanders, certainly her SuperPAC
will, and Sanders will hold Hillary responsible.
"I happen to admire Hillary Clinton," Sanders said two
days ago in New Hampshire (the trademark Sanders tactic of "nice"
before sticking the knife in). He then attacked David Brock as "Hillary's
attack dog." He was responding to Brock's threat to burst Bernie's
"purity bubble." Brock once was paid handsomely two decades ago by
conservatives to uncover Hillary scandals. Since then Brock, now her SuperPAC
impresario, has been paid handsomely by Hillary to discredit her attackers and
unhinge Sanders. Last month Brock in a hit ad was suggesting that Sanders had
major health problems. He also criticized a Sanders Iowa ad as
"bizarre" and a "significant slight to the Democratic base"
because it did not show blacks "From this ad it seems black lives don't
matter much to Bernie Sanders," Brock told the Associated Press. The
Sanders campaign brought up Brock' role as "a mud-slinging, right-wing
extremist" who set out to destroy black law professor Anita Hill, who had
testified against the Supreme Court nomination of Clarence Thomas.
This last weekend was especially disastrous for Hillary Clinton.
Madeleine Albright, 78, who served as Secretary of State under President Bill
Clinton, said this at Hillary rally, with Hillary laughing at her side:
"There's a special place in hell for women who don't help each other"
(i.e., support Hillary Clinton).
To make matters worse, 82-year-old feminist icon Gloria Steinem,
who later issued an apology and claimed she had been misrepresented about what
she said to Bill Maher about young women supporting Sanders, said THIS:
"When you're young, you're thinking, where are the boys? The boys are with
Bernie."
The Albright-Steinem double-header showed just how out of touch
these two elders are with how young women think in the age of Law and Order SVU,
when Bill Clinton's alleged sexual assaults, and Hillary's enabling, are no
longer off limits. Moreover, women of all ages took offense at Steinem's
suggestion that women supporting Bernie were traitors to their gender, and
young women betrayed their true self-interest for short-term gratification with
"boys."
Hillary is running defense, even on offense. The continued
blunders not only will firmed up Sanders support in New Hampshire and carry
into other primary states. All these attacks - from Hillary, Chelsea and Bill,
and from Albright and Steinem, and the crude David Brock statements and ads ---
(a) demonstrate low confidence, deep concern, and both angst and anxiety, if
not panic; (b) offend some of the very voters they need; and (c) hurt Hillary
among undecided voters.
So far, Sanders is surgical in his attack, yet seems positive.
The more scared she runs, the more the electorate takes Old Socialist Bernie
seriously.
THE BLOG
Hillary Clinton's Imminent Campaign Shake-up
02/10/2016 02:45 pm ET
·
Arnold
SteinbergPolitical strategist and analyst
Who's on first?
Yesterday while New Hampshire voters were going to the polls,
Hillary Clinton's "chief strategist" Joel Benenson was interviewed
about rumors of a Clinton shake-up. He was asked the telltale question: when
did he last speak with the apoplectic Bill Clinton, the husband with a
supposedly limited role in his spouse's feminist campaign. (Absent her marriage
to Bill, would Hillary even be a presidential candidate?) A few weeks ago
Hillary said if she were elected, Bill would have to prove the worth of his
counsel at the kitchen table.
This is not the Year of the Dynasty, for the Clintons or the
Bushes. Besides, there is no rationale for either Hillary or Jeb. After leaving
as President Obama's secretary of State, Hillary did not inoculate against her
vulnerabilities but arrogantly gave in to her greed as she created new ones,
like the three $225,000 speaking fees from Goldman Sachs.
And after Jeb left two terms as Florida's governor, he did not
create a narrative - in the years following -- to rationalize a presidential
run or even prepare himself for a campaign. Like Hillary, Jeb focused on
establishment cronies and money. All this explains why the original
"frontrunners" - Hillary and Jeb - are in trouble.
Back in 2008 when David Axelrod was Barack Obama's general
election "chief strategist," Benenson was a "senior
strategist," as distinct from a mere "strategist" - the term CNN
and Fox News apply to their talking heads, most of whom were wrong about
Hillary and Trump. On the Republican side, Jeb's "chief strategist"
is David Kochel -- recommended by Jeb's "longtime strategist" Sally
Bradshaw. Kochel has been close to Mike Murphy, "chief strategist"
for Jeb's SuperPAC, Right to Rise. It is likely Jeb's people stay on, but if
Benenson continues, others on the Clinton team will go, and the Clintons will
leak that the campaign is somehow being retooled and that new colleagues will
be working with Benenson.
All of these people - the strategists, senior strategists, and
chief strategists -- represent the so-called Consultant Class. Trump has spent
a fraction of Jeb's spending, but Trump has steadily climbed, Jeb (who may have
spent $22 million just in New Hampshire) has consistently declined, except for
the meaningless bump in New Hampshire last night. Bernie Sanders is not merely
a socialist-gone-wild candidate and, in that sense, revolutionary. His campaign
itself is revolutionary - surpassing the grassroots direct mail fundraising of
Barry Goldwater in 1964 and George McGovern in 1972. Bernie's people are more
successful than Barack Obama's team in New Age fundraising - getting money off
the Internet, with a marginal cost (mainly credit card fees) of fundraising.
And the money comes quickly.
The Clintons have a history of blaming staff for their own
shortcomings. In 2008, Hillary "chief strategist" Mark Penn was the
fall guy. Benenson and his team are not responsible for a generation-long
history of Clinton machinations. Nor is Hillary's campaign responsible for her
deception following the Benghazi attack, or her scandal-ridden past. By making
changes in her campaign team, the Clintons can pretend that the Clintons are
not the problem. Instead, we know the main problem is that Hillary, has always
been Wall Street's candidate, but this is not the year of Wall street. Further,
the attacks on Bernie Sanders by the Clintons - Chelsea, Bill, and Hillary -
have backfired. Hillary's supporters hurt her: Madeleine Albright overplayed
the gender card and Gloria Steinem insulted young women supporting Bernie.
Benenson has been aboard for more than a year. He had ample time
to create a "new" Hillary Clinton and preempt the predictable Sanders
"rigged economy" campaign. On another issue, it's true that in the
age of Law and Order SVU, Hillary can no longer get a pass on her complicity,
as an enabler and more, for Bill's predatory sex. But her campaign should have
found a way around this ticking political time bomb. Also, Hillary's campaign
itself is most responsible for not involving younger voters in campaign
messaging. Instead, we have 78-year-old Madeleine Albright and 82 year old
Gloria Steinem, who are grandmothers or great grandmothers of Bernie's
supporters. The irony is that the unreconstructed socialist -- 74 year old
Bernie, compared to Hillary's surrogates, seems like the new kid on the block.
For now, one way or another - whether the campaign is
restructured, reorganized, or new consultants brought aboard, or just plain
retooled, something will be done to suggest Hillary Clinton was not served well
by her campaign. Then for awhile, Hillary's campaign will be schizophrenic -
trying to be positive and upbeat, and then launching unguided missiles --
daughter Chelsea, husband Bill, or others - to attack Bernie. Like four years
ago, those attacks may backfire. The Clinton modus operandi will be to dig
deeper in what will strike voters as personal attacks and mudslinging. If she
succeeds, the Democratic party will be deeply divided. If she fails, the
Clintons will insist it was all the fault of the campaign, not the candidate.
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Hillary isn't the only one
getting handouts and free shit
from Goldman Sachs.
So is Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz!
Who says it's only the poor
who want handouts and free shit?
Hell, they just want to survive...
It's the unbridled greed of these rich bastids
that scares me....
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Old but still good article from The Broad Side: 6 things Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz wants you to forget!
For the last few days, cable news has been all Ted Cruz all the time. His 23-hour rant about Obamacare on the floor of the Senate? He wants you to think it was a filibuster to sound all grand and champion-like, but under the rules of the Senate, it wasn’t. He was not up against any extreme restrictions like his fellow Texan Wendy Davis was during her actual filibuster and his speech did nothing to prevent a vote on a bill, as Davis’ efforts did.
His effort really served only two purposes: (1) his own self-aggrandizement; and (2) to have his tea party fans focus on his Green Eggs and Ham moment in order to keep attention off some other things about him:
1. He wants you to forget he was born in Canada. Yes, Cruz is an American citizen because his mother is and was at time of his birth. But he wants his fans to think he is a “natural born” citizen, just in case he ever decides to run for president. But conservatives can’t have it both ways — they can’t keep stirring the pot of whether Barack Obama was born in the U.S. (which he was) and keep insisting that to be eligible to run for President a candidate must be born on U.S. soil. Being born in Canada, makes Cruz a Canadian citizen, as well, though Cruz claims he’s “renounced” that. Officially, though, he apparently he is still a Canadian unless he’s completed the official paperwork.
2. Odds are his health insurance is a “Cadillac plan” from Goldman Sachs. While the junior Senator from Texas is trying to prevent more Americans from getting any sort of health plan at all, some have wondered — how can U.S. Senators be against a government-backed health insurance plan when they benefit from one themselves? Good question in the hypocrisy department, but Cruz may have even better coverage than his Senate colleagues. Cruz’s wife is the head of a regional Goldman Sachs office (yes, THAT Goldman Sachs), and according to a 2009 New York Times report, top executive officers and managing directors there “are eligible to participate in a health care program that costs Goldman more than $40,000 in premiums for each particpant’s family annually.” Apparently Cruz hasn’t answered questions about which insurance plan his family uses, but if you had a choice between premiere coverage or something that covered less, and neither was going to cost you anything, which would you choose?
3. His aunt was a counter-revolutionary against Fidel Castro. While Cruz’s father fought alongside Castro before fleeing Cuba, the elder Cruz’s sister fought against the Communist regime. How many people can say they’re related to revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries? His aunt’s role will probably play with the very politically influential Florida Cuban voting bloc if he really has presidential aspirations. His dad’s pro-Castro past? Not so much.
4. Cruz clerked for two extreme judicial conservatives. If you have any question about just how conservative Cruz is, look no further than two far-right jurists he clerked for, the late Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist and J. Michael Luttig, formerly a judge on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, well known as an extremely conservative bench (though that has been changing in recent years).
5. He doesn’t like fact-checkers. Facts? We don’t need no stinking facts! As least that’s what Cruz seems to think when it comes to his statements. Reporters have been fact-checking assertions Cruz made in his Obamacare super-speech, and he is outraged! Cruz claims that fact-checking is “a particularly pernicious bit of yellow journalism that has cropped up that lets journalists be editorial writers and pretend they are talking about objective facts.” So I guess he believes in the Chuck Todd method of reporting?
6. His real name is Rafael. That’s shouldn’t be a biggy. Many people who are named after their fathers go by a nickname. But as someone who seems to have an eye on the White House, surely Cruz knows what happens to candidates who have names that seem a little out of the ordinary to the tea party crowd?
Click here for the updated version of Six Things About Ted Cruz.
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Oh noes!
Carly Fiorina aborted her campaign!
And Chris Christie chickened out.
At least he didn't pig out.
Did he think getting the om-nom-nomination
would be easy as pie?
I wonder when Ben Carson
will put his sleepy campaign to bed,
when Jeb! will! autopsy! his! DOA! campaign!
and Marco Rubio will unplug his robocampaign....
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A word from Conservative Clown Car
"Trump combines terrible ideas & an alarming temperament; he's a racist, a sexist, a demagogue, a narcissist, a bully, and a dilettante. He lies so often and fluently it's hard to know if he realizes he's lying. He delights in schoolyard taunts and luxuriates in backlash."
A Donald Trump Presidency is a terrifying thought.
Sad? We chuckled at every one! The best two:
"Carly Fiorina Is 'Very Encouraged' by Seventh-Place Finish"
"Vermin Supreme Beats Jim Gilmore"
Buh Bye Big Guy!
He asked, repeatedly, "How did I do? How did I do? How did I do?" wink emoticon
Last week, Republicans refused to even *look* at the President's 2016 budget proposal. Now they want to break LAST year's budget deal!
John Boehner's GOT to be chuckling...
And you will know they are Christians by...their love.
"She was to be fired for the crime of saying she was going to wear a hijab over the Christmas holiday, 'in religious solidarity' with Muslims."
It's one thing to say, knowingly, "Fox built Trump's political career." It's quite another when Media Matters lays it all out...
Dear Donald: after World War II, Japanese generals were tried, convicted & hung for torturing POWs, including waterboarding.
Good for you, Senator. It’s comforting to see Republicans standing up to the degenerates your base has decided to endorse. Now if you could just do something about them…
Trump is a symptom of the larger Republican disease: he can call the unemployment numbers fake because...
Republicans no longer believe in facts. If Republicans disagree with a fact, they proclaim that the fact isn’t real.
The most precise description we've heard of the GOP electorate.
Marco Rubio staff assumed the only three black people at his rally were spies, harassed them
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Daily Kos
Petitions
Wednesday, February 3, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing to investigate the terrible decisions that led to the Flint, Michigan water crisis.
So far, the committee subpoenaed three federal and state officials, a Flint resident, and the researcher who exposed the cover-up of this man-made crisis. One name was conspicuously absent--Governor Rick Snyder, whose woeful mismanagement of state agencies and emergency managers exposed an entire city to lead poison.
Governor Snyder has already admitted to failing Flint residents. Still, the Republican-led Oversight committee and chair Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) seem to be shielding Snyder from scrutiny for his role in the Flint water catastrophe.
Sign the petition: Demand the House Oversight Committee subpoena Governor Rick Snyder.
Governor Rick Snyder appointed the emergency managers and gave them the power to override local government. Governor Snyder appointed the MDEQ director who buried evidence of elevated lead levels in the water.
Governor Snyder circumvented local leadership for years and now the Republican-controlled oversight committed is helping him wash his hands clean of all the controversy.
The 18 Democrats serving on the oversight committee signed a letter demanding another hearing to subpoena Governor Snyder and all the emergency managers he appointed to govern Flint. To date, Republicans in the committee have ignored their requests and focused their investigation on the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Sign the petition: Demand the House Oversight Committee subpoena Governor Rick Snyder.,
Keep fighting,
Irna Landrum, Daily Kos
Because of its success protecting consumers, Elizabeth Warren’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has come under attack by the GOP, big banks, lobbyists and a shady group sponsored by special interests that was previously investigated by the CFPB.
Sign the petition: Join Senate Democrats in defending the CFPB from the GOP and big banks.
We protect the progress we’ve made. Republicans can deny and lie all they want, but it’s clear the CFPB helps Americans navigate the treacherous terrain of loans and credit cards.
Join Senate Democrats in standing up for Elizabeth Warren and the CFPB. Make sure the corrupt organizations aligned with the GOP fail in their attempts to manipulate the American people.
Keep Fighting,
Carissa Miller, Daily Kos
Headlines
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- Like the Daily Kos Recommended email? Chip in $1 to support the team that brings progressive news to your inbox every day.
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- Heidi Cruz says as president, her husband, Ted, will deliver 'a combination of the law and religion'
- Utah's male legislators are just fine with women being taxed extra for their lady parts
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- President Obama must really like Marco Rubio ... praising him on immigration like that!
- Cliven Bundy now occupying a jail cell after FBI agents arrested him last night in Oregon
- Sign if you agree: Hillary has the strength to take on the NRA and keep our communities safe—that is one of the reasons Gabby Giffords has endorsed her.
- Kentucky ponders 'separate but equal' marriage licenses just in time for Valentine's Day
- Department of Justice slaps Ferguson with lawsuit ... just like they said they would
- Marco Rubio thinks he may need a brokered convention to be the Republican nominee
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- Donald Trump's sons have deep thoughts about waterboarding and the struggles of wealth
- Cruz won Iowa, and Trump won New Hampshire. What is going on with the Republican clown-car, and who do you believe we will face in 2016? Log in or sign up and write a Daily Kos blog post with your prediction.
- Donald Trump's sons have deep thoughts about waterboarding and the struggles of wealth
- Donald Trump, Jr., opines on the terrible prejudice faced by billionaire trust fund kids
- Sign if you agree with Russ Feingold: We must expand Social Security
- Donald Trump doesn't need Fox News, and that leaves Fox News dazed and confused
- FBI surrounds occupiers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
- Comedy Central's Jessica Williams explains Beyonce's 'Blackness' to Fox News and Rudy G.
- Cartoon: Climate change denial winter exercises
- Cartoon: Primary questions
- Chicago cop moves forward with lawsuit against teen he shot and killed
- Sign the petition: It's finally time to take on the NRA. Hillary has laid out smart, sensible steps to make our communities safer from gun violence -- that is one of the reasons Gabby Giffords has endorsed her.
- Maybe Ted Nugent's latest dip into anti-Semitism will get politicians to stop coddling him? Nah.
- Florida teen accidentally shoots 13-year-old boy after losing his balance on a hoverboard
- Rubio state campaign chair defends tackling Robot Rubio protester, claiming he was 'violent'
- Nuns who feed the homeless may be evicted after their rent is jacked up by 50 percent
- Congressman Elijah Cummings spits fire over Flint water: 'This is not a third world country!'
- How the Flint lead crisis reflects America's water problem
- When Marco Rubio falls, he falls fast and funny
- The odds for a GOP brokered convention just got way better
- Donald Trump is now the Republican front-runner, which is really scary. What must Democrats do to take him on? Log in or sign up for a Daily Kos account, and write a blog post today.
- And the latest Republican dropout is ...
- When Marco Rubio falls, he falls fast and funny
- How Republican frontrunner Donald Trump spent the morning after his New Hampshire win
- Bernie raised how much since last night?!
- The odds for a GOP brokered convention just got way better
- Kind of big: Ta-Nehisi Coates says he'll vote for Bernie Sanders
- Establishment Republicans watch their best hopes circle the drain
- Former White House spokesman: Obama prefers Clinton over Sanders
- New Hampshire Republican voters are right with Donald Trump on the Muslim hating
- Marco Rubio is sad, but promises he won't tank again
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Am I the only one who sees a ring of truth in this meme?
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More petitions you may like
When politicians manipulate voting maps, they get a free pass to ignore voters. The New York Times sums it up:
The only way to bring fairness back to our democracy is to get to the root of the problem: Take away politicians’ power to manipulate district maps. And with a historic election coming up, we need to act NOW to ensure every vote counts.
We’re fighting to get redistricting reform on the ballot in key states such as
- Florida
- Michigan
- Illinois
But we’re still $3,446 short of our goal – and missing this could
derail our campaigns right when they need to be kicking into high gear.
Will you give $5 before our midnight deadline?
If you've saved payment info with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately.
Thanks!
Redistricting Reform
Contribute
For
a number of years, Republican Senator Roy Blunt and his staff told a
story about his low draft number. "The low 300s, and was never called,"
they would say.
Yesterday, the truth came out: it wasn't luck of the draw that kept Senator Blunt out of Vietnam, it was multiple deferments. Which wouldn't have been a problem ... if he had been honest about it all these years.
But what should really stick in your craw is when you consider the news alongside the many votes Senator Blunt has cast against veterans: votes to cut housing vouchers for homeless veterans, a vote against Bernie Sanders VA expansion legislation, and a vote against foreclosure protection for veterans.
Senator Blunt is up for re-election this year, and his opponent just so happens to be a progressive Afghanistan veteran: VoteVets endorsed candidate Jason Kander.
Contribute $3/HPC to VoteVets and Jason Kander's U.S. Senate campaign and make Senator Roy Blunt pay a price for his mis-truths and votes against veterans.
Here is some actual truth: Jason Kander's race is one of the most competitive U.S. Senate races in the country, and you can be proud to support his campaign. We're working hard to elect a new generation of progressive veterans to the Senate this year, and Jason belongs right near the top of that list.
Thank you for supporting his campaign.
All my best,
Jon Soltz
Iraq War Veteran and Chairman
VoteVets
Yesterday, the truth came out: it wasn't luck of the draw that kept Senator Blunt out of Vietnam, it was multiple deferments. Which wouldn't have been a problem ... if he had been honest about it all these years.
But what should really stick in your craw is when you consider the news alongside the many votes Senator Blunt has cast against veterans: votes to cut housing vouchers for homeless veterans, a vote against Bernie Sanders VA expansion legislation, and a vote against foreclosure protection for veterans.
Senator Blunt is up for re-election this year, and his opponent just so happens to be a progressive Afghanistan veteran: VoteVets endorsed candidate Jason Kander.
Contribute $3/HPC to VoteVets and Jason Kander's U.S. Senate campaign and make Senator Roy Blunt pay a price for his mis-truths and votes against veterans.
Here is some actual truth: Jason Kander's race is one of the most competitive U.S. Senate races in the country, and you can be proud to support his campaign. We're working hard to elect a new generation of progressive veterans to the Senate this year, and Jason belongs right near the top of that list.
Thank you for supporting his campaign.
All my best,
Jon Soltz
Iraq War Veteran and Chairman
VoteVets
| |
| Tell Congress: Overturn Citizens United in 2016 | |
| Tell Congress:
“We cannot have a government that is bought and paid for by huge multinational corporations. We need a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Put the full power of your office behind a constitutional amendment to undo Citizens United and end corporate personhood.”
Add your name:
|
When you buy a cup of coffee, the cashier doesn’t charge you a Filtering Fee or a Pouring Surcharge. That would be ridiculous.
Unfortunately, cable companies do it to their subscribers all the time. Which, if you have cable, you may already know.
Last year, more than 30 percent of consumer complaints to the FCC about Internet service and 38 percent of complaints about TV service were regarding billing.
Unfortunately, most people don’t really have a choice as to which cable or Internet provider they use. In fact, more than half only had ONE high-speed broadband provider as of February 2015. The lack of competition makes it more likely that huge companies will overcharge consumers, or charge erroneous fees, simply because those consumers have no better option.
This makes it even more important for the FCC to crack down on cable and Internet companies taking advantage of consumers. Sign the petition and tell the FCC: Stop cable and Internet companies from cheating consumers.
Thank you.
Al Franken, U.S. Senator, Minnesota
| |
| Stand with Sen. Warren: Tell Senate Democrats not to sabotage Wall Street cops | |
| Petition to Senate Democrats:
"Don’t make it harder for regulators to protect Americans. Oppose attempts to undermine the work of corporate regulators and financial cops with new rules imposing “cost-benefit” analyses, extra commissions, sunset clauses, or any provisions."
Add your name:
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|
2.2 MILLION Black voters will be missing from the polls without our help!
On Tuesday, Republican voters in New Hampshire raced to the polls in support of Donald Trump. If the Right Wing plan to keep Black voters from the polls succeeds, he could actually win.
Chip in $3 today to help fight back against right wing voter suppression.
Black people are positioned to win this election year but well-funded forces intend to keep us from the polls.
Help us stop voter suppression in its tracks and expand the number of Black voters by protecting the freedom to vote.
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AlterNet
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Movie time!
...but intelligent people believe in God
The most famous convert
Would you vote for God?
Christian vs Muslim (too funny not to post)
George Carlin smacks down the American government
posted by Dot Calm @ 2:32 PM
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