With all of the coverage of the vice-presidential debate this week, you may have missed some of the controversial – some would say astonishing – statements made by actual Republican congressmen. Here are those various statements, in case you missed them the first time:
- Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) said that the Bible was the “manufacturer’s handbook” and that it “teaches us how to run all of public policy and everything in our society.”
- Rep. Loy Mauch (R-Ar.) said “nowhere in the Holy Bible have I found a word of condemnation for the operation of slavery, Old or New Testament. If slavery was so bad, why didn’t Jesus, Paul or the prophets say something?”
- Rep. Roger Rivard (R-Wisc.) recalled his father’s warning that young women may claim to be raped when they don’t want to admit responsibility after getting pregnant. “Some girls,” Rivard recalled his father saying, “they rape so easy.”
- Rep. Jon Hubbard (R. Ar.) wrote in his new book, Letters to the Editor: Confessions of a Frustrated Conservative, “the institution of slavery that the black race has long believed to be an abomination upon its people may actually have been a blessing in disguise.”
- Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) attacked his opponent Tammy Duckworth in a debate by showing a picture of her picking out a dress for the Democratic National Convention.
And who can forget the old classic by the godfather of Bat Crap Crazy Republicans everywhere:
- Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mis.) – “From what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare,” Mr. Akin said of pregnancies occurring from rape. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
As Lawrence O’Donnell said on The Last Word Tuesday night, “Republicans are busy pretending that bat crap crazy Todd “legitimate rape” Akin is not representative of the Republican brand but Republican politicians keep popping up all over to prove that bat crap crazy is the Republican brand.”
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What about Benghazi? Not a word on your program.
Republicans in the House of Representatives cut $450 million in 2011 & 2012 from embassy security.
That is about 6,000 marines - a platoon at each embassy - a squadron at each consul outpost.
That Bengazi?
Security funds don't pay for Marines, their pay and support funding is in the Defense Depatment budget, branch: Navy. Security funds are mostly used for building physical improvements, surveilance technology, lighting, and commuynications equipment upgrading.
There was a nice point made over on Chris Matthews' site (shouldn't give Fuzzie a lead-in for another attack on a pundit, but he'll use them anyway).
After Ambassador Stevens' death, there were Libyans protesting at a number of Arab embassies, wanting them to leave their country and support the USA.
Never saw that in the Bush-era years...
Gee Billy, do you think Tom Laughlin knows you're using his picture? I don't think he agrees with your politics at all. You know of course that Tom owns the rights to all of Billy Jack franchise - that would include the picture you used? My guess is that you didn't ask permission. Naughty.
Just a suggestion - delete your account today. You can always re-reg again like you did this time.
Some people go on National TV before 50,000,000 viewers and laugh and giggle and smirk when their debate opponent is discussing issues of serious moment to our nation, such as the killings of our Ambassador and three colleagues in Libya by Al Qaeda affiliated Islamic terrorists, a Nuclear armed Iran, continued economic malaise and fiscal disarray in our nation, and the impending problems just around the corner with our major entitlement programs. So who this week appeared bat crap crazy?
Eddie Munster's double.
Three minor corrections...Hubbard, Mauch, and Rivard are State Representatives, not Congressmen.
Speaking of nutwards, what ever became of Glenn Beck? He of the "Smithsonian Conspiracy to suppress archaeological evidence to advance the cause of Manifest Destiny."
No fooling... Some academics I'm aware of went to the mat to discredit that one (some gonzos were trying to make a buck on the History Channel). That's only one small problem with the Beckhead, of course, but it illustrates right wing delusions at their most florid.
And here's a 2009 video link of Mitt Romney endorsing Glenn Beck and speaking about a local wannabe university that supported the principles of Beck's guru, "W. Cleon Skousen."
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/10/mitt-romney-video-wythe-glenn-beck-cleon-skousen
In 2009, Mitt Romney, who is now trying to campaign for president as a moderate lent his star power to an unusual charitable project: celebrating right-wing talk show host Glenn Beck to raise money for an unaccredited Utah-based college, which was founded by acolytes of the late W. Cleon Skousen and promoted the work of this fringe conservative figure. Much-touted by Beck, Skousen was an anti-communist crusader, a purported political philosopher, a historian accused of racist revisionism, and a right-wing conspiracy theorist. He contended that the Founding Fathers were direct descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel, claimed that a global cabal of bankers controlled the world from behind the scenes, and wrote a book that referred to the "blessings of slavery." Skousen, who died in 2006, taught Romney at Brigham Young University.
My congratulations to David Korn for this video (worth watching if you had any lingering reservations that Mitt is a "master chameleon"); I've written on the subject of Skousen myself, as did the late Chrisopher Hitchens. How whacked out was Skousen?
Well, I'll go so far as to say he made Grandpa Fuzz look good.
It is my understanding Mr. Beck is intending to fully retire in the next year, move to Salt Lake City with his many millions made in his metoriec rise and fall on the media circus stage, and start a rival Cab Company, where he will amuse himself gassing with his riders, and in his spare time when he isn't professing recovery from alcoholism (but not from all its accompanying personality disorders,) haunt the internet with his usual brand of far out drivel! Sound's like a guy you should have the pleasure to meet, Cab Driver! Too peas in a pod, escept you don't have his money!
Right....
We have a description of guys like him in meetings...
Quit drinking a fifth too late...
You should study up on Cleon Skousen, Fuzzy... You'll want to have your end-of-the-world information accurate.
Actually, Beck has been checking out Wethersfield, CT for possible clandestine lodging. There's a certain blog poster who lives there that is usually totally sympatico with Beck's ravings. They both often make claims of "truths" that they can't prove, myriad conspiracies, etc., and when called out on their lies, they (so they foolishly think) "glibly" just pivot on to another subject as if nothing had ever been said.
Why, for example, this poster recently made a claim of "truth" that a couple of economists at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, who had donated to Obama's reelection, were guilty of "cooking the unemployment numbers" in Obama's favor for the last report. When asked for proof of his allegation, he couldn't provide anything in the way of substantive evidence that what he'd said was true, resorting to his usual tactics of deflection and straw man arguments instead. Not only that, but he couldn't even provide the correct names of said economists into his "story", which he'd garnered from a FOX news "conspiracy" theory (shock!!!). To this day, he can't provide any proof of his theory, so it's become just another in his long and undistinguished line of lies.
I won't name names, his faulty grammar and abundant spelling miscues (i.e. "metoriec", "too peas...") will give him away to any who read his cackling. One can always tell when he's lifted the words of others claiming them as if they were his own - there are no grammatical/spelling faux-pas.
Rumor has it that this poster has a spare bedroom available in his basement...right next to his computer "lair", but unfortunately, subject to occasional sewer line miscues.
Beck should feel right at home in those surroundings.
Man, I do try to avoid posting after a night in the saddle. That should be David Corn, with a "c" not a "k."
What's the stand-up journalist reply? I regret the error, and I apologize for it.
Don't let it bother you, Cab Driver. Sometimes I have the time to edit or use spell spell check, sometimes I don't.
As to Eyes Wide Shut, both of the aforementioned economists that had contributed to the Obama camapign (in more ways than monetarily) had been instrumental in revising the "seasonal adjustment factor" that was recently applied to the sampling of households self reported new employments by individuals living in those 60,000 households for September extrapolated to produce that magical 873,000 newly employed number in September when the employer's survey was reporting a decline to 114,000 new jobs only...and that in accordance with a shrinking to 1.3% severely anemic Gross Domestic Product growth factor in the quarter ending Sept 30th, 2012. As Bill Clinton said, it's ARITHIMETIC, EWS, and in the case of the miracle 7.8% Unemployment Rate, a manipulted drop of a full 0.5% in just two months reported a month before the election, the numbers just don't add up.
But you go on believing in them and in Unicorns, and Pots of Gold at the end of the Rainbow, and the Tooth Fairy if it makes you happy, fool! LOL! Cause the public that knows the jobs aren't there aren't having any of it by the polls so far.
Gee Keith...due to your zero lack of credibility, I'll believe what you say when you offer up some undeniable proof of what you allege. Conjecture isn't proof...you can toss out all the numbers and straw men you wish...you haven't proven a thing because you haven't tied the deed to the players. When I see unbiased substantiation (aka "proof") that the two economists that you named have actually been proven to have "cooked" those books, then I might believe you...take heed of the words "unbiased substantiation". Without that, you'll continue to have...wow...nothing.
You're ability to "synthesize the news" (chuckle, snort) aside because you claim to be such a "learned man" and all, you've lied at least one too many times to be able to claim a foothold in believability.
So...that said, just where IS your proof...or are you going to continue to dance around on one foot again?
Like a frog in a blender...
Unemployment - The question should be "Is 7.8% feasible based on a projection of trends? "
All of these graphs are interactive - I would suggest they all be set at the same dates - I used 2005 for the start. Note - your Y axis scaling affects how "dramatic" small changes appear.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate
(Data appears to be "smoothed" more in this one - makes it easier to see the cycles.)
http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet
Claims for unemployment insurance
http://ycharts.com/indicators/initial_claims_for_unemployment_insurance/chart#series=type:indicator,id:initial_claims_for_unemployment_insurance,calc:&zoom=&startDate=1/01/2005&endDate=10/10/2012&format=real&recessions=false
Note - new claims are decreasing at a faster rate than the unemployment rate.
Adam...the Summer months mid-June thru mid-September are notoriously trending lower new Unemployment Insurance claim months as those receiving layoff notices decide to band the weeks of unemployment checks they will draw, and take extended "vacations" from either working or having to weekly look for work. There actually are books written on the subject on how to best strategize one's Unemployment Insurance benefits.
My, my...
So, obviously Keith still can't provide any proof of his allegation about those BLS economists that he states supposedly fudged those unemployment numbers for Obama. Wow...they contributed to his campaign so of course, it must follow they are guilty of some crime...a "crime" that only seems to reside in Keith's head, brought on by a Fox News conspiracy theory.
If you can't prove an allegation, Keith, then perhaps you'd be better off not formatting a lie about it...something you should have learned in your early childhood, but you obviously missed that "life experience" lesson.
The only difference between Romney and you when lying is that the Romney campaign invariably will trot out a spokesperson shortly after Mitt's done talking to very quietly say that, no, what he said doesn't really reflect his views on something that he had just lied about.
But you, Keith, don't have that luxury, do you? You're simply a "party of one" when it comes to lying, aren't you?
It shows...
Sorry, I did not know that I needed to explain the purpose of roughing out a trend line. Starting with about October 2009 to the present time, take a 3X5 card and fit it between the high and low points of the data - this gives you a rough regression line. Any seasonal or cyclical variation then is reduced and it becomes obvious that the trend for unemployment is a linear downward line. A 7.8 unemployment rate is not unreasonable when the trend is considered.
Initial unemployment rates are just that - they show the first time an individual files for unemployment - that's all. If an individual does not file for a month or two and then files for the previous week - it does not show as a new initial claim. If an individual finds part time work or does chooses not to file for a few weeks, then files for unemployment again - it is not a new initial filing.
The thing is that like actors these are men who are playing to their audience. I am not saying that these men don't actually believe these things rather that these views don't come as any surprise and in reality are probably regarded as shared sentiments with many people in their communities and are in all probability part of the reason these men were elected to office in the first place.
The 800 pound gorilla in the room that no seems willing to discuss isn't these representatives but their constituents. When you look at relatively large groups of people in areas across the country who seem to be rejecting positions of civil rights and equality that the rest of the nation has come to regard as so fundamentally basic that they are almost taken for granted you have to wonder why this seems to be coming to the surface in such a public way now.
I think the answer is in personal fear and resentment of these people toward people of color and what they see as the encroachment of a culture that they do trust or understand. They are told over and over about the growing population of Latinos and other minorities groups and they are feeling themselves, and what they regard as their way of life threatened. They feel that their traditional political influence is declining and that they themselves are becoming the ones who are marginalized.
I am not defending their positions or the ideas they cling to, but I am saying that to these people the things they perceive as threats are real and that makes them important. If they are not addressed then those ideas will only become even more entrenched and the situation will only become worse. Pressing someone who is delusional into a reality they reject without giving them something else to replace it with can shove them even further into those delusions. I believe the same holds true for this element of society as a group.
As ridiculous as these statements are they are only the tip of the iceberg that is laying under the surface of choppy social waters. These things need to be dealt with surely but they need to be handled with wisdom and strength of character that demonstrate an openness to accept those that are willing to reject them. No one will ever convince all of these people that their positions and beliefs are wrong but the conversation must be had with a deliberate seriousness that at least respects the people that hold them. To disregard them is only to feed their own self inflicted delusions and encourage the downward spiral into genuine madness that must inevitably follow.
As has been shown again and again in the political and social history of this country over only the last fifty years the most dangerous person is someone who is out on the fringes of society with a cause and a gun.
Nice rant...but what exactly was it referring to? The VP candidates debate?
If you don't print money or tax income then you need to borrow it or rub a magic lamp.
Money has to come from somewhere.
Romney stated he will get money by closing loop holds in tax law, like the house mortgage interest deduction.
That's not popular - so Romney and Ryan can admit they will do this.
Republicans like to claim they are good for the economy because they will cut unnecessary spending so we don't need as much money.
Budget cuts are called austerity, which works like this:
Romney can't explain what he wants to cut because "it's complicated".
You can't explain a lie because the more information you provide, the more obvious the lie becomes.
Delusions evaporate under close examination.
Bush signed these laws when unemployment was 5% to "stop immigrants from stealing American jobs".
The first created "undocumented immigrants" because people making 10 cents per pound picking berries and vegetables can't afford to pay over $1,000 documentation fee and $3,000 legal fees.
http://www.goinglegal.com/an-estimated-total-cost-in-getting-a-green-card-1734334.html
Hardly a job US citizens would want.
Any questions about why food prices are rising?
http://www.gaebler.com/Green-Card-Costs.htm
Employers that fail to pay up to $5,000 to hire migrant laborers create undocumented immigrants because migrant immigrant workers only become documented when the employer pays the fee. Here is the current list of employers that failed to pay fees.
http://www.uscis.gov/h-1b_count
http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/statutes/mspa_debar.htm
"Undocumented immigrants" that cannot afford documentation are converted into "illegal immigrants" when they get caught driving without a license because of the Real ID Act.
Employers are manufacturing "illegal immigrants" by not paying fees and taxes for immigrants that have to drive to/from the work site.
Police in western states began stealing and auctioning hundreds of thousands of vehicles from "illegal immigrants" every year starting in 2005. This practice was established by Gov. Swartzeneger has since been banned by the Gov. Gerry Brown.
Vehicle theft by police earned over $40 million just in California between 2006 and 2011 by violating the illegal search and seizure clause of the US constitution.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/12/california-police-illegal-immigrant-alien-towing-immigration/1
Organized unconstitutional theft by police caused 10 million immigrants to flee the country.
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/LAPD-Impound-Policy-Illegal-Immigration-Drivers-Licenses-142099323.html
The police collapsed the automotive industry by auctioning 10 million used vehicles.
Which collapsed the real estate industry by causing 10 million dwellings to be abandoned when the occupants fled the country.
Which collapsed the banking industry when mortgages and rent stopped ...
It's not like anyone can claim they haven't heard that undocumented immigrant populations have declined.
The undocumented immigrant population declined because police began unconstitutional confiscation and auctioning vehicles after the Real ID Act of 2005 made it illegal for states to issue drivers licenses to immigrants. California made $40 million by stealing vehicles from Mexican owners just in 2009.
The Real ID Act was nullified in Texas, which had no recession - Texas didn't outlaw Mexicans like California.
http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/nullification/real-id/
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/fundmastery/2010/07/26/no-real-estate-bubble-or-recession-in-texas/
Police sold 10 million extra used vehicles, which collapsed the automotive industry.
http://californiawatch.org/public-safety/car-seizures-dui-checkpoints-prove-profitable-cities-raise-legal-questions
It's not like you can claim you haven't heard about the problems about how Detroit almost went bankrupt because nobody was buying new cars.
About 10 million undocumented immigrants departed the US between 2006 and 2010 after their stolen vehicles were auctioned by police.
There are about 160 million dwellings in the US, so this increased housing abandonment from about 4% to 10%.
It's not like you can say nobody has seen housing abandonment on the news.
Those 10 million undocumented immigrants spent about $200billion/year. That consumer demand employed about 7 million US citizens.
http://www.naid.ucla.edu/uploads/4/2/1/9/4219226/b46.pdf
http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/docs/Hinojosa%20-%20Raising%20the%20Floor%20for%20American%20Workers%20010710.pdf
Many of the undocumented immigrants that left went to Mexico to work for Asian companies that build vehicles that reduced demand for US vehicles in Mexico (our #1 export destination).
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51044
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/09mexicoam/2009-06/05/content_8253861.htm
We can no longer accurately measure our population.
Conservatives keep bringing up Ronald Reagan as if he is some kind of superhero that save the universe from utter destruction.
Links provided for fact checking. Click to verify.
Keep smoking the funny stuff, Crackhead!
Can't refute their words, Keith? And, would you look at that...they cited sources!
Oh that's right...source citing is a totally foreign concept for you isn't it, Keith? Too bad...it's obvious the wheels came off your "ability to synthesize the news" bus quite a while back.
And you with no spare...tsk, tsk, tsk...
Kieth,
Your insult indicates you agree that my math is correct AND that you are conservative.
I'll take that as a compliment.