Monday, November 8, 2010

Headlines - Wednesday November 7

In the end, everyone's a victim of the Sheinhardt Wig Company.
From Phil Griffin, President of MSNBC:

After several days of deliberation and discussion, I have determined that suspending Keith through and including Monday night's program is an appropriate punishment for his violation of our policy. We look forward to having him back on the air Tuesday night.
 
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2 US missile strikes kill 14 suspected militants in NW Pakistan, local intel officials say.
We're winning! Afghan war toll surpasses 2009.
4,427 soldiers killed in Iraq; 1,370 in Afghanistan.
 
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Government Conspiracy Force-Feeds America Unwanted Cheese (Lard)
 
Midterm exit polls show that a majority of Americans identify as "obese fatsacks." But not everyone! Millions of Americans identify as "smug young professionals" — these are the jerks who drink "low-fat vegan skim milk" so that they can stay healthy and smug. Obviously this is borderline treason because it is your patriotic duty to drink eight glasses of Monsanto Growth Hormone every single day. (And you should also drink a warm glass of Bovine Cancer before you go to bed.) Yes, Yuppies have ruined America's cherished dairy/lard/growth hormone industries. This is why the USDA created a secret pro-lard organization called Dairy Management, so that the government can remind consumers that they need to put more fatty dairy products in their mouth-holes. Michelle Obama says that you should eat your vegetables and accept suspicious dried fruit "treats" from strangers, but the USDA is actively trying to give you a heart attack — who should we trust? Also: "In its reports to Congress … the Agriculture Department tallies Dairy Management's successes in millions of pounds of cheese served." Ha ha, America is now officially on the Lard Standard. [NYT]

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Message to the Tea Party - What took you so long to get angry?
 
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Pope Benedict XVI is in Spain right now to chastise that country for being too secular. So he was greeted in Barcelona today by about 200 gays and lesbians who staged a "kiss in" along the Popemobile's route. [CBC; Getty]
 
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Bristol Palin's Fro-Yo buddy is sister to US soldier accused of murdering Afghans
Nothing like a frozen yogurt to cool off after an intense Dancing with the Stars rehearsal. Bristol Palin stepped out with a friend for a cool treat in LA on Friday. That friend's brother is accused of murdering unarmed Afghans. More »
 
Click here to read Bristol Palin's Fro-Yo Buddy Is Sister to U.S. Soldier Accused of Murdering Afghans 
 
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Saying he is tired of the incessant death threats rained down from God's Gentle People™ , openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson is retiring.
 
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god bless america. feh.
 
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"Your claim, Ms. Bachmann, that President Obama's trip to India is costing $200 million a day calls to mind the recent discovery that tiny electric shocks to your brain might improve your number skills."
 
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I guess Lindsey Graham has been elected the new point man in the Senate to blame Obama if Iran ever gets nukes. No other reason I can think of exists for his latest saber rattling exercise in which he practically demands that Obama go to war against Iran: http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2010/11/7/13521/7685  
 
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How's that Reagan Revolution working out for you?

The richest 1 percent of Americans now take home almost 24 percent of income, up from almost 9 percent in 1976. As Timothy Noah of Slate noted in an excellent series on inequality, the United States now arguably has a more unequal distribution of wealth than traditional banana republics like Nicaragua, Venezuela and Guyana.

C.E.O.'s of the largest American companies earned an average of 42 times as much as the average worker in 1980, but 531 times as much in 2001. Perhaps the most astounding statistic is this: From 1980 to 2005, more than four-fifths of the total increase in American incomes went to the richest 1 percent.

Bush called that one percent the "have-mores" and considered them the base of the Republican Party.

The Al Smith dinner, hosted by Archbishop Edward Egan, is a traditional forum for presidential candidates, although in past years, the abortion issue has kept some candidates away.

The event is named for the former New York governor who was the first Roman Catholic ever to be nominated for president.

The presidential candidates came well-armed with jokes, often poking fun at themselves.

Bush gazed around the diamond-studded $800-a-plate crowd and commented on the wealth on display.

"This is an impressive crowd - the haves and the have-mores," quipped the GOP standard-bearer. "Some people call you the elites; I call you my base."

Sure, it was a joke, but look at the results.

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More from the Russification of the USA:

EAGLE, Colorado — A financial manager for wealthy clients will not face felony charges for a hit-and-run because it could jeopardize his job, prosecutors said Thursday.

So, if you live in Colorado and you are sufficiently rich, you can run over bicyclists and get away with probation and paying damages, because you are rich and you work for even richer people.

You can bet your ass that if the perpetrator was a gardener, the prosecutor would not be so concerned that the perp might lose his job.

The rich and powerful get to do whatever criminal acts they want and get away with it. Just like any other jerkwater Third World country.

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The "anywhere but here" tour continues!

When we last saw President Carebear, he was fleeing the carnage of the midterm elections for the relative warm embrace of a Corporate America Trade Mission… to India!

At the last moment, this junket was rebilled as a Jobs mission, you know, because India wants to buy our stuff? Anyway, as ham-handed as fleeing after a shellacking was, to go to India to claim he is looking for jobs for Americans seems at best misguided and at worst a really bad joke.<.p>

And then there is this quote:

There still exists a caricature of India as a land of call centers.

Um, tell us how that is a caricature?

(TPM)

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Mass cetacean-cide. Environmentalists are trying to establish how 33 whales beached and died off the coast of County Donegal. They were found on Rutland Island near Burtonport on Saturday. It's thought they were the same group spotted in the Inner Hebrides at the end of October. Dr Simon Berrow of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group said it was one of the biggest mass deaths of whales in Irish history. He is concerned that Royal Navy sonar equipment could have played a role. "Thirty or 40 pilot whales were spotted off the Inner Hebrides at South Uist last week," he said. "It looked like they were going to strand. It was bad weather. They were not seen again."
 
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In an interview with Fox News Sunday, another person Barry is anxious to work with, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), the #2 Republican in the House, threatened to take the nation's economy hostage if President Obama does not comply with House GOPers' as yet undefined demands. When asked if he would take a government shutdown on forcing the United States to default on its debt off the table, Cantor responded that it would somehow be President Obama's fault if House Republicans press this agenda: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/11/07/cantor-shutdown/

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The problem isn't Pakistan's slowness in fighting terrorists; it's Pakistan's efficiency in supporting terrorists. "US President Barack Obama has criticised the pace of Pakistan's fight against militants within its borders. "Progress is not as quick as we'd like," said Mr Obama. He was speaking in the Indian city of Mumbai on the second day of a 10-day Asian tour designed to boost US exports and create jobs. Mr Obama called for dialogue between India and Pakistan, adding that India was the country with the biggest stake in Pakistan's success. US support for Pakistan is one of the most sensitive issues Mr Obama faces during his visit, says the BBC's Mark Dummett in Delhi. Many Indians think the US cannot be trusted as long as it continues to supply weapons to Pakistan's army, this country's "enemy number one", adds our correspondent."
 
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A week before the election, that Passionate Man of Reason, Robert Reich, explained why Democrats should be as anti-compromise as the republicans:

Why are Democratic presidents so much more easily intimidated by the "move to the center" rhetoric after midterm losses than Republican presidents?

Because Democrats think in terms of programs, policies, and particular pieces of legislation. It's easy to reverse course by compromising more and giving up on legislative goals. Bill Clinton never mentioned the words "health care reform" after the 1994 midterms.

Republicans think in terms of simple ideas, themes, and movements. It's far harder to reverse course on these (look what happened to the first George Bush when he raised taxes), and easier to keep them alive: Republican presidents just continue looking for opportunities to implement them.

Republicans are also more disciplined (ask yourself which party attracts authoritarian personalities and which attracts anti-authoritarians). This makes it easier for them to stay the course. Their base continues to organize and fulminate even after midterm defeats. Democrats, on the other hand, are less organized. Electoral defeats tend to fracture and dissipate whatever organization they have.

Republicans are cynical about politics from the jump. Political cynicism fuels them. Democrats are idealistic about politics. When they become cynical they tend to drop out.

Message to Obama: Whatever happens November 2, don't move to the center. Push even harder for what you believe in. Message to Democrats: Whatever happens, keep the courage of your conviction and get even more active.

Read the whole thing.