On demand

The same people who rail against "abortion on demand" because it's "murder" are the same people demanding gun sales on demand with no restrictions.

Try to put your head around that one.

President Obama and American exceptionalism

Many Republicans and conservative pundits often tell us that President Obama does not believe in American exceptionalism and never talks about it. Of course, the president's recent State of the Union speech was loaded with talk of American exceptionalism, but that did not stop Speaker of the House John Boehner from again accusing Obama and Democrats of never mentioning it. But the facts show that Obama has mentioned and talked about American exceptionalism more than President Bush did. Will Boehner and conservative pundits revise and extend their statements in light of this fact?

What makes NFL great: Socialism

GREAT bit from Bill Maher:

New Rule: Americans Must Realize What Makes NFL Football So Great: Socialism

New Rule: With the Super Bowl only a week away, Americans must realize what makes NFL football so great: socialism. That's right, for all the F-15 flyovers and flag waving, football is our most successful sport because the NFL takes money from the rich teams and gives it to the poor teams... just like President Obama wants to do with his secret army of ACORN volunteers. Green Bay, Wisconsin has a population of 100,000. Yet this sleepy little town on the banks of the Fuck-if-I-know River has just as much of a chance of making it to the Super Bowl as the New York Jets - who next year need to just shut the hell up and play.

Read the rest. It’s that good.

It's a practiced meme.

It's a practiced meme, one which those familiar with the GOP of today saw coming as early as 2004. During the Bush/Cheney fiasco, the GOP engaged in double-book accounting, hoping the inevitable economic disaster would hit AFTER their majority and WH left office -- but they were too greedy.

The habit of spending the country into a tailspin while using various budgeting and economic tricks to falsely stimulated a facade of 'growth' (one that would be the ultimate cause of the resulting collapse back within itself), then blame the other party that comes in to clean up the mess not only for making the mess in the first place but using the mess to further their agenda, restricting spending and cutting social service programs.

It's got to stop, folks.

They had their demands for "investigations" and "impeachment" sounding BEFORE Obama even took the Oath of Office -- what idiot would see and hear that, and still believe that the Republicans were intent on doing ANYTHING akin to actually working FOR the nation instead of actively against it?

They had fought any investigation of the lies that were unraveling which brought us to war in Iraq during their tenure, and steadfastly stood by the then-President Bush when he boldly announced that he had no exit strategy, and that would be something "for the next President" to clean up decide. Who didn't suspect that they intended to ensure that the high costs of war - TWO wars - would help seriously constrain the ability of that "next" President to curtail the spending and stem the bleeding from the GOP's reckless abandonment of duty, Constitutionality and humanity?

They've actively obstructed EVERY measure that the current Administration and the Democratic majority in Congress had tried to pass, and then lied some more in order to influence the weak-minded and the devastated into voting their incompetent, lying asses BACK into office, where they now have the capacity to do even more damage and to FURTHER obstruct any efforts to actually fix the nation's infrastrure, economy and health.

They've been lying repeatedly; the big lies of their candidates and pundits echo cavernously through the rapidly hollowing skulls of their followers and sychophants...and they are never, ever held accountable for the real, lasting and inhuman swath of destruction which their ongoing reign of ^(T)error wreaks across the planet.

The GOP of today gets their power from a people weakened by their own poison: the folks who are weak-willed, weak-minded, unAmerican, unPatriot, unChristian, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, misogynistic hypocrites who claim that they seek only the best for the nation in the eyes of their "god" and their founding fathers are their -- and our -- worst enemies. They enable, and participate, in treasonous domestic terror campaigns while undermining our constitution, our government, our economy and our society, all while being too arrogantly hypocritical to see the damage that they are doing, or recognizing they are the axe-weilding psychopaths who are tearing everything up.

Today's GOP seeks out supporters like that, cultivating and growing them, tending to them as if they were a prize-winning crop at a state fair.

And the nation suffers. The people suffer. The economic, social, scientific, industrial and ethical health of the nation and her people erodes. Amid the suffering, the GOP then claims -- without any actual reality to back up their claims of fiscal responsibility -- that cutting social programs and undoing the very repairs that were put into place after their last great undoing led us (and the world) into the Great Depression would fix the problems.

This is a claim coming from the party that's been steadfastly working to undo those repairs since they first took effect. This claim, coming from the party that not only accelerated the nation's financial meltdown but also added more fuel to the flames by engaging in an illegal war and ensuring that "the next President" would get stuck with it. These claims, coming from the Party that typically cripples the US economy, creates a false set of financial circumstances to be able to look good on paper only (and only while they're controlling access to the raw data), and then pursuing their own agenda through insisting that the programs they've tried to cut before -- while cooking up their financial fiascos and letting them simmer, boil over and catch fire.

All this -- a practiced meme. One that will further decimate the nation, undoing programs that have helped our citizens for many years, and completely destroy the progress made over the past 70 years.

They'd call that a major victory for "democracy" and for their "god" -- I'd call it unmitigated disaster, supported by morons and co-enabled by subsequent parties who hadn't the wherewithall nor the intestinal fortitude to hold these people accountable for their actions.

And then I hear some of these same people wonder why things never get better.

Michele Bachmann–TELEPROMPTER USER!

Michele Bachmann was using a teleprompter! I wonder when Sarah Palin will condemn her for using one... but then again, Palin uses one herself.

Whither Glenn Beck... or is that "wither"?

Glenn Beck has lost 50% of his audience in the last year, and the ratings are still going down. Not to mention how many advertisers he's lost. When will Fox News pull the plug?

When will Bill O’Reilly learn his lesson?

Don’t try to take on Jon Stewart. He’ll nail you every time.

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Tanning causes deafness!

Tanning obviously causes deafness. We’re calling for a congressional investigation into the dangers of deafness caused by tanning beds, self-tanning products, etc.

Why?

What other explanation can there be for John Boehner smarmily accusing President Obama of “never” talking about American exceptionalism?

We all saw the orange man sitting there behind the president at the State of the Union. Obama even gave a really nice shout out to him – and even included the words, “The greatest nation on the face of the earth!” as he praised Boehner. It certainly seemed like Boehner heard him, and the rest of the speech which was almost entirely about how exceptional America is.

So how else do you explain Boehner whining that President Obama never said the things he took an hour to say, right in front of him? Boehner must be going deaf, and it must be from all the tanning.

A Handshake Agreement...?

Lordrag posted about Reid's "handshake agreement" with Republicans, pointing to the HuffPo piece about it. His main comment?

Jeez, Reid, haven't you learned by now that the only Republican you can trust is one who's either handcuffed or behind bars?

Not that it's important, but perhaps Reid also needs new glasses because the appendage that the GOP is handing him sure as hell isn't a hand.

You'd think the Astroglide they'd replaced his hand lotion with would have tipped him off in the first place...

It's a hoax!

They are BREATHLESSLY hawking a new birther conspiracy on right wing/anti-government/white power websites, that the governor of Hawaii allegedly says he can't locate Obama's birth certificate, but guess what, teabaggers.... IT'S A HOAX.

On January 20, Mike Evans, a relatively unknown celebrity journalist, claimed on a Twin Cities classic rock station that he had talked to Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) and "Neil says that he searched everywhere using his powers as governor ... there is no Barack Obama birth certificate in Hawaii. Absolutely no proof at all that he was born in Hawaii."

Evans' statement was a hoax. Six days later, Evans told FoxNews.com that "Neil never told me there was no birth certificate ... I never talked to him."

The retraction wasn't surprising. There is no evidence President Obama was born outside of the United States, and Abercrombie told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on January 18 that Hawaii indeed has proof of Obama's birth.

Teabagger tax cut plans backfire

The teabaggers say they’re all about fiscal responsibility and cutting spending. They’re also all about cutting taxes. But they’re learning that when communities are facing budget shortfalls, cutting taxes only makes it worse.

At his January 2010 inauguration, Tea Party-backed Republican Edward Mangano marched up to the podium, pen in hand. Even before being officially declared Nassau County Executive, he signed a repeal of an unpopular home energy tax.

The move elicited chants of "Eddie, Eddie, Eddie" from supporters assembled in the auditorium of Mangano's alma mater, Bethpage High School, 30 miles east of New York City.

"This is very cool and quite an honor," Mangano said as he gave his admirers a thumbs-up.

The fiscal consequences, however, were anything but cool. The repeal set Mangano on an immediate collision course with the state-appointed fiscal overseer, the Nassau County Interim Financial Authority, or NIFA. It culminated in NIFA seizing control of the wealthy New York county's finances on Wednesday.

Nassau's ills exemplify the growing tension across the country as dozens of freshly-elected Tea Party lawmakers, many of whom promised to cut taxes, must find ways to slash record budget gaps as revenues dwindle.

"A lot of people who got elected on this type of anti-tax platform are running into the brick wall of fiscal reality," said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the non-partisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington.

Besides being a cautionary tale, the setback in Nassau County is a black eye for the Tea Party, the grassroots movement built around the core principles of constitutionally limited government, free-market ideology and low taxes.

Indeed, a close examination reveals that the affluent area's woes were exacerbated by missteps and miscalculations. Among other things, a Reuters review of dozens of public and private documents showed vague, circular answers to oversight panel queries and basic math errors in budget documents.

Ayn Rand was a socialist who accepted Social Security and Medicare checks!

Ayn Rand is the hero of teabaggers who pretend to be intellectual. The Ayn Rand Center has a big op-ed calling Social Security "immoral." (Read it here.)

But Ayn Rand herself accepted Social Security and Medicare payments. According to teabagger logic, that makes her a supporter of socialism.

I wonder why the teabaggers aren't talking about that?

Outright lying & blatant dishonesty

Fox News edits silence and crickets, turning down applause and laughter in their playback of President Obama's State of the Union address. They report, they decide, they tell you what to think.

For a show that often likes to misinform their audience in favor of the Right, the morning following President Obama's 2011 State of the Union Address proved no different for Fox & Friends. Besides telling their viewers what to think about the President's speech and redefining the word "investment," they went as far as to declare that the President's jokes "fell flat," and, as evidence, aired video clips in which they replaced the audience laughter and applause in response to the president's jokes with cricket sound effects. They manipulate, you decide.

Shorter SOTU + rebuttals

President Obama: "The future is ours to win!"

Teabagger/Republican response: "GAAAAAA! FEAR FEAR FEAR!!! DOOM DOOM DOOM!!! GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"If th

is was all to set the tone for the 2012 election, the Republicans are in for a shellacking.

Supreme Court partisans

Remember back when Supreme Court justices tried to avoid even the appearance of partisanship?

Now, they openly disrespect our government, our president, give secret speeches to domestic terrorist/insurrectionist groups, etc. Amazing times we live in.

If Jesus were a congressman

If Jesus were a congressman, would he be talking about helping the poor and sick, or would he be talking about gun rights and giving more tax breaks to big corporations and the ultra wealthy?

SOTU drinking games

What kind of drinking games are we playing for tonight's State of the Union speech? Me, I'm taking a drink every time a Republican mutters "Nazi," "socialist," or "where's the birth certificate" under his or her breath.

Keith Olbermann for Senate?

A "draft Olbermann" movement has been started.

The movement was launched by Daily Kos contributor Stranded Wind, who wrote on Saturday that Olbermann--who, after his abrupt departure from MSNBC, has some time on his hands-- is "just old enough, smart enough, polished enough, and has all of the other attributes that would make him a darned good Senator for the state of Connecticut."

The movement now has a Twitter and Facebook page. On the Facebook page, the people behind the effort say they are "just a bunch of fans who want to see Keith Olbermann run for Senate- this voice is too important to be silenced."

Sittin' together at the SOTU

Some Republican lawmakers are refusing to sit with Democrats at the State of the Union speech. They want to be able to shout out "You lie!" or "Go back to Kenya, you socialist!" if the mood strikes.

Critics of Palin get death threats

Critics of Sarah Palin are receiving death threats just for asking questions.

Responding to criticism she received after the January 8 Tucson shootings, Sarah Palin referred to death threats she and her children have received, suggesting that the Palin clan have been victims of heated political rhetoric. And an aide noted that the Palin team was consulting with security professionals. Andree McLeod, a prominent Palin critic in Alaska, could also use such help, for she has been publicly threatened with assassination—just for requesting, under Alaska's open records act, the work-related emails Palin sent and received while governor.

More bad news for the GOP

Good news for America is more bad news for Republicans, as the economy and the employment numbers continue to improve.

Industry economists say the U.S. economic recovery is gaining strength, with more firms expressing positive hiring plans than in over a decade.

A new survey from the National Association for Business Economics finds that economists are more hopeful about overall economic growth, the job market and demand for companies' products and services by many measures than they have been since the start of the Great Recession.

The survey found that business decisions are now "being driven by the fundamentals of an improving economy," said Shawn DuBravac, an economist with the Consumer Electronics Association who analyzed the findings.

Ooooooh, “Obamacare!” GAAAA!

Fact-checking the latest viral email about “Obamacare.”

Keith Olbermann’s exit–more to the story

When Keith said on his show last night, "I've been told that this will be the last edition of Countdown," this tells us his exit was not entirely his idea. That's the bad news. If Keith quit, he would have said so. That's how Keith is.

But the good news is this -- Keith had some power. Being allowed to tell us on the air, "this is the last edition," shows us that this was a NEGOTIATED exit.

NBC obviously wanted him gone, but Keith still had two years on his contract. This means NBC had to buy out the remainder of the contract, so Keith probably got a really nice sum of money. But this also means that Keith has probably agreed to their conditions as well – he can’t do another TV show for a certain period of time, perhaps two years.

And the really bad news – under the terms he probably will never be able to tell us what really happened, how it all really went down.

Here's the story from TMZ.com – and before you dismiss this is a gossip site (it is), they're usually very good at getting the inside story about media doings, and TMZ usually has this stuff right.

Keith Olbermann saw the handwriting on the wall with the new owner of NBC and cut a deal for his exit that will give him money and options -- sources tell TMZ.

Here's how it went down. Sources familiar with the situation tell us that Olbermann's agent recently went to NBC complaining that Keith -- who has the most popular show on MSNBC -- was underpaid at $7 million per year. NBC execs told Olbermann's agent they would not cough up anymore money.

Network execs were well aware that Comcast wanted Keith gone because he was "a loose cannon that could not be controlled." It became clear to both sides that Olbermann's days were numbered and they began negotiating an exit.

We're told the exit deal wasn't completed until just before airtime Friday night.

Under the deal, sources say Olbermann will get money but cannot appear on television for a certain period time -- we don't know how long.

Our sources say Olbermann will, however, reappear soon with a presence on the Internet.

Sarah Palin to be prosecuted in Australia

Looks like Sarah Palin won't ever be able to visit Australia -- she'll be prosecuted for inciting violence if she does. Of course, she says she'd never even think about driving there anyway.

Under Australian law, inciting violence is a serious crime: an offense which could even trigger the prosecution of members of the US political class and mainstream media who called for the assassination of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, according to his attorney.

Comments by Robert Stary, Assange's Melbourne-based lawyer, were carried in the US by a Friday broadcast of National Public Radio's Morning Edition.

"Our main concern is really the possible extradition to the US," he said. "We've been troubled by the sort of rhetoric that has come out of various commentators and principally Republican politicians — Sarah Palin and the like — saying Mr. Assange should be executed, assassinated."

Stary added: "Certainly if Sarah Palin or any of those other politicians come to Australia, for whatever purpose, then we can initiate a private prosecution, and that's what we intend to do."

Welcome your new corporate media overlords—goodbye, Keith Olbermann

In a stunning announcement, Keith Olbermann told viewers during his final segment this evening that this was the final countdown. No pun intended.

The Comcast takeover of NBC was just approved, and the next thing we know, MSNBC ends their contract with Olbermann? I guess you can’t be a reporter who criticizes big corporations like Comcast and expect to still be given a forum for reporting the news about big corporations like Comcast when they own all the forums.

MSNBC issued a terse statement – in media codespeak, this is basically a message that this was the company’s, not Olbermann’s, doing:

MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract. The last broadcast of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors.

If I find out that Comcast had anything to do with this in any way, I will never again watch MSNBC, not even for Rachel Maddow.

Coincidentally, Rachel is off tonight – but that’s possibly because she’s scheduled to be on Real Time with Bill Maher tonight. I wonder if her new corporate overlords will let her make any comment about Keith’s ouster. Maher’s live show starts in about 10 minutes.

Obama Derangement Syndrome–SOTU edition

Deep South Republican Representative Paul Broun refuses to sit with evil Democrats during President Obama's State of the Union address to watch Obama "spew his venom."

Great example of a rage & fear junkie, a hate-filled teabagger absolutely beside himself with Obama Derangement Syndrome.

I blame the individual for the first 10

Lawrence O'Donnell, on Jared Loughner using an extended gun clip that used to be illegal: "I blame the individual for the first 10 bullets. I blame the law for the next 21 bullets."."

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Socialism more popular than the Tea Party

Teabaggers love to rant about socialism. And anything Democrats or President Obama does is automatically socialist. If Obama sneezes, it's socialism.
Bad news for them -- when asked, more Americans like socialism than like the Tea Party.

That’s right. Socialism is more popular in America than the teabaggers.

In other polling news, Obama’s ratings are shooting up, while Sarah Palin’s unfavorability rating has hit an all-time high.

Religion dehumanizes

Why do some religious adherents find it so easy to dehumanize and dismiss other human beings?

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R) commemorated the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, telling a gathering of Alabamians that he didn't see skin color as a divisive factor. When it came to religion, however, the recently-inaugurated governor raised some eyebrows with a comment on his view of non-Christians in his state.

"So anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother," Bentley said in his address, according to The Birmingham News, after telling the congregation that he was "color blind."

Blood libel–rhetoric that caused violence

Sarah Palin’s use of the term “blood libel” is actually proof that rhetoric causes violence. In this case, it was use of the blood libel itself that caused violence against Jews.

But of course Palin is too stupid to get that.

Fox News contributor Mara Liasson said Sunday that while defending use of gun imagery, Fox News employee Sarah Palin actually admitted that political discourse can cause violence.

Following a shooting in Tucson, Arizona that left six dead and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) in the hospital, Sarah Palin attacked critics who said that her political advertisement that put gun sights over Giffords' district had had created a dangerous environment for the congresswoman.

Palin defended herself by saying, "Especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible."

The term "blood libel" was historically used as an excuse to persecute Jews.

"Here she is saying, when you talk about blood libel, that is the definition political discourse, a manufactured lie causing violence," noted Liasson. "In this case she paints herself as the potential victim."

"Here she is agreeing with the left that political discourse can cause violence."

Fox News pundit Brit Hume attempted to disagree but Liasson stood her ground.

"Yes, that's exactly what blood libel is. You make up a lie about someone, you make a false accusation that causes violence against Jews, for instance," she said.

Sarah Palin says she's getting death threats

Sarah Palin says she's getting an "unprecedented" number of death threats in the wake of all the back-and-forth since the shootings in Tucson. Yet, she hasn't alerted the FBI or the Secret Service about them. Odd.

But most surprising is this: Is Sarah Palin insinuating that rhetoric can lead to threats of violence? WE ARE SHOCKED, SHOCKED, WE SAY!

Wait a minute. Didn't she just get done whining in her victim video that rhetoric does NOT lead to threats of violence?

Nancy Goldstein scrutinizes the claims:

If Palin is receiving death threats, especially at allegedly "unprecedented levels," all of us should be concerned. But Palin should be calling the police or the FBI, not mere "security experts," as reported. To neglect engaging law enforcement is a disservice to her own safety and the safety of her staff and family. Yet neither Palin's staff nor the news outlets elaborate on this point, except to admit that the former has not signed off on changing Palin's security arrangements. The media, however, has clearly been alerted.

More guns does not equal less crime

More guns does not equal less crime. In fact, if anything, areas where there are more guns have higher violent assault rates. And, the highest gun deaths per state matches up with the states that have the most privately-owned guns. Go figure.

Video: More guns does not equal less crime

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Rachel Maddow points out that there is no evidence to support the popular American fantasy that guns serve as a deterrent to crime and shooting sprees. (The Rachel Maddow Show)

Compare

Just compare the words of our President tonight with the whiny, I’m-the-real-victim-here, “blood libel” video by a teleprompter-reading Sarah Palin.

After the President’s speech tonight, the proper response to her should be, “Sarah who?”

Huh?

Let me see if I have this straight.

Right wingers are telling us that all their violent rhetoric and imagery does NOT cause violence.

But criticizing right wingers for their violent rhetoric and imagery WILL cause violence?

Oh, okay. Got it.

Domestic terrorist praises Glenn Beck

Hey, teabaggers, where's your answer for THIS?

The domestic terrorist who was headed to San Francisco to kill people at the ACLU and Tides Foundation in order "to start a revolution," PRAISES Glenn Beck in a jailhouse interview and explains that because of what Beck taught him, that's why he wanted to kill people.

The video below shows the terrorist praising Beck and exactly how Beck targeted them.

Palin whines

Sarah Palin has finally issued an in-depth comment on the assassination spree in Tucson this past Saturday. Her response? Whining. She is still a professional victim. Never once in her abbreviated political career has she ever shown any sense of responsibility. For anything. Ever.

And her use of the term “blood libel”… well, that’s only more heated rhetoric inviting yet more violence. The phrase, and it’s conjuring up of anti-Semitism, is it yet another dig at Gabrielle Giffords, who is Jewish?

Separated at birth?

Starting to make its way around the Interwebs.

More than a quarter of Republicans think violence against the government is justified

CBS has released a new poll that shows 45% of Americans believe Jared Lee Loughner, the Tucson assassin, was motivated by politics.

But the really scary item in the poll, taken after the shooting mind you, is that 16% of Americans think that violence against the government is justified!

Incredible.

But here's where it gets REALLY scary. Breaking down the numbers by party affiliation, 28% of Republicans think violence against the government is justified, compared to 11% of Democrats and 11% of Independents.

More than a quarter of Republicans, polled after the shooting rampage in Tucson, think that violence against the government is justified!

Rush Limbaugh is a sick f--k

Newsflash: Rush Limbaugh is a SICK FUCK. Excuse the language, but nothing else suffices.

Independent

Right wingers were claiming that Jared Lee Loughner was a registered Democrat. Not that it really matters, but it turns out he's not.

He's a registered Independent and did not vote in the 2010 election.

By the way, not that there's any connection whatsoever, but many teabaggers bristle when called Republicans and insist that they're Independent.

The guilt-by-association game can bite you in the ass REAL fast.

AZ steps up

The Arizona legislature will announce an anti-Westboro law to protect shooting victims.

Arizona's state legislature has announced a legislative effort to combat the infamous Westboro Baptist Church's plans to picket the funerals of the shooting victims in Tucson over the weekend.

"We're going to try to protect the families from undue harassment," State Rep. Daniel Patterson (D), one of the leaders of a bipartisan group of legislators, told Talking Points Memo Monday.

While the Topeka-based congregation has been best known for their incendiary anti-gay, pro-dead soldier messages, they have now decided to take their insensitive protest to the services of victims -- including a 9-year-old girl and a 30-year-old Giffords aide who was set to be married -- killed by Jared Lee Loughner on Saturday.

But some aren’t pleased.

The chair of the Pima County GOP, for one, has since said that he thinks such a law is a dangerous infringement on free speech laws.

"I don't know what's in the law, but I do think it's indicative of always looking to the law to solve problems," Brian Miller told TPM in a later interview.

GOP hopeful takes aim at Palin’s crosshairs

One of Sarah Palin’s likely opponents for the 2012 GOP nomination has taken the step of criticizing her crosshairs ad.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty recently criticized Sarah Palin and her vilified campaign use of crosshair imagery to target legislators for unseating, saying he "wouldn't have done it."

Pawlenty, who seems to be in the midst of charging up for a potential presidential run, also gave a half-hearted defense of the former Alaska governor, telling The New York Times that "there's no indication at present that those cross hairs, Fox News, any particular commentator or show or set of remarks or person was a motivating factor in his thoughts." Despite this contention, however, he still seemed to think the illustration was a bad idea.

"I wouldn't have done it," Pawlenty said.

Just “isolated incidents”

Just "isolated incidents." That's all they are. <s>

-- July 2008: A gunman named Jim David Adkisson, agitated at how "liberals" are "destroying America," walks into a Unitarian Church and opens fire, killing two churchgoers and wounding four others.

-- October 2008: Two neo-Nazis are arrested in Tennessee in a plot to murder dozens of African-Americans, culminating in the assassination of President Obama.

-- December 2008: A pair of "Patriot" movement radicals -- the father-son team of Bruce and Joshua Turnidge, who wanted "to attack the political infrastructure" -- threaten a bank in Woodburn, Oregon, with a bomb in the hopes of extorting money that would end their financial difficulties, for which they blamed the government. Instead, the bomb goes off and kills two police officers. The men eventually are convicted and sentenced to death for the crime.

-- December 2008: In Belfast, Maine, police discover the makings of a nuclear "dirty bomb" in the basement of a white supremacist shot dead by his wife. The man, who was independently wealthy, reportedly was agitated about the election of President Obama and was crafting a plan to set off the bomb.

-- January 2009: A white supremacist named Keith Luke embarks on a killing rampage in Brockton, Mass., raping and wounding a black woman and killing her sister, then killing a homeless man before being captured by police as he is en route to a Jewish community center.

-- February 2009: A Marine named Kody Brittingham is arrested and charged with plotting to assassinate President Obama. Brittingham also collected white-supremacist material.

-- April 2009: A white supremacist named Richard Poplawski opens fire on three Pittsburgh police officers who come to his house on a domestic-violence call and kills all three, because he believed President Obama intended to take away the guns of white citizens like himself. Poplawski is currently awaiting trial.

-- April 2009: Another gunman in Okaloosa County, Florida, similarly fearful of Obama's purported gun-grabbing plans, kills two deputies when they come to arrest him in a domestic-violence matter, then is killed himself in a shootout with police.

-- May 2009: A "sovereign citizen" named Scott Roeder walks into a church in Wichita, Kansas, and assassinates abortion provider Dr. George Tiller.

-- June 2009: A Holocaust denier and right-wing tax protester named James Von Brunn opens fire at the Holocaust Museum, killing a security guard.

-- February 2010: An angry tax protester named Joseph Ray Stack flies an airplane into the building housing IRS offices in Austin, Texas. (Media are reluctant to label this one "domestic terrorism" too.)

-- March 2010: Seven militiamen from the Hutaree Militia in Michigan and Ohio are arrested and charged with plotting to assassinate local police officers with the intent of sparking a new civil war.

-- March 2010: An anti-government extremist named John Patrick Bedell walks into the Pentagon and opens fire, wounding two officers before he is himself shot dead.

-- May 2010: A "sovereign citizen" from Georgia is arrested in Tennessee and charged with plotting the violent takeover of a local county courthouse.

-- May 2010: A still-unidentified white man walks into a Jacksonville, Fla., mosque and sets it afire, simultaneously setting off a pipe bomb.

-- May 2010: Two "sovereign citizens" named Jerry and Joe Kane gun down two police officers who pull them over for a traffic violation, and then wound two more officers in a shootout in which both of them are eventually killed.

-- July 2010: An agitated right-winger and convict named Byron Williams loads up on weapons and drives to the Bay Area intent on attacking the offices of the Tides Foundation and the ACLU, but is intercepted by state patrolmen and engages them in a shootout and armed standoff in which two officers and Williams are wounded.

-- September 2010: A Concord, N.C., man is arrested and charged with plotting to blow up a North Carolina abortion clinic. The man, 26-year--old Justin Carl Moose, referred to himself as the "Christian counterpart to (Osama) bin Laden” in a taped undercover meeting with a federal informant.

Teabagger “humorist” threatens Olbermann

Is Keith Olbermann the next person the teabaggers hope some nutcase will "take care of" for them?

A self-described humorist named a liberal cable news host a "target" on her blog the day after he denounced incendiary political rhetoric in response to an Arizona shooting that claimed the lives of six people, including a federal judge, a congressperson's aide, and a child.

Andrea Rouda's post entitled “Speaking of Target Practice” listed several historical figures who were murdered "by a crazy person" before naming MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, whom she referred to as "the Devil."

"What a waste, especially since there are so many good targets out still out there," she wrote. "Take Keith Olbermann."

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Shooter may have had ties to hate group

The shooter may have had ties to a known hate group.

WASHINGTON -- Jared Lee Loughner, the alleged shooter of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others on Saturday, may have ties to anti-Semitic, anti-immigration hate group American Renaissance, according to a leaked memo from the Department of Homeland Security.

It's unclear whether Loughner maintains a direct connection to the group, however, "strong suspicion is being directed" at American Renaissance in the wake of the group being referenced in Loughner's Myspace and YouTube videos, according to the memo, which was obtained by Fox News.

American Renaissance is a white nationalist group that operates under a pseudo think tank called the New Century Foundation. The group runs a magazine and conferences based on eugenics and the superiority of whites, according to Southern Poverty Law Center.

It wasn’t

It wasn't Democrats who kept putting gunsights in campaign ads.

It wasn't an MSNBC host who kept fantasizing about causing the death of Nancy Pelosi.

It wasn't liberals who kept bringing guns to town halls and campaign events.

Violence and threats have no place in democracy

Unfortunately, the people who REALLY need to see this won’t watch it, because Olbermann is on their fantasy assassination list too.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

More bad news for Republicans

Obama's budget: Tax revenue rising, deficit declining

Americans are paying more taxes, a sure sign of economic recovery -- and one that has the federal budget deficit declining ever so slightly.

That's the word from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which just released its review of the first quarter of fiscal year 2011, which began in October.

The good news: Revenue increased 9% from the same period a year ago, while spending grew only 3%. That translated into a $371 billion deficit for three months, $18 billion less than in October-December 2009.

Biggest reason for the improvement: a $33 billion increase in taxes withheld "as a result of strengthening economic conditions," CBO says.

More jobs in 2010 than Bush in 8 years

HYPOCRISY!

Teabaggers and right wingers explain why THEY should have "government health care" but you shouldn't.

Rep. Joe Heck's (R-Nev.) office and Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) said they'll take advantage of the insurance coverage they're eligible for through the Federal Employees Health Benefits program — the same health insurance available to other federal employees. The plan is not a single-payer system, but offers different private plans from which federal employees can choose.

“What am I, not supposed to have health care?” Grimm told The New York Daily News. “It’s practicality. I’m not going to become a burden for the state because I don’t have health care, and God forbid I get into an accident and I can’t afford the operation."

"Repeal Obama in 2012" -- Bachmann already floating campaign slogan

Presidential hopeful and noted teabagger nutjob Michele Bachmann says we need to "repeal Obama" in 2012.

Well, at least she's backing off her earlier talk that her supporters need to be "armed and dangerous."

But I wonder how long it'll be before she calls for "second amendment solutions" when she loses the GOP primaries.

Why?

Why do the teabaggers oppose poor people having access to health care?

And yet at the same time, most of them are happily enjoying their Medicare?

Is it because they don't want the "wrong kind" of people getting health care? And what "kind" would that be, eh?

THANK YOU, O GODS!

This atheist is down on his knees today thanking whatever invisible gods there  are in the sky, after hearing the best news I've heard in a long time --

Michele Bachmann is considering a run for president in 2012!

Can you just imagine the fun of Bachmann and Palin trying to out-crazy each other to win the teabagger vote?

THANK YOU, O GODS!

Who’s really like the Nazis?

Who here remembers their history? How the Nazis, when they were fighting for power, stoked hate and fear of the labor unions, and later disbanded them?

Which political party in America is also stoking hate and fear of labor unions? Which political party is actually calling for an end to the right to strike, even an end of labor unions altogether? (Hint, it ain't the Democrats.)

Time to drop Geico

Back in April Geico fired its voiceover spokesman Lance Baxter because he dared to criticize teabaggers.

But R. Lee Ermey, also a Geico pitchman, viciously attacks President Obama at a Toys For Tots fundraiser, calls him a socialist, calls for insurrection... and Geico does nothing.

If Geico does not fire R. Lee Ermey for his traitorous and vicious attack, I'm taking my money elsewhere.

Gerry Rafferty, RIP

Horrible news for right wingers

This is absolutely HORRIBLE news for right wingers. Their heads are going to explode.

GM, Chrysler, Ford report double-digit sales increases

Christina Rogers / The Detroit News

Automakers are reporting 2010 U.S. sales figures today, and the news is good for nearly all of them.

Among those who sold more cars last year than in the depressed 2009 were Detroit's Big Three.

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Sales for Toyota Motor Sales, however, remained flat over 2009, and its December sales slid 5.5 percent from December 2009.

For the full 2010 calendar year, the Japanese automaker sold 1.76 million cars, a 0.3 percent decrease from 2009. Its Toyota division recorded sales of 1.53 million for 2010, down 0.6 percent compared with last year. Luxury brand Lexus reported sales of 229,329 vehicles, up 6.9 percent over 2009.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110104/AUTO01/101040394/GM--Chrysler--Ford-report-double-digit-sales-increases#ixzz1A6OqWW5a

Getting right to work

So good to see the Republicans moving past partisan battles and getting right to work on fixing the economy and helping Americans.

(That's sarcasm, by the way.)

Up front Darell Issa

At least Darrell Issa is up front about it. He's asking big corporations to give him marching orders on how to destroy Obama.

The glory that is Steve King

Teabagger Republican and noted racist Steve King talks murdering babies with kids as young as in first grade.

In other Steve King news, I'm wondering if he'll be the first teabagger in the 112th Congress to call for the reinstitution of slavery and demand the Obamas be returned "to their rightful owners."