Al Franken on Buying Gold

Current Senator, one-time Saturday Night Live alum Al Franken once christened the 1980s as the Al Franken Decade. At the time, the economy was in the crapper, and everyone was talking about buying gold. Sound familiar? Here was Al's advice in 1980.


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Rachel Maddow Throws Cold Water on Massachusetts' Scott Brown

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) has made a bizarre fundraising claim that the Democrats are trying to get Rachel Maddow to run for his seat in November. Captain Naked is darn fine and all, but I think Maddow is the least likely person to be after his seat. Ahem.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Ann Coulter Speech Cancelled Due to Protest

Image from Think Progress

What a shame.

[Excerpt]

OTTAWA: Thousands Of Students Protest, Ann Coulter's Speech Canceled

A spokesman for the group that organized the event said there were fears for Coulter’s well-being after about two thousand people gathered outside the venue to protest her presence there. Coulter is a darling of the U.S. right-wing who uses incendiary language to sell millions of books as well as her syndicated column. She sparked more controversy during a speech at University of Western Ontario Monday night when she told a 17-year-old Muslim student to “take a camel” instead of a the flying carpet she has previously suggested Muslims use for transportation. . .

Read more at: Joe. My. God.

Scary New Poll: You Won't Believe What Republicans Believe

Image from source, The Daily Beast

Stuck on crazy? Stuck on stupid? Paranoid? A nice mixed up stew of all of those? See what you think.

[Excerpt]

Scary New GOP Poll

On the heels of health care, a new Harris poll reveals Republican attitudes about Obama: Two-thirds think he's a socialist, 57 percent a Muslim—and 24 percent say "he may be the Antichrist."

To anyone who thinks the end of the health-care vote means a return to civility, wake up.
Obama Derangement Syndrome—pathological hatred of the president posing as patriotism—has infected the Republican Party.

Here's new data to prove it. . .

Read it in all its scary glory at: The Daily Beast

Frum: "Republicans originally thought that Fox worked for us, and now we are discovering we work for Fox"

Wow.

Health Care Passed. Is Rush Limbaugh Bound for Costa Rica?

For years, conservatives have ridiculed boisterous liberal celebrities like Alec Baldwin for promising to leave the country if such-and-so happened. When the political issue comes to pass, the celebrity invariably stays in the US, and the Rush Limbaughs of the world point and laugh. But now the shoe is on the other hoof, so to speak.

Rush declared that if health care passed, he'd leave the country, and go to Costa Rica. To be fair, he did include the caveat that if in five years, everything in the health care reform package was implemented, then he'd go. So he's got until 2015. And he's even welshing on that, as he's convinced his flock (go look, they're everywhere on the interwebs defending him) that he only meant he'd go there for health care. Or Viagra. Or very young male escorts. Or something.

[Excerpt]

Health Care Bill passes: Rush Limbaugh off to Costa Rica



It's all over Twitter: Health Care Bill passes: Rush Limbaugh off to Costa Rica! Apparently Rush Limbaugh said he would seek medical care in Coast Rica if Obama's Health Care Reform Bill passed. . .

Read more at: SFGate

Limbaugh & Beck Freak Out Over Health Care

Image from NYDailyNews

Yeah, we're back on this. Sorry. I was going to title the pictures "Man. Bear. Pig." But I don't know the first guy, and Limbuagh is definitely the pig.

[Excerpt]

Health care bill passage triggers erruption from Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and John Gambling

Conservative talk hosts reacted to the new health care bill this morning about the same way white mice respond to being swallowed by boa constrictors.
Not happy.

"We need to defeat these bastards," said Rush Limbaugh. "We need to wipe them out. Defeat the Democrats, every one of them that voted for this bill. . ."

Read more: NYDailyNews

Monkeys Love Pinot Noir

For no particular reason, other than my sister forwarded it to me, and that Stupid Monkey Planet (friend and contributor) loves monkey stories, here is a link to a photo essay about monkeys who really love wine grapes.

See all the shots (with captions) here: WFTV

One Last Word on Health Care Reform and Republicans

Image from source, CBS News

OK, that is probably a promise I won't be able to keep, but I'll try to have this be the last post on the subject for at least the next few posts, OK? And yeah, I'm aware that my attitude about Republicans might change as we get closer to November. Oh, my opinion of them won't improve, but I acknowledge that they may become more formidable, election-wise.

I don't think it's going to be quite the bloodbath the GOP is hoping for (or the FReepers, see below). It's just that a) the leading Republicans are outlandish cartoon characters, b) the Tea Baggers have made conservatives seem loony, c) the racism homophobia and basic ass-hattery that has been bubbling under the surface is starting erupt, and d) it is hard to sustain this level of anger and invective after a law has passed. Especially if all of the doom-and-gloom predicted does not come to pass. Which it won't.

It never does. From women's suffrage to civil rights to Medicare to gay marriage, all of the GOP-lead fear mongering has never been borne out. I read somewhere on the interwebs that the Republicans really should adopt a paraphrased FDR quote as a motto: "We have nothing but fear itself." I think it fits.

[Excerpt]

The GOP Health Care Debacle

By late afternoon, the debate was just for show. The outcome was a foregone conclusion after the White House clinched an agreement with Michigan's Bart Stupak earlier in the day. Still, the GOP was intent on getting in its last licks during the general debate. And they made the best of the opportunity. . .

Read more at: CBS News

And Now A Word from the FReepers on Health Care Reform

Image--no, I don't understand what Obama has to do with The Joker Either--from source, Free Republic

You knew that the passage of health care would throw some right-wingers into a tizzy. So it is no surprise that the FReepers over at FreeRepublic are having a shit fit over it. But did you expect this?

[Excerpts]

"They all deserve to burn in tragic fires."

"TIME TO FIGHT!"

".....pick up your arms and revolt. . . . . NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Payback is coming. They will wondering everyday when it will come."

"F*CK OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"EXACTLY!!!! and the frickin government can come and git me!"

"I’ve never felt anything like what I’m feeling today. Not even on 9/11. It’s hard to even look at my girls without crying."

"Civil Disobedience will have to be the name of the game. Voting, for now, will be for fools."

"Then he’s going on vacation....I hope a shark eats him."

"I very sincerely hope not everyone is loading mags right now, Actually, in my case they are referred to as "belts"..... "

"I feel like a Jew on the night the Nuremberg Laws were passed."

Much more, just like that at: Free Republic

Rachel Maddow: Republicans Are Not Here to Help

Ronald Reagan used to say that the scariest words in the English language are, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help." No problem! The Republicans are not about helping people. Clearly.

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Keith Olbermann's Special Comment: GOP Self-Destruction

Keith Olbermann is back on Countdown with a "Special Comment." And it's a good one.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Steven Weber: What is the GOP End Game?

Photo from AOL

I've asked this question before, probably right here on the blog. Of course, I thought the GOP end game was the "permanent Republican majority" that Karl Rove promised (and which seemed all too possible). What Karl didn't count on was the intrusion of actual reality into the virtual one he was creating. So the George W. Bush era was an end game. But the Republicans are frantically working on the sequel. They just might need a little work on finesse, class and manners.

[Excerpt]

End Games

As exposed as ever for their spanner-in-the-works approach to governance, one must ask: just what is the Republican's end game?

Clearly, it's not to improve the welfare of America's citizens, since their policies invariably marginalize and/or burden the majority of them. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Health Care Passes!

Well, thank goodness that is over. Well, not entirely over, but mostly. Now, President Obama needs to sign it, and the "fixes" go over to the Senate, where we are sure to here a bit more of the crazy.

Final tallies are here, if you are interested.

[Excerpt]

House sends health care bill to Obama's desk

After well over a year of negotiations, setbacks, and political wrangling, the House has approved President Barack Obama’s top domestic policy initiative, sending a bill to massively overhaul the nation’s health insurance system to his desk to be signed and enacted into law. . .

Read more at: MSNBC

Proven Yet Again: FOX "News" is Not News

I couldn't bear to watch much FOX "News" today. But what little I did manage to catch absolutely confirmed what is related in the excerpted article below. In fact, FOX "News" very clearly picked sides in this health care reform battle, fighting against it for the past year.

And before somebody gets it in their head to say that MSNBC was the flip-side in this issue, no they weren't. Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann and Ed Schults regularly cast the various bills in a dim light, usually arguing that the bill didn't go nearly far enough. As for the MSNBC news operation, I honestly can't speak to it. But I'd wager that their slant couldn't approach what is seen on FOX "News."

[Excerpt]

If There Is Any Further Question About Whether Fox Is a "News" Operation

I will recommend to historians and semioticians very close study of the footage being produced right at this moment, on the Fox "News" Channel, as it covers the vote in the House on the health care reform bill.

The background footage virtually the entire time is of "Kill the bill!" crowds chanting at the Capitol. "Anchor" woman Megyn Kelly is at this moment breaking the news that Obama's popularity ratings are the lowest of his administration and interviewing an expert on whether this reveals America's recoil at the fundamental "statism" of his world view. Then an on-the-scene interview to confirm that the people who yesterday yelled "nigger" at Rep. John Lewis and "faggot" at Rep. Barney Frank were "an unrepresentative minority" of the protest crowds, and that in fact the typical crowd members would have been "the first to condemn" such harsh terms. Just now going to break, with pan of a huge shouting "kill the bill!" crowd at the Capitol. Seriously, you would think martial law was about to be imposed in DC. . .

Read more at: The Atlantic

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) Slams Tea Baggers for Remarks

I heard a Republican this morning on one of the Sunday political shows try to pass off the use of derogatory epithets by tea bagger protesters and rare "bad apples." They aren't. All you have to do is watch a couple of videos of these events, or flip through some slide shows of their signs to see that. What is surprising is that there haven't been more uses of the "n-word" or the "f-word" (in this case the anti-gay epithet) at these rallies. They've apparently run out of other euphemisms.



Found at: AmericaBlog

Health Care Reform & Who We're Siding With

Politics is ugly. And divisive issues are even worse. How we manage to fall into black-and-white party lines over practically every issue still does puzzle me. For instance how is climate change a partisan issue? How is health care--something everybody has to deal with--a partisan issue? I think it is clear that there is more behind the motives of the politicians and pundits making these issues so partisan. But look who you have to side with if you are against health care reform:

- Karl Rove

- Sean Hannity

- Rush Limbaugh

- Newt Gingrich

- John Boner Boehner

Now there's a group of non-partisan, rational, logical people with no motivation for being against health care reform except for the "facts on the ground," right? And they don't have talking points like "ram it through," or "straight party-line vote," "one sixth of the economy," or "goverment takeover." When listening to Karl Rove argue against health care reform, I'm more convinced that we need to pass it. What a vile, repugnant man. So, if you are vocal against the bill--on matters of process, or on what is in the legislation--remember who you are casting your lot with. 'Cause it ain't pretty.

Health Care Reform Vote Later Today

Image from source, Politico

Can you remember a time when we weren't talking about health care reform? It's easy to forget that we went through all of this before in the 90s. I'm hopeful that today's vote succeeds, though it has gone further than the Clinton plan by actually coming to a vote in the first place.

Like in the 90s, Democrats still can't "message" worth crap. Just like then, Republicans are terrific at it, coming up with catchy names, and succinct two- or three-word phrases. "Death Panels" may not be true, but danged if it didn't catch on. Just like with "HillaryCare" this bill is deemed "ObamaCare." The same voices we heard decrying it then are even louder this time. Thanks to the continued popularity of talk radio, the dominance of FOX "News" amongst conservatives, and the internet, there are differences this time around.

Always easy to stir up, exciteable conservatives are in a frothy lather over this issue. The Limbaughs, Becks and Hannitys have managed to turn this issue into the most dire and dangerous encroachment of government power ever. The tea baggers were born, and offshoots and spinoffs keep a-coming, complete with misspelled signs and ever more violent rhetoric. For that reason alone, I long for this battle to end, preferably with a "win."

[Excerpt]

Dems race to lock in final votes

Democratic leaders are still locking down the final votes needed to pass the centerpiece of their domestic agenda – a historic rewrite of the nation's health care laws that would expand health insurance access to nearly every American.

They hope to secure the votes of a trio of veteran Blue Dogs – Rep. Loretta Sanchez of California, and retiring Reps. Marion Berry (Ark.) and John Tanner (Tenn.) – as well as a handful of anti-abortion Democrats who could break from hard-liner Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) to back the bill. . .

Read more at: Politico

Overtime with Bill Maher, March 19, 2010

Ep. 177: March 19, 2010 - Overtime

Jon Stewart Channels Glenn Beck: HILARIOUSLY

On Thursday's Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the host turned roughly half of the program into a parody of The Glenn Beck Show. With hilarious results. If this doesn't show Beck's fans what a boob their hero is, nothing will.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Intro - Progressivism Is Cancer
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Conservative Libertarian
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform