Uh... Who Signed What?

From the Pew Research Center:

In numerous polls, the public has voiced their displeasure at the much maligned bank bailout, but most don't know which president signed the controversial act into law. Only a third of Americans (34%) correctly say the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was enacted by the Bush administration. Nearly half (47%) incorrectly believe TARP was passed under President Obama. Another 19% admit they do not know which president signed the bank bailout into law.

Repeat a Lie Often Enough...

... and the most gullible among us will believe it.

Just to show how easily the American public can be manipulated into believing ANYTHING, check out the poll.

CBS News poll

Of course, the Teabaggers have the highest number of geniuses who think the President either was born in some other country or simply don't know...

New Gallup Poll

America agrees with President Obama.

Despite the lies that the far rightwing mouthpieces like to spread, most of America wants to end the tax cuts for the rich and keep the tax cuts in effect for the middle class.

You could read the poll verbatim and see that 44% want to dump tax cuts for the rich and keep tax cuts for everyone making und $250,000 a year (that's 97% of Americans).

You could combine the top two numbers and see that 81% want to keep tax cuts for the middle class (with or without tax cuts for the rich).

And you could combine the bottom two numbers and see that 59% want to dump tax cuts for the rich (with or without dumping cuts to the middle class).

Another Fox Channel Lie

Seems like there's a new one every day.

In this one, careful editing makes it look like President Obama is promising to raise taxes on everybody! This is a direct quote from President Obama's speech in Cleveland on Sept. 8 of this year: "Under the tax plan passed by the last administration, taxes are scheduled to go up substantially next year. Now, I believe we ought to make the tax cuts for the middle class permanent." Fox News broadcast an edited film clip of the speech that showed President Obama saying only, "taxes are scheduled to go up substantially next year." They, then, went on to declare that President Obama wants to raise everyone's taxes.

Nobody can make it as funny as Jon Stewart of The Daily Show on Comedy Central. Watch and see how he teaches msnbc to "selectively edit" and "shape the news" the way Fox does.

Click here and scroll down to watch the video:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/09/stewart-teaches-msnbc-selectively-edit-clips-fox/

Jan Brewer (R) "Has Did" Her Best

It's only been a few months since she automatically became Governor of Arizona, after Governor Janet Napolitano resigned and joined the Obama Administration, but it's seemed like years. Now she's running to actually be elected. Here she is, acting as if she's dealing with an infamous "gotcha!" question, but in actuality, reading her prepared opening statement -- and going blank. How is it possible to be this bad when you're not ad-libbing, but simply reading what's written on your script which is right in front of your face?

Watch and cringe with Jan as she goes silent for 15 seconds:



My favorite part is the nervous laugh followed by the line, "We have did what was right for Arizona. I have really did the very best anyone could do..."

Yep. You sure done did it.

The debate was so embarrassingly horrific, she declared she would not done-did-do another debate. Ever.

This is the same Jan Brewer (R) who claimed that because of illegal immigrants, "law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert either buried or just lying out there that have been beheaded." In reality, no law enforcement agency has actually found any bodies with the heads cut off. And when asked about her bizarre claim, this happened:

The "Fair & Balanced" Channel GIves a MILLION DOLLARS to the Republicans

A million dollars.

From the channel that always screams "Follow the money!" when it comes to Democratic candidates, implying corruption. Watch Jon Stewart of The Daily Show on Comedy Central mock "Professor" Glen Beck, and all his bizarre gyrations as he explains the connection between News Corp's million dollars and the Republican Party.

Click the link (well worth the 4 minutes).

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-august-18-2010/news-corp--gives-money-to-republicans

Lucy 1996 - 2010

A very important member of the family passed away today.

Lucy, who was born sometime in the Spring of 1996, died this afternoon at around 2pm. She was rescued and given to me on July 6, 1996 along with her sister Ethel, so that's the day I celebrate as her "birthday".

When Lucy was a baby, and for her first 3 years, she had several allergies and needed monthly allergy shots. I had to learn how to administer them. As timid as I was at first, she never seemed to mind it. She was very tolerant.

About 3 years ago, it was discovered that Lucy's kidneys were 70% non-functioning. She had to eat special prescription food only, and take a supplement capsule every day. Again, she tolerated this with no problem.

Last Wednesday night, she took a turn for the worse. Lucy's back legs gave out. They could hardly hold her up without collapsing. Blood tests, urine tests and X-rays showed her kidneys were getting worse and she had a growth on one lung. She went downhill fast. Within 2 days, lymph nodes in her neck swelled, she was hardly mobile at all and her kidneys were shutting down fast.

Through all this, even with all the tests and probing, Lucy remained typically tolerant of everything. This morning, I put her on the couch next to me, and watched TV with her and Ethel. For 14 years they would sleep together and lick each others faces and heads. They slept next to each other one last time. Then I had to do the most awful thing in the world: take her to the vet, hold her head and hug her while she was "put to sleep."

Lucy was the oldest and "highest ranking" in the house. She knew it and so did everyone. She was never mean or nasty, but would occasionally slap anyone who needed to be put in place. Even the two dogs, including a pit bull mix, took the warning to back off.

"Lucy Goosey," as I called her, loved to sit on the top level of the scratching post and sunbathe once or twice a week. She was unusually pleasant, always happy, and always very sweet. Just one look at her and she'd purr. She'd always come into the office, jump on the desk and lie right next to my keyboard the whole time I was on the computer.
Lucy relaxing on the bed

She was unbelievably mellow, playful, good-natured and always happy. She accepted all the cats and the 2 dogs who came after her. She always made me happy. I'm lucky to have had her for 14 years. I miss her already.Lucy and Ethel, their last morning together.

The Press Should Ask Only Questions I Want to Answer

How's that for an attitude?

Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle. She'll only appear on Regressive-friendly channels like the foreign-owned far rightwing Fox channel. If the rest of the media dares to ask a question, she runs. Literally runs away. She wants pre-screened questions. And she wants to be able to give out her fund-raising website address whenever she wants.

Unbelievable. Watch her on Fox (where else?) where her arrogance actually seems to shock the reporter.

America's New Hero

He's Anthony Weiner, Democratic Representative from New York.

If you watch any of the political shows on msnbc or CNN, you're familiar with Mr. Weiner. He is a smart, articulate, and fearless Democrat who stands his ground unfailingly. A few days ago, he wouldn't take it anymore from the obstructionist Regressives in Congress. The "party of no" actually insisted on voting against a popular bill that would take care of Ground Zero (9/11) rescue workers who are suffering from related illnesses. Apparently Regressives can't even approve a bill to help 9/11 rescue workers without politicizing it. Some Regressives called it "a giveaway to New York." Others flippantly dismissed it by saying "people get killed every day."

Read Anthony Weiner's op/ed piece on the subject in the NY Times here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/opinion/04weiner.html

And watch his forceful moment on the floor of the House of Representatives here:

Strict Constitutionalists... Sometimes

The Regressives are the ones who are always screaming, "We're a nation of laws!" and claim to be strict Constitutionalists -- unless it doesn't serve their political needs.

We are a nation of laws, when it comes to cracking down on dirt-poor Mexicans who cross the border to pick strawberries and clean toilets, even though illegally crossing the border is only a misdemeanor. Yet treasonous, un-Constitutional acts like outing an undercover CIA agent for spite during wartime, illegally torturing, or illegally wiretapping and spying on American citizens without a warrant seem to be "minor things" to be overlooked.

Now some of these far rightwing Regressives, who are so full of hate for people of color, want to change the Constitution of the United States to suit their hatred.

Of course, anyone born in the US is automatically a US citizen. This 14th Amendment rule has been in effect for 142 years, as part of the Reconstruction, giving blacks who were slaves -- and their descendants -- their rightful citizenship, reversing the Dred Scott Decision which said that former slaves and their descendants were not protected by the Constitution and could never be citizens of the United States.

The Regressives, now in 2010, want to regress back to 1868 and change this amendment because babies of illegals from Mexico are automatically US citizens. This is the party that screams it has "family values," yet wants to separate and destroy families because of a border-crossing misdemeanor.

Yet another example of typical Republican hypocrisy.

US Economy Grows 4 Quarters in a Row

The Commerce Department reported last week that the US economy grew for the fourth straight quarter. The pace slowed a little, but at least the economy is still growing and heading in the right direction. The first red bar in the graph, with the arrow showing -6.8% was the final quarter of the George W Bush term. That was the quarter the US lost 750,000 jobs a month, and the economy shrank by almost 7% just in that one quarter.

Remember that when the Regressives ask you to vote them back into power this November.

"I Will Definitely Do It"

After publishing a highly-edited videotape that purposely lied and ruined a woman's career, that woman, Shirley Sherrod, has said she will sue that weaselly little blogger.

From CNN:

(CNN) -- Former Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod said Thursday she will pursue a lawsuit against conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart.

Breitbart posted an edited video clip of Sherrod appearing to say she discriminated against a white farmer looking for assistance. The clip showed her addressing a chapter of the NAACP.

"I will definitely do it," she said when asked whether she was considering legal action. The controversy surrounding the clip led to a rush to judgment and Sherrod's forced resignation. However, it was later determined that her speech, unedited, focused on how the incident changed her outlook and made her realize people should move beyond race. The incident occurred 24 years ago, before Sherrod began working for the USDA.

Once the deceitfully edited tape was seen and heard in its entirety, Sherrod was offered a new job with the USDA and received an apology from President Obama.

Fired Because of Fox Channel's Lies

An obscure far rightwing website, along with Fox, created an entirely false news story by purposeful editing -- and ended up getting someone fired.

The essence of Shirley Sherrod's speech before the NAACP was that she overcame her race-based opinions, and learned that it's "about the haves and the have nots, not about race." Yet her story was edited dramatically, to change the meaning 180 degrees.

Even the so-called victims, a farmer and his wife, now in their 80s, complimented and thanked Sherrod for the help she gave them 25 years ago, keeping them from losing their farm.

But the facts will never get in the way when the far rightwing bloggers and the far rightwing, foreign-owned Fox channel want to create controversy based on race.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/21/gibbs-apologizes-to-shirl_n_654623.html

Another Democratic Success!

From AP:

Congress on Thursday passed the stiffest restrictions on banks and Wall Street since the Great Depression, clamping down on lending practices and expanding consumer protections to prevent a repeat of the 2008 meltdown that knocked the economy to its knees. "I'm about to sign Wall Street reform into law, to protect consumers and lay the foundation for a stronger and safer financial system, one that is innovative, creative, competitive and far less prone to panic and collapse," President Obama said.

Regulations to protect consumers and avoid another economic collapse like the one that started exactly three years ago. Who could be against that?

Orange John and the Regressives in Congress, of course. Enact rules to protect the American consumer from huge predatory corporations? The republicans will have none of that. They already are making noises about repealing it if they get the majority in Congress.

A vote for ANY Republican this November means handing the keys back to the very people who drove the economy into the ditch in the first place.