FORMER BUSH AIDE GOES INTO LOCKUP

Now, if we can just get Congress and the DOJ to lock up the rest of the Bush cabal for war crimes and other illegal and Unconstitutional activities.
*Note to self: Don't hold breath.

From the Associated Press via Yahoo News:

Former Bush aide gets 30 months in prison

WASHINGTON – A former Bush White House aide was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for stealing nearly $600,000 from a government program that promotes democracy in Cuba.

Felipe Sixto apologized Wednesday for stealing from the Center for a Free Cuba. He had pleaded guilty Dec. 19 to theft.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton sentenced him to 30 months in prison, three years supervised release and fined him $10,000.

Sixto quit his job as a special assistant to President George W. Bush for intergovernmental affairs almost a year ago after learning that the center was beginning legal action against him.

Sixto worked as the center's chief of staff before moving to the White House. He acknowledged overcharging the organization more than $579,000 when purchasing radios and flashlights with federal funds. His lawyer said 90 percent of the money had been paid back to the center.

Maybe he can warm up a spot for Darth Cheney!

MORE ON AIG...American Idiot Group

Here's a little more on the AIG fiasco. Go get 'em, Barry!

From Capitol Hill Blue:

AIG backlash: Bring on the limits

The Obama administration says it's trying to put strict limits on the next $30 billion installment in taxpayers' money for insurance giant AIG amid questions about whether it responded fiercely enough to executive bonus payments.

Grassley to AIG execs: 'Just kill yourselves'

Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley suggested that AIG executives should take a Japanese approach toward accepting responsibility for the collapse of the insurance giant by resigning or killing themselves.

The Republican lawmaker's harsh comments came during an interview with Cedar Rapids, Iowa, radio station WMT on Monday. They echo remarks he has made in the past about corporate executives and public apologies, but went further in suggesting suicide.

AIG: Bring lawyers, guns and money

The only real difference between Bernie Madoff and the management of AIG is that when Bernie Madoff got caught, he pleaded guilty. When AIG got caught, it asked the government for $170 billion.

And it got it. Now the American International Group is going to pay $165 million to its executives as a reward for the fine job they did in duping everybody.

Rewarding failure

If AIG were in the public relations business instead of insurance, it surely would have gone broke years ago.

Take the reaction to its decision to go ahead with $450 million in bonus payments, including $165 billion paid out over this last weekend, to executives of the business unit whose recklessness almost wrecked the company. Also over the weekend the firm disclosed that had to sue $34 billion in bailout money to make good on credit default swaps the unit has written that had gone bad.

And this from the Associated Press via Buzz Flash:

The Truth Will Out; Taxpayers Sucked Dry by A.I.G. "Taxpayers unlikely to be fully repaid in AIG mess....No longer can we call it an investment. We just have to call it what it is — and that's sinking money in a hole."

THE LIES OF FOX NEWS

It is so sad that there are 'intelligent' people in this country that really believe the crap that Faux News spews.

From Media Matters:

Hannity falsely claimed that under Pelosi, Republicans "can't offer amendments"

Summary: Fox News' Sean Hannity falsely claimed that under House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, "Republicans can't offer amendments; they can't offer alternative bills." In fact, in the 111th Congress, the House has voted on several Republican-sponsored amendments to various bills.

On the March 16 edition of his Fox News program, Sean Hannity falsely claimed that under House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), "Republicans can't offer amendments; they can't offer alternative bills." In fact, in the 111th Congress, which began on January 6, the House has held recorded votes on several amendments offered by Republicans seeking to change various bills, including a "substitute" amendment seeking to replace the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 with an alternative bill.

The House also voted on a motion to recommit the recovery bill with instructions (i.e., an amendment to the bill) offered by Republican Jerry Lewis (CA). Another Republican amendmentvotedRepublican alternative to the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 in the form of a motion to recommit with instructions offered by Rep. Nathan Deal (GA). Debating the amendment, Deal stated: "[T]he Republican motion to recommit replaces what I consider to be a deeply flawed bill that has been offered and also has improvements to the SCHIP proposal that we are considering." to the recovery bill was agreed to on the House floor by voice vote. Additionally, the House on a

From the March 16 edition of Fox News' Hannity:

HANNITY: All right, let's first start with the tape. Now, Nancy Pelosi, the most draconian rules -- Republicans can't offer amendments; they can't offer alternative bills -- and here she's on Charlie Rose saying she's not partisan. Roll the tape.

PELOSI [video clip]: Some people think there seems to be a market for saying that I am very partisan and that I don't give the Republicans their opportunity. And that simply is not true.

HANNITY: Now, you worked pretty closely there. Is that true?

DANA PERINO (former White House press secretary): I think, yes, Speaker Pelosi is smart, she's accomplished, but she is also very partisan. And that's OK; you can be partisan, and also -- and think that your policies will be the best thing for all Americans, but that doesn't mean you can't have an honest debate. And I think one of the reasons you hear complaints from Republicans -- that they aren't having a chance to be a part of the legislative process -- is because they're not getting the chance to have a -- to be a part of it.

Follow the links and see what was really happening in Congress.

Fox News continues to lie to the American public about what is actually happening in Congress. They don't want anyone to know the truth, just like the Rethuglicans in Congress don't want people to know the truth about their fascist agenda.

TERRORISM, ISRAELI STYLE

There is a post up at Left I on the News that shows some of the harassment being perpetrated by the Israeli Navy against Palestinian fishermen.

It also shows attacks against American peace activists.

Here's the link:

Harassment at sea, real and surreal

Follow the links for the videos. It's almost unbelievable that this is really happening, or so I thought.

Israel is supporting state sanctioned terror, and we are still supporting them with military aid.
Therefore, we are supporting their campaign of terror.

STOP CORPORATE GREED, NATIONALIZE NOW!

I can't speak for anyone else, but I, for one, am sick and tired of the corporate greed that has been allowed to run rampant in this country. All of the 'bonuses' being paid out by AIG, Bank of America, Citigroup, and others with taxpayer dollars has to stop.

From Alter Net:

AIG Bonuses Scandal: CEOs Take Our Billions and Are Accountable to No One

Had AIG gone into chapter 11 bankruptcy or been liquidated, as it would have without government aid, no bonuses would ever be paid (they would have had a lower priority under bankruptcy law that AIG's debts to other creditors); indeed, AIG's executives would have long ago been on the street. And any mention of the word "talent" in the same sentence as "AIG" or "credit default swaps" would be laughable if laughing weren't already so expensive.

........... government helplessness in the face of massive taxpayer commitments illustrates better than anything to date why the government should take over any institution that's "too big to fail" and which has cost taxpayers dearly. Such institutions are no longer within the capitalist system because they are no longer accountable to the market. To whom should they be accountable? As long as taxpayers effectively own a large portion of them, they should be accountable to the government.


And this from Reuters:

CITIGROUP CEO gets $10.8M.

By Jonathan Stempel and Dan Wilchins

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc (C.N) awarded Chief Executive Vikram Pandit $10.82 million of compensation in 2008, a year in which the bank required two government rescues totaling more than $45 billion.

Citigroup also said it had nominated four new independent directors to help it recover following the government bailouts.

About $7.73 million of Pandit's total compensation was a sign-on bonus awarded in January 2008, a month after he became CEO, succeeding Charles Prince.

Wall Street compensation has come under intense scrutiny, especially at banks that have received taxpayer money from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program. Citigroup has received $45 billion of TARP money.

*************

Late last month, the government agreed to a bailout that could give it a 36 percent stake in the bank. The government is also sharing in losses on $300.8 billion of troubled Citigroup assets.

Compensation for the 52-year-old Pandit was slightly higher than the $9.96 million that Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), which has also received $45 billion of TARP money, awarded its CEO, Kenneth Lewis.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating $3.62 billion of bonuses awarded late last year to Merrill Lynch & Co executives, just before the company was sold to Bank of America and posted a $15.84 billion fourth-quarter loss.


And a little more via Alter Net:

AIG Scrutiny: Basic Questions for Media and Congress Alike
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake on March 16, 2009 at 8:02 AM.

You know it's bad when even the WSJ's headline screeches about growing wrath toward AIG's bonuses.

On This Week, Robert Kuttner made the point that auto workers take pay cuts while the big guys fund themselves bonuses -- watch and see if it doesn't piss you off, too.

Retention bonuses for companies on the brink of financial ruin are not new.

KMart paid them when they filed restructuring bankruptcy a few years ago to keep upper management who knew how to run supplier networks or other crucial components from jumping to a healthier business. Under certain stressed conditions, they can make good business sense.

But, as we reported yesterday, the AIG bonus issue is a bit more complex than simply "is this a retention bonus."

What is most horrifying about this is how little the government appears to have known before doling out the next ladle of public bailout fundage: Did treasury know about these bonuses before doling out TARP monies? How much did they know? We have no idea at this point.

This all has to stop, now. The American taxpayer has been forced into funding these failing corporations. We didn't cause them to fail, corporate mismanagement and personal greed is the reason they failed.

The conservatard Rethuglicans say it would be socialism to nationalize these entities. These are the same people who said that welfare for the poor was socialism. Well what the fuck is it when the same taxpayer money is used to prop up failing banks and insurance companies!?! it's corporate fucking welfare, that's all it is! I am fed up with all the taxpayer dollars being shelled out to line the pockets of the greedy rich.

Enough of these get rich quick schemes! People like me have to work for their money, and I'm tired of mine being handed to some rich bastard just because they think they deserve it!

Any bank, or insuarance company who has received taxpayer money to bail out their failure should be nationalized imediately! Let the stockholders take the lose, they were in it only to make lots of money off other people's work anyway.

(hat tip to Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake)

JOB LINKS

This morning I found a link at a post that Cats r Flyfishn has up on her blog, Pennsylvania for Change.

The title of the post is The New Hoovervilles.

The link she has there is is for the Progressive Job Board. It's still 'under construction' but will have jobs posted from all over the place. There is a place to click on to post a job, so if you know of anyone who is looking to hire employees please tell them about this site. Right now there are only two posted.

I have put the link in my sidebar under the heading 'Jobs List'. Hopefully I'll be able to add more in the future.

I am looking for work, which isn't easy to come by, and I know there are allot of others looking, also. Maybe this will be able to help someone. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to find a job soon, either through this site, one like it, or on my own.

To all those reading this who are unemployed, I wish you luck in finding employment. No mater how many times you hear the words "We are not hiring" don't quit looking, something will turn up sooner or later.

DAMAGE CONTROL

It looks like RNC chairman is doing a little damage control, or back pedaling, on the statements he made during an interview with GQ magazine.

From Salon this morning:

Steele does damage control on abortion remarks

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is trying to get himself out of the hot water he landed himself in during his recent interview with GQ, in which he made some apparently pro-choice remarks about abortion. It may be too late.

Steele is "reaching out to anti-abortion leaders," Politico's Ben Smith reports, and he's put out this statement:

I am pro-life, always have been, always will be.

I tried to present why I am pro life while recognizing that my mother had a "choice" before deciding to put me up for adoption. I thank her every day for supporting life. The strength of the pro life movement lies in choosing life and sharing the wisdom of that choice with those who face difficult circumstances. They did that for my mother and I am here today because they did. In my view Roe vs. Wade was wrongly decided and should be repealed. I realize that there are good people in our party who disagree with me on this issue.

But the Republican Party is and will continue to be the party of life. I support our platform and its call for a Human Life Amendment. It is important that we stand up for the defenseless and that we continue to work to change the hearts and minds of our fellow countrymen so that we can welcome all children and protect them under the law.

......Smith also reports, some heavyweights of social conservatism -- who already had problems fully trusting Steele because of his past alliances with moderates -- are skeptical.

"I expressed my concerns to the chairman earlier this week about previous statements that were very similar in nature," Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said in a statement. "He assured me as chairman his views did not matter and that he would be upholding and promoting the Party platform, which is very clear on these issues. It is very difficult to reconcile the GQ interview with the chairman's pledge."

And then there's this from Salon also:

Blackwell, Huckabee slam Steele over abortion

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is taking heavy fire from social conservatives over the apparently pro-choice leanings he discussed in his recent interview with GQ. In particular, two important figures -- former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell -- have come out with sharp denunciations of Steele's comments.

*****************

Blackwell's criticism is especially interesting. He ran against Steele for the RNC chairmanship, but his unexpected endorsement midway into the voting process ultimately helped deliver the post to Steele. And yet Blackwell was far rougher in his response to the GQ interview than Huckabee was.

"Chairman Steele, as the leader of America's Pro-Life conservative party, needs to re-read the Bible, the U.S. Constitution, and the 2008 GOP Platform," Blackwell told the conservative Web site Townhall. "He then needs to get to work -- or get out of the way."

Meanwhile, on his blog, Huckabee said:

Comments attributed to Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele are very troubling and despite his clarification today the party stands to lose many of its members and a great deal of its support in the trenches of grassroots politics. Since 1980, our party has been steadfast and principled in believing in the dignity and worth of every human life. We have supported a Constitutional amendment to protect life and the party has taken the position that no one individual has the supreme right to own another person in totality including the right to take that life. For Chairman Steele to even infer that taking a life is totally left up to the individual is not only a reversal of Republican policy and principle, but it's a violation of the most basic of human rights--the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. His statement today helps, but doesn't explain why he would ever say what he did in the first place.

Looks like Limpball's chew-toy has quit a few people in his party pissed off.

Me thinks he's got allot more 'splanin' to do.

MY PARENT'S GREAT DEPRESSION

One Fly from over at Outta the Cornfield has a post up this morning titled Will We See The Same During This Depression. In it he describes some of the things his grandparents and parents did,
and had to do, during the Great Depression.

At the end, One Fly asked for input from his readers about anything they had to share on this subject. So, instead of taking up allot of space in his comments section, I decided to post on what I learned from my parents about what they had to do just to get by. The following is what I was told by Mom and Dad, well, what I do remember, that seems like ages ago that I heard all of this.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION THROUGH MY PARENTS EYES

Most of the knowledge I received about the Great Depression came from my mother. There are two reasons for this. First, Dad and I weren't very close, he was an alcoholic. Second, he didn't like to talk about it much, too many bad memories I guess.

Both my parents were in high school during the depression, mom graduated in 1933 and dad graduated in 1934.

Dad, an only child, grew up in the city Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, about 20 miles away from where I now live. His father was a typesetter, he worked for the local paper which at that time published a daily paper. Grandpa was employed through the depression, therefore there was always food on the table and a home to live in. Things were still difficult at times because of shortages of basic items, gas, flour, and sugar among other things.

Grandpa put a garden in every year, and grandma would put up veggies for the winter months. I think the depression was harder on grandma because she grew up in a family of jewelers back in Pennsylvania, where my dad and his parents were originally from. They had moved to the Lake Geneva area in 1916 when my dad was 3 years old. When grandma was growing up she didn't want for anything, what ever she wanted was always available.

Things for my mom and her family were much different. Grandpa had worked as a farm hand all his life, so when the depression hit his employment suffered. He took any part-time job he could get. He had to, he had five kids to clothe, house, and feed. Grandma's parents were living with them at the time, also.

Mom grew up just north of the small town where I grew up, which is about 7 miles from here and at the opposite end of the lake (Lake Geneva) from where my dad grew up. Grandpa would take odd jobs working for the well to do folks who lived on the lake. Back then, those people who had 'money' were much different than what we so often see today. Many of them would give grandpa 'extras' like fruits and fresh meat. They all knew how many kids grandpa had at home and how much he and grandma struggled to keep them all fed.

The women would even send used clothes home with grandpa so grandma could have things for my mom and her sister and three brothers to wear. My mom's graduation dress was a used one that grandma had tailored for her.

Grandpa and grandma always had a garden, even before the depression, and still had one when I was growing up. Grandpa stopped gardening when he reached 75, only because grandma made him stop. Grandma would can veggies, fruit, pickles, jams & jellies, and even meat when they had it, so there would always be food for the winter months.

Mac & Cheese....that food that today's kids love so much has it's roots in the Great Depression. That was a staple, people would have that 3-4 times a week. I remember my mom telling me that dad told her that he had it so much during the depression that he couldn't stand it anymore. That didn't stop mom from making it for us though, and she made it with real cheese from a block not that powered stuff they use now.

Soup was a big thing, too. Bean soup, with navy beans, split pea soup, tomato (with real tomatoes), onion, and many others. You can make soup out of just about anything, and they did back then. Soup went a whole lot farther. Hell, you could get several meals out of one big pot of soup. We ate allot of home-made soup when I was growing up, I think that's why I like soup so much now.

People didn't throw anything away, ever. Everything could be used again for one thing or another. That practice stuck with both my parents. I remember mom would save every container she got something in from the grocery store. She'd save boxes, bags, just about anything. Dad would pull nails out of boards and straighten them 'cause "You never know when you're going to need a nail", and then go buy nails. After dad had the stroke that crippled him and put him in the 'home', my brother and I cleaned out his tool shed. I think we found something like about 200 pounds of nails dad had 'straightened', not that they were completely straight, but he tried.

I truly believe that the Great Depression is the reason we have 'pack rats' today. I know I'm one, and so is my wife. We both learned well from our parents! I've tried to get away from being like that over the years, with limited success. Now I wish I hadn't, I've gotten rid of things I wish I still had.

My wife, bless her heart, has developed pack ratting into an art form. I love her with all my being, she's my very best buddy, but she has collected more 'stuff' (all important) then most people could accumulate in two lifetimes. We have an old carriage barn that is filled to the brim, some of it is things that her mother left when we bought the house from my wife's parents, but there isn't much room to move around in it. It's not a small carriage barn either, 40 X 15 plus a full sized loft.

Well, I think that's about it, at least all I can remember at this time. I know there's much more I could put down, but this is getting pretty long as it is. I do wish I new where the pictures were from the depression that my mother gave me, but I don't. If I do find them, I'll try to get some of them posted.

Do any of you have any stories from the depression you'd like to share? Maybe things your parents or grandparents told you? If you do, share them with the rest of us. I think we're all gonna need things to help us get through these tough times.

NEWS FLASH: LIMBAUGH TO LOSE FAVORITE CHEW-TOY

Michael Steele shoots self in foot.

From GQ magazine:
How much of your pro-life stance, for you, is informed not just by your Catholic faith but by the fact that you were adopted?

Oh, a lot. Absolutely. I see the power of life in that—I mean, and the power of choice! The thing to keep in mind about it… Uh, you know, I think as a country we get off on these misguided conversations that throw around terms that really misrepresent truth.

Explain that.
The choice issue cuts two ways. You can choose life, or you can choose abortion. You know, my mother chose life. So, you know, I think the power of the argument of choice boils down to stating a case for one or the other.

Are you saying you think women have the right to choose abortion?
Yeah. I mean, again, I think that’s an individual choice.

You do?
Yeah. Absolutely.

Are you saying you don’t want to overturn Roe v. Wade?
I think Roe v. Wade—as a legal matter, Roe v. Wade was a wrongly decided matter.

Okay, but if you overturn Roe v. Wade, how do women have the choice you just said they should have?

The states should make that choice. That’s what the choice is. The individual choice rests in the states. Let them decide.

Do pro-choicers have a place in the Republican Party?
Absolutely!

OOPS! I think somebody made a big boo-boo!
Can't wait to hear the fat Limdick's take on this one.

ABSTINANCE....GINGRICH STYLE

The Newt's new way to prevent teen pregnancies....PAY THEM TO NOT GET PREGNANT!

From Raw Story:

Gingrich: Pay teenagers not to get pregnant

The man who dubbed Vice President Joe Biden a socialist last September for arguing that paying taxes is "patriotic" appears to have some government redistribution ideas of his own.

Newt Gingrich, often cited as a Republican prospect for president in 2012, says the state should consider paying teenager girls not to get pregnant.

He also says that states should consider paying teenage girls who become pregnant to take prenatal vitamins to forestall paying additional health expenses for neonatal care down the road.

***************
Along with his remarks about pregnant teenagers, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives also said Wednesday that state legislators should consider paying poor children to read and individuals not to smoke.

*****************
......other ideas include paying teens who don't get pregnant and stay in school; requiring exercise for school children; giving tax breaks to grocery stores that open in the inner city; giving bonuses to food stamp recipients who buy fruits and vegetables; and making students walk to school......when living close to said school.


Boy does that sound allot like socialism.

Heh, socialism from a Rethuglican who has been ranting about the Democrats being socialists.
Oh...wait...if it's coming from a Rethuglican it's not socialism is it.
My ass it ain't!

IS ARLEN AFRAID?....NOPE!

From Salon:

Quote of the day

Considering that Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has hinted that he might find some sort of monetary punishment for people like Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who don't toe the party line, you'd expect Specter to be at least somewhat upset at Steele. But on a local radio show Turesday morning, Specter was more than just upset -- he was brutal.

After a question about the RNC chair and his brief squabble with Rush Limbaugh, the senator, from out of nowhere, had this to say:

And National Chairman Steele, well he’s said so many contradictory things I wouldn’t pay a whole lot of attention to him.

Actually, that about sums up Steele's troubled tenure at the RNC to this point.

(Hat-tip to Think Progress.)

Follow the Think Progress link above for even more, including audio.

IS 'RELIGION' IN A TAILSPIN?

During the '80's, especially the early years, there was an up-tick in religious belief in America. First it was Jimmy Carter who told us that he was 'born again' in the '70's, then Ronald Voodoo Economics Reagan came on the scene and used the Presidency to further his religious beliefs. At that point it seemed as if just about everyone was 'giving' their lives to Jesus, that 'born again' thing. Maybe it was the 'in' thing to do for some. For others it was real, or so it seemed.

I know I went that route for a few years. My experience had more to do with a woman (big mistake) than anything else. I went to church, read their bible, and listened. After several years of listening, reading, watching, and seeing exactly what it all was, I realized it was all a sham. There is no God, only the ones man has made to make himself feel better about the way he treats his fellow man. The Bible is a book, that's all, just a book with no more authority than Tolstoy's War and Peace.

Wars have been started in the name of religion, and countless millions, possibly billions, have died because of it. The War of the Roses, the Hundred Years War, Hitler's assault on the Jews, and most all of the problems in the Middle East today were and are because of religion. The Iranians want to annihilate the Jews because of religion. The Taliban, al Qaeda, Hamas all have their basis in religion. The Crusades were an assault on the Jews perpetrated by 'Christ loving' christians.

Now we see that religion in America has taken a hit. The number of 'nonbelievers', which I prefer to call realists, is on the rise. In my state alone believers have gone from 91% in 1990 to 76% now. The Catholics seem to have taken the hardest hit here. I wonder if people are finally realizing that the church just wants their money and really doesn't care about them. One good example of the Catholic church not caring would be the fact that they don't do anything about the pedophiles that are priests, who they just keep moving around when it seems they may get caught.

From the American Religious Identification Survey we have this:
Catholics on the Move, Non-religious on the Rise

Fifteen percent of respondents said they had no religion, an increase from 14.2 percent in 2001 and 8.2 percent in 1990, according to the American Religious Identification Survey.
**********
So many Americans claim no religion at all (15%, up from 8% in 1990), that this category now outranks every other major U.S. religious group except Catholics and Baptists. In a nation that has long been mostly Christian, “the challenge to Christianity … does not come from other religions but from a rejection of all forms of organized religion,” the report concludes.
***********

Northern New England surpassed the Pacific Northwest as the least religious region, with Vermont reporting the highest share of those claiming no religion, at 34 percent.

“No other religious bloc has kept such a pace in every state,” the study’s authors said.

************

The current survey, being released Monday, found traditional organized religion playing less of a role in many lives. Thirty percent of married couples did not have a religious wedding ceremony and 27 percent of respondents said they did not want a religious funeral.

My friend One Fly at Outta the Cornfield has a post up about this today. That post, Prayer Central Taking A Hit, is well worth the read. He's got a couple more links I think you'll find very interesting.

GLENN BECK IS AN IDIOT

I always figured Glenn Beck was a fascist. He ranks right up there with Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Benito Mussolini. Now he proves himself to be an idiot as well...as far as I'm concerned anyway. The National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez isn't any better, or Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, or Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, and I wouldn't want to forget Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J. But I want to talk about Beck right now.

Found this at Salon this morning.

The right responds to Obama's stem cell decision

President Obama's decision to lift his predecessor's ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research wasn't about Americans' health or about science -- it was about eugenics. Just ask Glenn Beck.

"Here you have Barack Obama going in and spending the money now on embryonic stem cell research, and then some, fundamentally changing -- remember, those great progressive doctors are the ones who brought us Eugenics. It was the progressive movement and it was science," Beck said on his radio show Monday, ThinkProgress notes. He then went on to invoke the Holocaust, saying, "In case you don’t know what Eugenics led us to: the Final Solution."

Follow the link from Think Progress above to find the rest of what this ass had to say. They've got an audio from his radio show.

Glenn Beck is comparing doctors doing stem cell research in this country to the Nazis. He thinks that frozen, unwanted embryos are more important than those in the world suffering from spinal injuries, diabetes, blood disorders, and countless other medical ailments.

Sure, you ass, protect the 'unborn' and to hell with everybody else. Besides, you moron, if the embryos are frozen and unwanted are you really protecting the unborn.

I bet he wouldn't be so quick to spew his 'opinion' if a child of his had one of the previously mentioned ailments and could be cured by the findings of stem cell research. I know that if one of my children or grandchildren could be helped by this research, I would want them to receive that help. I'm just as sure that there are many parents and grandparents who would stand with me on this, too.

DOIN' HIS JOB

From Fixer over at The Brain:

Multitasking ...

The latest in a line of anemic outrage from the Republicans; President Obama is doing too much, too soon.
*************
....because your boy couldn't chew gum and walk at the same time doesn't mean others are incapable of handling the job.
**************
This man is the leader of the free world, what in Hell do you expect from him? While I know we're all used to the "high functioning moron", I expect Barry to handle everything put in front of him while standing on his head, making sparks shoot out of his ass.
***************
If the Republicans were smart, they'd shut up, sit back, and let time be the judge of Obama's policies.


Much of this arises from the action which President Obama took yesterday to remove the restrictions placed on stem cell research by Bush.

The Rethuglicans say this has nothing to do with the economy, but it does. It may be in a round-about way, but it still has an effect on the economy. For one thing this will help create jobs. There will be a boost in research which in itself will create jobs.

The radical religious right hates the idea that Obama has done this because it is against what they believe about life and the sanctity thereof. TOO FUCKIN' BAD! We've all had to live by their 'standards' for the last eight years, and look where it's gotten us. There are too many people who have died who could have been saved by this research, along with all those who suffer because the radical religious right has had their beliefs forced on everyone else by the Bush mis-administration.

Presdent Obama is doing the job that we elected him to do. So, if the Rethuglicans were smart (which they have yet to prove to this blogger) they would actually help Obama instead of hindering him.

"BIG BANKS SHOULD FAIL" REP. SHELBY

From CNN:

Some banks should be allowed to fail, say two top Republicans
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Two top Senate Republicans said Sunday that banks shouldn't be able to count on any more bailout money — and that the federal government should let some of them fail rather than distribute further funds to keep them afloat.

"Close them down, get them out of business. If they're dead, they ought to be buried," Sen. Richard Shelby, the Ranking Republican on the banking committee, told ABC's This Week. "We bury the small banks — we've got to bury some big ones, and send a strong message to the market." He did not mention any banks by name, although he responded to a question about Citigroup by noting that "Citi's always been a problem child."

Former GOP presidential candidate John McCain told Fox News Sunday that he did not think President Obama "made the hard decision, and that is to let these banks fail." He did not call for nationalization of troubled financial institutions, which many Republicans oppose, but said their assets should be sold. "Unfortunately, the shareholders and others will take a beating," he said.

Heh! Shelby and McCain must have sold their stock already.

ANOTHER REASON TO HATE RELIGION

This is from a fellow blogger, Willis, at Qld & N The Way.

"Pro Life" Warped Beyond Reason

A particularly nasty set of events in Brazil where a 9 year old girl, raped and impregnated by her step father with twins, was excommunicated from the Catholic Church along with her Mom and the doctors........the step father, not so much. Go read.

Click on the link and go read what Rachel has to say about this at Art of the Possible.

The things this little 9 year old girl has had to go through are completely inexcusable!

The Catholic Church says it is defending the unborn, but yet care nothing for the life of the 9 year old girl.

And these 'people' think they can tell the rest of us how to live. To them I say stay the hell out of our lives!

FUCK CATHOLICISM! FUCK THE CHURCH!

FRUITCAKES

Once again, another article from Capitol Hill Blue.

This time the whole shebang.

To hell with the fruitcakes: Obama is an American

It is an article of faith in the loopier precincts of the Internet, impervious to evidence to the contrary, that Barack Obama is ineligible to be president of the United States because he is not a "natural born citizen" as the Constitution requires.

All this would be quite harmless, like believing in the Illuminati or alien abduction, except that the extra-chromosome true believers have taken to filing suit in the federal courts basically seeking to overturn the election.

For even the most ardent Obama opponents, this issue was settled during the campaign when the candidates posted his birth certificate on his Web site showing that he was born in Hawaii, and not Kenya as alleged, and Hawaii state officials vouched for the authenticity of the document.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson, showing refreshing proof that the cause of common sense is not totally dead in our judicial system, had had enough and threw out one such suit, saying, "This case, if it were allowed to proceed, would deserve mention in one of those books that seek to prove the law is foolish and that America has too many lawyers with not enough to do."

He noted that over the two years of the Obama campaign the issue of his citizenship "was raised, vetted, blogged, texted, twittered and otherwise massaged by America's vigilant citizenry" without ever producing a shred of evidence that he was anything but natural born.

Robertson ordered the plaintiff's attorney to show cause why he shouldn't have to pay Obama's legal fees for filing a frivolous and harassing case. The prospect of having to part with actual cash may serve to get these cases out of the courtroom and back in wing nut land where they belong.

When the hell are all these 'fruitcakes' gonna realize they don't have a leg to stand on and just give it up!

JUST LIKE THE REAGANOMICS RECESSION

The only thing Reagan and his economic policies did for America was make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

Found this at Capitol Hill Blue this morning.

Recession set to be longest of postwar period
By DEB RIECHMANN

Factory jobs disappeared. Inflation soared. Unemployment climbed to alarming levels. The hungry lined up at soup kitchens.

It wasn't the Great Depression. It was the 1981-82 recession, widely considered America's worst since the depression.

That painful time during Ronald Reagan's presidency is a grim marker of how bad things can get. Yet the current recession could slice deeper into the U.S. economy.

If it lasts into April — as it almost surely will — this one will go on record as the longest in the postwar era. The 1981-82 and 1973-75 recessions each lasted 16 months.

Unemployment hasn't reached 1982 levels and the gross domestic product hasn't fallen quite as far. But the hurt from this recession is spread more widely and uncertainty about the country's economic health is worse today than it was in 1982.

*************************

_In January, reports showed 207,000 manufacturing jobs vanished in the largest one-month drop since October 1982.

_Major automakers' U.S. sales extended their deep slump in February, putting the industry on track for its worst sales month in more than 27 years.

_Struggling homebuilders have just completed the worst year for new home sales since 1982.

_There are 12.5 million people out of work today, topping the number of jobless in 1982.

**********************

The 1982 downturn was driven primarily by the desire to rid the economy of inflation. To battle a decade-long bout of high inflation, then-Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, now an economic adviser to President Barack Obama, pushed interest rates up to levels not seen since the Civil War. The approach tamed inflation, but not without suffering.

Hardest hit was the industrial Midwest; the Pacific Northwest, where the logging industry lagged from construction declines; and some states in the South, where the recession hit late.

Frustrated workers fled to the Sunbelt to find work. In Michigan, which led the nation in jobless workers, newspapers offered idled auto workers free "job wanted" ads in the classified section. Mortgages carried double-digit interest rates. When the 1982 recession ended, the national jobless rate had hit 10.8 percent.

Once again we find ourselves in a recession, which is looking more like a depression every day, which was created by the neo-fascist rethuglicans through tax cuts for the wealthy few and the removal of the controls which were placed on the banks and Wall Street to prevent such a thing from happening.