Last Call For Tiny, Tiny Violins

GOP Rep. Mike Rogers can't understand why (after six years of Republicans calling President Obama everything from Kenyan Usurper to Antichrist to Nazi Sympathizer to Brutal Dictator and more) President Obama might not want to include Republicans in his decision-making processes.

Rogers argued that the White House had other options besides releasing five Guantanamo Bay detainees in exchange for the American prisoner of war, and that the administration acted without notifying Congress because they knew there would be dissenters.

"There are other options. And this was what so angered for those of us who have followed this for years," he said on ABC's "This Week." "The administration has this theory that you're either with them or you're for thermonuclear war and there's not in between. That's just wrong." 

"And so the reason they avoided Congress, this isn't about we didn't get invited to the party, so we shouldn't have our feelings hurt. It is because we can empower all of the people -- diplomats -- who disagreed with this decision, intelligence folks who disagreed with this decision, military folks," he continued.

Poor, poor baby.  President Obama didn't extend Mike Rogers an engraved invitation to his decision on Bergdahl.  I doubt President Bush did either, all the times he released Gitmo detainees too.  But we only choose to criminalize things Obama does.

Always Angry, All The Time

Kevin Drum notes that the defining quality of American politics and President Obama is constant and unending rage, and tries (in the usual Kevin Drum way) to pin it on both sides.

The White House, says the LA Times for the third straight day, is facing "growing fury" over L'Affaire Bergdahl. How many times have I read a headline like this over the past few years. Dozens? Hundreds?

Hard to say. But it sure seems to be the defining quality of American politics these days. We just bounce from one outrage to the next, mostly ginned up by the right, but sometimes by the left too. It's a wonder that America hasn't dropped dead of a collective heart attack yet.

Has it always been this way? Maybe. It's not as if we lacked for partisan outrages in the 50s and 60s. But I'd sure like to hear from folks who have a good memory for those years. Was the procession of outrages really as nonstop as it is today? Did we at least take a break between outrages back then? Or has nothing changed except our exposure to this stuff thanks to Twitter and 24-hour cable news?

News flash, K-Drum.  "The left" isn't calling for the overthrow of the American government or backing a Second American Revolution with armed domestic terrorists encouraged to take out a few government bureaucrats with "Second Amendment remedies."

That's solely the proposition of the right, who moves to criminalize, demonize, and exterminate dissent at every turn.

It's not MSNBC openly calling for impeachment, that would be Fox News.  Repeatedly, by the way.

There is no "sometimes the left" on this dangerous idiocy, Kevin.  Knock it off.

The Godwin Party Strikes Again

And people wonder why Richard Mourdock lost his Senate race in 2012 to Joe Donnelly?  Maybe it has to do with Mourdock being a stark raving lunatic.

Reaction ranged from anger to shock to befuddlement after Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock compared the nation's direction to Hitler's Nazi Germany during a farewell speech at the Indiana Republican Convention on Saturday.

"The people of Germany in a free election selected the Nazi Party because they made great promises that appealed to them because they were desperate and destitute. And why is that? Because Germany was bankrupt," he said.

Mourdock, who has stoked outrage with incendiary comments in the past, then alluded to the 70th anniversary last week of the D-Day invasion during World War II, saying, "The truth is, 70 years later, we are drifting on the tides toward another beachhead and it is the bankruptcy of the United States of America."

See, because Democrats are just like Nazis because government spending.  Jesus.  Oh, here's the best part:

The speech received a standing ovation from the nearly 1,700 delegates from across the state.

Because this is what passes for big, new ideas in the Indiana GOP.

But by the end of the day, even the party's state chairman was distancing himself from the treasurer's comments.

His references Saturday to the Nazi regime drew sharp objections from Democrats, members of the Jewish community and even some Republicans.

Indiana Democratic Chairman John Zody said Mourdock's words were "ugly" and should be denounced by Republican leaders.

Shelby Anderson, president of the Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council, said comparing the rise of Hitler and the heinous acts of the Nazis in comparison to America's national debt is "highly offensive and trivialize both the suffering and memory of the six million Jews and millions of others who perished under the Nazi regime."

Stephen Klapper, vice president of the council, called it "deplorable to suggest that a nation in debt is somehow one step away from perpetrating crimes reminiscent of Nazi Germany. And it's outrageous to equate our nation's legitimate public policy challenges, and the way we choose to address these issues – ideally through civil discourse and rigorous debate – with the way Hitler and his Nazi regime propagated one of civilization's most reprehensible atrocities through lies, terror, and ultimately genocide."

But that's what Republicans think of those who disagree with them.  Those who dissent have to be Nazis, because they clearly can't be Americans who should have the right to vote.  Hell, they're just pure evil, they're not even human, so if we have to break a few eggs taking the country back from them, well that's just gonna have to happen, right?

Last Call For Sovereign Stupidity

Another day, another reminder that America continues to have a right-wing domestic terrorist problem.

Authorities shot and killed a sovereign citizen Friday morning outside a Georgia courthouse after he brought weapons and explosives in an attempt to take over the building.

Investigators said Dennis Marx arrived at the Forsyth County Administration Building with an assault rifle, bulletproof vest, smoke grenades, and a gas mask.

Marx also brought water and other supplies, ammunition, zip-tie restraints, and buckets of homemade explosives to the courthouse, said Sheriff Duane Piper.

“He came here with the purpose of occupying the courthouse,” Piper said.

He deployed stop sticks at the courthouse entrance to prevent other vehicles from driving closer and opened fire from his vehicle.

Marx was met outside the courthouse by a deputy – who distracted and then fatally shot him through the windshield of the man’s SUV.

The deputy, a 30-year veteran, was shot in the knee during the confrontation but was expected to recover.

“It would be a guess to think how many lives he saved had he not engaged him right there,” Piper said. “Mr. Marx’s intention was to get inside that front door and to take hostages.”

You probably didn't hear about this because the suspect wasn't named Dennis Mohammed or Daunte Marx.  But a white guy armed to the teeth with the clear, premeditated intent of taking hostages in a courthouse?  We should probably ignore it.

Contractual Obligations

It's good to see this Cincinnati story about the Archdiocese forcing all Catholic school employees to sign a morality clause that censors their opinions finally going national, mainly because in Ohio, taxpayer vouchers can be used to pay for Catholic schools, and yet the Archdiocese remains exempt from basic workplace protections.

First-grade teacher Molly Shumate and high school English teacher Robert Hague are among the veteran teachers choosing to leave the diocese over a ‘morality clause’ included in the new contracts. The clause reportedly prohibits teachers, whether Catholic or not, from having sex or living with a partner outside of marriage, using in-vitro fertilization, leading a gay “lifestyle,” or publicly supporting any of the above.

Steve Benen sums this up:

That last part is of particular interest. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese wrote the “morality clause” in such a way as to apply not just to employees’ actions, but also their stated opinions.

In other words, if you work at a Catholic school in Cincinnati, you can’t be gay or try to have children through IVF treatments, and at the same time, you also can’t say you support gay rights or endorse IVF treatments in general.

And yet Ohio, like a number of other states, allows taxpayer money to go to private religious schools while they remain exempt from state employment laws.

One of those two things has to change.  Oh, and by the way, this is the real First Amendment issue with religious institutions.

Traders and Traitors

And my state's junior US senator manages once again to prove to the country and the world just how much of a jagoff he is.

Sen. Rand Paul on Friday likened Democrats to the recently released Taliban detainees at Guantánamo Bay in a speech here at the Texas GOP convention.

“Mr. President, you love to trade people,” the Kentucky Republican and likely 2016 contender said to laughs, a reference to the deal made for the return of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. 

“Why don’t we set up a trade? But this time, instead of five Taliban, how about five Democrats? I’m thinking John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, couldn’t we send them to Mexico?”

Hurr, because they're Democrats, not Americans, so it's okay.  Hell, they're not even human, am I right?

Paul’s suggestion came after he criticized the deal struck to bring back Bergdahl, who had been held captive by the Taliban for five years and was freed in exchange for the five prisoners.

“I don’t know about y’all, but I’ve been a little bit annoyed with the president,” Paul said. “Releasing five Taliban senior officials is not only against the law, it’s illegal and wrong and he should never have done it.”

So you must have really hated Bush when he released 500 plus Gitmo detainees.  What's that?  Not a peep?  Now why is that?

Asked about his comments in a news conference after the speech, Paul replied, “It was a joke. Except for Nancy Pelosi, I was serious about her.”

Misogyny is always funnier in Texas.

As far as I'm concerned, Rand Paul should stay there and not come back.

StupidiNews, Weekend Edition!

• Another federal judge has struck down a state ban on same-sex marriage under equal protection grounds, this time in Wisconsin.
• The Texas state Republican convention this weekend apparently featured a Davy Crockett impersonator who called for the overthrow of President Obama and the federal government.
• European mobile phone giant Vodafone says six countries used its networks to wiretap and record customer calls, prompting anger across Europe and Asia.
• Transport company Uber has managed to set a record for start-up funding, hitting $17 billion on a new round of funding this week.
• The CIA is now on Twitter, officially, and its first tweet was "We can neither confirm nor deny that this is our first tweet."

Last Call For May's Unemployment Figures

And they were pretty decent, with 213.000 new jobs added and the rate remaining at 6.3% unemployed.  Moreover, we finally reached the point where we have recovered all the jobs lost since the Bush recession began 76 months ago:



The bad news is that we would have had 7 million more jobs on top of all this if the GOP hadn't destroyed America's economy in Bush's second term.  But yes, America has added 13.5 million jobs in just over 4 years, cleaning up yet another GOP president's mess.



When Reagan and Poppy Bush took ten years to get the unemployment rate down to where Jimmy Carter had it (after cleaning up Nixon and Ford's disaster) at 5.6 %, AFTER DOUBLING IT TO 11% because Reagan was some sort of ECONOMIC GENIUS YOU KNOW, they were considered gods.

Obama cleans up an even worse mess in terms of jobs and he's considered the antichrist.

I will never understand people who vote Republican.

Pee Wee's Big Adventure

Today is the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy, that began on June 6, 1944. Time has claimed nearly all of our WW II veterans from that day, they would be into their 90's now.  But not quite all of them are gone, and some of them are still parachuting into the French countryside.

Jim "Pee Wee" Martin acted like he'd been here before, like jumping from a plane is as easy as falling off a log. 

Maybe that's because he had -- 70 years ago. 

"I'm feeling fine," Martin told reporters moments after landing in a French field. "... It was wonderful, absolutely wonderful."

Martin was part of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division that parachuted down over Utah Beach in their bid to retake France and, eventually, the rest of Europe from Nazi Germany. They actually touched down in enemy-controlled territory a night before what's referred to as D-Day. 

His jump Thursday in the same area was different and -- despite his being 93 years old now -- a whole lot easier.

"It didn't (compare)," Martin said, "because there wasn't anybody shooting at me today."

Amazing.  Here's to you, Jim.

As he told reporters afterward, "To tell you the truth, riding around in the plane is boring. It's when you get off the plane, that's when it gets exciting ... But there's no fear to it. It's just something you do." 

Martin admitted that he was motivated by "a little bit of ego, (to show that) I'm 93 and I can still do it." 

"And also I just want to show all the people that you don't have to sit and die just because you get old," he added. "Keep doing things." 

Among those things he'd like to do is another jump in the same plane, one year from now.

"If I come back next year, I'll make a jump next year. You can bet on it."

There's a reason they're called the Greatest Generation, folks.  These Depression-era teens of the 30's turned into WW II heroes in the 40's, GI Bill and suburban parents of the 50's, saw the rise of civil rights in the 60's, the rise of feminism in the 70's, survived the Reagan 80's, the Clinton 90's, and the Bush aughts. They lived to see a black President, and they jump out of planes at age 93.

Hell, I hope I simply make it to 93.

The Quest To Destroy Bowe Bergdahl

FOX News is now claiming that freed Afghan war POW Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl secretly converted to Islam and became a jihadi in 2010.  In other news, somebody at FOX News clearly watches too much Homeland on Showtime.

Citing "secret documents prepared on the basis of a purported eyewitness account," Fox's James Rosen wrote that Bergdahl had a roller-coaster experience after he was captured in 2009.

There were times, according to Rosen, when Bergdahl was "treated very much like a hostage," and other times the soldier bonded with his captors and was even allowed to carry a gun.

According to the report, Bergdahl managed to escape for five days at one point and. After he was re-captured, he was reportedly locked in a cage "like an animal."

The documents indicate that intelligence officials were aware of the conversion by August of 2012, at which time Bergdahl was describing himself as a "mujahid." He also apparently played soccer with his captors at the time and appeared "to be well and happy."

So there you go, secret documents!  Stockholm Syndrome!  Manchurian Candidate!  Reprogrammed Islamist killer!  Obama's a traitor!

Proof?  Well...who cares.  This guy has to be destroyed because it hurts Obama, and that's the only thing that matters.

When's the last time you remember a POW in more danger back home from our own domestic terrorists than he was in when he was captured?

StupidiNews!

• One person is dead, three are wounded and a suspect is in custody as a gunman armed with a shotgun fired at four people at Seattle Pacific University Thursday.
• Quebec has adopted provincial legislation legalizing medically-assisted suicide in terminally ill patients, despite a federal Canadian law prohibiting euthanasia for any reason.
• An internal report released by General Motors investigating an 11-year-long failure to recall ignition switches linked to 13 deaths places blame on engineers rather than corporate executives.
• With the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus killing 8 million pigs in the US, pork prices are expected to jump by as much at 47% in 2014.
• Verizon is threatening streaming video giant Nexflix with legal action if the company doesn't stop displaying error messages blaming Verizon's network for bad connections.

Last Call For All My Exes Live In Texas

If you consider LGBTQ folks to be in need of "therapy" to make them ex-gays, why not give the Texas GOP a try?  It's right there in the state party platform these days.

Earlier this week, the Dallas Voice reported that the Texas Republican Party had stripped language from its platform that claimed that “homosexuality tears at the fabric of society and contributes to the breakdown of the family,” but the Houston Chronicle now reports that the language has been replaced with a different kind of condemnation.

See, Republican minority outreach in action.  Here's the new plank:

"Homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable alternative lifestyle, in public policy, nor should family be redefined to include homosexual couples. We believe there should be no granting of special legal entitlements or creation of special status for homosexual behavior, regardless of state of origin.

Additionally, we oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.We recognize the legitimacy and value of counseling which offers reparative therapy and treatment to patients who are seeking escape from the homosexual lifestyle. No laws or executive orders shall be imposed to limit or restrict access to this type of therapy."

Gosh, I can't imagine with party outreach like that in the most populous red state in the country why national conservative LGBTQ groups like GOProud would call it quits.

After five years in the often precarious space of being a gay conservative group, LGBT Republican organization GOProud is ceasing operations, according to a series of reports at Bilerico.

Bilerico reporter Andrew Markleinitially reported that GOProud was shuttering on Sunday, and following initial denials on social media from members of the group, key organizers confirmed to Bilerico founder Bil Browning Monday that the group is indeed planning to close up shop.

But you guys, minority outreach.  Republicans care.  Big tent.  Inclusive future.

Right?

Ohio GOP Continues The War On Women

Ohio Republicans have recently unveiled House Bill 351, which among other things, would eliminate abortion coverage from medical insurance plans (public and private), as well as eliminate all birth control coverage from public and private insurance plans.

The Ohio legislature is currently considering a measure that would institute a sweeping ban on insurance coverage for abortion in state residents’ public and private health plans. Restricting women’s ability to use their insurance plans to pay for abortion is becoming anincreasingly popular anti-choice strategy — and Ohio’s proposed legislation may actually go even further. The measure would also make it harder for low-income women to afford the most effective form of birth control.

House Bill 351, which was the subject of a committee hearing on Tuesday, seeks to prohibit insurance plans from covering “drugs or devices used to prevent the implantation of a fertilized ovum.” That definition effectively bans several types of contraception, like the birth control pill and the IUD.

Residents with public insurance — which includes state government employees as well as low-income individuals who rely on Medicaid — are already prevented from using their coverage for most abortions. But since HB 351 stipulates they also can’t use it for any drugs that inhibit implantation, the legislation could end up functioning as a birth control ban for public insurance plans.

Rep. John Becker (R), who sponsored the bill, said during Tuesday’s hearing that birth control pills should not be banned under HB 351. But he still wants IUDs, which are long-acting forms of birth control that are inserted in the uterus, to fall under the ban because he considers IUDs to be a form of abortion. “This is just a personal view. I’m not a medical doctor,” he said.

So yeah, John Becker has decided that you dirty, slutty women who have sex and use birth control and/or medical services like abortion, well, you're going to have to pay a lot more for your sluttiness, because of his "personal opinion" about birth control.

Good luck preventing this from becoming law, too:  Republicans control the Ohio House 60-39, and have an ever larger margin in the Senate, 23-10.  If this ends up passing (and given Ohio's strict anti-choice laws there's no reason to think it won't pass) then it'll be up to GOP Gov. John Kasich to sign or veto it.

So yes ladies, Ohio Republicans are about to make your Pill and IUD unaffordable (not to mention medical stuff like abortion) because John Becker thinks you're a slattern who needs to keep her legs closed.

But there's no War on Women, it's a myth, yadda yadda.

Open Carrying On

So remember last week, when the NRA mentioned that open carry groups in Texas were really, really making gun owners look bad and that maybe they should, you know, chill out a bit?  Turns out it was all "a mistake" and that the NRA is blaming a "staffer" and their "personal opinion" for the statement, and that everyone whould have guns everywhere because guns.

The National Rifle Association's appeal to Texas groups to dial back their practices of wielding assault weapons in local businesses was "a mistake," a top official in the powerhouse's lobbying arm said Tuesday, turning an about-face from what some saw as a politically savvy step toward the middle in the hot-button debate over gun rights.

"An alert went out that referred to this type of behavior as 'weird' or somehow not normal," Chris Cox, executive director of NRA policy, said during an interview on the organization's website. "It shouldn't have happened, and I've had a discussion with the staffer who wrote that piece and expressed his personal opinion. And our job isn't to criticize the lawful behavior of fellow gun owners.

"...This is a distraction," he went on. "And certainly the media has had a field day with it."

So yes, you were a complete sucker if you thought the NRA was going to be reasonable for even a second about open carry.   It's not their job, and never is.  Open carry all the time everywhere is the only solution.

"...Ultimately what this comes down to is a tactics discussion," Cox went on. "Some people believe that the best way to effectuate that sort of policy change is in protest. And what they did in Texas is some people decided to protest the absurdity of the ban on concealed carry or on open carry of handguns by carrying their long guns openly - and legally."

Not being able to carry around your AK-47 in public is "absurd" because America.

StupidiNews!

• Royal Canadian Mounted Police are on the lookout for a man suspected of killing 3 officers and wounding two others in Moncton, New Brunswick.
• Mississippi's GOP Senate primary will officially go to a June 24 runoff as the final results had Tea Party challenger Chris McDaniel with a 49.5% to 49% lead over incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran.
• Increasing right wing anger over the release of Afghan war POW Bowe Bergdahl has led to his hometown canceling a homecoming rally for security reasons.
• With South Korea projected to have the world's oldest population by 2060, the country is now offering 30-year long-term bonds for retirement savings.
• The next big tech merger is imminent according to reports, with mobile giants Sprint and T-Mobile looking to join forces in a $50 billion deal.