Tag: Tea Party
U.S. Rep. Releases Pictures of Himself Desecrating the Flag
U.S. Rep. Allen West (R-FL22) is at it again. What better way to celebrate Flag Day, and make headlines, than to desecrate the flag? The tea party darling, often held up as proof the movement isn’t racist, posted pictures on Flickr of his recent diving expedition to an artificial reef in his South Florida district.
Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Code, subsection B: ‘The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise’
That got flag purists’ attention. They point to Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Code, subsection B, which states, “The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.”
But West isn’t known for following the rules. Before moving to Florida to run for Congress, West was discharged from the Army in 2004 after an incident in Taji, Iraq. Four members of a battalion he commanded beat an Iraqi they suspected of plotting to attack them while they interrogated him. To facilitate the questioning, West himself fired his service pistol next to the man’s head, a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. After the rumors of the plot were found to be baseless, West said, “It’s possible that I was wrong about Mr. Hamoodi.” He avoided a court-martial and was subjected to an “Article 15 proceeding,” relieved of his command, and ordered to pay a fine.
And while flag desecration is small potatoes compared to his past exploits, it’s clear that Rep. West hasn’t learned that you don’t honor your country, or its flag, by ignoring core principles.
Remember When?
This graphic is offered by Being Liberal and MoveOn.org for people to post as their Facebook status. We liked it so much we thought we’d post it right here. Enjoy.
Sorry Tea Baggers, Washington and Franklin Opposed the Boston Tea Party
In Boston on her non-campaign tour of historic sites last week, Sarah Palin mangled the facts about the midnight ride of Paul Revere. As any school child knows, Revere rode out from Boston toward Lexington, Mass., to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British were coming for them. In Palin’s version, Revere was “ridin’ his horse through town” sending “warnin’ shots and bells” to warn the British that Americans love guns.
Earlier this year, Palin’s doppelganger, Rep. Michele Bachmann, misspoke in front of a New Hampshire audience, asserting that the battle of Lexington, which occurred subsequent to Revere’s ride, had happened in their state, not Massachusetts.
Even worse, campaigning for the presidency in Iowa back in January, Bachmann asserted that the Founding Fathers had ended slavery. She specifically cited the role of John Quincy Adams in freeing the slaves. She was apparently unaware that JQA was not a Founder and that slavery ended in the mid-1860s, long after he and his father’s generation had shuffled off this mortal coil.
Based on a new history of the Boston Tea Party — “American Tempest: How the Boston Tea Party Sparked a Revolution,” by historian Harlow Unger — if facts mattered to Palin, Bachmann and their tea bagger followers, they probably would have chosen another revolutionary era movement as a model:
Warning: Rick Scott Ahead
$8,800
Amount spent by Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R/Tea) to add his own name to the 35 highway signs which welcome visitors to the state. No governor has ever placed his name on the signs, but Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerabino applauded the move. “When travelers cross into the state and see ‘Governor Rick Scott,’ he wrote, ‘it works on the same level as ‘Low Flying Aircraft,’ ‘Rock Slide Area’ or “Slow: Children Playing.'” Scott slashed other state spending, recently vetoing $615 million from the state budget that included 500 jobs at the Department of Children and Families.
Republican Path to Victory in 2012: Take Down the Economy
We get that Republicans don’t care about folks like us. We know they are willing to stop Social Security payments, and payroll for the members of America’s armed services rather than raise the debt ceiling. We get it, we really do.
But to tank the American, and likely the global, economy just to give their lame candidate (whoever it might be) a chance at taking down Obama in 2012? Exactly that is starting to look to like their best strategy.
The Economist: ‘America is undermining its economy for no good reason’
It’s not just Americans drawing a line between a House vote not to extend the debt ceiling and economic setbacks. Our friends across the pond are making the same observation.
Blogger “R.A.” at Britain’s The Economist predicted with exact accuracy on June 1 that such moves would mire economic growth, and decried these self-inflicted wounds. Our stock markets dropped that same day.
R.A. begins with the big picture, the one tea partiers and FOX News miss.
Florida Republican Calls Out Governor on Education Cuts
What is more surprising is the governor’s sudden emphasis on K-12 education. The budget we sent him funds education at a higher level than the governor recommended just a few months ago, when he proposed a 10 percent cut. The governor communicated numerous priorities during session, and we did our best to accommodate him. It would have been helpful if the governor had shared this new-found emphasis with us before the budget was finalized.
Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon (R – Winter Park), reacting to a new strategy crafted by the Republican Party of Florida and Gov. Rick Scott to deflect criticism of the state’s budget. The relationship between the tea party governor and the Republican-controlled legislature continues to erode.
RPOF Talking Points, in Case Scott’s Budget Left You Speechless
If you weren’t among the select few invited to Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s (R/Tea) ceremonial re-enactment of the signing of the hot mess that is this year’s state budget at a gated, tea party haven retirement community in the most land-locked part of Florida, we can help.
There is no reason for anyone to be at a loss for words when it comes to Florida’s new budget, which cuts money for fire protection in a drought-stricken region, law enforcement in the nation’s leading pill mill state, and services that keep the elderly in the community instead of much more expensive nursing homes in the state with the most older residents.
Thanks to the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF), which recently got the message that Floridians care about education, you can simply refer to this handy list of talking points, conveniently located on the Rick Scott for Florida web site. At least, you can access it after you supply your name, email address, and zip code, watch a video in which Scott’s mom says she still loves him, and do a search for “budget talking points.” What could be easier?
But all that work is worth it, when you can get these gems.
