August 2012 - Page 8 of 18

Is God Planning to Smite Republicans in Florida?

August 22, 2012August 22, 2012 Trish

162906

Remember when Christian Coalition founder and former presidential candidate Pat Robertson said the American Civil Liberties Union, feminists, blacks, and gays were responsible for the Sept. 11 terror attacks? Or when he said that Hurricane Katrina wiped out New Orleans as God’s answer to those who were pro-choice? How about when he said a Haitian earthquake was the result of a deal early Haitians made with the devil?

It looks like Florida, which Pat previously predicted would feel God’s wrath over Disneyworld’s annual “Gay Days” park admission, is finally getting its due. When Pat warned us in 1998, he turned out to be wrong, and the hurricane he thought was coming to Disney instead turned north to Virginia and smote the state that the 700 Club calls headquarters.

Now it looks like God is pissed again, and what is, as of this writing, Tropical Storm Isaac (but which will likely become Hurricane Isaac) is set to hit as Florida opens itself to the pit of inequity that is the Republican National Convention.

Consider how Republicans have recently earned God’s anger.
[…]

Anderson Cooper Confronts GOP Operative Kellyanne Conway on CNN with Facts That Disprove Her False Claim about Rise in Sex-Selection Abortions

August 22, 2012November 14, 2017 Jon Ponder

We’re so used to Republican operatives going on cable news shows and lying with impunity that it has become newsworthy when a news host exposes one of them in a lie in real time during a broadcast.

This happened recently on CNN when Soledad O’Brien challenged disgraced former Bush I chief of staff John Sununu, a Mitt Romney surrogate, during an interview after he trotted out the Romney campaign’s lie that Pres. Obama had “gutted Medicare.”

Similarly, Anderson Cooper challenged Republican operative/pollster Kellyanne Conway when she attempted to distort a conversation about Missouri tea party candidate Todd Akin’s claim that women’s ovaries naturally repel the sperm of rapists by interjecting a false claim (at about 03:30 in the video above) that there has been a rise in sex-selection abortions in the United States:

[…]

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WSJ/NBC News Poll: Ryan Pick Has -1 Impact on Likelihood to Vote for Romney – Compares with Dick Cheney’s +2, Palin’s +8

August 22, 2012August 22, 2012 Jon Ponder

The new Wall St. Journal/NBC News poll finds that 22 percent of likely voters say that Mitt Romney’s decision to put Rep. Paul Ryan on the Republican ticket makes them more likely to vote for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, while 23 percent say he makes them less likely to vote for Romney; 54 percent say the pick doesn’t affect their vote either way.

That margin (-1) compares with the last five vice-presidential picks like this:

Year	Candidate	Party	VP	Helps Ticket?
2012	Mitt Romney	GOP	Paul Ryan	-1
2008	Barack Obama	Dem	Joe Biden	+8
2008	John McCain	GOP	Sarah Palin	+9
2004	John Kerry	Dem	John Edwards	+21
2000	Al Gore	Dem	Joe Lieberman	+13
2000	George W. Bush	GOP	Dick Cheney	+2

The approval rating for Congress is at 12 percent, according to the poll, with 82 percent disapproving. This may be a part of the reason that Congressman Paul Ryan also has a remarkably weak favorable/unfavorable rating: 33 percent/32 percent.

Independents Favor Compromise Between Political Parties

August 21, 2012 Buck Banks

7 in 10

Independents — who make up about a third of all voters — say they favor compromise between the parties rather than confrontation, according to a new Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation study. Just as many say they are dissatisfied with the country’s political system.

Meet U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Ks.), aka, the Naked Swimmer of Galilee

August 21, 2012August 21, 2012 Trish

Those are not his beautiful kids.

It was all fun and games on Aug. 4, 2011 until U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder (R), 36, of Hutchinson, Ks., decided to strip naked before plunging into the Sea of Galilee.

Yoder’s idea of an apology: ‘Regrettably I jumped into the water without a swimsuit’

“There’s no question there was a sense of lightheartedness and there were those who were drinking alcohol,” said Rep. David Schweikert of Arizona, who was at the dinner but did not swim.

After prodding from the waiters, some of the Americans dived in. Of the 30 members of Congress on the trip, a little more than half went swimming in the Sea of Galilee.

Yoder, who’s serving his first term in Congress, was among the last to jump in, and was the only one who was completely nude. As he dived into the water naked, someone screamed that he was not wearing any clothes, according to the GOP sources.

Soon after that the swim came to an end.

This wasn’t the first time the freshman Congressman took things a little too far.

[…]

Message to GOP Convention Goers: If You Enjoy Your Visit to Tampa, Thank a Democrat

August 21, 2012August 21, 2012 Trish

billboard

Ruth’s List Florida is making sure those attending the Republican National Convention in Tampa know who to thank if they find the visit pleasant.

A billboard posted at the intersection of I-275 and Armenia Blvd. reminds the thousands of GOP faithful that while Tallahassee is almost 100 percent Republican, the rest of the state is not.

[…]

Hang Tough, Todd Akin. Be Too “Legit” to Quit!

August 20, 2012August 20, 2012 Trish

Here’s the deal. If, as almost every Republican of note is asking, Rep. Todd Akin quits the race for U.S. Senate from Missouri by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 21, another Republican will be allowed to replace him on the ballot in November.

Republicans see a dead man walking, and are laying on the pressure to get poor Todd out. It’s not that they disagree with him over abortion, mind you. They just realize that his parsing of some difference between “rape” and “legitimate rape” leaves them at a disadvantage with women voters (again), and with that feeling that Akin says women’s bodies have toward rapist sperm: they want Todd out.

Democrats who are interested in retaining control of the Senate need to show Todd some love. Send a note of encouragement. Tell Rep. Akin to hang in there and keep fighting.

Republicans are dying to take control of the now Democratically-controlled Senate, the only thing that’s been standing between Americans and bat shit crazy for the past two years. They were fine with the tea party-backed Akin and men like him, who want to make all the choices for women so we don’t have to worry our empty little heads about them. But once Akin became a symbol of a small portion of what’s wrong with their party, they were anxious to shed him.

Among the Republicans lining up to urge Akin to quit:

[…]

Most Americans Think It Should Be ‘Every’ Child Left Behind

August 20, 2012 Buck Banks

29% to 16%

Majority by which more Americans think the No Child Left Behind Act has made U.S. public education worse rather than better, with similar ratings from Republicans and Democrats, according to Gallup. Most, 55%, say it hasn’t made a difference or can’t rate it.

Mitt: Fraudulent Resident?

August 20, 2012 Buck Banks

Now Mitt Romney follows a Mormon God,
And exhibits virtues most would applaud.
But what this thing with his taxes
Leads us to ask is,
Is he really covering up his own voter fraud?

Unemployment Creeping Up in Most States

August 20, 2012 Buck Banks

44

Number of states that saw an increase in unemployment last month, CNN reports: “Only two states and the District of Columbia saw unemployment rates edge lower in July, while four states saw no change in rates, according to the Labor Department’s monthly report on state unemployment.”

Month: August 2012

Is God Planning to Smite Republicans in Florida?

Anderson Cooper Confronts GOP Operative Kellyanne Conway on CNN with Facts That Disprove Her False Claim about Rise in Sex-Selection Abortions

WSJ/NBC News Poll: Ryan Pick Has -1 Impact on Likelihood to Vote for Romney – Compares with Dick Cheney’s +2, Palin’s +8

Independents Favor Compromise Between Political Parties

7 in 10

Independents — who make up about a third of all voters — say they favor compromise between the parties rather than confrontation, according to a new Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation study. Just as many say they are dissatisfied with the country’s political system.

Meet U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Ks.), aka, the Naked Swimmer of Galilee

Message to GOP Convention Goers: If You Enjoy Your Visit to Tampa, Thank a Democrat

Hang Tough, Todd Akin. Be Too “Legit” to Quit!

Most Americans Think It Should Be ‘Every’ Child Left Behind

29% to 16%

Majority by which more Americans think the No Child Left Behind Act has made U.S. public education worse rather than better, with similar ratings from Republicans and Democrats, according to Gallup. Most, 55%, say it hasn’t made a difference or can’t rate it.

Mitt: Fraudulent Resident?

Unemployment Creeping Up in Most States

44

Number of states that saw an increase in unemployment last month, CNN reports: “Only two states and the District of Columbia saw unemployment rates edge lower in July, while four states saw no change in rates, according to the Labor Department’s monthly report on state unemployment.”

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“One woman at a rally in New Jersey told me last week that she was ‘nauseously optimistic.’ That may capture a lot of people’s last-minute jitters.”

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), quoted by Axios, on what Democrats feel ahead of the midterm elections.

“I think Congress made a mistake not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom.”

— Former President Bill Clinton, quoted by The Wrap.

“Boy, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It feels like a real desperation play to me, because it has got zero basis in the law.”

— Republican election law expert Ben Ginsberg, quoted by Politico, on the Trump administration’s effort to invalidate Alaska’s election results.

Numerati

3,824

$1.4 billion

-35 points

31%

63% to 38%

KFF Poll: “With the 2026 midterm campaigns in full swing and early voting about to begin, there is a wide enthusiasm gap between partisan voters, with Democratic voters 25 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say they are ‘more motivated’ than usual to vote (63% vs. 38%).”