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Posts by Blue Texan
Wow! Michele Bachmann Out-Crazies Herself
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on April 6, 2009 at 11:02 AM.
I didn't think it was physically possible, but over the weekend, the performance artist known as Michele Bachmann out-crazied herself.
I believe that there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into mandatory service. And the real concerns is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of these politically correct forums.
Bachmann is referring to the Serve America Act, which expands the AmeriCorps program and is co-sponsored by the closet Stalinist, Orrin Hatch.
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Bush and the GOP's Failure in Afghanistan
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on March 27, 2009 at 10:43 AM.
While the international community's prospects in Afghanistan have never been bleaker, the Taliban has been experiencing a renaissance that has gained momentum since 2005. At the end of 2001, uprooted from its strongholds and with its critical mass shattered, it was viewed as a spent force. It was naively assumed by the US and its allies that the factors which propelled the Taliban to prominence in Afghanistan would become moribund in parallel to its expulsion from the country. The logic ran that as ordinary Afghans became aware of the superiority of a western democratic model, and the benefits of that system flowed down to every corner of the country, then the Taliban's rule would be consigned to the margins of Afghan history.
However, as seven years of missed opportunity have rolled by, the Taliban has rooted itself across increasing swathes of Afghan territory. According to research undertaken by ICOS throughout 2008, the Taliban now has a permanent presence in 72% of the country.
And remember, all through those years of missed opportunity, the GOP and their cheerleaders have been telling us how we should be clapping louder and dipping our fingers in purple dye to celebrate the Great Leader's Victory.
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Sarah Palin Continues to Champion Personal Responsibility by Blaming Other People for Her Failures
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on March 26, 2009 at 12:44 PM.
Last Friday at the Alaska GOP's Lincoln Day Dinner, The 'Cuda explained why McPalin and the GOP got their asses handed to them last November.
There was an unprecedented level of media slant this go around.
Forget Bush, Cheney, Iraq, Afghanistan, the economy, gas prices, Katrina, declining middle class wages, the failure of the banking system, health care, McPalin's assclownish campaign, Palin's obvious flaws and non-stop gaffes, etc. etc.
Nope, it was all the media's fault:
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Peggy Noonan Suddenly Favors Assigning Blame, Accountability
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on March 6, 2009 at 2:53 PM.
Nooners, enthralled with the Marine Corps' routine investigation of the fatal F-18 crash in San Diego, quotes a Marine who's unhappy with the ways of Obama Washington.
...when the economy came crashing down, "nowhere did we see a board come out and say: 'This is what happened, these are the decisions these particular people made, and this was the result. They are no longer a part of our organization.' There was no timeline of events or laymen's explanation of how a credit derivative was actually derived. We did not see congressmen get on television with charts and eviscerate their organization and say, 'These were the men who in 2003 allowed Freddie and Fannie unlimited rein over mortgage securities.' Instead we saw . . . everybody against everybody else with no one stepping forth and saying, 'We screwed up…'" There is no one in national leadership who could convincingly "assign blame," and no one "who could or would accept it."
This of course is true, but somehow more stinging when said by a serviceman.
It is true. When there are national disasters of this magnitude, it is the government's obligation to hold hearings to figure out who screwed up and hold them accountable.
Except when a Republican is president:
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Cheney Calls Iraq 'Significant Success, Masterfully Done'
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on January 4, 2009 at 2:11 PM.
Not only does Dick want everyone to know how proud he is of BushCo's signature policy, he's pissed that the Iraqis took some of the luster off of Rummy's military masterpiece.
SCHIEFFER: Wouldn't it have been better, on reflection, to have a better and larger force [going into Iraq]?
DICK: Well, um, we could debate that forever and we may well. I think that the original campaign was masterfully done in terms of the small, fast moving force as you say, that achieved our inital objectives in taking down the regime and capturing Baghdad, that was a masterful performance.
I think the thing that we underestimated, at least I underestimated, was the damage that had been done to the Iraqi population by all those years of Saddam's rule, so that there weren't any Iraqis early on who were willing to stand up and take responsibilty for their own affairs. Anybody who had that kind of get up and go in earlier years had had their head chopped off.
Yeah, what a drag.
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Dick Cheney Embraces "Go F*ck Yourself," Historically Low Approval Numbers
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on December 21, 2008 at 11:15 AM.
Dick appears physically incapable of regret, which, in case you didn't know, is actually rather common among the Undead.
WALLACE: Did you tell Senator Leahy, "bleep yourself"?
CHENEY: I did.
WALLACE: Any qualms, second thoughts, or embarrassment?
CHENEY: No, I thought he merited it at the time and we've since patched over that wound.
As revealing as that exchange was, this one's even more illuminating:
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Newly Released Presidential Tapes Expose Nixon's Treason
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on December 6, 2008 at 7:00 AM.
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum released a new set of President Johnson's audiotapes yesterday and from the lot emerged this jaw-dropper:
In a segment aired at the news conference, Johnson tells Sen. Everett Dirksen, the Republican minority leader, that it will be Nixon's responsibility if the South Vietnamese don't participate in the peace talks.
"This is treason," LBJ says to Dirksen.
"I know," Dirksen replies, very softly.
Confronting Nixon by telephone on Nov. 3, Johnson outlines what had been alleged and how important it was to the conduct of the war for Nixon's people not to meddle.
"My God," Nixon says to Johnson, "I would never do anything to encourage the South Vietnamese not to come to that conference table." Instead, Nixon pledged to help in any way Johnson or Rusk suggested, "To hell with the political credit, believe me."
For Johnson and his top advisers, it wasn't a matter of whether Nixon was telling the truth but whether accusing Nixon of meddling would give the appearance that Johnson — rather than Nixon — was using the war to influence the election.
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Desperate Republicans See Georgia Senate Runoff as a 'Firewall' Against Progress
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on November 13, 2008 at 4:36 PM.
With races in Alaska and Minnesota not going well for them, the GOP is increasingly determined to hold on to Saxby Chambliss' seat.
U.S. Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, appeared with Chambliss at his Cobb County headquarters, a day before U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) comes to town to stump for the Moultrie lawmaker.
"Saxby and this race may well end up being the firewall against the 60-vote majority the Democrats are trying to achieve," Ensign told reporters on a conference call before a news conference by the two senators.
Ensign took a shot at Chambliss' opponent, Atlanta Democrat Jim Martin, when the Nevada lawmaker accused the incoming class of U.S. senators of being among the most liberal ever elected.
"Jim Martin would be another liberal voice to join that group in Washington, D.C.," Ensign said.
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Palin Tells Dobson That 'Prayer Warriors' Should Ask God to Intervene in U.S. Election for GOP
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on October 22, 2008 at 12:41 PM.
From this we can deduce that:
In an interview posted online Wednesday, Sarah Palin told Dr. James Dobson of "Focus on the Family" that she is confident God will do "the right thing for America" on Nov. 4.
...
She also thanked her supporters -- including Dobson, who said he and his wife were asking "for God’s intervention" on election day -- for their prayers of support.
"It is that intercession that is so needed," she said. "And so greatly appreciated. And I can feel it too, Dr. Dobson. I can feel the power of prayer, and that strength that is provided through our prayer warriors across this nation. And I so appreciate it."
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Conservatives Conflate Official McCain Events With Random Sh*t They Find on Google
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on October 13, 2008 at 11:35 AM.
The Anchor Baby summarizes the wingnut pushback on the unmasking of the diseased Republican base:
Did you see what AB just did? She went from "McCain-Palin rallies" to a Madonna concert. (Glenn Reynolds used the same tactic -- an NHL game and an Obama campaign rally are the same thing!)
The Obamedia is attempting to set yet another false narrative: The narrative of the McCain "mob." McCain-Palin rallies are out of control, they wheedle. Conservatives are mad! They're yelling mean things about Obama and calling him names! It' scaaaaary!
...
Let's talk about "insane rage" and "violent escalation." This is insane rage -- Madonna bashing Sarah Palin and shrieking "I will kick her ass..."
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Palin Warns Against Withdrawal in Iraq (Apparently Ignorant of U.S. Withdrawal Agreement With Iraq)
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on September 25, 2008 at 10:45 AM.
Sarah Palin told Katie Couric this in an interview that will air on CBS News tonight.
In the interim, someone might wanna tell her that Bush has already agreed to retreat:
So, again, I believe that… a surge in Afghanistan also will lead us to victory there as it has proven to have done in Iraq. And as I say, Katie, that we cannot afford to retreat, to withdraw in Iraq. That's not gonna get us any better off in Afghanistan either.
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Karl Rove Warns Obama Against Negative Political Attacks
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on September 19, 2008 at 3:02 AM.
Turd Blossom, who no doubt wants to see Obama do well in November, writes:
Yes, we all know it's always a mistake for Democrats to attack Republicans. But TB must’ve missed yesterday's polls (CBS/NYT +5, Zogby +2, Gallup +2). And those polls were taken after Team Obama unleashed a barrage of -- wait for it -- wait for it -- negative attacks.
It is a mistake for Mr. Obama to spend a lot of time attacking Mr. McCain.
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Three Years After Katrina, Bush's FEMA Still Sucks
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on September 16, 2008 at 3:33 AM.
Good to see that George W. Bush has learned the lessons of Katrina.
But somehow that "personal responsibility" thing never seems to apply to Republicans.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency came under fire Sunday as emergency workers were left undernourished and dozens of trucks of water and food had yet to be set up at distribution centers around Houston and surrounding communities.
The important thing to remember with BushCo is -- it's always someone else's fault.
Earlier in the day, a FEMA spokesman said delays in setting up staging points to hand out needed provisions had been caused by blocked roads.
By the evening, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said it was the fault of state officials who handed his department the "unexpected challenge" of having to prepare distribution points in addition to delivering supplies.
Palin Pumps Up Numbers in Florida ... For Obama
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on September 9, 2008 at 3:17 PM.
Team McSame can't be happy about this.
48% is Obama's best showing yet in the Rasmussen, and McSame has had the lead in 8 of the past 9. And while it's true Palin's favorables are still strong there, and McSame is also up a couple points since last month, you've got to wonder how Pentecostal Palin is going to play in Boca:
Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are tied at 48 percent in a new Rasmussen poll conducted Sunday and released late Monday.
Before both parties held their conventions, an August Rasmussen poll showed McCain with a 46-43 lead in Florida.
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Republican National Convention: Whitest in Forty Years
Posted by Blue Texan, Firedoglake on September 4, 2008 at 5:01 PM.
Last month, the wingnuts freaked when Howard Dean called the GOP "the white party." But chances are if you saw the convention last night, you didn't see much color.
How'd it come to this, Mike?
Organizers conceived of this convention as a means to inspire, but some African American Republicans have found the Xcel Energy Center depressing this week. Everywhere they look, they see evidence of what they consider one of their party's biggest shortcomings.
As the country rapidly diversifies, Republicans are presenting a convention that is almost entirely white.
Only 36 of the 2,380 delegates seated on the convention floor are black, the lowest number since the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies began tracking diversity at political conventions 40 years ago. Each night, the overwhelmingly white audience watches a series of white politicians step to the lectern -- a visual reminder that no black Republican has served as a governor, U.S. senator or U.S. House member in the past six years.
"It's hard to look around and not get frustrated," said Michael S. Steele, a black Republican and former lieutenant governor of Maryland. "You almost have to think, 'Wait. How did it come to this?' "
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