Forget the Birth Certificate; Now We Want College Records

Here's what I wrote within two hours of President Obama releasing the longform version of his birth certificate:

Do you think this will finally shut up the small group of bigots, haters and anti-American unpatriotic fools who are trying to destroy the country by their weak attempts to disparage the President of the United States?   Of course not.  The bigots and America haters will find new ways to try to do their damage.

Read it for yourself in the post below this one. And notice the time stamped on the entry.  Am I psychic?  No.  I just know how the hateful Regressive brain works.

Now, after having his no-birth-certificate-theory shot to hell, Donald Chump and a few rightwing Fox mouthpieces are yapping again, this time calling for Obama's college records.  "Somebody told me he was a terrible, terrible student," Chump said yesterday.  "How does a bad student go to Columbia and then Harvard?"

The unspoken yet obvious implication is, "how could a black guy possibly have gotten into Harvard?"

Well, Donald, go ask one of your many black friends.  You're very popular with "the blacks," as you put it, right?

(For the record, President Obama graduated magna cum laude.  That's Latin, you know.  It means "with great praise".  And 80% of Harvard graduates do not attain this high level of honor.)

President Obama said this was "a sideshow" perpetrated by "carnival barkers."  I knew releasing the birth certificate wouldn't end the nonsense from the crazies.  It's just the next step.  But Keith Olbermann summed it up this way:

They’re carnival barkers. They don’t stop selling tickets just because there isn’t a real mermaid back there. If you prove there’s no mermaid, tomorrow they’ll tell you there’s a Martian.

Don't expect it to stop for the next six years.

Birth Certificate Nonsense

The White House released President Obama's longform birth certificate this morning.

Do you think this will finally shut up the small group of bigots, haters and anti-American unpatriotic fools who are trying to destroy the country by their weak attempts to disparage the President of the United States?   Of course not.  The bigots and America haters will find new ways to try to do their damage.

Back during the campaign in '08, the US State of Hawaii had Democratic and Regressive officials state that this is the official certificate issued in their state.  That should have settled it.  Then he ran against the Clinton Machine, which nothing gets past.  Then he ran against McCain with all the money and power of the Regressives behind him.  Don't the idiots think if there was anything that needed to be exposed it would have been found under all those microscopes?

It was a stupid issue and, as the President said, "a sideshow presented by carnival barkers."

I'm glad this whole issue exploded in their rightwing faces. But on the other hand, I'm disappointed the America haters on the far right cannot continue to embarrass themselves. It's been very entertaining for rational people for two years!

Record Oil Profits and Taxpayer Subsidies

Last year, the oil companies made a lot of money. Lots of money. Profits were higher than ever before. They actually made more money than any company anywhere, in the history of the world.  Let that sink in for a moment. They made bigger profits than any company, anywhere on the globe, ever.

And yet, we taxpayers are subsidizing them to the tune of 4 billion dollars a year.  Just handing it over, with a nice pink bow on it.  The obvious question is why?  Maybe decades ago, before they became the most profitable business on Earth, they might have needed government assistance to get the ball rolling.  But now?  Still?

President Obama and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi say it's got to stop.  Orange John Boner, the current Speaker, said it might be time to consider ending the corporate welfare for oil companies.  The ball is in his court.  Here's the letter Nancy Pelosi sent to The Boner:

April 26, 2011 

The Honorable John BoehnerSpeaker of the HouseH-232 US CapitolWashington, DC 20515

  

Dear Mr. Speaker:  

House Democrats have long advocated eliminating outdated and costly taxpayer subsidies that provide billions of dollars to highly profitable oil companies.  As you know, the President today called upon Congressional leaders “to take immediate action to eliminate unwarranted tax breaks for the oil and gas industry.” 

As you also know, we have had several votes on this subject in the House, and have been disappointed that these proposals have not been supported by the Republican leadership.  Your comments yesterday acknowledged that oil companies ought to be paying their fair share.  It makes little sense for American consumers -- who are now paying over $4 a gallon for gasoline in most parts of the United States -- to have billions of their taxpayer dollars subsidizing oil companies that are making record profits. 

For these reasons, I am writing to request that you schedule a vote on ending these tax breaks on the House floor upon our return to Washington next week.  I look forward to our working together to achieve this necessary change. 

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

best regards,                                                                
NANCY PELOSI

House Democratic Leader

Another Day, Another Fox Lie

This time Anderson Cooper was the target.

In a show where they were determined to show "liberal media bias" where there is none, Sean Hannity and the Fox Noise Channel carefully edited tape of Anderson to make it sound like he said something he did not.

In the clip, Cooper is shown calling the attacks on Joseph Wilson, the former Bush administration ambassador who set off the Valerie Plame scandal, "a victim of a Bush administration smear campaign." But, as Cooper showed, Fox started the clip in the middle of a sentence. Cooper was actually saying that Wilson was claiming to be a victim of a smear campaign, not stating his own personal opinion.

This is a commonly used tactic by the foreign owned, Saudi financed Fox channel to purposely mislead their gullible viewers.

Keith Olbermann Announces New Show on CURRENT TV

America: "Don't Touch Medicare! Raise Taxes on the Wealthy!"

It couldn't be more clear.  

In 2 polls released this week, Americans have stated, in huge numbers, that they don't want Congress to screw with Medicare and Medicaid.  One poll reports 78% say "don't cut Medicare."  Another poll reports 80% say "no cuts to Medicare."

And the vast majority does want taxes raised slightly on those who make over $250,000. 

Yet this is the centerpiece of the budget the Regressives are trying to foist on taxpayers, so that they may give millionaires even bigger tax breaks. 

The poll above is the latest Washington Post / ABC News poll; below is the latest McClatchy poll.

Unnecessary Censorship

The latest from Jimmy Kimmel on ABC:

Colbert Explains "Pap Smears at Walgreens"

It started with Senator John Kyle (R-what else?) claiming in a speech that 90% of Planned Parenthood's resources go to abortions. Of course, that's a complete lie, as you can see in the RadioVegan blog post below from Sunday, April 10.

Then we found out, thanks to the geniuses at Fox and Friends, that there's really no need for Planned Parenthood after all.  Just go down to your local Walgreens and get a pap test right there in Aisle 3.

Republican Jackass of the Week

The Regressive republicans and Teabaggers constantly claim they're not racist.  We've seen all the racist signs and pictures at their rallies for two years now.  But last week, a little-known rightwinger named Marilyn Davenport from Orange County, California sent out emails with this picture and the caption, "Now you know why no birth certificate."

Calls for this despicable rightwinger to resign have so far been ignored.

The typical non-apology was issued:  "I'm sorry if my email offended anyone, I simply found it amusing regarding the character of Obama and all the questions surrounding his origin of birth. In no way did I even consider the fact he's half black when I sent out the email. In fact, the thought never entered my mind until one or two other people tried to make this about race."

How could it possibly have occurred to her that a black man being compared to an ape is racist?  It's not like that's been done for, say, 300 years in this country.  Right?

Anytime someone refuses to say "I'm sorry for my inappropriate and racist behavior," but instead says they're sorry if my email offended anyone, they are not apologizing at all, but rather putting the blame for the offense on YOU, the viewer.

In other words, "it's not my fault that YOU were offended."

Resign and resign now.

"Coffee, Smiles, Fear and Terror"

Hard to tell this SNL parody from the real thing.   "I mean, we almost had the first government shutdown in the history of this country!  Is that true?  Uh, I just assumed."

This is What All the Fuss was About?

We know all the hand-wringing in Congress for the last two weeks over budget cuts was pure theater.  Not only did President Obama and the Democrats in Congress agree to the numbers John Boner originally requested days before the government shutdown deadline approached, they then went further and agreed to deeper cuts.

But once the numbers were met, it became about something else.  It suddenly was all about killing programs that Democrats have always supported and Regressives hated.  They demanded the defunding of Planned Parenthood, NPR and the Environmental Protection Agency.  So, in essence, the Regressives are against clean air and cancer screenings.

For the record, no government funding ever pays for abortions through Planned Parenthood, although it should, since abortion has been perfectly legal for four decades.  Rightwingers don't "approve" of taxpayer funds going toward abortions.  Too bad.  I don't approve of my tax dollars supporting illegal wars, funding military animal experiments or picking up the slack for churches getting away with tax-free status.

Nonetheless, it bears repeating: Government funding does not ever pay for abortions.  Most of what Planned Parenthood does has nothing to do with abortions.  Take a look at the graph and see that 97% of what Planned Parenthood does includes cancer screening, education and contraception.

So what was all the fuss about?  Oh yeah, theater to placate the far rightwing Regressive base and the Teabaggers.

Meredith Vieira Deserves an "F"

If you're going to be on a major television network and interview a so-called newsmaker like Donald Trump, then you had better be prepared with a few facts, be ready for the standard lies, and demand proof or evidence when wild assertions are made.

Vieira did none of the above.

Donald Trump, who is once again making believe he's running for president in order to gain national attention and prop up ratings for his NBC show, was interviewed by steamrolled over Sleepy Meredith on NBC's Today Show last week.

She brought up the laughable, frequently debunked "birther" nonsense yet again, as if it's still 2008, which led to Trump claiming Obama's grandmother stated she was present in Kenya when he was born.  Fact is, she's not his grandmother. She's his grandfather's second wife.  And she wasn't even part of the family almost 50 years ago when he was born.  And, while speaking through a translator, when it was mistakenly said that she was there, she and her family members corrected themselves several times.  But don't let the facts get in the way when you're spewing lies to whip up the far rightwing birther crowd and bring attention to yourself and your TV show, right Donald?

Why Meredith didn't clear up this already established lie is a mystery.

Trump is not sure President Obama was born here.  I'm not sure that thing on his head was born here.

The Donald also claimed he has several "people" investigating this alleged birth certificate mystery and said "I can't believe what they're finding". At which point anybody else but Vieira would have naturally asked, "Oh yeah?  What have you found?" 

She said nothing.

When asked if he was running for president, he hemmed and hawed and claimed he couldn't answer that.  Such nonsense.  This is an elaborate publicity stunt, just as it was before.

Trump claims he's a great businessman, he's "so very smart and has common sense."  And yet several of his casinos have gone bankrupt.  How is it possible for a casino to lose money?  A casino! Where the house controls everything!

The embarrassingly amateurish interview can be seen here.



Following Trump's interview was a guest appearance by Bill Cosby.  It took Bill to put it all in perspective.

"Oh, please, with Donald Trump. Take him home with you.  He's full of it."

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

Unnecessary Censorship

Big fan of Letterman... but Jimmy Kimmel's "unnecessary censorship" is always hilarious.  See if you don't laugh at one or two of these short clips.  My favorite is Regis. 

UK Ready to Ban Circuses from Using Wild Animals

Add the United Kingdom to the list that, so far, includes

• Bolivia
• Greece
• Croatia
• Singapore
• Austria
• Israel
• Costa Rica
• India
• Finland
• Portugal
  
• Sweden

"Opinion polls in the UK show an overwhelming majority of people are in favor of the ban of wild animals in traveling circuses," says the article from the Examiner (read it here).

When will the US ban these disgusting displays of exploitation?

"Refudiate" Her Use of "Squirmish"

The Foreign-Owned, Saudi-Financed Fox Channel's star news analyst makes up yet another word. Jon Stewart from Comedy Central shows the clip:

Palm Trees in Wisconsin

A month of peaceful protests from over 100,000 pro-union workers in Wisconsin didn't sit well with the anti-union management at the Foreign-Owned, Saudi-Financed Fox Channel. Nope. What they wanted was footage showing angry, hostile crowds. So while talking about the Wisconsin protests, they decided to show footage from some other protest that had nothing to do with Wisconsin. Notice the palm trees in the background.


Savvy protesters decided to mock the phony news channel by actually bringing plastic palm trees to some of their demonstrations:
Comedy Central's Colbert Report and msnbc's Chris Matthews caught the lie and had some fun with it:

Newt Running Yet Again?!

The disgraced former Speaker of the House, who had to resign in shame amidst a half million dollars of ethics violations, and who was cheating on his second wife with what would become his third wife, while leading the charge against President Clinton for a similar personal matter, is making the usual noises about running for president again. This political cartoon is from the South Florida Sun Sentinel's Chan Lowe.

Unemployment Falls to a 2-Year Low

from msnbc.com:

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy posted a second straight month of solid gains in March as the nation’s jobless rate fell to a two-year low of 8.8 percent, marking a decisive shift in the labor market that should help to underpin the economic recovery.

Businesses created 216,000 jobs last month, according to the Labor Department’s latest employment report, after adding 192,000 jobs in February. The past two months mark the fastest two-month pace of job creation since before the recession began. Factories, retailers, education, health care and an array of professional and financial services expanded payrolls.

Another month of brisk hiring provided the latest sign that the economy is strengthening nearly two years after the recession ended.Click on graph to enlarge. The low point at the center of the graph marks the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama administration.