Republican Jackass of the Week

Regressive Republican Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, y'all.

Enjoy this 90 second clip of her parroting the lie that Christianity is under attack in this country -- and then admitting she can't think of a single example.



That's because one doesn't exist.

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Republican John Ellis Bush, "Jeb," the latest member of the Bush Crime Family who thinks he's going to become President.

Recently he was interviewed at the always safe home turf of Fox Noise, and Megyn Kelly tossed him a softball question, which he monumentally screwed up. You only need to watch the first 20 seconds of this one-minute clip.




He was essentially asked, if he knew then what he knows right now, would he still authorize the invasion and occupation of Iraq, creating the worst military debacle in modern history.

Knowing that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, had nothing to do with 9/11, and knowing that 4500 Americans would be killed for nothing, as well as hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and the destabilizing of the country would leave an opening which would lead to the creation of ISIS and al Qaeda strongholds, he'd still do exactly what Dubya did.

Since last Sunday, he's come up with 5 different answers to this question which should have been completely anticipated.

Sunday: "Yes I'd attack Iraq."
Monday: "I misunderstood the question."
Tuesday: "I misinterpreted the question."
Wednesday: "I don't think it would be appropriate to answer that question."
Thursday: "No, I wouldn't attack Iraq."

I'm beginning to believe Dubya actually was the smart one...

Republican Jackass of the Week

It's a triple this week.

Republican Texas Representative Louie Gohmert, Republican Texas Senator (by way of Canada) Raphael Cruz, and Republican Texas Governor Wayne Abbott.


These three have become irrationally convinced, by the far rightwing extremist Teabaggers in that state, that Texas is about to be "taken over" and forcibly put under "martial law."

How did these geniuses come up with this?

Because the US military is performing standard training exercises in the state, as it has for many years. That's it.

Governor Abbott is so panicky about this that he's actually called out the Texas State Guard to "monitor" the military's exercises.

Note to Gohmert, Cruz and Abbott: the USA already owns Texas. There's no need for a takeover. If anything, we should probably give it away to the highest bidder.

And even if that "Socialist, Muslim, Kenyan tyrant" was going to invade and conquer Texas, do they really think their state guard will be able to hold back the US military with a yearly budget of around $700,000,000,000?

Think about that for a moment. All these far rightwing self-proclaimed "patriots" are gearing up for war against the USA and its military. Nothing seditious about that.

Republican Jackass(es) of the Week

Is his name really Randy Boning?

Time to catch up on a few...

Representative Randy Boehning of Fargo, North Dakota.

The headline says it all: "Anti-gay Republican lawmaker caught on gay websites looking for encounters..."

Talk about your self-hating Republicans...

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Rand Paul, son of Ron Paul, senator from Kentucky and delusional candidate for president.

His quote on Baltimore protests and riots? "Violence is about lack of fathers and morals."

He should know all about lack of fathering and morals. His own son is perpetually driving drunk and getting into trouble with the law.

Oh, and he's an uncertified eye doctor. Just thought I'd throw that in.

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Oklahoma representative Kevin Calvey had a temper tantrum like a 5 year old in a grocery store this week. Seems he didn't want state Supreme Court judges and other court judges to get a 6% raise paid for by court fees, because some of those judges struck down a few unconstitutional laws restricting abortions.

So he threatened to light himself on fire. For real. Watch the 30 second clip:



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Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has cut so many millions of dollars in school funding that several districts in that state have announced they will end the school year early citing lack of funding. So Kansas doesn't have enough money to keep the schools open for the full year...

But he somehow managed to conjure up half a million dollars to defend one of his anti-abortion bills.


Just four of the overwhelming number of Republican Jackasses of the Week.

MaryAnn 1997 - 2015

MaryAnn's gone. She was 18 years old and had been slowly losing weight and body mass for 3 years. This morning at the vet's office she was just under 4 pounds. The last few days her back leg began dragging, making it hard to walk. Dr. Nowicki said there was virtually no muscle there any more. Although she was bright, alert, feisty and had a good appetite, life had become nothing more than sleeping on the couch and eating. It was hard to watch her slowly hobbling around the house. At this low weight I was afraid organ failure was just days away.Her whole life was easy. Food, couches and beds to sleep on. I didn't want to wait until she started suffering. She died peacefully at 9am and will be buried with her sister Ginger, Lucy, and Ethel. This is her last picture from this morning.

Republican Jackass of the Week

This week it's the entire Oklahoma House Education committee that voted on Monday (11-4) to ban their Advanced Placement U.S. History Class, which is an optional course that allows advanced students to obtain college credits while still in high school.

What's the reason?

They claim the course only teaches students "what is bad about America," and fails to teach "American exceptionalism."

Nonsense. No history course does such a thing. But these self-proclaimed patriots want to whitewash American history so that all of the ugly stuff they'd rather not think about would just evaporate out of textbooks. Poof!

Millions of Native Americans killed upon our ancestors' arrival? Never happened. Slavery? Lynchings? Japanese internment camps? The KKK? Segregation? Voter suppression? Nope. Never happened either.

This whole "American exceptionalism" thing is insanity. We are to teach kids that we are superior to others around the world simply by virtue of having been born here. We are the "city upon a hill" that no one else can match, they like to claim.

Baloney. But it sounds nice in political speeches.

Recent efforts by some rightwing school board members in Colorado attempted to make their history courses "more patriotic" in much the same way. Proposed changes meant "students would only be taught lessons depicting American heritage in a positive light and effectively ban any material that could lead to dissent."

Colorado students walked out en masse.  Oklahoma students and teachers need to do the same.

American history must be taught in its entirety, including the good, the bad and the ugly. And there's plenty in each of those categories.

The Oklahoma House Education Committee -- this week's Republican Jackass of the Week.

Republican Jackass of the Week

Meet Senator Thom Tillis, Republican (what else?) of North Carolina.

We've heard a handful of Regressive Republican rightwingers in Congress, and their teleprompter-reading puppeteers on Fox, suddenly declare this week that they're against basic childhood vaccinations. Yes, the ones that all but wiped out polio, measles, chicken pox and other horrific diseases in this country.

Now one of these science-challenged righties has stated he wants to eliminate -- maybe that's an unfortunate choice of words -- he wants to repeal health department laws mandating that restaurant workers must wash their hands after taking a dump.

Too many regulations, he says. Too restrictive.

Tillis actually states he's looking to "reduce the regulatory burdens" on businesses with this bizarre brainstorm. I'm wondering how long before he or one of these troglodytes will use the old chestnut, "How do we know there actually are germs? We can't see them."  I'm betting Sarah The Quitter will use that one.

These two examples perfectly illustrate where these Libertarians and Tea Baggers go off the tracks into Crazyland, with their irrational hatred of basic regulations.

Tillis said he doesn't care if restaurants don't mandate handwashing after using the restroom, "as long as they post a sign stating that it's not required."

So what this dumbass doesn't realize is that to eliminate the "burdensome regulation" of requiring handwashing, he'd have to create a new regulation requiring a sign stating this.

Little-known senator from North Carolina, Thom Tillis, forcing his way into the public consciousness through his own special brand of insanity, and earning the coveted title of Republican Jackass of the Week.

More here.

Republican Jackass of the Week

Darrell Issa, Republican Chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

Here's a guy who hated the current administration so much that he dedicated his political career to fishing for a whole list of scandals that never existed.

Just two weeks ago the final report from the latest Benghazi investigation revealed that absolutely no wrongdoing on the part of the Obama Administration had occurred. There was no conspiracy, no military assets were withheld, no "stand down" order was given, nothing.

And nothing came of the fake IRS scandal, the phony "fast and furious" scandal, or anything else.

With Benghazi alone, he held 20 individual hearings comprising 6 separate investigations.

The total cost to US taxpayers for all his hoaxes?

$25,678,000.

This from the party that constantly screams about the deficit and "fiscal responsibility."

The good news? Former car thief Darrell Issa has been demoted from being the powerful Chairman of the House Oversight Committee to being just another member of a much less prestigious judiciary subcommittee.

But he gets one last honor here: he's this week's Republican Jackass of the Week.

Read his complete story here.

Republican Jackass of the Week

Far rightwing blogger Andrew Breitbart has been dead for several years, but apparently none of the political hacks who work there have figured this out.

Nor do they have a clue what they're writing about. The motto apparently is "attack now, figure out why later."

They are this weeks Republican Jackasses of the Week, thanks to a scathing article blasting President Obama's pick for Attorney General, Loretta Lynch.  Seems they couldn't stand anything about this woman.

Except they wrote about the wrong Loretta Lynch -- and stuck with the story anyway.

I'll let Stephen Colbert take if from here. It's more than worth the three minutes of your time.

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,The Colbert Report on Facebook,Video Archive

Republican Jackass of the Week

Got two for you this week.

Look at those shifty eyes...

Speaker of the House in South Carolina, Robert Harrell (R).

This guy is one of South Carolina's most powerful and most corrupt politicians. This Jackass was originally faced with 9 counts of corruption, including using campaign donations for his private jet and fancy stuff for his home. He was originally sentenced to 6 years in the big house, but as part of his plea deal, that was chopped down to 3 years of probation, a fine of $30,000, and he must pay back $94,000 he stole from the campaign.

Robert Harrell, Republican Jackass of the Week Number One.

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Republican Jackass of the Week, Number Two: Every rightwinger in congress and every rightwing governor who wants to -- or has already -- inflicted Voter Suppression Laws on the people of their state.

A report from the Washington Post states that from 2000-2014, there were only 31 incidents of "voter fraud" (someone pretending to be someone else) out of one billion votes cast. That includes general, municipal, special elections and primaries all over the country.  And not all 31 have been proven. Some of those may include clerical errors, two people with the same name or someone signing the wrong line in the book.

31 out of 1,000,000,000 votes cast.

So when Regressive Republicans claim these voter ID laws are designed to stop "voter fraud," you know they're lying. These are laws in search of a non-existent problem.

Voter suppression laws are specifically designed to make it extraordinarily difficult for elderly voters, students and minorities to vote -- all of whom traditionally vote Democratic.

You'll notice that every  voter suppression law is pushed by Republican governors and legislators. No exception.

A few stats:

North Carolina: 0.0017% of the votes in 2012 were allegedly cast fraudulently. Not all have been proven.

Wisconsin: 0.0002% of the votes proved to be fraudulent in 2012.

Texas: 0.000005% voter fraud between 2001 and 2013. There were exactly 2 cases of voter fraud in that state in a 10 year period -- and for this Texas officials want to kick 400,000 people off the voter rolls.

Righties always scream, "what's wrong with showing proof of who you are?"

You already had to prove who you are when you get your voter ID card. And requiring further photo IDs from the poor or the elderly who no longer drive or can't get to the Dept of Motor Vehicles puts undue burden on them.

Again, this is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

Remember that voting is a right, not something for which you should have to jump through hoops. The same righties that insist on voter suppression laws would scream bloody murder if we required the same proof before buying a gun.

Republican Jackass of the Week

Felon, Medicare fraudster and Florida governor Rick Scott  (R).

No doubt by now you've heard all about his hissy fit and refusal to walk onstage for the first five minutes of a gubernatorial debate with Charlie Crist in South Florida Wednesday night. If not, you won't believe the reason for Scott's temper tantrum.

A small electric fan.

Yeah, Crist had a small fan at his feet behind the podium despite the "nothing electronic" rule at the debate. For the record, a fan is electric, not electronic. Clearly, the intent of the rule is to ban electronic earpieces, iPads, cell phones, and things of that nature.

How petty and small a person must be to become so enraged that for the first five minutes of a widely televised debate he refused to walk out!

Here's what that video clip looked like:


Can anyone seriously support a guy who throws a fit and refuses to discuss issues important to Florida voters -- because of a perceived violation of the debate rules regarding a fan?!

But really, was it a violation? After the debate, Crist's campaign posted a copy of the rules that includes a note saying, "the debate hosts will address any temperature issues with a fan if necessary."

But even if it was a real violation, and let's say Rick Scott had the fan, can you imagine Charlie Crist sulking and refusing to participate?

The next morning a reporter asked Scott, "What happened last night? Why did you take the stage so late?" To which Scott replied, "Well Charlie was throwing a fit. He was sayin' he wasn't going to show up so we waited to see if he was gonna show up."

Here's that 10-second clip:



Hmm. He had to wait to see if Crist would show up? I seem to remember seeing Crist onstage for 5 minutes before Scott calmed down, got himself under control and was able to appear.

Rick Scott, putting the "goober" in gubernatorial. And earning the honor of being our Republican Jackass of the Week.

Republican Jackass of the Week

Representative Marsha Blackburn (R) of Tennessee.

Marsha made a complete fool of herself on CNN this week. She's on the record stating President Obama should "be more aggressive" against ISIS. When asked what she thinks he should do, this is what happened. It's worth the 5 minutes. Enjoy.

Coffee Cups, Tan Suits and Paper Clips

Funny how, whenever Fox Noise tells its gullible audience to be outraged about something, they instinctively obey.

The latest bit of fake outrage is the "coffee cup caper" in which President Obama allegedly "showed terrible disrespect to our wonderful servicemen" by saluting with a cup in his hand as he got off Air Force One. Here's the photo that's causing the hissy fit.

I guess this would be the correct way to "show respect"?

This is so much more dignified.

The fact is, these return-salutes were never commonplace until Ronald Reagan began saluting everyone he saw back in the 80s. Why not? It makes for a good photo op, and as you know Ronnie was in show business -- one of those "Hollywood elites" the rightwingers can't stand today.

But really, there is no such protocol requiring any president to salute. That's why for over 200 years it didn't happen. Presidents are not necessarily supposed to salute. Proper protocol states that servicemen are to salute the Commander In Chief, not the other way around.

But this latest edition of  "we hate Obama but we can't actually say it's because he's black" will be added to the long list of other silly fake scandals the rightwingers take so seriously.  Here's a partial list...

Even the suit's "too brown" for righties.

He wore a tan suit!
He wears mom-jeans!
He's bad at bowling!
He bows to foreign leaders!
What was that? A terrorist fist bump?
He put mustard on a burger!
He held a hip-hop barbecue!
He invited Republicans to a beer summit!
No tie in the oval office!
Feet on desk!
He pointed over sneeze bar!
Cheap paper clip on Job Bill!
He likes golf!
He takes vacations (1/3 of Bush's vacation time)!
He doesn't wear the flag pin often enough!

Fox Noise is outraged at that paper clip.

 

Black cooties may fall from that hand!

 

Where's the tie?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There had better not be mustard on that burger, Mister!

Are those mom jeans?

Hey! Americans are supposed to be rude! Don't bow to anyone!

Protests Against Rewriting History for Rightwingers

A new rightwing majority of Denver's school board members wants to rewrite American history to please themselves.

They've stated the curriculum must change so it "does not encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife, or disregard of the law." Their words.

Hmm. Seems most of the important turning points in American history were the direct result of civil disorder, social strife and disregard of the law as it stood at the time.

Whitewashing and censoring American history in Colorado means erasing the Civil Rights Movement and Rosa Parks. The Declaration of Independence itself was civil disobedience. The fight for unions brought us the five day workweek, eight hour workday, overtime and the end of child labor. And ironically, the far rightwing Teabaggers who are now running the school board, are named after the original Tea Party, which was a huge act of disregard for the law.

Signs read, "People didn't die so we could erase them," and "I want to learn the entire history to change the future."

Protesting students said, "The nation's foundation was built on civil protest;" "I don't want my education censored;" and "you always hear that America's the greatest, the land of the free and the home of the brave. For all the good things we've done, we've done some terrible things. It's important to learn about those things so we don't repeat them."

This is what happens when you don't vote and rightwingers have their way.

Republican Jackass of the Week

Seems I can't let it go for a single week; these Jackasses start piling up.

We have 3 for you this week.

Winky blinky Johnston

First up: John Johnston, a Regressive Republican from northwest Indiana who thinks he's going to challenge Democratic State Representative Chuck Moseley.

Johnston's recent Facebook comments on poor people: "For almost three generations, people, in some cases, have been given handouts. They have been enabled so much that their paradigm in life is simply to be given the stuff of life, however meager. No one has the guts to just let them wither and die. No one who wants votes is willing to call a spade a spade."

There you have it. If the poor would just have the decency to wither and die there would be far fewer of them.

Of course, once his words hit the fan, he backtracked.

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Next up: a far rightwing racist and white supremacist who wants to be a write-in candidate for Kentucky's upcoming Senate election.

Meet Robert Ransdell, who, after this week, you'll never hear from again.

He was speaking at the University of Kentucky as one of many invited guests on Constitution Day, but his speech quickly became racist and hateful. It got so bad, he was cut off and forced to leave. And this is in Kentucky, mind you.

The U of K apologized.

Maybe if they had looked at some of his campaign signs they might have had a clue about this guy. Ya think?

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And finally, Arizona's former Regressive Republican Senator Russell Pearce, who happens to also be the Republican Party's vice chair in the state.

This one thinks that forced sterilization should be inflicted on women on welfare.

Welcome to Nazi Germany!

Here's the quote from a radio show he was on: "You put me in charge of Medicaid, and the first thing I'd do is get [female recipients] Norplant, birth control implants, or tubal ligations. Then we'll test recipients for drugs and alcohol..."

Arizona's Republican leaders went into full-scale disaster recovery mode and promptly forced him to resign as their party chairman.

I think he needs to be tested for drugs and alcohol. And let's hope he hasn't reproduced.

You can surround yourself with flags, but you're still a pig. (No disrespect meant to actual pigs.)

 As you read about these Jackasses, keep in mind that, on a daily basis, Republicans insist they are not racist and that there's no War on Women. These three geniuses are from this week alone.

Republican Jackass of the Week

Sean Hannity of Fox Noise.

This week he had a "big exclusive" interview with one of the bearded fake rednecks who is worth millions from the Duck Dynasty show on cable TV.

Sean asked his exclusive guest about the Islamic State, known as ISIS, the terrorists too crazy to be associated with al qaeda.

And of course the Duck Dynasty guy pulled out his bible and declared that, regarding ISIS or perhaps all Muslims, "you either have to convert them or kill them."

So being a religious fundamentalist nutjob insisting that others convert to your religion or be killed is what he's advocating.

Funny, I guess neither the duck guy nor Sean realized that's exactly the philosophy of ISIS.

Sean, tell your fake redneck friend to stick to making duck calls. And enjoy your status as our Republican Jackass of the Week.

The Militarization of America's Police Departments

When did this...

...become this?

...and this?

Militarized cops. It's been happening in big cities, small towns and tiny villages, thanks to a law that congress passed in the 90s. It's insanity. And we've seen the result again this week in tiny Ferguson, Missouri.

Militarized cops, tear gas, rubber bullets, arrests and assaults were all used against the citizens of Ferguson who were marching and demanding to know why yet another unarmed teenager was harassed and then murdered by police for walking in the street.

Reporters from the Washington Post  were arrested and violently removed from a McDonald's where they were sitting at tables writing their stories. Al Jazeera America reporters filming on the street were tear-gassed and had to flee, leaving their equipment in the street.

Aside from a handful of opportunists who were looting stores at other locations, these people, by the hundreds, were peacefully marching to demand answers. There was absolutely no need for war zone tactics, rubber bullets, tear gas, and violent arrests.

Now contrast that to what happened last spring at the Bundy ranch, when those white rednecks and Teabaggers "came to the aid" of that criminal rancher who refused to pay federal grazing fees.  At the Bundy ranch, those rednecks pointed loaded rifles and shotguns  at US marshals and police, who backed off.  Yet for some reason there was no riot gear, tear gas or bullets fired at any of them.  At Bundy, the cowardly cops knew how to mind their manners, step back and keep their big mouths shut.

This is what it looked like this week. Keep in mind this is not Baghdad or Beirut. This is in Ferguson, Missouri -- in the USA, where people allegedly still have the right to protest.

So exactly what happened that day when 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot? Ferguson police aren't talking.  Of course, conveniently, neither the patrol car nor the cop in it were furnished with a video camera.  But every eyewitness says the kid had his hands up when he was shot and killed by the cop.

But why are so many police departments suddenly loaded with millions of dollars of war zone equipment?

According to an article from The Guardian (October 2013):

America's streets are looking more and more like a war zone. Last week, in a small county in upstate New York with a population of roughly 120,000 people, county legislators approved the receipt of a 20-ton Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle, donated by the US Defense Department to the county sheriff.

Here's how it all happened. A little-known Pentagon program has been quietly militarizing American police forces for years. A total of $4.2bn worth of equipment has been distributed by the Defense Department to municipal law enforcement agencies, with a record $546m in 2012 alone.

In the fine print of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 1997, the "1033 program" was born. It allows the Defense Department to donate surplus military equipment to local police forces.

From the Huffington Post:

The main culprit was a 1994 law authorizing the Pentagon to donate surplus military equipment to local police departments. In the 17 years since, literally millions of pieces of equipment designed for use on a foreign battlefield have been handed over for use on U.S. streets, against U.S. citizens. Another law passed in 1997 further streamlined the process. As National Journal reported in 2000, in the first three years after the 1994 law alone, the Pentagon distributed 3,800 M-16s, 2,185 M-14s, 73 grenade launchers, and 112 armored personnel carriers to civilian police agencies across America. Domestic police agencies also got bayonets, tanks, helicopters and even airplanes.


Did you get that? Millions of pieces of equipment designed for use on a foreign battlefield have been handed over for use on US streets against US citizens.

We need to drastically cut military funding. If the military has so much "surplus" equipment that they can hand over hundreds of tanks, grenade launchers, planes and helicopters to every little town -- every tiny flyspeck on the map -- to be used against American citizens, then we're shoveling too many hundreds of billions to it.

Republican Jackass of the Week

So many from which to choose. So why choose? Here are five:

Republican Jackass of the Week #1 -- Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio).

This is the guy who can't stop talking about suing the President of the United States for the vague charge of "lawlessness," and for signing "too many executive orders."

As I've shown in this graph on the June 27th post, President Obama has signed fewer executive orders than any president in 50 years. Boehner was allegedly upset about the President delaying the employer madate portion of the Affordable Care Act -- after begging the President to do just that.

Now, after Boehner's House failed to solve the humanitarian crisis at our southern border, and after passing absolutely nothing and going off on a 6 week recess, Boehner actually said, "There are numerous steps the President can and should be taking right now without the need for congressional action."

Did you follow that logic? Congress asks the President to delay a portion of ObamaCare; President Obama delays that portion of ObamaCare on his own; Congress threatens to sue the President for overstepping his authority.

And now right after failing to pass funding for the immigration crisis, Congress asks the President to take action on his own.

John Boehner:  the weakest Speaker of the US House, presiding over the least productive Congresses in a row, and is once again our Republican Jackass of the Week.

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Republican Jackass of the Week #2 -- Fox Noise.

After Fox's continuous hyping of an alleged Benghazi coverup/conspiracy for two years non-stop, guess what happened this week?

The House Intelligence Committee, led by Republicans, concluded that there was no deliberate wrongdoing by the Obama Administration during the 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi. The report states that no one was deliberately misled, no military assets were withheld and no stand-down order was given to military forces.

That's the exact opposite of what Fox viewers have had drummed into their heads for two years.

No. Only Fox ignores the facts.

This Benghazi hoax has been the lead story on Fox Noise for all this time. Day after day, night after night, there have been lots of shrill, wild accusations made -- including 225 segments on the subject in the last two weeks alone according to Media Matters. But on the day this breaking news was released, guess how many times it was broadcast on Fox Noise?

Not once.

The Committee's report was finally grudgingly mentioned once on their air the next day. Yet another investigation will be launched in September by Republicans who just can't stop fishing for a non-existent scandal.

Fox Noise, foreign owned and Saudi financed, Republican Jackass of the Week.

(Can a broadcast company be a Jackass? You betcha! "Corporations are people too my friend.")

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Republican Jackass #3 -- Representative Tom Marino (R-Pennsylvania).

During a grandstanding speech on the House floor, this Jackass claimed that when the Democrats ran the House, they never had the courage to do anything about immigration reform.

Nancy Pelosi, the former Democratic Speaker of the House, wouldn't hear of it. She actually walked across the floor, waved a finger at him and admonished him! (Of course some sources claimed she "chased him around the House floor" and "became unhinged." Watch the short video below. See for yourself if she became unhinged, or just slowly walked over to admonish him.)

She reminded him that "House Democrats had the courage to pass the Dream Act, and have the courage to stand up for what the American people want now: bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform."

As it turns out, Tom Marino's party once again failed to pass any immigration law and deserted Washington for a 6 week vacation.

Tom Marino, liar and Republican Jackass of the Week.


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Republican Jackass #4 -- Representative Mo Brooks (R-Alabama)

Old southern white guy Mo Brooks thinks it's the Democratic Party that's racist!

How about that. The party that generally gets 95% of the black vote every election cycle, as well as an increasing majority of Hispanic votes, is racist.

Ron Fournier of the National Journal stated that "the fastest growing bloc in this country thinks the Republican party hates them," referring to Hispanics and Blacks in America. "Your party cannot be the party of the future beyond November if you're seen as the party of white people."

Polls have shown this clearly. And even the Republican party itself acknowledged its problem with women, gays, Hispanics and Blacks after its second big White House loss in November of 2012. They even held brainstorming meetings to figure out how to attract more diverse voters. The results have been published in their "Republican Autopsy Report" that came out right after President Obama's second electoral college landslide.

Having heard Fournier's statement, Mister Mo Brooks of Alabama claimed that "there's a war on whites being launched by the Democratic Party... claiming that whites hate everybody else."

(Hey, isn't there an unwritten rule stating that Republicans are always to incorrectly refer to it as "the Democrat Party"?)

See? The Democratic party, which has many millions of white, black and Hispanic voters is actually the racist party, not the Republicans, who are almost exclusively older white people.

Go back and read your own party's Autopsy Report. Learn something, Mo.

And enjoy being this week's Republican Jackass of the Week.

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Republican Jackass #4 -- Steven Palazzo (R-Missouri).

Here's his quote from this week: "I find the best advice comes through meditating
on god's word. Please find a copy of the holy bible to help guide you in your decision-making."

He then had his staff deliver a bible to each of the 535 members of the House and Senate.

Hey Steve, breaking news:  the USA is a secular nation. Go ask the first high school student you can find. We don't write laws based on your bible any more than we base them on the Quran or any other cult's book. Do I really need to list the reasons this is so completely wrong?

Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said this action was inappropriate and exclusionary. "When it comes to religion, our nation is pluralistic and diverse. Rather than look to the bible or any other religious book to craft our nation's public policy, we would do well to examine another source instead, one that was actually created to guide governance. It's called the Constitution."

Steve Palazzo, Republican Jackass of the Week.

Republican Jackass of the Week

Jim Fouts (R), mayor of Warren, Michigan.

This entry from Think Progress says it all:

The city of Warren, Michigan, and its Republican mayor Jim Fouts are facing a federal lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union and two other groups after Fouts rejected a local man’s request to set up an atheist station in the city hall atrium, and equated the atheist cause to the Nazi party and the Ku Klux Klan.

Since 2009, Fouts has permitted “prayer stations” run by a local church group that distributes religious pamphlets, discusses religious beliefs with passersby, and prays with visitors to the city hall. When Freedom From Religion member Douglas Marshall submitted an application to city officials in April to set up a similar, yet secular, station for two days each week, it took Fouts less than two weeks to reject his proposal. When interviewed by the Associated Press, Fouts defended his decision, saying:

The city has certain values that I don’t believe are in general agreement with having an atheist station, nor in general agreement with having a Nazi station or Ku Klux Klan station. I cannot accept or will not allow a group that is disparaging of another group to have a station here.

No, we can't let that happen! The First Amendment certainly doesn't apply to Atheists, right? 

Mayor Fouts: Republican Jackass of the Week.

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Bonus Republican Jackass of the Week: Former Massachusetts Governor and Failed Presidential Candidate Willard "Mitt" Romney (R).

Just this week it's been discovered that during his campaign back in 2012, before "taking all the swing states and winning in a landslide" according to Fox Noise, Willard mistook Democratic Strategist Donna Brazile for PBS news anchor Gwen Ifill.

Yes, he really did.

Oh my. Two prominent, influential black women who he's seen on the TV machine, and he can't tell them apart.

Gwen Ifill

Donna Brazile

"Hi Gwen," he reportedly said to Donna, according to a recent NY Times article.

"Poor thing; he didn't know," stated Donna.

And in case you forgot all those other famous foot-in-mouth moments courtesy of Willard Romney, let me gleefully remind you:

• "corporations are people, my friend"
• half the country ("that 47%) who are "takers" would never vote for him anyway
• finding out he had undocumented Mexicans working on his own property and then stating, "I'm running for office for Pete's sake! I can't have illegals!"
• he has "binders full of women"
•  his five sons working on his presidential campaign were "equal to those serving in the US military"
• refusing to release his tax returns
• stashing millions in the Cayman Islands to avoid paying taxes
• he wanted Mexicans to "self deport" even though his own grandfather came from Mexico and was welcomed here

I could go on and on...

Republican Jackass of the Week

Once again, Michele Bachmann of Minnesota (R).

So after 55 attempts at repealing the President's Affordable Care Act, and his party's constant, baseless cries of "impeach him!", orange Speaker of the House John Boehner (R) is threatening to sue -- yes sue -- the President of the United States for the vague charge of "lawlessness," because he has signed executive orders when Boehner's own congress has refused to act.

First, it's a laughable stunt designed to appease the far rightwing Obama-haters. The House has no ability to sue the President over his signing of executive orders.

Second, President Obama has signed fewer executive orders than almost any other US president in 50 years!

His predecessor Dubya signed 291, and the hero of the righties, Saint Ronald Reagan, signed a whopping 381! And neither had to deal with the least productive, most obstructionist congress of all time.

Third, even a Fox Noise host can't seem to take it any more. He points out how hypocritical and futile the cry of "let's sue him" is. You've got to see him take down Crazy Eyes Bachmann.

Republican Jackass of the Week

Former Vice President and current War Criminal Dick Cheney.

The man who cannot visit a whole list of countries because he will be arrested on sight wrote an op-ed piece for the Rupert Murdock-owned Wall Street Journal, and appeared -- not on network TV but in a cheaply-made YouTube video -- wearing a cowboy costume and standing next to his daughter (not the gay one, but the one who was soundly beaten by her own party in a recent primary election in Wyoming).

He spoke in attempt to belittle President Obama and rewrite his own embarrassing legacy as the man who failed to protect the country from the worst terrorist attacks in history, and then promptly lied America into attacking and occupying a country that had nothing to do with those attacks.

He looked like a frail, angry, bitter old man, waving his fists at the clouds.

He has no power, no influence, no credibility. He apparently still has no shame, having lied us into an unnecessary, deadly, expensive war. Everything he said from the pre-war days forward, has been a purposeful lie or just plain wrong.

"They'll view us as liberators... the oil will pay for the war... it'll take weeks rather than months... Saddam no doubt has weapons of mass destruction... uranium tubes... yellowcake uranium... Saddam was behind 9/11... the insurgency is in its last throes (in 2005)... "

At this point you can't even be angry with him. You see him as a pathetic, empty shell, like a burned out building. Politicians, the American public, even far rightwingers couldn't care less about what he has to say these days. He's angry, seething, and still trying to rewrite his sad legacy.

He doesn't even scare Fox Noise into kissing his ass anymore. Can it get any worse than that?

During a live interview this week, rising Fox star Megyn Kelly did something no one had ever dared to do to Dick: make him face the facts that he was wrong about everything connected to the war. (Of course, she then let him ramble on and on, skirting the issue, and never held his feet to the fire. Remember this is Fox, after all.)

But it was a rare 30 seconds of reality on Fox:



He's become such a pathetic, irrelevant, preposterous figure, that it's almost too easy to make him the Republican Jackass of the Week.

I did say "almost."