Anyone who thinks they have all the Answers before they've even heard the Question - is Dangerously Deluded! Real Truth Requires Vigilance, Perseverance and Courage, regardless of Party and who wields Power. Left, Right, Center, Corporations, Government, Unions, Criminals or the Indifferent.
In this segment from Anderson Cooper, Meg Stapelton spokesperson for Soon to be Former Governor Sarah Palin seriously attempts to make the argument that Palin's decision to Resign as Governor is an act of "Showing Leadership - Like a Point Guard passing the Ball to Avoid a Block."
Actually a block usually occurs when you're in the process of shooting the ball, a pass is done either to breakdown defensive coverage, dodge a "screen" or double-team and get to the open man so that you can Make a shot that won't be blocked.
Even her analogy sucks, and although Anderson doesn't bother to point his out - because he says "I don't know about Sports" - he still manages to make her sound like a completely Ass-Hat!
In this segment from the Daily Show, Jon Stewart takes Glenn Beck and guest Michael Scheuer Apart after they agree that what America really truly needs - is to be Attacked By Bin Laden Again, because only then will we respond with the "Violence that is Necessary".
Michael Scheuer, former CIA analyst and author of the book Imperial Hubris, appeared on Glenn Beck's show to declare, "The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States...only Osama can execute an attack which will force Americans to demand that their government protect them."
This sentiment from Scheuer is no surprise to me, as the same attitude is expressed in his book on Bin Laden Imperial Hubris". His view is that America hasn't won a War since WWII simply because we haven't been willing to crush our enemies into Powder the way that Sherman Marched across Georgia and burned everything in sight, or Truman dropped the Atomic Bomb, not just once - but twice.
The problem with his argument is that the primary method that al Qeada has been able to use against us has been the depth of OUR brutality in Abu Ghraib, Gitmo and Bagram as well as the massive collateral damage as civilians continue to be caught in the cross-fire in Afghanistan.
This is not just a physical War with an opposing government as the Civil War and WWII were, but is instead a battle of concepts and the belief by either side in the inhumanity of their opponents. We win this by showing our Humanity and Humane-ity, not be become the worse version of the type of characatured monsters our enemies would paint us to be.
Some may disagree with me, but I tend to think the definition of someone who specifically endorses and WISHES for their country to suffer a massive deadly attack - is TRAITOR!
Much has been made of various Torture Techniques deployed at Guantanamo Bay, and the Obama Administration has both promised to close the base as well as imposed the guidelines of the Army Field Manual (Which abides by the Geneva Conventions), but little has been said or done about the other American Torture Chamber - the Detention Center at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan.
Although the Right Wing has been running about like Chicken Little expecting the sky to come raining down around us all because Obama has gradually begun to fulfill both his and President Bush's promise to close down the Guantanam Detention Center - No one talks about the other detention center at Bagram.
And in fact, the Obama Administration is actually planning to expand the Bagram detention center and presenting even more legal challenges to these detainees by contesting the decision by Federal Judge John Bates in the Boumediene Case which re-established Habeus protection for detainees at GTMO.
The Obama administration is challenging this ruling in the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., arguing that Bates’ ruling would for the first time in American history extend habeas corpus rights to non-Americans in a theater of war in a foreign territory.
The Bagram site, they contend, is not like Guantanamo because the United States has become de facto ruler of the Cuban base after maintaining control of it since 1903.
But Bates ruled that some of those held at Bagram who were captured outside Afghanistan “are virtually identical to the detainees in Boumediene,” describing them as “non-citizens who were... apprehended in foreign lands far from the United States and brought to yet another country for detention.”
Autopsy Reports obtained by the ACLU show that at least 21 former Bagram Detainees may have been Killed During Interrogations.
Some of them were just plain beaten to death
Multiple blunt force injuries. Abrasion in upper right forehead. Abrasion on right lower forehead above eyebrow. Multiple contusions on right cheek and lower nose, left upper forehead, back of head. Abrasions on chest, lower costal margin. Contusions on arm, elbow, forearm, wrist, upper inner arm, groin, inner thigh, right back of knee and calf, left calf, left lower leg. Cause of death was pulmonary embolism due to blunt force injuries.
And this case:
Detainee was found unresponsive restrained in his cell. Death was due to blunt force injuries to lower extremities complicating coronary artery disease.Contusions and abrasions on forehead, nose, head, behind ear, neck, abdomen, buttock, elbow, thigh, knee, foot, toe, hemorrhage on rib area and leg. Detainee died of blunt force injuries to lower extremities, complicating underlying coronary artery disease. The blunt force injuries to the legs resulted in extensive muscle damage, muscle necrosis and rhabomyolysis. Electrolyte disturbances primarily hyperkalemia (elevated blood potassium level) and metabolic acidosis can occur within hours of muscle damage. Massive sodium and water shifts occur, resulting in hypovolemic shock and casodilatation and later, acute renal failure. The decedent's underlying coronary artery disease would compromise his ability to tolerate the electrolyte and fluid abnormalities, and his underlying malnutrition and likely dehydration would further exacerbate the effects of the muscle damage. The manner of death is homicide.
This was Not at Abu Ghraib. Not at GITMO. Not with KSM or Abu Zubaydah - at Bagram.
If the abuse which occured at Abu Ghraib and GITMO have been a rallying cry to help recruit enemies which have killed U.S. Troop as Air Force Interrogator "Matthew Alexander" alleges, it might be well past time to start squaking about this continuing hell hole, particularly since the bodies have been piling up for some time, out of sight - out of mind.
(Copied from Dailykos because it's just too damn Good!!!)
Keith Olbermann presents the newest reality show to hit the airwaves, following Mark, Sarah, Bobby, John, and the trials and tribulations of the GOP 2012 field:
OLBERMANN: A secret rendezvous, including steamy e-mails, an illicit affair with a married co-worker, a vendetta waged against opposing factions, the crisis of the teenage daughter getting pregnant, engaged and disengaged, and the introduction of an important new character, who turned out to have the intellectual depth of Kenneth the Page.
Of course, I could be outlining the plot of any episode of the "Real Housewives of Orange County" or of Atlanta or of New York or especially of New Jersey. But in our number one story, unfortunately for the GOP, I`m talking about the recent history of its presidential hopefuls for 2012.
That list of course in order was Sanford, Ensign, Palin, Palin again and Jindal. Not even mentioning Newt Gingrich and the likelihood that his vote among Hispanics might be limited to three or four, not percent, three or four guys.
But even as the details involving the wild bull of a pompous, and his Maria, Maria, I`ve just met a girl named Maria, continue to unfold, there is a silver lining. What is bad news for this quartet of GOP front runners is good news for Willard.
Now we give you the next reality show on our sister network, Bravo, the Real Republican Candidates of 2012.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OLBERMANN: Previously on the Real Republican Candidates --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An odd story out of South Carolina. The unknown whereabouts of that state`s governor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His loved ones don`t know where he`s at.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only sign of South Carolina`s governor was a cell phone picked up in Atlanta.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The governor is hiking the Appalachian Trail.
OLBERMANN: It was also National Hike Naked Day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re learning the governor wasn`t even in the country.
SANFORD: I`ve been unfaithful to my wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does this do to his presidential ambitions in 2012?
SANFORD: It`s going to hurt. I`ve spent the last five days crying in Argentina.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These really graphic e-mails now exposed.
OLBERMANN: The erotic beauty of beholding yourself or two magnificent parts of yourself.
LIMBAUGH: Sanford could have been our JFK.
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), ILLINOIS: Americans can --
OLBERMANN: Governor Jindal is set to deliver the Republican response.
JINDAL: As a child, I remember going to the grocery store with my dad. Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in D.C.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He and his prayer group performed an actual exorcism on a girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every form of witchcraft.
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), ALASKA: You don`t talk about my family.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are thick as thieves and protect each other to the end.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is stepping up her fight.
PALIN: I don`t find it humorous.
DAVID LETTERMAN, "THE LATE SHOW": Well, they`re just jokes.
OLBERMANN: Last night, Letterman issuing his second apology.
PALIN: You know, you need a little levity in this job.
SEN. JOHN ENSIGN (R), NEVADA: If there was ever anything that I could take back in my life this would be it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Obviously, there has to be something else.
CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC ANCHOR: Republican John Ensign of Nevada is admitting --
OLBERMANN: What happens in Vegas gets disclosed at a late afternoon news conference.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pay attention, please.
ENSIGN: Last year, I had an affair. I violated the vows of my marriage. I`m truly sorry.
(INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OLBERMANN: And the only questions that remain are which one of them turns over the table at the restaurant, which one of them once took a hostage, and which one of them will have to go to court to suppress a sex tape?
What do you know - The Dallas Tea Party Wants Janeane Garafalo to come to a little Casual Soiree - but I'm thinking that back in the day they used to call these types of get together's something else... Man, what was the word again?
Oh yeah, "A Lynching!"
Some key Excerpts:
We gathered in hundreds of cities to stand for Liberty and let our elected Officials know that we will not be Bullied into Socialism. On April 16th you denounced our airing of Legitimate Grievances as "Straight Up Racism" - and chocked it to up to an act by a bunch of "Tea Bagging Red-Necks" (I ain't no Redneck). You're bigoted statement slandered all of us, when you didn't know any of us.
And none of you apparently, know Janeane.
First of all, the primary complaint coming from the Tea Parties was the issue of Government Spending, particularly in the wake of the 2009 Deficit. That would be shown in the following chart from OMB in Billions of Dollars (I've added a column showing the difference between these years, item by item, and the percent of increase to the deficit for each item so we can all see exactly where it came from)
Spending
2008
2009
Difference
% of Deficit
Discretionary Spending
Defense
612
726
114
9.84%
Non-Defense
508
586
78
6.73%
Mandatory Spending
Social Security
612
675
63
5.44%
Medicare
386
425
39
3.36%
Medicaid
201
262
61
5.26%
Other
411
429
18
1.55%
TARP
260
260
22.43%
Recovery Act
267
267
23.04%
Interest
253
167
-86
-8.85%
Disasters
4
4
0.41%
Total Outlays
2983
3801
818
70.58%
Taxes
Individual
1146
953
-193
-16.65%
Corporate
304
175
-129
-11.13%
Social Security
658
655
-3
-0.26%
Medicare
194
192
-2
-0.17%
Unemployment
40
44
4
0.35%
Retirement
9
9
0
0.00%
Excise
67
66
-1
-0.09%
Estate Tax
29
26
-3
-0.26%
Customs
28
24
-4
-0.35%
Fed Reserve
34
25
-9
-0.78%
Other
17
16
-1
-0.09%
Total Taxes
2526
2185
-341
-29.42%
Deficit
-457
-1616
1159
It may seem like a legitimate grievance to point out the U.S. Deficit jumped from $400 Billion to $1.6 Trillion in one year, but the truth clearly shows the primary reason why was - Tax Revenues Went DOWN ALMOST 30%!!! There are two reasons for that, one is from Tax Cuts Implemented by President Obama in the Recovery Act and the other is the fact that people lost their jobs (and homes) during the economic down turn - which came to full-blown fruition under President Bush's "starve the people/feed the corporations policy" - that they weren't able to pay taxes the way they did the previous year. They were Broke!
Tax Receipts Alone count for a $341 Billion Jump in the Deficit.
So the Primary Complaint these Tax Tea-Partiers have - is actually coming from a dramatic CUT in the amount of Taxes we're paying! The next two items are the spending portion of the Recovery Act and the TARP which again was initiated under President George W. Bush. Just basic math shows you that well over 50-60% of the shift in the deficit came from Bush's last acts in office, not from Obama's first actions. If you factor in the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan Conflicts which Bush kept Off Budget so it wouldn't reflect on the deficit (but now under Obama it does) the numbers shift even further, rising another $187 Billion in 2008 for an actual deficit of -$644 Billion, and causes the Tax Portion of the change to jump to a whopping -35.08%, while the Recovery Act goes to 27.47%, and TARP to 26.75%.
It wouldn't be fair or accurate to blame Bush for the entire $1.6 Trillion deficit, but neither is it fair, accurate or frankly Rational to lay it all at Obama's feet either.
And yet, during the Tea Party Protests we had posters like this...
This...
This...
And This...
Which is the picture Garofalo specifically mentioned when she was Stalked and Ambushed by Griff Jenkins of Fox News.
I initially thought Garofalo went too far in her comments on Olberman, but when Jenkins and his Radio Talk Show pal flat out REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE the sentiment that is shown in these pictures - I changed my mind.
No, not everyone is holding up signs like that - not everyone has the same reason for protesting, but I have yet to see - YET TO SEE - anyone who went to these protests Call these guys Out! All they've said is "It wasn't me" - while standing right next to the guy with the big Obama "Ear-Marks" sign.
Why the hell didn't you bitch at THAT GUY for making your little "movement" look bad instead of Janeane for pointing out those guys make the rest of you look bad!
Sorry, but if you don't stand against them - YOUR WITH THEM! Didn't Bush teach you that?
Didn't Sarah Palin say Obama couldn't be trusted because he was "Palling Around with Terrorists!!" This, despite the Fact that William Ayers was never tried or convicted of anything - because of gross FBI misconduct- let alone even charged with hurting anyone in his entire life? Obviously Facts, and 40 years of non-violence since Vietnam didn't matter - Obama still couldn't stand dare to side-by-side with him (even though he nver did) or for that matter Reverend Wrong. We weren't allowed to consider them different people with different viewpoints - yet you people can stand in ideological solidarity with people like the Pittsburgh Cop Killer and not think it rubs off?
Those people next to you are the same people who think Obama wasn't born in the United States, helping to justify, feed and fuel the paranoia of the Holocaust Museum Shooter. These are the people that called Obama "Socialist" long before George Bush Took over the BANKS!!!. These are the people who believe in the FEMA CAMP conspiracy. Who think Obama is going to take Away all our Guns.
These people were part of your demonstration - THEY EXiST - and you can't wish them away, especially when Homeland Security says they might be dangerous - You, yes, I'm talking to you Michelle Malkin - DEFEND AND EXCUSE THEM. You embolden them with your words and deeds. The rest of us aren't blind. They may not be each and every one of you personally, or technically but they really are on your team - because despite all the claims that the Tea Protests are "Non-partisan" - exactly where were all the Anti-George Bush Signs?
Where were you people who now rail about losing our "Liberty and Freedom" while George Bush was Obliterating the 4h Amendment and Spying on everyone's - Everyones - phone calls and emails overseas? Where the FUCK were you people when Bush started kidnapping innocent people like Maher Aher or Abu Omar and shipping them off to be tortured in Syria and Egypt. You want to talk about "Losing Freedom" - that's some serious Freedom Deficit Building Up there pal.
Did you really believe that Bullshit about Abu Ghraib simply being the act of a "Few Bad Apples" when each and every thing they did, including using Dogs, Nudity and Sexual Humiliation was specifically authorized by President Bush and Donald Rumsfeld? We have it in writing. With their signatures on the documents.
You guys seriously want us to believe that your protest isn't either racial or partisan when - in the midst of your "good faith plea" for Janeane to "really get to know you" - you say stuff like this?
We all know you're only and actress but we all know that that language is a cop out. And let's face it if Sean Penn, Rosie O'Donnell and Alec Baldwin can do it - how hard can it really be?
Cheap shot much?
I mean, are you Fracking Kidding Me? They're going to ignore the guy with the Hitler-Obama picture and try and talk smack about 3-Time Oscar Nominee and 2 Time Oscar winner Sean Penn? People might fairly disagree with his polical causes, but you really want to attack his Talent? Or Rosies or Alec's who've both been in the Movie business for decades? Should the left take a cheap shot at Robert Duvall or Clint Eastwood (who directed the movie where Sean won his first Oscar) simply because they're Republicans? This is your idea of reaching out? This is supposed to convince Janeane you guys aren't either a bunch of racist/partisan Nutballs or the biggest pack of deluded enablers in history?
Nice try. No sale.
Oddly enough the best "actor" in your little commercial is clearly the (Planted Token) Black Guy - he actually sounds like he's not reading a script, except that it's obvious HE IS.
