Headlines - Thursday November 18

 

Darth's not looking so good.

 

###

 

There are no words to describe it better:
When all the trees have been cut down,

when all the animals have been hunted,
when all the waters are polluted,

when all the air is unsafe to breathe,

only then will you discover you cannot eat money.
-Cree Prophecy

 

###

 

The World Would Be A Safer Place Without Republicans

 

 

An agreement between the United States and Russia to slash their nuclear arsenals was in danger of collapse Tuesday after an influential Republican senator said it should not be voted on this year.

With a terse statement, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., dealt a major setback to President Barack Obama's efforts to improve ties with Russia and to his broader strategy for reducing nuclear arms worldwide.

 

###

 

 

###

In an interview to be broadcast on CBS News' SUNDAY MORNING on Nov. 14, former president George Bush tells CBS News National Correspondent Jim Axelrod that he left the world a better place and possibly prevented a nuclear arms race between Iraq and Iran by removing Saddam Hussein from power.  Bush also addresses the perception that former Vice President Dick Cheney, "ran the White House."

From peace and prosperity to wars, terrorism, bankruptcy and forclosure? Bush is right again! 

###

The General takes us on a tour of Dubya's lieberry.

###

###

Bush 41 To Get Medal Of Freedom

Former President George H.W. Bush will be among 14 recipients of the Medal Of Freedom, the highest civilian honor granted by the United States.

President Obama will present the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, to former president George H. W. Bush and 14 others with careers in politics, the arts, business and sports. In a statement, Mr. Obama said the award recipients "have lived extraordinary lives that have inspired us, enriched our culture, and made our country and our world a better place. I look forward to awarding them this honor." The award is presented to individuals who have made "especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors," according to a press release from the White House.

Included among the other recipients are German Chancellor Angela Merkel, civil rights activist John Lewis, billionaire investor Warren Buffet, poet Maya Angelou, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

 

###

 

Saying that he has divined the original intent of the writers of the U.S. Constitution, teabagger Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has decreed (PDF) that Christians may now use public property, included their government offices, to declare and celebrate their faith. The Liberty Counsel exults:

In a detailed opinion, Cuccinelli shed light on the original intent of both the United States and Virginia Constitutions in regards to freedom of religion and concluded that the "establishment of religion" clause does not, in fact, compel local governments to restrict religious speech on public property. He further stated that the local governments themselves may recognize such religious holidays as Christmas, as long as religious symbols are accompanied by secular ones. Cuccinelli addressed an issue that many Christian employees face throughout the year, dealing with the right of public employees to display religious artwork or symbols in their offices. He concluded that only under certain limited conditions could the government restrict the religious speech of its employees.

That sound you hear is thousands of photos of Jeebus being hung on the walls of local town halls, DMV offices, classrooms, and court houses.

 

###

###

When Your 'Junk' Is Touched at the Airport, Thank A Republican

###

###

"It's the maverick way -- spend a year studying whether soldiers deserve full civil rights, and a half an hour deciding who will be your presidential running mate." Jon Stewart re: John McCain

###

More Blood, Please

"Christian" nutjob Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association complains the Medal of Honor has been "feminized" because it was given to Army Sgt. Salvatore Giunta for saving lives, not taking them. Where will these idiots lead us?

"So the question is: when are we going to start awarding the Medal of Honor once again for soldiers who kill people and break things so our families can sleep safely at night?"

###

Must see: TSA's enhanced security spurs US 'airport rage': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBL3ux1o0tM&feature=player_embedded#!

And in a related story: Flying pasties: http://www.flyingpasties.com/segemaandfef.html

###

###

Wisco: Let the GOP infighting begin.

###

 

###

Why do Republicans hate women?

###

Bernanke says bond-buying will create 700,000 jobs: Uh huh. And tomorrow the TSA will tell us that their new grope or porno-scan will save a gazillion lives. Where do these people come from and who listens to their nonsense?

###

U.S. government and military computers hacked by China for 18 minutes earlier this year. 

###

This must be amazing to see in person.

###

Borat Sez:  "I like you, TSA! Touch my junk! Is nice!"

###

Republican agenda

Here's the thing that our new Republican Overlords think is the most important issue facing this country -- so important that it's the first thing they plan to do: House Republicans announced Wednesday they plan to force a floor vote on defunding NPR in response to the firing of analyst Juan Williams last month.

Now remember, these are the same people who want a further cut in corporate income taxes -- cuts that would benefit News Corp, the parent company of Fox News. If that isn't taxpayer funding, however indirect, of a news organization that promotes a partisan point of view, then what is?

And in a related story about priorities ....

"As one of its first acts," the new Republican-controlled House of Representatives will consider ending birthright citizenship, which has been guaranteed by the 14th Amendment for over one hundred years. Rep. Steve King (R-IA), the incoming chairman of the subcommittee that oversees immigration, "is expected to push a bill" early in the next session that would deny citizenship to children of undocumented immigrant

###

Rachel Maddow titled her segment on this last night, "What's the Opposite of 'Country First?'"

I think because rethuglicans have spent so many years acting against this country's best interests - overturning the 2000 presidential election, supporting an illegal invasion, pissing away a $1 trillion surplus, demonizing political opponents, destroying the middle class, and finally openly working to undermine the nation's elected leaders - that they no longer grasp the concept of patriotism and its opposite.

I can't discuss this latest rethuglican act without using the word treason, but Steve Benen can. 

###

And here you thought that James O'Keefe had gone as low as he possibly could Turns out, he can always sink a little lower. His latest victim is a special education teacher from New Jersey who had a flirtatious conversation with one of his minions in a bar that was taped by said minion without the knowledge or consent of the teacher. First her words from the bar conversation were taken out of context, then she was ambushed outside her apartment by O'Keefe and a video camera.

###

 

Much more likely to have been males who refused to stop and ask for directions. "Great white sharks in the Mediterranean may have first arrived from the seas around Australia about 450,000 years ago, genetic studies have suggested. Researchers writing in Proceedings of the Royal Society B believe the arrival may have been simply a migratory "wrong turn" by a few pregnant females. A tumultuous climate between ice ages may have been the cause. The species - Carcharodon carcharias - would have remained in the Med because it returns to spawn where it was born. It was previously assumed that the great whites in the Mediterranean were most closely related to their nearby cousins in the Atlantic Ocean. But now, a team led by Les Noble of the University of Aberdeen has examined the several groups of sharks' mitochondrial DNA - genetic material passed through the maternal line that is particularly suited to tracing lineages. The team found that the Mediterranean sharks were very different to the Atlantic group and more like sharks from Australia and New Zealand."

 

###

 

The Rude Pundit, with a reminder that liberals are fighting the same fight, against the same enemy, for the same goals, as we always have.

 

###

 

Sarah Palin took a five minute break from her pre-scripted reality teevee existence to go on a different teevee show, so that she could tell Barbara Walters that it would be so easy for her to "defeat Barack Obama." And then Barbara Walters probably had to ask, "Really? In a presidential election? I'm not talking about teevee ratings, you fucking idiot." (Barbara Walters is old and doesn't realize how similar "teevee ratings" and "running for president" actually are.) Everybody is so surprised that Sarah Palin would consider quitting her Alaskan teevee show to run for president, because "quitting" is not a word Sarah Palin uses, on Twitter. Perhaps even more surprising is that Sarah Palin would abandon her simple, snowbilly lifestyle, so that she could drag her family around the United States and smile and wave at mobs of flag-waving, scooter-powered vegetables. (Ha ha, if Sarah Palin actually believed that true happiness is "kayaking with feral Grizzly bears on a melting Alaskan ice glacier," she wouldn't have Hollywood camera people following her around, fawning over her and her dumb family.) Lisa Murkowski recently pointed out that Sarah Palin lacks "intellectual curiosity," which is exactly why Palin should be our next president: Americans know that their Time is long over. Now we just want to hide in our condos, and experience a National Reality Teevee Fantasy in which we are Exceptional and can robot-bomb whomever we wish. If it's good Television, it's good for America. Good morning! [The Caucus]

 

###

 

Childhood trauma

What exactly is Glenn Beck doing with this child on his new book's cover?

Yes, we could assume that Glenn Beck and that other guy on this cover are this kid's gay dads, to go for (a Wonkette record?) three-straight (three-gay) posts about gayness. But we will just advise Glenn Beck that this kid has the right strategy sliding into first; Glenn shouldn't have his mouth open so wide. And we agree with the man staring creepily at us from the back there: This is some kind of wonder. How many takes did they have to do like this? [Public Road via Gawker]

###

The U.S. government's stake in General Motors was halved yesterday as billions of dollars of bailout money was returned following a $23 billion stock offering by the company. The New York Times notes the offering was "bigger and more ambitious than had once seemed possible."

###

A Republican state representative in Texas filed a bill on Tuesday that would require any candidate for president or vice president of the United States to provide his or her birth certificate to the Texas secretary of state.