Tag: Republicans

Saving America From Itself

Trish

groundzeroA lot of hypotheticals made the rounds after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. “What would you do if” questions were a way to process all the horror, as were scenarios of how to go forward.

My boss back then was a young Jewish woman, raised by her Orthodox rabbi grandfather. She had spent time in Israel, where she said the kind of invasive security procedures that eventually became codified as the Patriot Act were necessary to protect the country. “But if it isn’t America after you’re done protecting it,” I asked, “what’s the point?”

At its core, our country changed. The Tea Party of the Flies and its, “There’s not enough for everyone so I’m gonna get mine” scarcity mind-set with racist, homophobic, fundamentalist undertones took hold.

Ten years later, I still wonder about the answer to that question. When Bush suggested that average Americans could best defeat terrorism by going shopping, we responded. We flooded sport utility vehicle show rooms, and gawked as Hummers and Lincoln Navigators attempted to squeeze into parking spots like paunchy football coaches trying to wear their high school uniforms. We distracted ourselves with the antics of second-rate celebrities as they bounced from sex tapes to drug binges to rehab and back. We went along with invasions, with shock and awe, with rigged videos of statues falling and blond female service members being rescued. We were at war but we were never quite sure with whom: Insurgents? Dead-enders? Enemy combatants?

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From the Department of No Atheists in Foxholes

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Our people are suffering now, and they need support now. And they (Congress) can all go down there and get back to work and figure out budget cuts later.

Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), often suggested as a presidential candidate, disagreeing with Rep. Eric Cantor that before offering disaster aid, the federal government must make commensurate cuts in other areas.

What Was in Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s Conveniently Deleted Emails?

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ScottsLips
Scott's lips are sealed

From the moment Floridians heard that the penalties for Gov. Rick Scott (Tea/GOP) “losing” emails sent to and from his transition team ranged from a $500 fine to IMPEACHMENT (yeah, baby!), the story grabbed our attention in the way a big, juicy, limping mouse claims the attention of a cat on a diet.

Now Florida Democrats are starting to have fun with that mouse, launching the Rick Scott Email Recovery Fund to help track down the missing missives.

Here’s what happened. Scott, as is his wont, privatized communication handling during the two months after he bought the election and before he was inaugurated. During this time, he was assembling his cabinet and staff, and determining his administration’s agenda. Almost of these emails concerning the public’s business were deleted in mid-January, immediately after Scott took office.

That’s the short version. The long version has us smelling a rat.

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Big Government? Let’s Talk Reagan

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35,000

Number less of non-military federal employees under Pres. Obama, compared to Pres. Reagan. Obama, like every Democratic president starting with Jimmy Carter, has cut federal employees, while every Republican, starting with Reagan, has increased them. When Reagan employed 2,875,000 non-military employees in 1980, the American population was 226.5 million. Obama employs 2,840,000 serving a national population of 330 million.

FOX Begrudges the Poor Their Refrigerators

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The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
World of Class Warfare – The Poor’s Free Ride Is Over
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

Here is another brilliant summation from Jon Stewart, this one on Republican attempts to shift more of the taxation burden to the middle and poor classes, and keep the rich fat and happy. Hopefully more people will begin to understand that we are being played like violins by the ultra-rich, who know that as long as we buy into the fiction that it’s us (the struggling middle class) versus them (the struggling poor), the rich win.

Two Ricks, Both Slick, Both Thick as Bricks

Trish

I’m pretty sure he has a man-crush on Rick Perry.

Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel columnist, about Florida Gov. Rick Scott (Tea/GOP). Scott submitted to an editorial board interview with the paper as part of his “Reinventing Rick” tour, brought on by recognition that his poll approval numbers are, according to Maxwell, “just below head lice.”

Florida Gov. Rick Scott Unveils New, Faux Human Looking Image

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Old-NewRick
The guy on the left looks familiar but Florida voters can't quite place him

Florida residents could hardly be blamed for gazing at the photo shown on the left and exclaiming, “Hey, I like that guy! He looks a little familiar. Wonder who he is?”

Gone is the gleam of crazy in his eyes. Added is black eyebrow pencil to give the humanoid a less reptilian look.

At least that’s the reaction that Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s (Tea/GOP) handlers must have been aiming for when they unveiled the new official portrait of Florida’s chief executive. Scott continues to have the lowest approval numbers of any governor but continues to claim — as do all elected officials with low poll numbers — that he ignores polls and just does what he thinks is right. At the same time, he has launched a massive public campaign that includes enlisting members of the Republican Party of Florida to sign their names to canned letters to the editor about what a great job Scott is doing. He also blitzed voters with robocalls on the same theme and even released a video on YouTube of his mother telling people how proud of him she is.

But apparently Scott was just getting started.

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Rick Scott, Famous Fighter of ‘Obamacare,’ Enrolls Himself and His Wife in Taxpayer-Paid Health Care

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ScottAssinineFlorida’s tea party Republican Gov. Rick Scott has made a point to flaunt the wealth that landed him in office (instead of jail).

One of his first, likely illegal, moves was to sell the state plane that transported his predecessors while on state business. Why? Because Scott didn’t need the taxpayers’ jet, he has his own helicopter and access to his friends’ Lear Jets.

Equally played up was Scott’s decision not to accept a salary. After all, he made so many millions out of defrauding the government on padded Medicare billing in his businesses that he doesn’t need the piddly $130,000 that me and my fellow residents could provide him. Heck, Scott spent $76 million of his “own” money just to buy the office.

But there are some things that even Rick Scott needs help with. Scott, who focused his campaign and every FOX News appearance he’s ever made, on getting rid of the Affordable Healthcare Act which would provide health insurance to millions of uninsured Americans – and Floridians – is accepting our help to pay for his health insurance.

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Prediction from Texas: American Democracy Will End in 2012 — After the Election of Perry-Palin

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StatueLibertyDarkJames Moore, co-author of Bush’s Brain, a profile of Karl Rove, has an explanation for why America has a very good chance of electing Perry-Palin in 2012. And why doing so will be the end of democracy as we know it.

He starts by revealing what “The Response,” Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s recent prayer meeting, was actually about.

The big brains gathered east of the Hudson and Potomac Rivers believe that Mitt Romney is the candidate to beat. But they are unable to hear what Rick Perry is saying. The Christian prayer rally in Houston was a very loud proclamation to fundamentalists and Teavangelicals, which said, “I am not a Mormon…”

Moore on Perry: ‘A C- and D-student who hates to govern, loves to campaign, and barely has a sixth grader’s understanding of economics, will lead our nation into oblivion.’

Perry, of course, can’t come right out and print bumper stickers that say, “Rick Perry — 2012 — Not a Mormon.” But he doesn’t have to…Perry is about to remind the tea partiers and fundamentalists that Romney created a state health care plan…, believes global warming is real, and has a troubling history for conservatives on the matters of abortion and gay marriage.

So good-bye Mitt. Moore dispatches the rest of the Republican field in quicker order, and returns to the subject of Perry winning — and the depressing consequences.

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