Politics

Homophobic presidential candidate Rick Perry, who recently put out an ad decrying gay marriage, has a closeted gay man as his top pollster, blogs all over are reporting: Homo Profits on Bigotry

http://www.cracked.com/video_18352_a-conspiracy-theory-too-weird-even-internet.html

Rep. Barney Frank is retiring. The GOP must be dancing in the fucking street and it's a real loss for us.

What in the world is this country coming to? Dumping the body parts of deceased soldiers in the dump? No respect at all? All of this ceremony with the flags and the salutes is all a charade? They really just want to dump the bodies in the trash? I am aghast.

Hard to feel anything but sad for the knots Rev. Tom Brock has tied himself up in. The method the reporter used to out him though makes me feel a little quesy. Is it really ok for news organizations to infiltrate confidential support groups in search of a scoop? How many support groups for gays could survive this type of scrutiny? excerpt: "A few months ago, the publisher of Lavender got a tip that Brock was attending meetings of Courage, a Catholic support group for people trying to resist same-sex urges. A freelance writer attended the group posing as a prospective member, then wrote about Brock's attendance there — a move viewed by many as journalistically unethical…

It's a tough time to be a New York police officer, as the department has been taking it on the chin in several instances lately. The Occupy Wall Street protests have gained the most attention, as white-shirted police bosses have pepper-sprayed protesters, punched one, and ran over another's leg with a police scooter. The police seem stymied in how to deal with the protest movement, and have, if anything, drawn even more attention to it. But that's not the worst of it. Some 500 officers came under investigation in a ticket fixing scandal. But worst of all are revelations this week that some officers actually made a custom of planting narcotics on innocent people to make t…

It may not be Occupy Wall Street that we need, but right now it's all we've got. A news report today shows that Henry Paulson, when he was Secretary of the Treasury, was giving inside information to hedge funds while telling the general public the opposite. It's just further proof that the system is rigged in favor of the banks and the bankers and the folks on Wall Street. Joe Citizen is left to scramble for crumbs. How Paulson Gave Hedge Funds Advance Word Bloomberg Squeals on Paulson

Excerpted from the article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/30/2012-election-tea-party-barney-frank_n_1121475.html?ref=politics 2012 Election: Tea Party Losing Support, Dem Avoids Obama And The Race To Replace Barney Frank .... SURVEY SHOWS TEA PARTY IS LOSING SUPPORT -- IN TEA PARTY DISTRICTS A new Pew Research Center survey finds more Americans now disagree with the Tea Party movement than agree with it -- 27 percent disagree and 20 percent agree. Last year, those numbers were flipped. The poll lends credence to the idea that the Tea Party is hurting the Republican Party. Research shows overall support for the GOP is down in districts represented by Tea Pa…

I thought Ronald Reagan was the king of double speak so Michelle B must be the queen

Last night, NATO forces killed 24 members of the Pakistani army, when apparently helicopters and fighter jets were called in by Afghan and NATO forces to go after 'rebels'. The big guns hit Pakistani forces stationed at two checkpoints by mistake. Pakistan responded by closing the border crossings that supply thirty percent of the non-lethal supplies used by NATO forces stationed in Afghanistan. While supply trucks were stranded or being rerouted, the 'real' militants got down to business and attacked them during the confusion. The fallout has not yet been felt by other than the families of the killed soldiers, but it's likely to be serious. Relations between the U. …

Apparently, the top three Republican candidates are all comfortable with the idea of a U. S. war with Iran. Gingrich and Romney said so during the North Carolina debate last week, and Cain said so in an interview with Bill O'Reilly earlier in the month. It doesn't seem to phase any of them that Iran has close ties with both China and Russia, who may have their own attitudes about such U. S. aggression. So let's see: at least one new war in the Middle East with Iran, saber-rattling against Egypt's military, no new taxes to pay for it, indifference to those without health care at home, and cuts to Social Security now that there's no longer a surplus to borrow against. Q…

The Very Reverend Huckleberry Finn, bishop of Kansas City, Missouri, has been indicted by a grand jury there on misdemeanor charges of failing to notify officials of sexual abuse by a parish priest. The diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph was also indicted. The diocese says they did show a photo to a local cop, who said the image was not kiddie porn. But they only showed the one image, the cop says. Tom Sawyer, attorney for the bishop, says they will fight the charges or take a raft down the river, whichever seems best when spring comes. Bishop Finn Yahoo News reports that Finn acknowledged earlier this year that a parish principal had raised concerns in May 2010 that…

Last year the politicized wing of the anti-abortion crowd decided to press their advantage and engineered a "personhood begins at fertilization" constitutional amendment onto today's ballot. Even the opponents thought for sure they would steamroll this idiocy through the electorate. That the amendment (which would have the effect of not only criminalizing abortion but also many forms of birth control and in vitro fertilization techniques) was totally unecessary didn't seem to faze them (Ms has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation and only one clinic that will even consider providing the prodedure). The arrogance of their over-reach turned out to be…

The owners of the three major tuna canneries are unhappy with Greenpeace for taking them on. We have Mr. Lischeski at Bumble Bee, Mr. Chan at Chicken of the Sea, and Mr. Cho at Starkist. Yes, I realize that 2/3ds of tuna management is Asian. After all, they will soon control the world's food supply. But as of now they are unhappy with Greenpeace for a video it created and is promulgating. The video shows one of their "brand icons" being stabbed in the eye. The tuna trio call it "baffling" as , they say, it does not lead anyone to come away "more knowledgeable about tuna and sustainable fishing." The opinion piece can be found on the op-ed page of today's Wall Street Jou…

With the government of Greece calling for a referendum on the European plan to help Greece with its debts, the government itself is now at risk of failing, with only a two vote majority in parliament. But world markets are even more nervous. This plan was supposed to be agreed to already. If Greece reneges, then confidence collapses. The Washington Post, in a photo gallery from Deutsch Bank, offers a worst-case scenario of what will happen if Greece abrogates the agreement it made last week: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/european-debt-crisis-worst-case-scenarios/2011/10/20/gIQA2hTa0L_gallery.html#photo=1

So often when someone levels a criticism at Israel or a Jewish person, the response is automatic. Anti-Semitism. The inference seems to be that Jews are immune to criticism given what their ancestors suffered during the Holocaust. It has been argued that with some Jews there is a "victim mentality" that precludes any criticism. Now the protesters at Zucotti Park in Manhattan are hearing some of the same. The criticism ignores that many of the protesters themselves are Jewish. They have even celebrated Jewish holidays in the park. But much of their criticism is leveled at Wall Street, bankers included. Goldman Sachs is the biggest name. You can't get around it- many in Wa…

SFGate.com reports: With more than half of Americans in a recent poll accepting same-sex marriage, gays and lesbians need no judicial protection from laws passed by Congress, House Republicans argued Friday in a San Francisco court in defense of a law denying federal benefits to same-sex spouses. "Homosexuals have a great deal of political power" and are not entitled to the safeguards that courts have established for laws that discriminate against racial minorities or women, attorney Paul Clement said in a filing supporting the Defense of Marriage Act... ...House Speaker John Boehner chose Clement, a former U.S. solicitor general, to take over the defense in a series of…

He wears eyebrow toupees! One of them slipped during the debate the other night, but his campaign is blaming a bad camera angle! http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/fashion/raising-eyebrows.html?scp=2&sq=eyebrow&st=cse

Paul Ryan's Newest Tax Policy Talking Point Trips Over Reality Zach Carter and Sam Stein Huffingtonpost.com WASHINGTON -- Joseph Rotella is president and owner of the Spencer Organ Co., a small business with 10 employees that specializes in rehabilitating pipe organs from churches and communities around the country. The operation does quite well, with roughly $2 million in revenue a year and enough profit to land Rotella squarely in the top tax bracket that benefits most from the Bush tax cuts. That makes Rotella Exhibit A in a new effort from Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, to convince voters that in little more than a year, President Barack O…

Well, of course He did! He created the world, so all that follows is from the Divine Creator. Why the LA Times thinks this is news escapes me. We should thank God for not opening any doors lately for Sarah Palin to crawl through. Here's the Times story on the Republicans favorite candidate: It isn't surprising that Mitt Romney played the "American exceptionalism" card in his first major foreign-policy address. What was startling, given Romney's even temper and moderate leanings, was that he credited God for that exceptionalism. "This century must be an American century," Romney said. "In an American century, America has the strongest economy and the strongest military …

GIVEN how much sway the Tea Party has among Republicans in Congress and those seeking the Republican presidential nomination, one might think the Tea Party is redefining mainstream American politics. But in fact the Tea Party is increasingly swimming against the tide of public opinion: among most Americans, even before the furor over the debt limit, its brand was becoming toxic. To embrace the Tea Party carries great political risk for Republicans, but perhaps not for the reason you might think. Polls show that disapproval of the Tea Party is climbing. In April 2010, a New York Times/CBS News survey found that 18 percent of Americans had an unfavorable opinion of it, 21…

We think of Texas as a big death penalty state, and they do gas 'em with gusto, but the Golden State also loves it. The LA Times reports today: About two-thirds of Californians support the death penalty, according to Field Poll survey results released Thursday. The level of support -- 68% -- remains at about the same level as it has for the last few years, but is down from the 1980s and early 1990s, when 80% or more of California voters responding in the poll said they supported the death penalty. Republicans were far more likely than Democrats to support keeping the death penalty -- 81% versus 57%. Those who identified themselves as liberals were the only subgroup in…

Have you noticed how Obama seems to be doing the same thing, if not more of it, towards terrorists that Bush/Cheney did? So have the Cheneys. From HuffPost: But he (Cheney) also said Obama should take back his criticism of the Bush administration's tactics in the war on terrorism. "The thing I am waiting for is for the administration to go back and correct something they said two years ago, when they criticized us for quote overreacting to the events of 9/11," Cheney said. "They in effect said we had walked away from our ideals, taking policy contrary to our ideals when we had enhanced interrogation techniques. They have clearly moved in the direction of taking robust …

Super Committee's Cuts Anything But Automatic Ryan Grim Huffingtonpost.com WASHINGTON -- The 12-member super committee created to slash the federal deficit is powered by the threat that if it doesn't come up with $1.2 trillion in savings, automatic, across-the-board cuts will be instituted to reach that same goal, with half of those cuts hitting the Pentagon. Don't believe it. The supposed across-the-board cuts aren't slated to go into effect until January 1, 2013. Put more simply: They might not ever go into effect. The automatic cuts -- known as sequestration -- are often discussed in Washington as if they're certain, an inevitability that Congress won't be able t…

I know that Washington is putting tremendous pressure on the Palestinians to drop their request for UN membership later this week, but I think I'd be doing exactly the same thing if I were in their sandals. The so-called "peace process" has been stalled for decades, throughout which more and more protected settlements are springing up and forcing Palestinians into less and less of their land. Imagine if Israel began constructing guarded settlements in New Jersey with no end in sight. I have no beef at all with Israelis who want to protect their right to exist as a nation, but I have a harder time finding the justification for confiscating Palestinian land almo…