Bachmann doesn't seem to know what “flat” means

Note to Michele Bachmann: If your flat tax plan has several different rates, it's not a "flat" tax.

And she used to be a tax lawyer and worked for the IRS? Wow.

Campaigning is too hard for Cain

Cainwreck!

Herman Cain's campaign is forcing him to "slow down." They complain that he's doing six or seven events a day, and that's why he's making mistakes, they say.

So this is the guy some people are supporting for president? If he wins the Oval Office, he won't be able to "slow down" then.

If land were divided like wealth

Right wingers play dirty tricks on OWS

Desperate to smear the Occupy Wall Street movement, but unable to come up with anything that'll stick, the right wing is doing what it does best -- dirty tricks. Several conservative pundits have already promised they'd do whatever it took to play tricks on OWS in an effort to bring them down.

The rich laugh while we suffer

Adding more fuel to the fire, the Congressional Budget Office has informed us that the top 1% have had their income explode over the last three decades. CBO found that, “for the 1 percent of the population with the highest income, average real after-tax household income grew by 275 percent between 1979 and 2007,” while it grew by just 18 percent for the bottom 20 percent of the income scale. “As a result of that uneven income growth, the distribution of after-tax household income in the United States was substantially more unequal in 2007 than in 1979,” CBO said.

Only kidding around

Rick Perry now says he was “only kidding around” when he questioned Obama’s birth certificate. This is how GOP candidates run campaigns?

St. Petersburg Times: Texas governor Rick Perry clarified Wednesday that he has no doubt that Barack Obama was born in the U.S., saying that he was only kidding around when he voiced doubts in a TV interview earlier this week.

No, Orlando Jones, calling for a politician, no matter how stupid or irrelevant she is, to be killed is NOT funny.

"Comedian" Orlando Jones calls for liberals to "kill Sarah Palin." He then tried to pass that off as a joke.

Mr. Jones, now you're no better than the gun-waving teabaggers, Sharron Angle, Joyce Kaufman, Allen West, or even Sarah "Don't retreat, reload!" Palin herself.

In short, Mr. Jones, go pay a visit to Gabby Giffords, and then get the fuck off the stage. Thank you.

The former soda slinger who spent years telling people to "Make 7 Up Yours" fired off a series of tweets on October 22nd following the death of deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. After discussing Kanye West's trip to Occupy Wall Street, Jones wrote, "Libyan Rebels kill Gaddafi, if American liberals want respect they better stop listening to Aretha & kill Sarah Palin(:"

Smiley face or not, Jones received a number of angry tweets in response to his comment, and responded to a number of them a day after his initial remark.

In response to user @Obamamamadingdo, who describes herself as a conservative woman who stands with Israel, Jones wrote, "Advocating? No. Demanding? Delusional. Poking fun @ liberals and getting a response obama mandingo... priceless(:"

When @tn4p, whose full user name is Tennessee 4 Palin, called the statement violent, he wrote, "I regret to inform you that jokes do not qualify as violent rhetoric. your angry reaction and response however, does(: keep smiling." When the user then compared his statements with those that could have inspired the shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, he followed it up by saying, "Actually, I don't think it's just a joke is an apropo response. If my tweets are so upsetting to you please do not read them(:"

Perry goes full-on birther

Rick Perry goes full-on birther. But he seems to be treating it like a joke. Kinda like his campaign at this point.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the birther issue was worth "keeping alive" in a CNBC interview Tuesday morning. "It's a good issue to keep alive. It's fun to poke at him," said Perry, according to host John Harwood. Harwood interviewed Perry about his flat tax proposal that he is unveiling Tuesday, which sets an across-the-board twenty percent rate on individuals and corporations with some deductions.

Perry also spoke evasively about President Barack Obama's birth certificate in an interview with Parade magazine published over the weekend. When asked if he believed the president was born in the United States, he said, "I have no reason to think otherwise." Asked why he didn't give a definitive answer, Perry replied, "Well, I don't have a definitive answer, because he's never seen my birth certificate."

Perry said in the CNBC interview, "I'm really not worried about the president's birth certificate. It's fun to poke at him a little bit and say, how 'bout let's see your grades and your birth certificate." Perry's own transcript from Texas A&M University, obtained by The Huffington Post, shows that he seldom earned anything above a C and includes a D in Shakespeare and a C in gym.

Hey Rick, how about let's see your brain scan?

Rick Perry nods at the birthers

Rick Perry has dinner with Donald Trump and decides to wink and nod at the crazy birthers, as if that were still an issue.

Come to think of it, I've never seen Rick Perry's brain scan...

No matter what Obama does, Republicans will hate him for it.

If he walked on water, Republicans would condemn him for not being able to swim.

The recipe for a violent revolution

The gap between the rich and poor has gotten even wider in the US. This is a recipe for violent revolution -- and violent revolutions don't always bring a better result. These issues need to be addressed or I fear there will be blood in the streets.

(CBS/AP) WASHINGTON - Fifty percent of U.S. workers earned less than $26,364 last year, and those earning less than $200,000 per year - roughly 99 percent of Americans - saw their earnings fall a collective $4.5 billion.

There were fewer jobs, and overall pay was trending down -- except for the nation's wealthiest, who saw a boost.

While the incomes of the top 1percent of the country rose slightly in 2010 (from $1,909,874 in 2009 to $2,196,124 last year), their collective wage earnings rose dramatically, by about $120 billion.

Rush Limbaugh reduced to complaining

Well, here you go. Rush Limbaugh was reduced to COMPLAINING about Gadhafi being killed.

And, as Jon Stewart chided Republicans last night for bitching and moaning about Gadhafi being killed, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

GOP blocks jobs again, out of sheer spite for the President

Proving that the GOP is so desperate to defeat President Obama they're more than willing to trash the economy, tonight they blocked one of the most popular portions of Obama's jobs plan, a part of the plan Americans overwhelmingly support. Republicans shouted "fuck you!" to our nation's teachers and first responders.

Right wingers are crazier than ever. They'd rape their own daughters if it would somehow beat Obama.

Senate Republicans, joined by three conservative members of the Democratic caucus, blocked a floor debate on a key portion of President Obama's jobs bill, which would have provided states $35 billion to hire or retain teachers and emergency responders.

The final tally on the late Thursday vote was 50-50, with Sens. Mark Pryor (D-AR), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), and Ben Nelson (D-NE) voting with the entire Republican caucus to support the filibuster. The GOP continues to oppose all economic stimulus proposals that involve spending money on jobs, and take even greater exception to Obama's jobs bills, which pays for that spending with a small surtax on millionaires.

Democrats expected the legislation to fail, but plan to use routine GOP obstruction to strengthen the narrative that the Republican party is unwilling to help improve the economy, or to raise taxes on wealthy people to pay for any of the country's needs.

To wit, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) issued an official statement after the vote denouncing Republicans for "unanimously block[iing] a bill that would have kept 400,000 teachers in the classroom and first responders on the job because they refuse to ask millionaires to pay their fair share."

White guilt

I was told I only voted for Barack Obama out of "white guilt." Funny how that doesn't make me want to vote for Herman Cain at all.

A few differences between them

Knives out

The knives were out in Tuesday night's 866th GOP debate, this time in Las Vegas. Okay, not really 866, but it sure feels like it. It seems like the GOP has a debate more often than Pat Buchanan has to stop himself from saying the n-word during a TV appearance.

Rick "Am I Still Here" Perry went hard after Mitt "Flipper" Romney, and everyone went after Herman "Nein Nein Nein" Cain due to his quasi-frontrunner status. Oh, and Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum were allegedly there too, along with some others whose names escape me for some odd reason.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Republican presidential contenders attacked upstart Herman Cain's economic plan as a tax increase waiting to happen Tuesday night, moving swiftly in a fiery campaign debate to blunt the former businessman's unlikely rise in the race for the party's nomination.

Old animosities flared, too, as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry swapped criticism in unusually personal terms. "You have a problem with allowing someone to finish speaking," Romney declared as the two men interrupted one another repeatedly in a disagreement over immigration, one of several vigorous clashes they had.

But Cain's unlikely rise from asterisk in the polls to contender was clearly on the minds of his rivals on stage in a hotel along the Las Vegas Strip.

Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota led the verbal assault moments after the debate began, saying his call for a 9 percent federal sales tax would only be the beginning, with the rate rising later.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania wasn't nearly as gentle, citing one analysis that found that taxes would go up for 84 percent of the nation's households if Cain's proposal went into effect. "We're talking about major increases in taxes," he said, adding that a single person and a couple with children with the same income would pay the same tax under Cain's proposal.

Teabaggers call for deliberately crashing the economy

Tea Party Nation, one of the main teabagger groups, is now calling on businesses to NOT hire anyone as a show of opposition to President Obama.

There you have it... proof positive that the teabaggers want to deliberately trash the economy because of their irrational hatred of Obama.

GOP lawmaker accuses Obama of treason

A Republican lawmaker wants President Obama tried for treason. They just get crazier and crazier. Pretty soon we won't even be able to tell what they're saying due to the flying spittle.

WASHINGTON -- A Republican New Hampshire state lawmaker is calling for the formation of a commission to bring charges of treason against President Obama.

Harry Accornero (R-Laconia) sent an email to every New Hampshire state representative stating that President Obama "has crossed the line, and under Article III section 3 of our Constitution is guilty of treason by giving aid and comfort to the enemy and attempting to overthrow our government from within."

"I am formally asking you to bring a commission of treason against Mr. Barack Husain [sic] Obama," wrote Accornero in the email, posted by Blue Hampshire and obtained by The Huffington Post. "We have a President who allows our borders to be violated by illegals of any country while we are at war. He allows them work permits, access to our services and when apprehended by law enforcement refuses to have them jailed or deported."

The claim, first of all, is insane, since under the Obama administration more undocumented immigrants are being deported than ever before, setting a new record of 400,000 deportations in 2011 alone.

Grover doesn’t like Cain’s plan

Grover Norquist, Republican demigod, thinks Herman Cain's "nein nein nein" plan is "very dangerous."

Poor, poor Bank of America

Those poor bastards.

Bank of America is so concerned about their bottom line that they had to start gouging their customers with new fees. You know, because times are so tough for big business in America, what with them having to take a huge bailout and all.

Oh, by the way, they just made $6.2 Billion in profits in the last quarter.

Yeah, it’s a real anxiety-inducing, belt-tightening panic over there. They’re so frightened of hard times that they had to have cops stop customers from closing their accounts.

The increase in profits comes after Bank of America roiled customers by announcing that it will start charging customers $5 per month to use their debit cards for purchases in 2012. Shortly after the bank announced the fee, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan defended it, saying that the bank "has a right to make a profit."

Moynihan and other banking officials have said that they need to start charging fees on debit cards and checking accounts for once-free services to recoup the revenue they expect to lose as a result of financial reform regulations -- including a cap on the debit card swipe fee banks charge merchants -- passed as part of the Dodd-Frank act.

Bank of America isn't the only bank adding new fees. Wells Fargo announced in August that it would test a $3 debit card fee this fall, while Citibank said earlier this month that it would start charging certain customers a $20 fee for low account balances.

President Barack Obama criticized the banks for the slew of fees in an interview with ABC News earlier this month, saying that they don't "have some inherent right just to, you know, get a certain amount of profit" if their "customers are being mistreated."

"Banks can make money," he said in the interview. "They can succeed, the old-fashioned way, by earning it."

The fees are already pushing some customers away from traditional banks. The nation's largest credit union reported that the volume of new account openings was more than 20 percent above normal the weekend after Bank of America announced the debit card fee.

Eric Cantor, boo hoo

Eric Cantor is pissed that Democrats are joining with the Wall Street protesters to "blame others."

Does this mean he and the right wingers are going to stop blaming liberals, Democrats, and President Obama for everything?

In case you missed it

19 straight months of private sector jobs growth

Shut up, Republicans, and get the hell out of the way.

They laugh while you suffer

Unbelievable. CEO pay has risen 28%. IN ONE YEAR. And yet, the GOP is STILL clamoring for MORE tax cuts for the wealthy while calling for increased taxes on the poor and the middle class.

These people are evil.

Donate to political campaigns via text

What do you think of this? California will allow people to donate to political campaigns via text.

At first blush, this makes it easier for middle class donors, as the big corporate and rich CEO types wouldn't be donating via text.

California became the first state in the country Thursday to allow political donations via text message, Politico reported.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission approved text donations in a 3-0 vote Thursday, so long as the names and addresses of donors who made contributions of more than $100 were obtained and reported to the election board. The change will take effect in 30 days, the LA Times reported.

What's crazy and what's not

I've always wondered at how odd America is about stuff it accepts and stuff it collectively thinks is crazy. People talking with an invisible god in the sky? Why, that's not crazy. But Shirley MacLaine talking with an invisible "ascended master"? THAT'S crazy.

Go figure.

There's a cool article at Crooks & Liars where the writer makes the same point. But in a more entertaining way.

It's perfectly acceptable to believe that the crucified, human son of an ill-conceived deity resurrects after a three-day dirt-nap, physically flies up to heaven, and Voltrons up with his dad and some ghosty fella to make a Holy Trinitron. But if you believe that the same human son takes a little North American detour after magically coming back to life, and hangs out with some Jewish native Americans, before heading to dad's gated community in the clouds...that strains credulity.

Mormons don't even go in for the Voltron thing, which puts them on more plausible theological ground, in my opinion. But I don't want to get into a crazy-off here, which is to what all theology invariably amounts.

Instead of Mormon Jesus, ponder another quintessentially American hero of myth: Arthur Herbert “Fonzie” Fonzarelli. “There was a certain mysticism to his control over women and Arnold's jukebox,” says pop culture wonk/shiftless lay-a-bout Ken Huss. “The town believed in the Fonz. Their belief fueled his legend, and gave him confidence.”

Everyone was fine with the retro Italian/Jewish/baptized greaser possessing the supernatural ability to manipulate technology. But the guy jumps over one little shark on water skis, and that's just ridiculous; I'm never watching this crap again.

Obama doing better than Bill Clinton did with Democrats

Just heard another out-of-touch right winger crow about President Obama "sinking" in the polls (he's not - thanks to his jobs plan, he's rising and congressional Republicans are tanking), and laughing about how Obama isn't even doing well with Democrats.

I don't know where he's getting his information, but Obama is doing better with Democrats than Bill Clinton did before his re-election.

And 73 percent of Democrats and 78 percent of Democratic primary voters say they want their party to nominate Obama again as its 2012 presidential candidate. By comparison, in April 1995, 67 percent of Democrats said the same of Bill Clinton, who didn’t face a primary challenger during his successful re-election bid.

Harry Reid gets it

Harry Reid finally publicly admits what all of us in the trenches have known for a long time - that the Republicans are afraid if the economy gets better it will kill their chances of winning the White House in 2012.

“Republicans think that if the economy improves, it might help President Obama,” Mr. Reid said. “So they root for the economy to fail and oppose every effort to improve it.”

Tuesday night’s GOP debate

The things I took away from last night's GOP debate: 1, Michele Bachmann showed us that Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan is the Antichrist, and 2, Rick Perry informed us, after the debate, that the American Revolution happened in the 16th century.

Thank you, Republicans!

Michele Bachmann goes there

Oh. My. God. The level of stupidity our national political stage has descended to is absolutely, jaw-droppingly incredible.

At tonight’s GOP debate, Michele Bachmann actually tried to use the Devil to scare conservative Republicans away from Herman Cain:

"When you take the '9-9-9' plan and turn it upside-down, the devil's in the details," she said, referencing the Satanic sequence of numbers, "6-6-6."

Why Occupy Wall Street?

Why Occupy Wall Street? Here are four reasons.

Wait, we've seen this before!

Chris Christie endorsing Mitt Romney today looked so much like last weekend's Saturday Night Live skit it's uncanny.

Obama numbers surge

Obama's numbers are turning around and beginning to surge, mainly because he has THE winning campaign message.

Public Policy Polling for Daily Kos & SEIU. 10/6-9 . Registered voters. MoE ±3.1% (Obama trendlines 9/2-25, all others 9/15-18):

Chris Christie to endorse Mitt Romney

Fox News has reported that Chris Christie will endorse Mitt Romney this afternoon in a joint press conference before tonight's Republican debate.

It's kind of funny, because Christie endorsing Romney was a skit on last weekend's Saturday Night Live.

News for profit

I’ve said and argued many times that basic health care shouldn’t be for profit. Driven by profit, health care lets people suffer and die.

News shouldn’t be for profit either. And back in the old days, news divisions were always kept separate from the for-profit parts of networks and media companies. But when news got moved into entertainment divisions and started having to show a profit and answer to corporate sponsors, a truly fair and balanced coverage of the news became impossible.

So expecting corporate sponsored news to give fair and balanced coverage to anti-corporate protests like Occupy Wall Street (and wherever), is expecting something that simply cannot be.

Ouch.

A new Gallup poll shows the rankings of the GOP candidates among GOP voters. The "ouch" part is that while Romney and Cain are in a statistical tie, Romney is tied with "undecided."

Ouch.

Romney 20%, Cain 18%, Perry 15%, Undecided, 20%

GOP front runners become obsessed with conspiracy theories

Right wingers have always been obsessed with conspiracy theories. But it's amusing watching all that paranoia turn in on itself.

Rick Perry and Mitt Romney have become obsessed with accusing the other of being a "secret liberal," you know, the way Obama is a "secret Muslim."

Occupy Wall Street

Maybe Fox News would be nicer if this was the OWS flag:

“We can’t allow that to happen”

Here is the Republican mindset -- we can't have people with different ideas protesting or speaking out, because people might listen to them and "WE CAN'T ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN," he says.

Add another Republican to the growing list that loathe the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) is upset at the growing movement and the media’s coverage of it, hoping that a modern day version of protests from five decades ago isn’t being recaptured now.

“It’s really important for us not to give any legitimacy to these people in the streets,” said King on Laura Ingraham’s radio show Friday evening. “I remember what happened in the 1960s when the left-wing took to the streets and somehow the media glorified them and it ended up shaping policy. We can’t allow that to happen.”

The mark of the beast

The biblical book of Revelation says that the Antichrist is going to call for everyone to receive a "mark" in the hand or forehead, and without it, one will not be able to buy or sell.

Over the years this has caused right wing conspiracy-minded Christians to freak out over UPC symbols, even though those were marks on products, not people.

Today, those conspiracy-nut Christians are absolutely sure if the Antichrist turns out to be an American president, well, he will just have to be a liberal, one of those sinister Democrats. Maybe even Obama!

But if there's any group of politicians today coming close to requiring some kind of "mark" to buy and sell -- some kind of "mark" to prove citizenship -- it's right wingers.

Allgood, Water Works (Alabama) officials posted this sign letting customers know they had to prove their legal status.

How close do you suppose they are to requiring proof of citizenship for everyone to fight the "scourge" of illegal immigration, all those scary brown people. And obviously, such proof will absolutely require a long-form birth certificate, doncha know. And wouldn't it be so much more convenient to put that proof in a highly visible area, like a hand or forehead? C'mon, right wingers, you know you're thinking about it.

Conservatives leading the charge to require people to have a "mark" of proof of citizenship, and without those marks one can't buy, sell, live, eat, drink, get medical care, or anything. So, you conspiracy-minded religious believers, consider that it just might be Republicans bringing you the Mark of the Beast! (sinister musical sting here)

Sarah Palin duped her followers and donors

Jon Stewart found some interview footage of Bristol Palin on Fox News and discovered something interesting: Bristol said way back in June that Sarah had already made up her mind about whether or not to run, but they were keeping that information "in the family."

So a couple days ago, not long after they sent out another fundraising letter begging for donations, Sarah says that she had JUST made the decision to not run.

Someone is lying. And, as Jon noted, “The only way Sarah Palin's fundraising scheme would be dishonorable is if she had known her decision all along yet continued to dangle her indecision as a lure to donors.”

I wonder how Sarah fans and donors feel about being duped by her?

Here's the clip from The Daily Show:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Indecision 2012 - Take the Money and Don't Run
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

Hank Jr. plays the victim card

Hank Williams Jr. says his first amendment rights were violated by ESPN. No, Hank, they weren’t... you just don't understand how this works, do you? You have every right to compare your president to Adolf Hitler. You can shout it from your yard, from your roof, driving by in your pickup. The first amendment only says that the government can't keep you from saying it. And also, for the last time, for all you right wing media victims who get upset when you’re called out for the horrible things you say, the first amendment does NOT guarantee you a microphone or a TV camera. Please write that down on a notecard or something and keep it handy.

Herman Cain: “protesters are un-American”

Herman Cain says the Wall Street protesters are "un-American." Yeah, they said that about Vietnam war protesters too.

Solyndra and anti-business Republicans

Amazing to see how gleeful Republicans are at the failure of an American small business like Solyndra. It shows us which side they're really on. They cheer when America gets bad news. Their hatred of President Obama outweighs their love of country.

Sarah Palin is not running

Those poor teabaggers. They're not happy with ANY of the GOP candidates. Rick Perry seemed to be their savior, but we all see how that turned out. Then they put their hopes on Chris Christie, but even if he had run, he would have been too liberal for them. So their final hopes rested on Sarah Palin. And Sister Sarah has disappointed them: she's announced she's not running.

In a statement obtained by ABC News and first reported by Mark Levin’s syndicated radio show, Palin said that she made her decision “after much prayer and serious consideration.”

“My decision is based upon a review of what common sense Conservatives and Independents have accomplished, especially over the last year,” she said. “I believe that at this time I can be more effective in a decisive role to help elect other true public servants to office — from the nation’s governors to Congressional seats and the Presidency.”

It's no surprise to most of us. We assumed that she wouldn't be running for the job of president since a governorship was way too hard for her. And since she's all about money, it's far more lucrative to be a sideline sniper than to actually put yourself in the spotlight and have to do hard stuff. Like answer questions and know facts.

NYPD being sued over Brooklyn Bridge arrests

The NYPD is being sued over one of their usual tactics in arresting protesters: lure them into an area, block their exit, then claim they're blocking traffic. The case is Garcia v Bloomberg.

The protesters claimed officers from the New York City Police Department lured them onto the bridge’s roadway to trap and arrest them.

“After escorting and leading a group of demonstrators and others well out onto the Brooklyn Bridge roadway, the NYPD suddenly and without warning curtailed further forward movement, blocked the ability of persons to leave the bridge from the rear, and arrested hundreds of protesters in the absence of probable cause,” they said in the complaint.

The protesters seek an order declaring the arrests violated the U.S. Constitution, nullifying the arrests and barring the city from using similar tactics in the future. The group also seeks unspecified damages on behalf of the protesters.

President Obama will fight GOP’s efforts to stop voting

The President is serving notice that he's not going to stand by while the GOP goes to war on our right to vote.

"I will say that my big priority is making sure that as many people are participating in our democracy as possible. Some of these moves in some of the other states that we’ve seen try to make it tougher to vote, restricting ballot access, making it hard on seniors, making it hard on young people.

"I think that’s a big mistake, and I have made sure that our Justice Department is taking a look at what’s being done across the country to ensure that people aren’t being denied access to the franchise."

Quick question

Hey, Eric Cantor, if people die in a bridge collapse in your district, would that be worth beating Obama?

Obama pushes back against Republicans’ hatred of America

President Obama is pushing back against Republicans' "America can't compete!" defeatist attitude.

The Obama administration is seizing on remarks by a top Republican who argued that the United States cannot compete with China in the solar energy business, saying it shows "defeatism" about America's future and workers.

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), the chairman of the Energy and Commerce subcommittee leading probes of the government's botched investment in solar firm Solyndra, made the comments Monday.

He was arguing that the government never should have guaranteed a $535 million loan to the solar manufacturer that declared bankruptcy last month because China will do better with that and other new energy technologies.

"We can't compete with China to make solar panels and wind turbines," Stearns said in an NPR story.

Why do Republicans hate America?

Spending is out of control!

Somebody needs to do something about all this profligate spending in Washington. Like John Boehner TRIPLING the budget to fight to keep DOMA.

Chris Christie is NOT running. Again.

Sources are saying that Chris Christie will announce - again - that he is NOT running for president.

He had said over and over again that he wasn't going to run. Then in the clamor as the current crop of GOP candidates are failing to catch fire and Republicans seem to have no passion for any of them, he seemed to be reconsidering.

But now it appears today's news will be that he's not running.

No doubt this means another month of media speculation that he's really planning to run. Those poor, desperate Republicans.

On the other hand, it would have been interesting to see how the teabaggers would have reacted once Christie’s opinions showed up in the spotlight: he thinks climate change is real, he thinks fears about “creeping Sharia law” are “crap,” and he once touched the evil President Obama and was smiling when he did it; all things that would make teabagger heads explode.

What does GOP stand for?

No, I don't mean what principles they stand for, I mean what do the initials, GOP, stand for?

Politicususa reports that, surprisingly, 49% of those who claim to be Republican, don't know what GOP stands for.

The latest Vanity Fair/CBS News poll asked Americans what the abbreviation GOP means, and 49% of Republicans got it wrong.

The poll asked, what does the abbreviation GOP stand for? Only 45% of Americans correctly identified it as the Grand Old Party. Fifty one percent of Republicans, 47% of Independents, and only 38% of Democrats got it right. Over a third of respondents (35%) thought that it meant government of the people. Thirty four percent of Republicans, 32% of Independents, and 39% of Democrats incorrectly held this belief.

Seven percent of those surveyed thought it meant Grumpy Old People, not surprisingly Democrats were the most likely group (9%) to believe this. God’s Own Party was chosen by 3%, and Republicans were the most likely group to attach this incorrect meaning to the abbreviation. Gauntlet of Power was selected by 1%, and 9% didn’t know.

The illogical Rush Limbaugh

I laugh every time I hear Rush Limbaugh whine about the "state-controlled media" and the "liberal-controlled media." If the media were truly controlled by the state (read: Obama) or by liberals, would Limbaugh be on so many radio stations? Would Hannity or the rest? Would Fox News still be on the air?

Well, nobody ever accused them of letting logic get in the way of their whining.

Michele Bachmann loves serial killers

Michele Bachmann hates President Obama so much she'd rather voters support a serial killer than the president.

LA Times:

Recent events have drawn low turnouts. And she continues to make gaffes. On the radio show, a caller told her he would vote for serial killer Charles Manson over President Obama. "Hey, thank you for saying that," she replied.

Ronald Reagan: Class Warrior

Right wingers who worship Ronald Reagan who think President Obama and liberals are fighting "class war" against rich people probably will NOT enjoy watching Reagan in action, juxtaposed with Obama.

Fox News’ Griff Jenkins gets candid

Here's a very interesting exchange Fox News' Griff Jenkins had with a Occupy Wall Street protester, where Jenkins candidly says, "You have an important reason to criticize myself and my company."

It only takes 20 minutes to shift the blame

Click for bigger picture here.

Read more about it here.

Bill Maher defends Jesus

Bill Maher says “promiscuous” GOP wouldn’t even elect their Lord and Savior.

Herman Cain attacks Rick Perry over racist word

I wonder. Will right wingers accuse Herman Cain of "playing the race card"?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Texas Gov. Rick Perry's family used to lease a hunting camp known by a racially offensive name, and a presidential rival calls that insensitive.

At issue is a rock outside the Texas camp that once carried the word "Niggerhead."

GOP candidate Herman Cain, who's black, says it shows "a lack of sensitivity" that the word was displayed for a long time and the camp wasn't renamed.

Perry's campaign says the rock was painted over soon after Perry's father leased the site in the early 1980s. The Washington Post reports the camp was known by that word long before the Perrys' lease.

Perry tells the Post that the word is an "offensive name that has no place in the modern world."

Muffingate!

Muffingate! Yet another "outrage" that outraged teabaggers, right wingers and the Barbie dolls on Fox News.

But as with many of their "outrages," it wasn't true.

A report released by the Justice Department's acting inspector general on Sept. 20 uncovered a treasure chest of "wasteful or extravagant spending" at law enforcement conferences during the past two administrations. But one item stood out above the others: muffins that were apparently costing the department $16 a pop.

Such an extravagant price tag for a simple baked good was, undoubtedly, the perfect symbol of bureaucratic largess, along the lines of the Pentagon’s $600 toilet seat. But it wasn't actually true. Three days after the study was release, Hilton Hotels (which hosted the conference at which the expenditure was made) clarified that the $16 charge was for a full continental breakfast plus tax. Instead of a detailed invoice, the hotel just listed the charge as "muffins."

By then, however, the damage had been done. CBS News had deemed it "Muffingate." Sen Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) had called for heads to "roll." Fox News' Bill O'Reilly had used the muffin anecdote to launch a screed against raising taxes: "Why should I or you work hard every day so some guy in a suit can have a $16 muffin?" Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) said the "individuals responsible for allowing this flagrant abuse of taxpayer dollars" should be "fired immediately." The Obama administration promised further review.

The terrorist notches on President Obama’s belt

From Jake Tapper:

The list of senior terrorists killed during the Obama presidency is fairly extensive.

There’s Osama bin Laden,  of course, killed in May.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader Anwar al-Awlaki as of today.

Earlier this month officials confirmed that al Qaeda’s chief of Pakistan operations, Abu Hafs al-Shahri, was killed in Waziristan, Pakistan.

In August, ‘Atiyah ‘Abd al-Rahman,  the deputy leader of al Qaeda was killed.

In June, one of the group’s most dangerous commanders, Ilyas Kashmiri,  was killed in Pakistan. In Yemen that same month, AQAP senior operatives Ammar al-Wa’ili, Abu Ali al-Harithi, and Ali Saleh Farhan were killed. In Somalia, Al-Qa’ida in East Africa (AQEA) senior leader Harun Fazul was killed.

Administration officials also herald the recent U.S./Pakistani joint arrest of Younis al-Mauritani  in Quetta.

Going back to August 2009, Tehrik e-Taliban Pakistan leader Baitullah Mahsud was killed in Pakistan.

In September of that month, Jemayah Islamiya operational planner Noordin Muhammad Top was killed in Indonesia, and AQEA planner Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan was killed in Somalia.

Then in December 2009 in Pakistan, al Qaeda operational commanders Saleh al-Somali and ‘Abdallah Sa’id were killed.

In February 2010, in Pakistan,  Taliban deputy and military commander Abdul Ghani Beradar was captured; Haqqani network commander Muhammad Haqqani was killed; and Lashkar-e Jhangvi leader Qari Zafar was killed.

In March 2010, al Qaeda operative Hussein al-Yemeni was killed in Pakistan, while senior Jemayah Islamiya operative Dulmatin - accused of being the mastermind behind the 2002 Bali bombings – was killed during a raid in Indonesia.

In April 2010, al Qaeda in Iraq leaders Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi were killed.

In May, al Qaeda’s number three commander, Sheik Saeed al-Masri was killed.

In June 2010 in Pakistan, al Qaeda commander Hamza al-Jawfi was killed.

Remember when Rudy Giuliani warned that electing Barack Obama would mean that the U.S. played defense, not offense, against the terrorists?

If this is defense, what does offense look like?

-Jake Tapper

Slashing budgets crashes economies

From Daily Kos:

Thousands of U.S. jobs created per month in 2011 (data source)

Out of the endorsement game

Right wingers are so dissatisfied with the current crop of GOP candidates, more and more of the big names are already saying they don't intend to endorse any of them. Pat Robertson is the latest to miffily announce that he's "out of the endorsement game" and won't be endorsing anyone this election.

On the other hand, at Pat gets crazier and crazier, less and less conservative politicians are beating a path to his door to get his blessing. So maybe he’s just crying for attention.

Breitbart calls Nancy Pelosi a “bitch”

Coke- and alcohol-addled Andrew Breitbart (or so it seems to us whenever he talks, just sayin’) slurred his way through some choice epithets, calling Nancy Pelosi a bitch among some other colorful comments, thrilling a tea party crowd:

The comment on Rep. Pelosi arose from the interminable controversy surrounding the possibility that Tea Party members either did or did not shout racial epithets and spit on black Congressmen. Because there is no video showing that they did so, Breitbart claims it didn’t happen, while others argue that it is positive and not negative proof that is required to close the case. You can see how this can go on forever. Anyway, the culprit, according to Breitbart, was Rep. Pelosi, who he did not abstain from calling a “bitch” for promoting the claim, which he considers a “lie” and “smear,” that the event happened. Later on in the speech, he goes after the “execrable” Garofalo for some wildly inane liberal comment she made…He explains that, as a longtime Hollywood resident, he knows her as “Hollywood’s pity f*ck” who gets called upon to play the role of “loser” in movies when casting people feel sorry for her.

God doesn’t like Rick Perry very much

Rick Perry's prayers aren't working so well. God seems to be pretty pissed at him... because it looks like the Texas drought could last 15 years.

Texas state climatologist John Nielson-Gammon tells The Lookout that he fears the drought--which has already cost more than $5 billion in damage--may be similar to the one that struck the state in the 1950s. The weather patterns at the source of this drought are likely to continue, Nielson-Gammon said--namely the "La Niña" weather pattern in the Pacific. The drought cycle began in earnest in 2005--though 2007 and 2010 were wet years--and may stick around until 2020. Ninety-five percent of the state is experiencing severe or exceptional drought.

"Many residents remember the drought of the 1950s, and tree ring records show that drought conditions occasionally last for a decade or even longer. I'm concerned because the same ocean conditions that seem to have contributed to the 1950s drought have been back for several years now and may last another five to 15 years," he said in a statement.

The 1950s drought, which lasted seven years, reshaped Texas by spurring a movement away from rural areas and into cities. The state also formed a network of artificial lakes that are still around today.

It's still unclear what the long-term impact of this drought will be. The past year has been the driest year on record in the state, while the past summer was also the hottest on record, according to the National Weather Service. More than 125,000 acres burned in wildfires. Half of the state's cotton crop has been destroyed, even long-time ranchers are selling off their cattle en masse, and millions of trees are withered and dying. The touristy area of Lake Conroe, near Houston, is quickly drying up as well.

In April, Gov. Rick Perry asked Texans to pray for rain in an official proclamation, but those prayers have gone unanswered.

It's interesting to note that a lot of help is coming Texas' way... but in the form of federal aid, something Rick Perry claims to oppose.