SNL's Version of Last Week's Republican Debate

Lewis Black

Comedian Lewis Black angrily takes on Dr. Oz for a false report about arsenic in apples and why Chaz Bono is more controversial than a bunch of criminals and freaks.  Watch "Back in Black" from The Daily Show:
 

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Justice Denied

Last week in Georgia, a man was executed for a crime he most likely didn't commit. After being incarcerated for over 20 years, Troy Davis was put to death despite

• the fact that there was no physical evidence that he shot anyone
• the fact that no murder weapon was ever found
• the fact that there was no DNA evidence whatsoever
• the fact that another man confessed to the crime
• the fact that 7 out of 9 eyewitnesses recanted their testimony, saying they were coerced by the prosecution at the time of the trial
• the fact that 3 jurors said that if they knew then what they know now, they would have voted "not guilty".

The fact is, no jury system is 100% correct.  Ever. That being said, assuming the juries in Texas have been correct an astounding 90% of the time, then around 23 of the 235 executions in that state under Governor Rick Perry involved the state sponsored murder of completely innocent people. Let's remember juries are chosen by lawyers based on the likelihood of being able to sway them.

The Innocence Project has documented 266 people scheduled for executions in the last 20 years who were proven to be innocent thanks to DNA testing.

Once you execute someone, you can't take it back.

In addition, it's hypocritical for the far rightwing "right to life" phonies to salivate at the thought of another execution. We heard these pitchfork and torch carriers at the Regressives' debate just 2 weeks ago applauding and cheering when Perry's execution record was merely mentioned (watch the video on blog post for September 14).

More hypocrisy: the far rightwing Teabag crowd that constantly shrieks "the government can't do anything right!" wants to trust the government with the ultimate power of life and death -- the same government these screamers insist is incompetent.

Civilized countries around the world have long banned state sponsored murder. It's still very popular in Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia and the USA. That's the kind of company the Teabaggers and Regressive Republicans want us to keep.

Headline News Host Celebrates West Hollywood Ban on Fur

Sign at a Recent Rally

The Solyndra Controversy

A "green" company that received half a billion dollars recently went bankrupt. It received the money as part of President Obama's stimulus plan, but the loan was guaranteed months before Obama became president -- during the Bush Administration.

Once the fake outrage on the right dies down, I'm wondering when the outrage for the EIGHT billion that was "lost" by Halliburton in Iraq several years ago will be investigated.

Here's a graph of some of the money wasted by the US military to put Solyndra in perspective:

Pass This Jobs Bill Right Away

President Obama's jobs bill has been released. It will help bring employment back to some of the 14,000,000 Americans who are currently without jobs.  Of course, the predictable Regressive Republicans were against it before they even read it, screaming the two word mantra "class warfare!"  But they are the ones who have consistently engaged in class warfare, declaring war on the middle class American worker, by railing against the minimum wage, stripping labor unions of the ability to bargain on their own behalf, cutting salaries to teachers, cops and firemen, and eliminating government jobs by the millions. And they incessantly lie, making the false claim that when the wealthy have a to pay a higher tax rate, employment decreases. That's a blatant lie, as the following chart shows:

That little, teeny tiny red bar (above) is where we are right now -- with essentially no employment growth although the tax rate is only 35%. Notice how much higher job growth was when the top tax rate for the rich was 39%... 50%... even 90%! Yet the Fake News mouthpieces relentlessly repeat the scripted lie that a higher tax rate for the wealthy will "hurt job growth". And their hypnotized audience of Foxbots believes every word.

History proves that's a lie.

Here is how the President plans to cut the deficit, with a balanced approach of spending cuts and new revenue:

 

The vast majority of Americans agree with the President and wants this balanced approach. Call your US Senator and US Representative and tell them to pass President Obama's bill now.

Teabaggers Cheer "Let Him Die!"

At the most recent Regressive Republican debate, Ron Paul was asked about a hypothetical 30 year old without insurance.

From Huffington Post:

After asking Ron Paul a hypothetical question about an uninsured patient who needed care, Wolf Blitzer pushed the point harder: "Congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die?" Before Paul could respond, however, a few members of the Tea Party audience began whooping and cheering, as if the Pennzoil car had just gotten the checkered flag.

At the previous week's debate, another Teabagger audience cheered when Brian Williams mentioned that Governor Yosemite Sam from Texas executed 234 people. It didn't matter to this barbaric, bloodthirsty mob that some may have been innocent. Assuming that Texas juries may have been correct as much as 90% of the time, that means at least 23 innocent people were killed.



Quite interesting that the same group of far rightwing Regressive Republicans who claimed to be so afraid of imaginary "death panels" two years ago have since become death panels.

Update: At the very next Regressive Republican Teabagger Nutjob Hatefest Debate, the audience booed for an American soldier in Iraq.



So now they've cheered for executions, screamed "let him die" for an uninsured American worker, and disrespected an American soldier in Iraq.

Can you imagine the outrage if a Democratic audience at a Democratic debate had booed for an American soldier in Iraq?

Updated Jobs Graph

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

As the stimulus money became depleted, the number of new jobs fizzled out. There were zero new jobs in the private sector for the month of August.

Although the Regressive republicans and Teabaggers campaigned a year ago on "jobs, jobs, jobs," their leader, John Boner, hasn't come up with a single jobs bill in 8 months.  The graph shows exactly why we need another, bigger stimulus bill, to repair crumbling schools, highways and bridges and put millions to work.

Disappointed Media

Disappointed?

CBSEveningNews 

by CBSNews

National Hurricane Center reporting that #HurricaneIrene is now a Tropical Storm; it crossed Coney Island at 8:45a ET with winds at 65 MPH

That's 10 mph lower than the minimum criteria for being labeled a hurricane.

CBSNews
by CBSNews
#Irene downgraded to Tropical Storm as it makes landfall in NYC; 4M homes without power along East Coast bit.ly/olIjdN

The bigger story than the 4 day hype about Irene is why four million people would lose power when a very minimal hurricane sweeps through from N Carolina to NY.

And let the sarcasm begin:

BorowitzReport Andy Borowitz
Tomorrow will be sunny - or as the Weather Channel says, "The sun will scorch the Earth with its savage fury." #irene

BorowitzReport Andy Borowitz

If the Weather Channel loses any more credibility it will be Fox. #irene

 
BorowitzReport Andy Borowitz
Years from now, we'll all remember where we were when Irene was supposed to hit but didn't. #irene

BorowitzReport Andy Borowitz
NYC returning to normal. Just saw a woman steal a taxi from a blind guy. #Irene

DavidShuster David Shuster
Little damage seen from Irene...except to the already awful credibility of most news orgs. 

Eugene_Robinson Eugene Robinson
Media covg of #Irene was self-fulfilling. If you gear all the way up for a Big Big Story, that's what you usually find.

RadioVegan Radio Vegan
Streakers have fun behind humorless Weather Channel reporter. huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/27/hur…

From a blog in the Daily Telegraph:

The truth is that the dire warning beforehand suited both politicians and journalists. Just as with the minor earthquake that shook the east coast last week causing no loss of life and virtually no damage, Irene became a huge story because it was where the media lived.

The media and politicians enjoy a symbiotic relationship during possible impending disasters. The resultant perfect storm of hype over Irene runs the risk of making Americans even more like to ignore warnings in the future.

Read more here.

 

Hurricane Hype All Over Again

This would be a great week for Congress to pass laws they don't want anybody to hear about; for Congressmen to get caught in scandals; for administration resignations, since nobody will hear about them.  Better than a typical Friday afternoon "news dump" when these things typically are revealed, we have this ridiculous wall to wall hurricane coverage obscuring every actual news story. CNN, msnbc, and even Fake News are all refusing to cover news on their "news networks" and instead, showing video of traffic lights blowing in the wind, and throwing it to the ubiquitous idiot reporter being blown, weatherwise, on the beach.

From someone who's lived in South Florida for 40 years, and seen overblown, over hyped storm coverage for decades, here's why there will not be the death and devastation the media is hoping for all over New York City.

First, hurricanes need a warm ocean to strengthen. Irene has been brushing land since it came ashore in North Carolina. Hurricanes always fall apart on land.

Second, the farther north it goes, the cooler the ocean is. Oh, and did I mention, most of it's over land?  Only half is on water. It probably will just be a tropical storm by the time it reaches NYC.

Sorry to burst your bubble, news media.

Thank goodness David Shuster is one of the few who understands the difference between news and hype. As he said in a couple of recent tweets:

The rain and possible tornadoes may cause some damage. But as news stories go, Hurricane Irene is a "bust." The ongoing hype is silly.

I have no issues with news orgs pointing out possible nightmare scenarios past few days. They won't be realized. Report the facts. Cat 1.


I'm not belittling half million without power. But that relates to crumbling U-S infrastructure, not mother nature "lashing" the U-S.

Exactly.

Pay to Yell at Your Congressman

Rightwing congressmen are not holding free town hall meetings very frequently these days.  From Think Progress:

Yesterday, seven unemployed constituents of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) staged a sit-in at his office in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to protest the congressman’s decision not to hold any free public town halls during the August recess. An additional 100 protesters picketed outside the office. Politico reported this week that Ryan, Chairman of the powerful House Budget Committee, will only speak to residents who are willing to pay $15 for access. 

It’s customary for representatives to host free town halls open to the public so constituents can ask questions and weigh in on their elected officials’ votes. But Ryan and other conservative congressman who have been facing angry crowds recently have decided to limit their availability to only those willing to open their wallets. This didn’t sit well with many of Ryan’s constituents who are struggling just to get by and don’t think they should have to pay to get an audience with their congressman.

Teabaggers' Popularity Plummets

The far rightwing fringe of the Regressive party -- the ones with teabags stapled to their hats -- are now more disliked by most Americans than some of the much maligned groups like Atheists and Muslims, according to a new poll from the NY Times.

The Teabaggers, who have taken control of the republican party and forced Orange John Boner to take the US to the brink of bankruptcy during the weeks of debt ceiling wrangling, now have an approval rating of only 20% and their disapproval rating, which was only 18% one year ago, has skyrocketed to 40%.

In addition, when asked, "Who do you think is mostly to blame for the current federal budget deficit?" those polled responded

Bush 44%
Obama 15%
Congress 15%
Someone else 10%.

Seems like they got that right, too.

Read more from the New York Times.

Which Far Right Regressive Can Turn the Clock Back Further?

A blog that perfectly sums it up by national radio talk show host Mike Malloy.

Rick Perry has declared war.  On the EPA.  So have all the other GOP candidates.

The EPA is evil because it seeks to regulate the use (abuse?) of natural resources in such a way to minimize harm and reduce risk.  So of course it must be eradicated. Newt wants to padlock the building and Bachmann wants to pray it away.  After all, how can anything natural in the world – like carbon dioxide – be possibly bad for you?  It was all created by God, Amen.

Do we really want a President who doesn’t believe in global climate change?  Or even simple pollution?  Or evolution?  What are we saying, collectively, as a nation if we honestly contemplate putting one of these medieval morons in the White House?  What, was Dubya too intellectual for the Teabaggers?  His malaprops too cerebral for these cretins?

We’re moving backwards, Truthseekers, through time and cultural evolution.  But that’s the ultimate goal of Capitalism run amok – feudalism.  A nation of 1% Lords, who own everything and 99% serfs who own nothing. We’re almost there . . .