heartless

Coal disaster company Massey Energy denied time off for miners to attend their friends’ funerals.
(Think Progress)

funny that we've lasted over 200 years without "government" destroying us

American Family Association: Government is more dangerous than al Qaeda, Tim McVeigh’s terrorism.
(Think Progress)
---
Funny how we never had this kind of extreme rhetoric when bush really was destroying the principles that this country stands for...

does he think that this is a good thing?

Gingrich: Tea Parties are ‘likely to end up as the militant wing of the Republican Party.’
(Think Progress)

more WTF bigotry

Rep. Brian Bilbray Says He Can Spot Undocumented Immigrants Based On The Shoes They Wear
(Think Progress)

gee, maybe a little over the top?

Goldman CEO Blankfein feels that ‘government is out to kill them.’
(Think Progress)

because they don't actually have any ideas, but want to stop progress

VIDEO: The GOP’s Solution To Everything — Let’s ‘Start Over’
(Think Progress)

pretty damn pompous

Bachmann claims Romney doesn’t believe RomneyCare was ‘a good thing for’ Massachusetts.
(Think Progress)
---

hey, I agree with Steele!

RNC Chairman Steele: African-Americans ‘don’t have a reason’ to vote Republican.
(Think Progress)
---
But, of course, I don't think that most people have a reason to...

obstructionist repugs continue their obstructionism

Republicans Block Votes On 97 Federal Nominees In A Single Day
(Think Progress)
---
You would think that eventually they would want to help to do something, but I guess not...

And this is their winning stategy? Gawd help us all is more get elected this fall...

thank goodness it is not up to him

Controversial Florida Politician Unsure If Muslims Should Hold Public Office, Says He’d ‘Prefer’ If Gays Stayed Out
(Think Progress)

do any tea-baggers actually know what they are protesting against?

Tea Partiers In Tax Day Protests Try To Explain Why They're Against Obama (VIDEO)
(Huffington Post)

so proud to be a Nevadan

Governor Gibbons makes group's list of worst governors

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons has made a watchdog group's list of the top 11 worst governors in the nation.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington cite allegations against Gibbons of assaulting a Las Vegas cocktail waitress in a parking garage and his use of a state-issued cell phone to send more than 800 text message to a woman he described as a long-time friend.

The Washington, D.C.-based group, in its report released Wednesday, also criticized Gibbons for initially saying he would refuse federal stimulus money to help ease the state's budget shortfall.

Gibbons' Chief of Staff Robin Reedy discounted the report as baseless.

---

this actually surprises me

AP-CNBC Poll: Most in US against legalizing pot
---
I thought that these days more people would be for this, but I guess not...
It should certainly at least be de-criminalized because we are wasting way too many resources on jailing people for this non-crime.

this is f'k'd up

Court voids law aimed at animal cruelty videos

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court struck down a federal law Tuesday aimed at banning videos that show graphic violence against animals, saying it violates the right to free speech.

The justices, voting 8-1, threw out the criminal conviction of Robert Stevens of Pittsville, Va., who was sentenced to three years in prison for videos he made about pit bull fights.

The law was enacted in 1999 to limit Internet sales of so-called crush videos, which appeal to a certain sexual fetish by showing women crushing to death small animals with their bare feet or high-heeled shoes.

The videos virtually disappeared once the measure became law, the government argued.

But Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, said the law goes too far, suggesting that a measure limited to crush videos might be valid. Animal cruelty and dog fighting already are illegal throughout the country.

In dissent, Justice Samuel Alito said the harm animals suffer in dogfights is enough to sustain the law.

Alito said the ruling probably will spur new crush videos because it has "the practical effect of legalizing the sale of such videos."

Animal rights groups, including the Humane Society of the United States and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and 26 states joined the Obama administration in support of the law. The government sought a ruling that treated videos showing animal cruelty like child pornography, not entitled to constitutional protection.

But Roberts said the law could be read to allow the prosecution of the producers of films about hunting. And he scoffed at the administration's assurances that it would only apply the law to depictions of extreme cruelty. "But the First Amendment protects against the government," Roberts said. "We would not uphold an unconstitutional statute merely because the government promised to use it responsibly."

---

This is just sick, and it is revolting disgusting that this Court could overrule this humane and sane law.

And the repugs want to make this Court even MORE conservative?!

crazies swarming DC on anniversary of Oklahoma City bombing

Gun Rally: Second Amendment Activists Swarm DC, VA Rallies (NEWS, PHOTOS)
(Huffington Post)
---
Nothing like a bunch of armed conspiracy nuts marching on our government...
Man, almost sounds anti-American, doesn't it?
It would be one thing if there was any talk at all of restricting any gun rights, but since there isn't and this is all in their minds, it makes them seem a little scary...Who knows what else is going on in their minds...

More from Think Progress:
VIDEO: On Anniversary Of Oklahoma City Bombing, Armed Right-Wing Activists Accuse Obama Of Tyranny
---
Think Progress reminds me of the irony that Obama has actually expanded rather than restricted gun rights since he took office, so these people are just as ill-informed as the people complaining about being taxed too much as their taxes are reduced.

this guy should get together with American evangelicals - they have a lot in common

Iranian Cleric: Promiscuous Women Cause Earthquakes
(Huffington Post)
---
Hell, these days this sounds like something a repug congressman would say...

horrific result of bigotry in our country

Clay Greene Vs Sonoma County
(Crooks and Liars)

anniversary of the previous worst terrorist attack in our country

Of The Homegrown Kind - The Oklahoma City Bombing - April 19, 1995
(Crooks and Liars)

revoltingly offensive and an inflated sense of self-importance

Bachmann: Bill Clinton Is Trying To ‘Celebrate’ The Oklahoma City Bombing And ‘Take [Me] Out’
(Think Progress)
---
Of course, the event that Clinton was speaking at was hardly a celebration, and that is revoltingly offensive to anyone who lived through this terrorist attack, and he never even mentioned Bachmann or her rhetoric specifically, though he was certainly alluded to the type of violent, anti-American speech she is known for.

I guess most of America (and the world) is made up of "rank political hacks" then

Perry: Anyone Who’s Not A ‘Rank Political Hack’ Realizes That Bush Was A ‘Very, Very Good President’
(Think Progress)
---
I guess he has a very strange definition of "very good"!

flip-flopping on his self-description and pompous, too!

McCain Denies That He Is ‘Running Away From The Maverick Title’: ‘I Prefer Great American Myself’
(Think Progress)
---
"Great American"?! Jeez - think much of yourself?

utterly heartless

Corporate Front Group Funded By Coal Industry Scorns Widow Of Mine Disaster: ‘Everyone Wants Free Money’ (Updated)
(Think Progress)

I think that this had to have been sarcasm cuz not even Limbaugh could think that god was this stupid

Limbaugh: Volcanic eruption in Iceland is God’s reaction to health care’s passage.
(Think Progress)

Go Arkansas!

Judge strikes down Arkansas law banning same-sex couples from adopting.
(Think Progress)

trouble keeping their talking points straight

Pataki Calls RomneyCare ‘Unconstitutional,’ Joins Growing Conservative Opposition To Mass. Reform
---
Pataki says he ‘misspoke’ in arguing that RomneyCare is ‘unconstitutional.’
(Think Progress)
---
It must be hard to try to defend one of their own who has created a successful "socialist" government-run health care plan for his state that the Feds uses as a basis for the new plan, that is sure to be successful, as well.

because the repugs cannot celebrate any American success while a Dem is president

The Right Scrambles To Demean Obama’s Successful Nuclear Summit
(Think Progress)

"you keep using that word - I don't think it means what you think it means"

Bachmann’s Latest Whopper: ‘The Federal Government Literally Owns Banks’
(Think Progress)
---
I guess this is like the people who said that "I literally died" or something like that, where "literally" means anything but "literally".
Of course, no one has ever accused Backmann of being a brainiac...

sad that this even needs to be said

Clinton: Media, Politicians Shouldn’t Fuel ‘Hatriot’ Groups With Anti-Government Rhetoric That Inspired McVeigh
(Think Progress)

headline of the day!

7,500 Online Shoppers Accidentally Sold Their Souls To Gamestation
(Huffington Post)

no, it's not discrimination, they just can't be a registered student organization

Do university rules discriminate against student faith groups?
---
Pretty simple solution - just don't ask to be a registered student organization if you don't want to follow the rules. You can still have your organization, though - no one is saying that you can't.

Ya don't exactly have to be a rocket scientist to understand that...

love these WTF photos

These are just too bizarre to think that they were meant to be real, but they are hilarious!

From Huffington Post.

too funny

WATCH Willie Nelson To Larry King: I Smoked Pot Before Your Show
(Think Progress)

Obama calling out the tea-baggers

Obama on Tea Partiers: “You would think they would be saying, ‘Thank you’” for my tax cuts.
(Think Progress)

I'm sure that would be a winning campaign

Rep. Kingston Would ‘Gladly Run On’ Repealing Stimulus, Forcing Businesses To Give Back Stimulus Money
(Think Progress)
---
Of course, he has heralded the jobs in his area that the stimulus has created, so he's just another hypocritical repug (kind or redundant, I know).

poor babies

Birther Website WND Worries Its Credibility Will Be Hurt If It Doesn’t Get More Seats At Correspondents’ Dinner
(Think Progress)
---
Why would they want to be there if they don't think the president is legitimate anyway?

repugs love to break the law

GOP Rep. Paul Broun Admits To Illegally Sending Back An Incomplete Census
(Think Progress)

now helping people is just like enslaving them?

Former GOP Congressman J.C. Watts: ‘Social programs’ are the ‘new slavery.’
(Think Progress)

well, duh

Judge: National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional
---
Pretty freakin' self-evident, innit?

funny how they'll take the money that they ranted against

Stimulus a boon in SC, where many didn't want it
---
Principles kinda go out the window when you are offered a job after you've been out of work for a long time. I wonder how many of these people will remember this come election time.

as usual, repugs are obstructing a qualified nominee

Democrats defend liberal court nominee Goodwin Liu
---
Repugs only like partisans when they are extremely conservative and completely unqualified.

Obama doing the right thing

Obama extends health care rights to gay and lesbian partners
---
I suppose this is to help make up for the fact that he still hasn't reversed DADT, but this is a great step forward.

but that is most of the party!

Tea party leaders anxious about extremists
---

I agree with the ACLU - he has the right to voice his opinions, no matter how ill-informed

Marine's anti-Obama Facebook comments fuel debate
---
As long as he doesn't disobey the orders coming from the commander-in-chief, he certainly should have a right to voice his opinions. Of course, it would be nice if he was informed of the facts, but, unfortuantely, that is not a requirement in this country.

but facts won't stop the tea-baggers

Tax Day rhetoric aside, Americans' bills are lower
---

something that should have been done long ago

Obama launches sweeping federal mine safety review
---
In fact, Obama shouldn't have waited until there were more deaths from negligence before he did something, but at least he is reacting now, unlike bush did when this happened on his watch.

repugs have no problems with wasting money on frivolous lawsuits when it is for partisan purposes

Georgia Governor Circumvents Attorney General, Appoints Special Lawyer To File Health Care Lawsuit
(Think Progress)
---
I thought the repugs were supposed to be opposed to wasting taxpayers money and frivolous lawsuits...
I guess all rules go out the window when they can play to their extreme base...

Seriously?

Once again, conservatives see Muslim conspiracy in an administration logo.

(Think Progress)

---

C'mon now - I think even the most conspiracy-minded looney-toon would have a hard time believing this one...

Gainesville rejecting bigotry

Gainesville, FL rejects homophobic ‘No Homo’ campaign and elects its first openly gay mayor.
(Think Progress)

overly dramatic ass

Arizona Doctor Plans To Close His Office Because Of ‘Stress’ Caused By ‘Obamacare’
(Think Progress)
---
Instead of finding out what is actually in the bill and how it will help doctors, these partisan jerks are doing what they claim the bill will do - denying people care.

Hypocritical scumbags...

anti-American repug

Bachmann: ‘We’re hoping that President Obama’s policies don’t succeed.’
(Think Progress)
---

I guess I"m naive, but this amazes me

Fifty-five years after Brown v. Board, Mississippi county schools ordered to stop school segregation.
(Think Progress)

he really needs to give up on this - he can't win this argument

Romney Says He Solved Health Crisis ‘At The State Level,’ But Admits ‘The Feds Fund Half Of It’
(Think Progress)

because EVERYTHING is Obama's fault, don't you know?

Gingrich: If Republicans Shut Down The Government, It Will Be Obama’s Fault
(Think Progress)
---
Obama is forcing the repugs to be obstructionists...Obama went back in time and forced bush to bail out the banks...Obama is forcing people to be racists...Obama is causing the repugs' violence...Obama's tax breaks make people protest against non-existent tax hikes...Obama's moderation and capitulation makes people believe that he is an extremist...

who could possibly have predicted this?

McConnell Slams Financial Reform Bill After Meeting With Hedge Fund Managers And Other Wall Street Elites
(Think Progress)

y'know, if you don't act like one, you most likely won't be called one

O’Reilly: I Don’t Report On ‘African-Americans Or Their Problems’ Much Because I’m Afraid Of Being Called Racist
(Think Progress)

sick f'ks just want to punish women for having sex

Neb. governor signs landmark abortion bills
---
I can't imagine how they think this is legal, much less constitutional.
This had better get overturned by sane people before the loons try to make it a trend and restrict more women's rights.

anti-Americans

Oklahoma Republicans conspire with Teabaggers to form anti- federal government militia
(Americablog)

unlike the last administration, this one really did break up a terrorist plot

The GOP doesn't want to talk about it, but traditional law enforcement just broke
up a serious terrorist threat. No one was even waterboarded!

(Daily Kos)
---
So, because the repugs won't talk about it, the "liberal media" won't talk about it, either.
Imagine if this had happened under bush's administration - there would have been wall-to-wall coverage for years!

Limbaugh making the point FOR unions by mistake

Uninformed Limbaugh Wonders ‘Where Was The Union’ At Non-Union Mine Disaster
(Think Progress)

good economic news

The Dow Jones industrial average yesterday closed above 11,000 for the first time since the beginning of the financial crisis in September 2008. Analysts say the milestone is a “confidence booster” and “reinforces the growing belief on Wall Street that the recovery in the economy and markets remains on track.”
---
“The federal deficit is running significantly lower than it did last year, with the budget gap for the first half of fiscal 2010 down 8 percent over the same period a year ago,” according to senior Obama administration officials. “If the trend continues for the rest of the year, it would mean the annual deficit would be $1.3 trillion — about $300 billion less than the administration’s projection two months ago for 2010.”

(Think Progress)

gawd forbid we help people - repugs have to help the insurance companies instead

Blunt rejects barring insurers from denying insurance to adults with pre-existing conditions.
(Think Progress)

how do people like this even get a chance to run for office?

Tea Party Darling Running For NY Governor In Hot Water For Forwarding Racist, Sexually Explicit E-mails
(Think Progress)
---
And, of course, he blames his actions on...The Democrats!

so, the repugs use a video of a different time to "prove" their point?

Wrong video of health protest spurs N-word feud
---
These scumbags have no shame whatsoever. They post a video of a different time from when the slurs were shouted and say that this video proofs that no one shouted the slurs!

Could they possibly be more dishonest? It's almost as if they have something to hide!

The audacity and blatant lies never fail to amaze me...

WTF?!

New Nebraska Law Would Ban Abortions After 20 Weeks, Require Mental Screenings
(Huffington Post)

overcoming repug obstructionism in order to help the unemployed

Senate votes to end latest GOP filibuster blocking unemployment benefits
(Americablog)

and yet more right-wing violent and racist rhetoric

Ohio Tea Party Organizer And Father Of Part-Latino Son Threatens To Shoot Latino Immigrants
(Think Progress)

more right-wing fueled crazy violence

Idaho man fired shotgun into air to intimidate Census worker.
(Think Progress)

Fox admitting that the lies that it helped to promote are lies

Fox News admits tea partiers cling to ‘mistruths, exaggerations and conspiracy theories.’
(Think Progress)

a look at how the reset of the world sees our president

Russian President says what distinguishes Obama ‘from many other people’ is that he is ‘a thinker.’
(Think Progress)

apparently no dummy - just knows how to play people

Scott Brown Snubs Tea Party, Declines Invite To Join Sarah Palin At ‘Massive Rally’ In Boston
(Think Progress)

amazing what a black president can do

KKK has ‘reversed declining membership’ in recent years.
(Think Progress)
---
The bigots come out of the woodwork!

they just want judges who will be right-wing extremists, not follow the rule of law

Will: What conservatives truly want are activist judges.
(Think Progress)

what a sick fuck

Huckabee Compares Gays To Drug Users, Says They’re Unfit To Adopt Kids Because ‘Children Are Not Puppies’
(Think Progress)
---
WTF is wrong with these wacko bigots?
Man, in casual conversation on TV, Huckabee comes across as a reasonable and intelligent person. You would not think that he holds this level of hate and intolerance inside of him.

the repugs love their adulterers

Vitter receives standing ovation at Southern Republican Leadership Conference.
(Think Progress)

well, this would explain a lot

Coal CEO Calls Mine Safety Rules 'As Silly As Global Warming'
(Huffington Post)
---
So, he just doesn't believe in science?
I guess he also doesn't have any conscience with all of these deaths on his head....

conservatives don't want people to work

Obama election-year jobs agenda stalls in Congress
---
Gee, who might be stalling this?

translation: "ultra-right-wing-conservative or no one!"

GOP senators push for `mainstream' court nominee
---

Karl Rove and Howard Dean, UNLV April 9, 2010

UNLV’s Majorie Barrick Lecture Series has brought in a number of important guests in the past, but I do believe that these two were among the most prominent to date. The audience was certainly highly divided with a large and vocal number of extreme conservatives (moderator Jon Ralston made a Tea Partier joke, which they liked) but a good representation of the more left-leaning, as well.

While Ralston leans somewhat left himself, he went out of his way to placate Rove and often almost ignored Dean and really didn’t help to bring out any responses from him. Rove made a couple of comments trying to belittle Ralston for his views, though Ralston never gave an opinion about anything and certainly gave Dean a more difficult time than he did to Rove.

That said, Rove did come off and a much more accomplished public speaker, who was highly passionate and not afraid to be divisive (his first words after Dean’s opening comments were to the effect of “now this is the end of civility for the night”). As usual, Rove spun like mad, told plenty of lies and bullshit and pandered to the base (even going for the ancient “Gore invented the internet” joke – though he was obviously joking and not trying to say that Gore claimed this, unlike other republicans have done). At one point he went off on a rambling tangent about how upset he was that the youth of today were getting their news from the internet and not newspapers (presumably like the Wall Street Journal that he is writing for), as if that was a bad thing.

Dean, on the other hand, has never been a great speaker but still seemed very much off of his game here. He missed many, many chances to make good points and rebut Rove and even relied on non-sequitor pot-shots, which were really below him. Of course, he was at a disadvantage of having to defend Obama on many things that he doesn’t completely agree on, such as the health care bill, some weaknesses of the Stimulus plan (the fact that it should have gone farther than it did) and some of his foreign policy ideas. Dean wasn’t necessarily asked about his views on these items, but was asked to defend the Democrats in general or Obama in particular. Of course, his points were logical and overall well-made, but he did not have the passion that Rove had and did not debunk all of Roves lies and spins, which was unfortunate.

So, this was not the spirited debate that many had hoped and despite one person interrupted Rove from the audience (who was quickly silenced) and some odd-balls outside, there was little drama. Dean certainly did not change any conservatives’ minds this evening, or even enliven the liberal base, which is a shame.

it's only a controversy in their minds

Palin blames ‘Gore-gate’ for ‘this snake oil science stuff.’
(Think Progress)
---
It's amazing how much the repugs resent the fact that reality has a liberal bias...

another highly qualified nominee torpedoed by the conservatives

President Obama’s choice for Office of Legal Counsel Dawn Johnsen withdraws her nomination.
(Think Progress)

oh, poor babies

Jindal: ‘It Hurts Our Feelings’ To Be Called The ‘Party of No’
(Think Progress)
---
There's an easy way not to be called the party of no - just don't obstruct every single thing that the Dems try to do solely for partisan reasons.

Pretty freakin' simple...

possible Supreme Court nominees

Potential Obama nominees for the Supreme Court
---

though the repugs continue to claim that the stimulus has not worked

Wholesale inventories and sales both post gains
---

terrible tragedy

Polish leader, 96 others dead in Russia jet crash
---

this is news?

GOP tries to head off liberal Stevens replacement
---
And considering all that Obama has done to placate the repugs since he got into office, I wouldn't be surprised - though I will be highly disappointed - if he doesn't cave on this, too and give us a far-right, extremist court.
Sotomayor was far more center-right than most of us would have preferred. We can only hope that Obama picks someone at least center-left this time.

hardly a surprise

Document: Bush, Cheney Knew They Sent Innocent Men To Gitmo, Kept Them There For 'Political' Reasons
(Crooks and Liars)

blaming blacks for the whites' bigotry

Breitbart loses bet; blames Black Caucus for racial slurs

Remember when Andrew Breitbart swore no racist slurs were hurled at the Congressional Black Caucus the day of the health care vote? He sneered at the possibility that any teabagger had behaved in a racist or inappropriate fashion just before he promised to donate $100,000 to the United Negro College Fund if he was proven wrong.

Seems to me the video up above is pretty clear and convincing evidence of spitting, racism and hate, and it seems Breitbart thinks so, too. Now that he can't deny it happened, he's choosing to blame John Lewis et al for walking through the group of angry teabaggers.

In truly despicable fashion, Breitbart let Hannity's audience know how outraged he was at the unfairness of it all:

BREITBART: The very act of the Black Congressional Caucus, walking through the tea party people while holding all those videos was an act of provocation. They need this desperately and one last thing. The language that Nancy Pelosi is using about the civil rights movement, comparing the unpopular health care bill to the civil rights movement ties into this… They’re all on the talking points, basically telling black people that the white people are trying to take your health care from you. This is a racial, racist, racially divisive strategy that they’re playing that’s very dangerous in the United States.

The noise machine is cranked up to full volume and steaming right ahead. In classic blame-the-victim style, Breitbart suggests that John Lewis and Emanuel Cleaver should have walked around the murmuring mob of nasty white folks rather than through them, because obviously the mere presence of black Congressmen was so inflammatory as to throw all caution (and spit) to the wind.

Never mind that they were walking up stairs to the building where they work as representatives elected by the majority of voters in their districts. That doesn't matter to Andrew Breitbart, because he just cannot stand the unbearable weight of intellectual honesty.

His remarks prove how deeply racist he, and the movement he champions, truly are.

(Crooks and Liars)

incredible bigotry

GOP supporter: Cao has betrayed us, his white donors, by trying to represent his minority district.
(Think Progress)

gosh, ya think?

Pawlenty Admits That ‘There’s Probably Some Political Overtones To’ Health Care Lawsuit
(Think Progress)

ah, but that would make too much sense

Analysis: Strong Carbon Cap Would Cut Iran’s Petrodollars By Over $100 Million A Day
(Think Progress)

"vote for us and we'll do nothing!"

Gingrich Pledges Government Shutdown If GOP Wins Back House And Senate
(Think Progress)
---
What a winning campaign motto!
Do they really think that this is what the American public wants?
I just don't understand these creeps...

and still another right-wing violent loon

Man ‘disenchanted with the federal government’ indicted for planting pipe bombs in mailboxes.
(Think Progress)
More from Crooks and Liars:
Another day, another anti-government terrorist arrested. Pipe bombs, anyone?
---

how many repugs are just arguing with themselves these days?

Romney Says Massachusetts Not A Model For Health Reform, After Urging Dems To Use It As Model
(Think Progress)

funny

More Americans have a ‘favorable’ opinion of the IRS than of the Tea Party.
(Think Progress)
---
Funny also that more Americans have a favorable opinion of the IRS than either the Dems or repugs!

it's a lot more difficult for the dead miners to do anything any more

Don Blankenship in 2009: It’s ‘very difficult’ to obey ‘nonsensical’ safety rules.
(Think Progress)
---
F'k'ing heartless assholes, who the repugs happily support...

a doctor is going to become a right-wing hero by being ignorant and by denying patients their care

GOP Rep. John Fleming On Doctor Saying He Will Refuse Care To Obama Voters: ‘I Applaud What He Said And Did’
(Think Progress)
---
Wow - who could have ever imagined just a couple of years ago that the right-wing would applaud a doctor who refused care to his patients.
Isn't this kinda what the repugs are (falsely) saying that health care reform would do?

can't hardly blame them since their president ignored the situation

Republicans Leave Out 'Katrina' From New Orleans Speeches
(Huffington Post)
---
Not like the repugs can defend the way they ignored this disaster...

I'll believe it when I see it

U.S.-Russia Nuclear Treaty: Republicans Expected To Support Obama Deal
(Huffington Post)

just curious - why is this a shock?

SHOCK: Cheerleaders Poured URINE In Teammates' Drinks
(Huffington Post)
---
Cheerleaders are notorious bitches - why would something like this surprise anyone?

not quite sure why a response is warranted at all

Obama pushes back on Palin criticism

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama snapped back at Sarah Palin and her criticisms about his nuclear defense policy, calling the former Alaska governor "not much of an expert on nuclear issues."

Obama's comments came when asked for a response about a Palin critique that he was like a kid poised for a playground fight who said 'Go ahead, punch me in the face and I'm not going to retaliate. Go ahead and do what you want to with me."

"I really have no response," Obama told ABC News. "Because last I checked, Sarah Palin's not much of an expert on nuclear issues."

---
Why would the president of the United States have to answer to some uneducated clown with no foreign policy knowledge and almost no governing experience?
It's truly insulting...

Daily Kos agrees with me:

Responding to a "conspicuously unintelligent right-wing media personality"

Much is being made of President Obama's dismissal of George Stephanopoulos' question about Sarah Palin's criticism of the New START treaty, but let's face it -- that was as easy as swatting a fly. The really important question was asked by Steve Benen at The Washington Monthy:

... why is George Stephanopoulos using an idiotic quote from a dimwitted former half-term governor of a small state as the basis for a question to the president?

In effect, the "GMA" host was saying, "Some conspicuously unintelligent right-wing media personality said something stupid about a subject she knows nothing about. Mr. President, how do you respond?"

Not so fast says George Stephanopoulos:

Whatever you think of Sarah Palin, she’s a former VP candidate — and a potential challenger to President Obama — with a strong following in the GOP. She made a pointed critique of a new Presidential policy. By getting the President’s response, I was doing my job.

Well, Ron Paul is a potential challenger to President Obama too, but his every utterance isn't breathlessly reported. And while Palin may have a strong following in the GOP, the fact is, a majority of Republicans don't think she's qualified to be President, along with 71% of Americans overall, making her potential challenge nothing more than a starburst in the tea party movement's collective eye.

And a "pointed critique" of policy?

It's kind of like getting out there on a playground, a bunch of kids, getting ready to fight, and one of the kids saying, 'Go ahead, punch me in the face and I'm not going to retaliate. Go ahead and do what you want to with me.'"

That's not a pointed critique, it's a Fox News contributor and future reality T.V. star, peddling her patented brand of folksy hate.

---

these guys are just being silly now

Gingrich: Obama is 'most radical president ever'
---
The overwhelming irony coming after bush's 2 terms is mind-boggling.

because he can't find any lawyer who will take on the case, because it has no merit

Gibbons sets up ‘Constitution Defense Fund’ to fight health reform
---
So, he is trying to milk money out of poor constituents who will save money under the reform bill...
What an embarassment...

typical - schools don't care and seemingly never will

Documents: Bullied teen sought help from school

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Documents show the Massachusetts girl who committed suicide after what prosecutors call relentless bullying sought help from a school administrator a week before her death.

The documents released this week also show 15-year-old Phoebe Prince endured a day of taunts and verbal abuse at South Hadley High School before going home and hanging herself on Jan. 14.

The documents were filed in connection with criminal charges brought against six other students. They show the teen feared being beaten up and sought help from the school official.

---
Schools don't give a f'k about kids getting bullied because the bullied kids are the unpopular ones, not the ones into sports or cheerleading, so they are not important to the officials.

Hopefully, someday this will change, but not likely in our lifetimes...

hopefully Obama won't try to placate the repugs again with this nomination

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens retiring
---
It would be nice if this nomination was a little less right-of-center than Sotomayor. We really need to have the Court be more liberal, not less.

Seriously?

Sean Hannity predicts Obama will go down as the worst president in history. It'll be tough meeting the Bush standard, won't it?
(Crooks and Liars)
---
Does he include JFK in that list?
Or was that a typo and he meant to say "most popular" instead of "worst"?
This is just crazy talk, especially considering that Obama replaced bush - I mean, c'mon!

wow - just let that sink in for a minute

Palin: Palin-Bachmann 2012 ticket ‘sounds kind of cool.’

(Think Progress)
---
What if this was taken seriously by the repugs? I don't think for a second that these two extremist nutjobs could win, but can you imagine Obama & Biden having to "debate" Palin and Bachmann? A couple of serious intellectuals against a couple of wackos who would say anything, no matter how bizarre? How difficult would that be? How can you debate someone who doesn't even make sense?

Man, how low would America sink in the eyes of the world if that came to pass? Yeesh!

too bad many of his viewers are "idiots"

Beck admits he doesn’t give ‘a flying crap about the political process. … We’re an entertainment company.’

Fox News host Glenn Beck’s media “empire” is the cover story of the newest issue of Forbes Magazine. In the story, Beck reveals that his media company Glenn Beck Inc. made $32 million in revenue in the period between March 2009 and March 2010. The host also explains that he sees himself much more as an entertainer than a political activist, saying that he doesn’t “give a flying crap about the political process”:
With a deadpan, Beck insists that he is not political: “I could give a flying crap about the political process.” Making money, on the other hand, is to be taken very seriously, and controversy is its own coinage. “We’re an entertainment company,” Beck says.

“I don’t necessarily believe that [what Beck says] is reflective of his own personal politics — I don’t even know if he has personal politics,” Michael Harrison, the publisher of Talkers magazine tells Forbes. “I see him as a performer.” This isn’t the first time Beck has suggested he isn’t as radically conservative as he seems. In February he told USA Weekend that “you’d have to be an idiot” to “not notice the temperature change” caused by global warming, and that he thinks mankind may play a signficant role in the phenomenon. Beck has previously described himself as “a rodeo clown” and conceded, “If you take what I say as gospel, you’re an idiot.”

(Think Progress)

only crazy partisans could deny that it is bush's fault

Americans lay the blame for the rough economy at the feet of President Bush, according to a new Harris poll. Thirty-one percent of respondents said Bush bears responsibility, followed by Wall Street at 25 percent. Only 14 percent blamed President Obama. Pollster Louis Harris wrote that Bush and “the state of the economy he left as part of his legacy still sticks in the craw of Americans.”

(Think Progress)

and yet people continue to deny climate change

“Glacier National Park has lost two more of its glaciers to climate change and many of the rest may be gone by the end of the decade,” according to Dan Fagre, an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. The glaciers, which once numbered as many as 150, have been reduced to 25.

(Think Progress)
---
It's remarkable that anyone can look at the reams of evidence and still try to deny climate change...

heartless

Coburn: Blocking Unemployment Benefits Is Fine Because It Only Affects A ‘Small Amount Of People’
(Think Progress)
---
Tell that to the people who are trying to keep from losing their houses or trying to keep food on their tables...

what a jerk

Officials: Jet restroom smoker caused bomb scare
---
How many people were inconvenienced because this nicotine junkie had to have a smoke? He should get jail time for being an ass...

good job

Obama, Medvedev sign treaty to cut nuclear arms
---

he has no principles left any longer

The death of a maverick: John McCain backtracks on nuclear policy.
(Think Progress)

because they'd be slaughtered if they campaigned against the truth

The New ‘Death Panels’: Gingrich Says GOP Should Campaign Against Nonexistent IRS ‘Health Gestapo’
(Think Progress)

gee, wonder what he could do about it?

Murdoch: ‘I Don’t Think’ Fox News ‘Should Be Supporting The Tea Party’
(Think Progress)

because gawd forbid we have a president who deals with substance instead of sound bytes

DC Media Scoff At President Obama’s Substantive And Detailed Answer To Health Care Question
(Think Progress)

bizarre

Virginia Gov. McDonnell proclaims April ‘Confederate History Month.’
---
McDonnell: Slavery Wasn’t ‘Significant’ Enough To Be Included In My Proclamation Honoring The Confederacy
(Think Progress)
And more:
Both Mississippi And Georgia Have Confederate History Proclamations Without Any Mention of Slavery
(Think Progress)

more sick, violent rhetoric from the repugs

GOP congressional candidate Allen West tells Tea Partiers: "make the fellow scared to come out of his house"
(Crooks and Liars)
And threats:
A 64-year-old man charged with threatening to kill Sen. Patty Murray
(also Crooks and Liars)

do the repugs really think that attacking contraceptives is a good idea?

John Boehner's War on Women
(Crooks and Liars)

because all they have are lies

Gingrich and the nonexistent 16,000 new IRS agents: Republicans planning yet another attack based on a lie
(Crooks and Liars)

because repugs don't care about truth - they will do anything at all to smear their opponents

ACORN Sting Tape EDITED: Rachel Maddow Dissects Edit-Bay Trickery (VIDEO)

The hidden-camera tapes of ACORN employees supposedly advising conservative activists disguised as a pimp and prostitute on the best ways to launder their money were, it turns out, heavily edited, as Rachel Maddow documented Tuesday night.

As Maddow notes, conservatives James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles were not, in fact, in costume during their interviews with ACORN employees. They did, however, openly discuss crimes they claimed they were planning to commit, and ACORN employees promptly reported them to the police.

Maddow's segment follows a report from California Attorney General Jerry Brown that ACORN employees committed no crimes in the O'Keefe-Giles case, and corrections by the Public Editor of the New York Times to some of the misleading editing accepted as fact in the paper of record.

But as Maddow acknowledges below, it was too little, too late. ACORN became a pariah, lost its funding, and on the verge of bankruptcy has disbanded, though its local pieces survive in other forms.

"This is not meant to excuse what ACORN has done wrong in the past," Maddow said in summary. "But the huge tide of negative publicity that followed these videotapes and the coverage they got on Fox wall-to-wall for months was bullpuckey. It was a dishonest political stunt that bears no resemblance to journalism and no resemblance to the actual facts of what happened in those offices. But it worked ... means be damned, in the end, it worked. Who do you think is next on their list?"

Meanwhile, O'Keefe and Giles have been feted by the conservative movement, despite O'Keefe's subsequent arrest for breaking into Sen. Mary Landrieu's New Orleans office.

(Huffington Post)

accurate description

Robert Gibbs Rips Eric Erickson Over Census Comments: 'Remarkably Crazy'
(Huffington Post)
---
Is CNN trying to move from the Conservative News Network to the Crazy News Network?

Gibbons is still a jerk

Gibbons positions himself as warrior against health care reform law
---
I can't understand who voted for this corrupt asshole. Makes it embarassing to be a Nevadan...

Funny though - he wants to file a lawsuit against the health reform measure and our AG has rejected this request and is considering legal action against the governor for overstepping his authority! Now THAT's a lawsuit I'd like to see!

can't they find anyone who is not embroiled in scandal?

New RNC fundraiser allegedly spent PAC money at 'Club Love'
(Americablog)

going to absurd lengths to promote bigotry - and one person overcoming it all

Constance McMillen is an American Hero, but not her f*&king Town

The Advocate:

To avoid Constance McMillen bringing a female date to her prom, the teen was sent to a "fake prom" while the rest of her class partied at a secret location at an event organized by parents.

McMillen tells The Advocate that a parent-organized prom happened behind her back — she and her date were sent to a Friday night event at a country club in Fulton, Miss., that attracted only five other students. Her school principal and teachers served as chaperones, but clearly there wasn't much to keep an eye on.

"They had two proms and I was only invited to one of them," McMillen says. "The one that I went to had seven people there, and everyone went to the other one I wasn’t invited to."

Last week McMillen asked one of the students organizing the prom for details about the event, and was directed to the country club. "It hurts my feelings," McMillen says.Two students with learning difficulties were among the seven people at the country club event, McMillen recalls. "They had the time of their lives," McMillen says. "That's the one good thing that come out of this, [these kids] didn't have to worry about people making fun of them [at their prom]."

What a despicable place to live in. Are these people actually Americans? The cruelty TeH adults inflict on TeH Gays is very sad. American Exceptionalism, indeed.

(Crooks and Liars)

more idiocy from the Conservative News Network

In Quest For ‘Hard News,’ CNN Investigates: ‘Homosexuality, Is It A Problem In Need Of A Cure?’
(Think Progress)

wow, a republican talking sense

Coburn Implores Audience To Not Be ‘Biased By Fox News’
(Think Progress)
---
How long before he apologizes to his overlords at Fox?
But seriously, more republicans need to stand up like this and denounce the falsehoods.

where is the regulation?

Deadly Record: Massey’s Mine In Montcoal Has Been Cited For Over 3,000 Violations, Over $2.2 Million In Fines
(Think Progress)

the AG's need to stand up to the crazies

Minnesota Attorney General Denies Pawlenty’s Request To Challenge Constitutionality Of Health Reform
(Think Progress)

must be nice

ExxonMobil paid no federal income tax in 2009.
(Think Progress)
---
And why is it that I have to pay - who is, at best, middle class - and these scumbags do not?

Of course, that is a rhetorical question...

funny

Tea Party Movement As Popular As Socialism
(Think Progress)
---
Though both were more popular than I expected...

I would reccommend staying away from this

Michigan Militia plans ‘open carry’ gun tea party to ‘take the stigma out of the word militia.’
(Think Progress)
---
Great, a bunch of armed right-wingers together in one place. Sounds scary as hell!

hard to believe this is true

FLASHBACK: McCain Said Of Himself And Palin, ‘What Do You Expect Of Two Mavericks?’
(Think Progress)
---
Is McCain actually becoming senile? Does he think that no one remembers him calling himself a "maverick" for decades?

their fear-mongering is backfiring

Amid Reports Of Low Republican Participation, Rove Appears In An Ad Promoting The Census
(Think Progress)
---
They don't think these things through too far, do they?

another bush/Iraq scandal

Is The U.S. Military Covering Up A 2007 Killing Of Reporters And Civilians In Baghdad?
(Think Progress)

crazy and desperate

Right Wingers say Pelosi's Big Gavel is ample cause for despicable Teabagger behavior
(Crooks and Liars)
---
C'mon, seriously?

typical dumb-ass repug who doesn't understand what he is ranting about

Florida Doctor Warning Away Obama Voters Admits He Doesn’t Know What He’s Talking About On Health Care
(Think Progress)

yep, ballsy

As Republicans Block Unemployment Insurance, Kyl Calls For Extending The Benefits
(Think Progress)
---
How do they get away with crap like this?
Of course I know how they do - the "liberal media" lets them and encourages them.
But, man, that is freakin' ballsy...

because they know it doesn't work

CIA’s top spy: U.S. intelligence hasn’t ‘suffered at all’ from banning waterboading.
(Think Progress)

I'm sure he does

Rove on attempted citizen’s arrest: ‘I wish there wasn’t so much attention paid to it.’

Earlier this week, Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans approached Karl Rove at a book signing event in Beverly Hills, CA with handcuffs, telling Rove she wanted to make a citizen’s arrest. “You outted a CIA officer; you lied to take us to war,” she said. Seemingly taken off guard, Rove later said to the audience that the event “shows the totalitarianism of the left.” Perhaps feeling shamed, last night on Fox News, Rove expressed regret that the incident has received so much media attention:

ROVE: Well, you know, what was interesting was I thought this was a well-organized event, it was supposed to be a prestige venue as my publisher said and it was the first and it will be the last book tour stop I have where there was not security. But, you know what? I wish there wasn’t so much attention paid to it. Because I had a fantastic swing through California.

(Think Progress)

because he understands the law and is not a brainless partisan

Kansas Attorney General Refuses To Sue Federal Government Over Health Care Reform
(Think Progress)

good luck with that

Price expands GOP repeal campaign: We should repeal all of TARP, the stimulus, and ‘the bailout philosophy.’
(Think Progress)

no one really thought that it would

Sen. Murkowski On Whether Obama’s Drilling Plan Makes Her More Likely To Support Energy Bill: ‘Absolutely Not’
(Think Progress)

DADT should just be repealed and done with

Gen. Paul Eaton Comes Out For Repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
(Think Progress)

more crazy, violent right-wingers

FBI Issues Warning About Threat From Yet Another Anti-Government Group With Ties To The Radical Right
(Think Progress)

so what else is new?

Kyl: GOP willing to filibuster Obama's next High Court nominee
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All the repugs know how to do is obstruct, so this is hardly a surprise....

nice going, repugs

Northeast Hit With Devastating Floods, As Federal Flood Insurance Expires Due To GOP Obstruction
(Think Progress)

proving that repugs are despicable assholes who really don't care about people at all

Florida doctor tells Obama voters they are not welcome: ‘Seek urologic care elsewhere.’

Last August, the RNC sent a fundraising appeal suggesting that if health reform passed, Democrats might deny medical care to Republicans. “It has been suggested,” a question on the RNC push poll read, “that the government could use voter registration to determine a person’s political affiliation, prompting fears that GOP voters might be discriminated against for medical treatment in a Democrat-imposed health care rationing system.” Of course, this was nonsense and the RNC was forced to walk back the claim. But ironically, now that reform is a reality, a Republican doctor is discriminating against Democrats:

“I’m not turning anybody away — that would be unethical,” Dr. Jack Cassell, 56, a Mount Dora urologist and a registered Republican opposed to the health plan, told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday. “But if they read the sign and turn the other way, so be it.”

The sign reads: “If you voted for Obama … seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years.” [...]

In his waiting room, Cassell also has provided his patients with photocopies of a health-care timeline produced by Republican leaders that outlines “major provisions” in the health-care package. The doctor put a sign above the stack of copies that reads: “This is what the morons in Washington have done to your health care. Take one, read it and vote out anyone who voted for it.”

University of Florida bioethics Professor William Allen said Cassell “is pushing the limit” of his profession’s code of conduct by suggesting that he’ll refuse to treat people based on their political orientation. He’s “trying to hold onto the nub of his ethical obligation,” Allen added. Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) said he was “disgusted” by the “ridiculous” sign. “Maybe he thinks the Hippocratic Oath says, ‘Do no good.’ If this is the face of the right wing in America, it’s the face of cruelty,” Grayson added.

(Think Progress)

are any conservatives NOT violent lunatics?

Erickson: I’ll ‘pull out my wife’s shotgun’ if someone comes to my door for the American Community Survey.
(Think Progress)

a good step by the EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency issued tough new water quality guidelines yesterday “that could curtail some of the most contentious coal mining techniques used across Appalachia.” EPA administrator Lisa Jackson cited science on the effects of mountaintop removal mining for the move but clarified that this “is not about ending coal mining. This is about ending coal mining pollution.”

(Think Progress)

the stimulus is working

“Employment in the U.S. increased in March by the most in three years, and the unemployment rate held at 9.7 percent as companies gained confidence the economic recovery will be sustained.” According to the Labor Department, the economy added 162,000 jobs. The figures include the government’s hiring of 48,000 temporary workers for the Census. Private employers “added 123,000 jobs, the most since May 2007.”

(Think Progress)

FBI taking the right-wing loons seriously

FBI warns extremist letters may encourage violence

WASHINGTON – An intelligence note obtained by The Associated Press is warning police officials that an anti-government group's call to remove dozens of sitting governors may encourage others to act out violently.

A group that calls itself the Guardians of the free Republics has a plan to "restore America" by peacefully dismantling parts of the government, according to its Web site.

As of March 31, more than 30 governors have received letters demanding they leave office within three days or they will be removed, according to an internal intelligence note by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.

Investigators do not see threats of violence in the group's message, but fear the broad call for removing top state officials could inspire others to act out violently.

---

yep, they're ballsy

GOP Blames Dems for UI Benefits Expiration?
(Daily Kos)
---
Trying to blame the Dems for not doing something that the repugs blocked - truly amazing in its ballsy-ness.

they're starting to realize how this can backfire on them

GOP congressman calls out conservatives pushing ‘blatant misinformation’ about the Census.
(Think Progress)

Fox and the repugs try to out-crazy each other

Sen. Bennett: ‘Greenhouse Gas Emissions Have Nothing Whatever To Do With Clean Air’

In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, under the stipulations in the Clean Air Act. Last month, the EPA announced that it would phase-in the regulation over several years, starting with the largest sources of emissions. Many — mostly Republican — state legislators have recently introduced measures to block or limit the EPA’s authority to regulate the gases.

Reporting on the state action today on Fox News, host Megyn Kelly went a bit overboard on the EPA mandate and its plan to regulate auto emissions. “A laundry list of new regulations set to increase the cost of nearly everything in America,” she said, adding without any sense of irony: “And that may not be an exaggeration!” Taking the discussion a bit further into right field, Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) actually argued that greenhouse gases are helpful:

KELLY: Back in 2007 the United States Supreme Court basically issued a decision saying it was ok for the EPA to start putting its nose into other peoples’ business in this way if it so desired. [...]

BENNETT: Greenhouse gas emissions have absolutely nothing whatever to do with clean air. CO2 does not add to pollutants or cause asthma or any of the other things you think of with dirty air. CO2 is actually a nutrient for plants and helps some parts of the continents grow more and have greater vegetation.

(Think Progress)
---
Insane exaggerations and outright lies - the providence of Fox & the repugs...

sometimes you need to state the obvious

Obama hits critics who are rushing to call health care reform a failure: ‘It’s only been a week!’
(Think Progress)

why am I not surprised?

National Review ‘symposium’ on black unemployment has no black participants.
(Think Progress)

eventually the repugs are going to claim create for this bill

Walk Back Watch: GOP Lawmaker Assures Constituents There Are No Death Panels, Highlights Benefits Of Law
(Think Progress)

asshole

Donohue: ‘There’s a connection between homosexuality and sexual abuse of minors.’
(Think Progress)

well, we knew that

Judge rules Bush illegally wiretapped Americans
(Crooks and Liars)
---
But, I guess this is talking about a specific case, instead of the generalities that we already knew to be true.

it's about time

Conservative 'C Street House' Residents Face Ethics Complaints For Below-Market Rent
(Huffington Post)

was this done to try to balance out the damage from yesterday's drilling announcement?

Fuel Efficiency: NEW Standards Announced By Obama Administration

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration set tougher gas mileage standards for new cars and trucks Thursday, spurring the next generation of fuel-sipping gas-electric hybrids, efficient engines and electric cars.

The heads of the Transportation Department and the Environmental Protection Agency signed final rules setting fuel efficiency standards for model years 2012-2016, with a goal of achieving by 2016 the equivalent of 35.5 miles per gallon combined for cars and trucks, an increase of nearly 10 mpg over current standards set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

(Huffington Post)
---
I'm glad that this was done, but it would have had more of an impact if he didn't ok offshore drilling yesterday.
But, yes, a good step...

well, duh

Atty: Kan. abortion doctor's death was 'terrorism'
---
Doesn't the murderer freely admit this? The entire reason for doing this was to intimidate, threaten and terrorize anyone else who would dare to help women in need.

This scumbag domestic terrorist should be given the harshest penalty possible.

they've got balls, I'll give 'em that

Tea Party activists want arrests
---
After all of the actual violence from the Tea-baggers, they have to gall to raise a ruckus about an egging?!
They are ballsy....