Who Hijacked Our Country

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Exclusive Martial Arts Workshop from Justice David Prosser: “Fear No Woman!”

“I got picked on all through school because I’m such a dork, but today I can kick any woman’s ass!”

Allegedly (according to three witnesses who don’t want to be named):

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser got into an argument with fellow Justice Ann Walsh Bradley last week. The argument took place in her chambers, just before the Court released its decision to uphold Scott Walker’s Crush-the-Unions law.

While they were arguing, Ann Walsh Bradley asked David Prosser to leave her office, whereupon Prosser grabbed her around the neck with both hands.

Both justices have said nothing beyond “I have nothing to say” when questioned by reporters. The allegations are being investigated by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and Wisconsin Public Radio.

If the allegations against David Prosser turn out to be true, here are the four ways Prosser could be removed from the bench.


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Friday, June 24, 2011

What DOES the Tea Party Stand For?

Sure, it’s easy to stand up to a desperate woman who’s seeking an abortion, or a cancer patient who just got dumped by his/her HMO. But when the time came to actually take a stand and show some courage, the screaming teabaggers whimpered and bent over.

What happened to those George Washington costumes and “We’re Taking Back Our Country!” Would our Founding Fathers invade Libya?

The House has defeated an attempt to cut off funding for air attacks on Libya. Twenty-seven members of the House Tea Party Caucus (out of a total of 59 members) voted against the funding cutoff.

Some representatives — including Michele Bachmann — used the age-old copout of “I voted against it because it didn’t go far enough.”

Judson Phillips of Tea Party Nation said:

“We have no congressional authorization for military action in Libya, but our brilliant GOP leadership did not cut off funding. Could they possibly be any more gutless?”

In other news: Jim DeMint has warned all Republicans NOT to vote for increasing the debt limit, saying “if you vote for it, you’ll lose.”

And just a few days ago, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned Republicans that they’d better vote FOR increasing the debt limit. Anyone who votes against it — “we’ll get rid of you.”

Awkward. Maybe there won’t be any more Republicans.

And finally: Hey, it worked for Blackwater.


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Thursday, June 23, 2011

Fantastic Business Opportunities in the Prison Industrial Complex. Invest Your Sons and Daughters Now

America’s two largest private prison companies — GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America — “earned” over $2.9 billion dollars last year. There’s gold in them thar prison inmates. And if you hurry, YOU can get in on the ground floor NOW.

According to the Justice Policy Institute, the total prison population has increased by 16%. During the same period, the prison population of private federal prisons has increased by 120%.

And it gets worse. Private prisons are not just taking advantage of our harsh victimless-crime laws and unbalanced sentencing procedures. They’re actively working to create new laws and longer sentences.

The largest prison companies have bribed, er, I mean “contributed” nearly a million dollars to federal politicians, and over $6 million to state candidates. In Arizona, most of the state legislators who voted for the state’s immigration law — which will be a gold mine for private prisons — received campaign contributions from the private prison industry. Coincidence?

And in Florida, legislation has been introduced that would privatize ALL Florida prisons. Needless to say, there’s a lot of bribery involved here.

And in the “Small World” department, one of the founders of Corrections Corporation of America is the former chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party.

Figures.


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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Hi Kids! Meet the Friendly Fracosaurus

Hello everybody, I’m Talisman Terry, the Friendly Fracosaurus.

Did you know: you might have a secret treasure buried right under your yard. And I’m here to help you find it. Isn’t this Neat?!?

Now, if you and your Mommy and Daddy love America as much as I do, I just know you’ll want me to hunt for that buried treasure. This secret treasure will make everybody happy and keep America Free. And this is what we all want, don’t we.

But: There are some big mean socialist bureaucrats who don’t want me to look for that secret treasure in your yard. These are very bad men. They don’t want America to be free.

(“BOOOOO”)

Now I want you to tell your Mommy and Daddy and all of your friends and their Mommies and Daddies about me. Remember, I’m a cute and cuddly little dinosaur. I want to help you find that secret treasure buried in your yard. But I won’t be able to do this until we wipe out those evil socialists who are destroying America and taking away her Freedom.

Well, let’s get started. Run along now and spread the word.


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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Tell Clarence Thomas to Resign

Here’s the petition.

In a government festering and rotting with cronyism and corruption, Clarence Thomas stands head and shoulders above the rest of the criminals. If you’re unclear on why Clarence Thomas needs to go:

Let us count the ways.


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Monday, June 20, 2011

Supreme Court to Big Business: “We’ve Got Your Back”

Give us your poor industrial polluters, your huddled corporate conglomerates yearning to breathe free…

The Supreme Court has struck two more blows for Freedom and Liberty. Hardworking Americans will no longer be oppressed by femi-nazis, class warriors or treehugging environmentalists.

Wal-Mart can keep on discriminating against women without any further whining from them women’s libbers or meddling government bureaucrats. And this time the Corporate Arm of the Republican Party ruled unanimously. There weren’t any token dissenters pretending to care about the riffraff.

In another unanimous ruling — might as well drop the pretenses and the crocodile tears — the Politburo ruled in favor of greenhouse gas emissions and against the ozone layer.

Several state governments and conservation groups had filed a federal lawsuit to force reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The Court ruled that only the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to reduce emissions. Well, that boxes the compass, since Congressional Republicans are determined to withhold the funding that would allow the EPA to do its job.

Now THAT’S teamwork.


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Saturday, June 18, 2011

The 60 Plus Association aka Paul Ryan’s Prostitutes

Just what we need: another corporate-funded “grass roots” organization to promote the Far Right agenda. We’s just plain folks and we don’t need them there gummint bureaucrats messin’ with our Freedom.

The Astroturf 60 Plus Association is running a $1.4 million advertising campaign to convince senior citizens that Paul Ryan is on THEIR side. The chairman of 60 Plus, Jim Martin, said:

“The Democrats and Obama are destroying Medicare. It's time to put an end to their 'mediscare' tactics.”

No doubt, we’ll all be treated to a bunch of orchestrated “spontaneous” demonstrations on behalf of Paul Ryan’s agenda. Whatever their mis-spelled signs say, their underlying message will be “I’m old and I want to bend over for Wall Street.”

As long as we’re talking about Paul Ryan: You may have wondered why Ryan and his fellow corporate prostitutes are so adamant about preserving the oil industry’s $45 billion tax subsidies.

Mystery solved.

Paul Ryan and his wife own a large stake in four companies that lease land to the same oil companies that are benefiting from OUR tax dollars. The companies are run by Paul Ryan’s father-in-law. How cozy.

Also: One of Ryan’s fellow errand boys, Fred Upton (R—Hooker), owns $250,000 worth of ExxonMobil stock.

At one time, slippery dealings like this were known as “corruption” and “conflict of interest.” Not any more, apparently.


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Friday, June 17, 2011

If You Like Sky-High Gas Prices, Thank a Republican

Without belaboring the obvious, our high gas prices are caused mostly by oil speculators; and NOT by a bunch of treehugging enviro-nazis who won’t let America drill her way to Freedom.

If energy speculators — commodity speculators in general — are not causing problems, then why are Wall Street’s Republican prostitutes so determined to derail the regulatory agency that oversees commodities markets? That would be the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Congressional Republicans have de-fanged the Commission by withholding $30 million of its funding.

If Republicans can keep oil prices waaay up there, they’ll get a twofer: Their Big Oil pimps will make even more money that they can “contribute” to their prostitutes’ re-election campaigns, AND they can point the finger at Obama while their gullible stooges chant “Drill Baby Drill!” and “Drill Here Drill Now!”

And now it’s time to stoke the Irony Meter: Target has produced a 13-minute film which they’re showing to all Target employees. This film is supposed to get their workers all fired up about the evils of labor unions and collectivism.

All of the actors in this film are — you ready? — Union Members.

And finally: We’ve all heard the cliché about sausage factories, i.e. if you ever watched sausages being made and could see the unspeakable ingredients they put in, you’d never eat another one. Well, the next time you go to your favorite Japanese restaurant, think about — uhh, [ahem] er…


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Thursday, June 16, 2011

Jesus Shrugged

That’s what you get when you combine Ayn Rand’s self-absorbed the-world-revolves-around-me mindset with the bigotry and intolerance of “Christians.” Not Jesus Himself, of course; just the Far Right’s re-invented version who schmoozed with moneylenders and drove the beggars from the temple, and said “Let’s all cast stones at that evil sinner.”

Tampa Liberty School will be holding a weeklong seminar this summer. Their mission is to teach 8-to-12-year-olds how to be selfish and self-centered AND how to be hateful and sanctimonious at the same time. Oh, and a big dollop of American Exceptionalism will be thrown in too.

The children’s indoctrination phrases will include:

“America is good,” “I believe in God,” and “I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who [sic] I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.”

Grammar apparently isn't part of the curriculum.

Tampa Liberty School is run by volunteers from the 912 Project and was organized by Jeff Lukens, who said:

“We want to impart to our children what our nation is about, and what they may or may not be told.”

He admitted that he doesn’t know anything about the public school curriculum, but:

“I do know they have a lot of political correctness. We are a faithful people, and when you talk about natural law, you have to talk about God. When you take that out of the discussion, you miss the whole thing.”

Tampa Liberty School will be in session every morning from July 11th through the 15th. There’s room for forty students, and right now only eight have signed up.

If you want to indoctrinate your child, you still have time — but you have to hurry.


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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Wisconsin Union Busting: Mission Accomplished

Thank God the Wisconsin Kochsuckers were able to rig the State Supreme Court election earlier this spring. The Court has upheld, by a 4-3 vote, Scott Walker’s Operation Castrate Working People. Just think, if JoAnne Kloppenburg had been elected to the State Supreme Court — remember, she was ahead by about 10,000 votes until Walker’s thugs “corrected” the situation — justice would have prevailed.

While Scott Walker and his fellow Koch Whores shared a group orgasm, Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson dissented. She said the majority:

“…set forth their own version of facts without evidence. They should not engage in this disinformation.”

And the president of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO called the court ruling “an affront to our democracy.”

Oh well, win some lose some. In the Win column, California’s gay marriage ban is still deader’n a doornail.

Last year a U.S. District Judge struck down California’s ban on gay marriage, Proposition 8 (commonly referred to as Proposition Hate). A band of snake-handling inbreds known as “Protect Marriage” appealed the ruling when they found out the judge was gay and was living with a partner. Their “reasoning” was that his judgment could not be impartial.

WTF??? The judge couldn’t make an unbiased ruling on gay rights issues because he’s gay and lives with a partner?!?!? As opposed to: Gay and living in a monastery? Gay and hitting the bar scene and coming home with a different partner every evening? What rock did these Taliban wannabes crawl out from under???

Anyway, Chief U.S. District Judge James Ware has upheld the earlier judge’s ruling. Protect Marriage can go back to the 13th century. And Proposition 8 — like Generalissimo Francisco Franco — is still dead.


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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

New Hampshire: Send in the Clowns

I didn’t watch the Gong Show last night. Here and here are two reports.

It’s always a mistake to get complacent, but I don’t think Obama has anything to worry about next year.

Mitt Romney: The flipflopping Mormon who invented Obomneycare. Next.

Tim Pawlenty: Willie Horton on steroids. Next.

Ron Paul: A Libertarian who actually means what he says?!? Ron Ron Ron…you’re supposed to use Libertarian slogans as a shield to hide behind. Then you work quietly to ban abortion, increase penalties for drug possession and crack down on the Homosexual Agenda. Get with the program.

Herman Cain: First, make up your mind whether you’re bigoted against Muslims or not. Then, read the Fourteenth Amendment.

Newt Gingrich: Enough said.

Rick Santorum: See Newt Gingrich.

Rick Perry: “Officially” not a candidate yet and didn’t take part in the festivities. First he was threatening to secede from the U.S.; now he wants to be president of it. Make up your mind Asshole.

John Huntsman: Also didn’t perform on the Gong Show, but is officially running. Strike One — Mormon. Strike Two — worked for the dreaded Kenyan Muslim president’s administration as the ambassador to a Communist country.

Michele Bachmann: Needs to open a history book. However, if she makes eye contact with enough voters, they could get mesmerized by…those…eyes…Repeal Obamacare…Obama one-term president…Freedom…

Monday, June 13, 2011

Maine Republican Chairman Spells It Out

“Those rabid environmentalists, liberals, socialists — they, they VOTE. We have to STOP them!”

That wasn’t his exact wording, but close enough. The Maine legislature has passed a law that invalidates a 40-year Maine tradition, whereby people could register to vote on Election Day. No more. Maine GOP Chairman Charlie Webster defended the new disenfranchise-the-voters law by trotting out the same non-existent problem that teabaggers everywhere are reciting in unison: Millions of illegal immigrants, communists and Negroes are trying to bring America to her knees by voting illegally.

Webster said:

“If you want to get really honest, this is about how the Democrats have managed to steal elections from Maine people. Many of us believe that the Democrats intentionally steal elections. Buses. They bring them in in buses. Job Corps people — they move 'em around to wherever they have a tough seat and they want to win an election.”

Damn those Job Corps people!!!

Well, you’ve gotta admire this guy’s blunt shoot-from-the-hip manner. It’s sort of a refreshing change from the cowardly Scott Walker-esque “Oh, I have nothing against greasy people who work with their hands; I’m just trying to balance the budget” schmaltz.

And speaking of Scott Walker — I can’t seem to write a post without mentioning the Koch Brothers’ favorite boy toy at least once — Wisconsin has a similar law for disenfranchising voters. At first they weren’t sure how to pay for this new “Only Wealthy Conservatives Can Vote” law. But now they’ve found a way:

In 2009, the Wisconsin legislature passed a law providing public funding for judicial races. 78% of Wisconsin residents were in favor of this. In the recent state Supreme Court showdown between David Prosser and JoAnne Kloppenburg, both candidates used the public financing made available under this law.

Anyway, by deleting the funding for this public financing law, Wisconsin will now have the money to enforce the much-more-important voter disenfranchisement law.

Problem solved.


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Sunday, June 12, 2011

New York City’s Biggest Hazard: Street Musicians

When you think of an emergency police call to the N.Y.P.D., you’re probably thinking of violent crimes. Then again, it might be: “Attention All Units! String Quartet playing a Mozart concerto in Central Park!”

New York City has taken eight of the city’s favorite locations for street performers, and turned them into “quiet zones.” Talk about a solution in search of a problem. A 59-year-old classical harpist was evicted from Central Park, and park police accused her of destroying the grass where she was sitting. She said:

“They say we're responsible for the bare patch but then you see people everywhere playing soccer with boots and cleats. They were actually pretty nasty and I'm not used to police intimidation. It's basically putting us out of work.”

Another newly-designated “quiet zone” is Manhattan’s Bethesda Fountain. It has excellent acoustics and a lot of tourists go there specifically to hear the public performances. One visitor said:

“Oh, I thought they put 'quiet zone' so that we could listen to the music!”

Another evictee, a local hammer dulcimer player, pointed out that Central Park still has huge rock concerts — wall-to-wall amps cranked up to eleven, the whole works — attracting tens of thousands of listeners, some of whom are probably trampling on the grass. He said:

“It's a galling hypocrisy.”

A park spokesperson claimed that their crackdown is a response to the gazillions of complaints they’ve received about street performances. Riiight.

Geoffrey Croft, the founder of NYC Park Advocates, is joining the fight on behalf of the musicians. He said:

“As long as there's been a park system people have been playing music in parks. They're claiming people are complaining, but who's complaining?”


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Saturday, June 11, 2011

Scott Walker’s Newest Target: Microbreweries

If there’s anything Scott Walker hates even more than labor unions and working people, it’s locally-made craft beer. Microbrews. You know — beer that actually tastes good because it’s brewed on a small scale, using quality ingredients, and the brewer has used his/her utmost knowledge and expertise to make an outstanding product. How un-American. Sounds like one of them wimpy socialist countries over there in Yerp; not the America I grew up in.

Real Men™ drink cheap carbonated bilge made by a gigantic mega-corporation. And they guzzle it by the case; they don’t sip it out of a glass and then savor the underlying flavors. Sissies!

Even worse, none of these microbrewers ever contributed anything to Scott Walker’s campaign, unlike MillerCoors, which gave him $22,675.

(Here’s another link.)

Using Scott Walker’s standard M.O., a provision was snuck into a Wisconsin state budget proposal on May 31st. If passed, this new law will crack down on those pesky microbrewers, who make up five percent of Wisconsin’s beer sales. The large corporate brewers want it ALL, God Damn It!

This law was supposedly written to protect MillerCoors from a power grab by Anheuser-Busch. What’s next, a law protecting Godzilla from Mothra?

The law will treat microbrewers as if they were large corporate brewers — only without the huge profits and the ability to purchase elections. MillerCoors and the Wisconsin Beer Distributors Association have instructed their legislative prostitutes to pass this law. MillerCoors doesn’t want any competition from people who make REAL beer, and the Beer Distributors Association wants to get its guaranteed 30% “commission” from every bottle of beer sold in Wisconsin.

Currently, Wisconsin microbrewers are allowed to sell their own beer at their brewery, and they can sell directly to restaurants and liquor stores. All of these practices will be forbidden under the new law.

And you thought Republicans were AGAINST
government bureaucrats meddling in the private sector.

Since beer cuts across all political and socio-economic lines, this might be another unintended consequence for Walker and his fellow Kochsuckers. At a rally on June 4th, a speaker said:

“They came for our public utilities … and I did nothing. Then they came for SeniorCare and BadgerCare … and I did nothing. And when there was nothing left, finally they came for our beer. And that’s when I said, ‘It’s time for revolution!’ … This is the Wisconsin revolution, and it’s powered by beer!”


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Friday, June 10, 2011

Rand Paul: When Immigrants Attack

And not just them illegal ones either. LEGAL immigrants are just as dangerous. Watch your back!

40,000 immigrants are studying — legally! — in America’s universities; and God only knows how many thousands of other swarthy furriners are working here. Rand Paul has warned us of the danger we’re all in:

“We have 40,000 students coming to this country from all over the world. Are they would-be attackers?”

Be Very Afraid.

Fortunately, Rand Paul still has his inbred bodyguard to protect us. He took care of that vicious MoveOn protester last fall, and if America needs him again, He’s Ready!

So many immigrant heads to stomp, so little time.


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Thursday, June 09, 2011

Christopher Titus “Threatens” Sarah Palin

Hat Tip to an unnamed unlinked rightwing blogger who was ranting and foaming at the mouth about this. Shouldn’t be funny, but…

I hadn’t heard or read anything about Christopher Titus since 2002 when his hilarious TV sitcom — “Titus” — went off the air after three seasons. If you never saw it, it was topical, like Seinfeld, including a standup comedy snippet at the beginning of each episode, which was tied in with the plot. Other than that, the closest comparison was “Married: With Children,” since it was about a dysfunctional family. But “Titus” was much much raunchier, sicker and funnier than “Married: With Children.” Titus’ family made the Bundys look like Ward and June Cleaver. (Stacy Keach played the father.)

Anyway, Christopher Titus hasn’t fallen off the edge of the Earth. He recently joked (presumably) about what he would do if Sarah Palin got elected to the White House:

(Here’s the link:)

“You know what man? I am going to literally — if she gets elected president, I am going to hang out on the grassy knoll all the time, just loaded and ready — because you know what? It’s for my country. It’s for my country. If I got to sacrifice myself, it’s for my country.”

Now now, he was just kidding. [ahem] Anyway, I’m glad he’s still around.

Here’s his current website.


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Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Tell Senator Paul Broun to get a Real Job

According to Senator Paul Broun (R—Inbred), police officers and firefighters don’t have “real jobs.” You know, ‘cause they’s just a bunch of bureaucrats workin’ for that there gubmint.

Presumably if the Georgia senator’s house catches fire, he won’t bother calling one of them faceless government bureaucrats; he’ll go to the private sector and find somebody with a Real Job to come and put out the fire.

If congressional Republicans refuse to raise the debt limit, at least 250,000 government employees will lose their jobs. Paul Broun was asked about this on a conservative talk show. His response:

“Well those are gonna be government employees that are put out of work. There are a lot of government employees that need to go find a real job!”

Hopefully this government-employed dickwad will be searching for “a real job” after the next election.

And speaking of Republicans playing chicken with the debt ceiling: the landlord says “knock it off!” An advisor to the People’s Bank of China said Republicans are “playing with fire” when they threaten even a brief debt default, just to play chicken with Obama and see who blinks first. He warned that any default would destabilize the global economy:

“I think there is a risk that the U.S. debt default may happen. The result will be very serious and I really hope that they would stop playing with fire. I really worry about the risks of a U.S. debt default, which I think may lead to a decline in the dollar's value.”

Aw come on, the Republicans are having so much fun baiting and toying with that Kenyan Socialist Muslim in the White House. If they can’t keep doing that, what else are they gonna do? Get a Real Job?


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Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Tim Pawlenty: “A Better Deal” and the Google Test

How’s that for a riveting campaign slogan? Tim Pawlenty’s “Better Deal” consists of eliminating the estate tax and all taxes on capital gains, interest and dividends; and lowering the corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%. Even better, all government safety/environmental regulations will be automatically “sunsetted” unless Congress votes to renew them.

With these crippling taxes and cumbersome regulations no longer strangling the economy, hardworking Americans will once again be free “to innovate, invest, compete, and create new businesses and jobs.”

This has a sort of eerie familiarity — probably because it’s the same bill of goods Republicans have been selling us since 1980. But hey, let’s keep doing the same thing over and over and over, and maybe this time we’ll get a different result.

And don’t worry about where future revenues will come from after Pawlenty has eliminated everybody’s taxes (except for people who work for a living). He’s got it covered: the Google Test:

“If you can find a good or service on the Internet, then the federal government probably doesn’t need to be doing it. The post office, the government printing office, Amtrak, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were all built in a time in our country when the private sector did not adequately provide those products. That’s no longer the case.”

Isn’t this great?!?!? The Google Test also means we overburdened taxpayers will no longer need to pay for the military and the weapons they use; law enforcement; fire departments, road construction…

We’re Free!!!

And Texas Governor Rick Perry has his own variation: “Don’t use the Google; ask Jesus.”

On August 6th Rick Perry will be holding a “Day of Prayer and Fasting for our Nation to seek God's guidance.” This sacred event will be held at Reliant Stadium in Houston, and all governors are invited.

On his website, Perry says “Americans must come together and call upon Jesus to guide us through unprecedented struggles because some problems are beyond our power to solve.”


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Monday, June 06, 2011

More Republican Dirty Tricks in Wisconsin

What else is new? Every time you think Scott Walker and his fellow Koch Whores couldn’t possibly stoop any lower, they do. Wisconsin Republicans — hereafter referred to as the Wisconsin branch office of Koch Industries — have come up with a scheme to sabotage the upcoming recall election against six Republican state senators.

The recall election is tentatively scheduled for July 12th. Each of the six Republicans subject to a recall are facing one Democratic candidate. Here’s where the sleaze begins. Republicans are planning to prop up a few fake “Democrats” to run in primary races against the Democratic candidates who are already running. If the Republicans are able to pull this off, the primaries will be held on July 12th, thereby postponing the recall election and giving the six embattled Republicans more time to campaign for their positions.

One state GOP leader wrote in a letter to his fellow sleazewipes::

“We need to make sure Democrat challengers face primaries to allow our Republicans time to mount a campaign.”

At least one of the phony “Democrats,” Rol Church, has long been known for taking conservative positions and contributing to conservative causes. Two local Republican leaders bragged in a letter about his fake campaign:

“We can't stress enough how important it is to have Rol on the ballot to combat the shady maneuvers of Madison liberals and their out-of-state allies.”

This is just one more reason — not that we needed yet another one — for Wisconsin residents to vote those Kochsuckers out of office.


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Sunday, June 05, 2011

Mortgage Holder Forecloses on Bank of America

The high school bully finally gets his comeuppance. This has to be the feelgood story of the year. In Collier County, Florida, a local Bank of America branch had been involved in an improper foreclosure proceeding.

A judge ruled against Bank of America and ordered them to pay the mortgage holder’s legal fees of $2,534. Bank of America refused. So far, just another typical day in the plutocracy. An 800-pound corporate gorilla walks all over the public and then says “What are you gonna do about it?”

And then?!?!?

And then: the Bank of America branch received a visit from an attorney, two sheriff’s deputies and a moving van. Bank of America was offered a choice: pay the $2,534 as the judge had ordered, or vacate the premises and have their assets seized. They decided to pay.

YESSS!!!

Now THIS is the kind of thing that needs to start happening a lot more often. When a corporation breaks the law, it needs to be held accountable, just like a person would. (Since corporations are people, right?)

Politicians aren’t gonna do anything except look angry in front of the camera while gushing out a touchy-feely soundbite and then go back to their junketing and fundraising.

As the Right loves to say, it’s up to We The People to “take our country back.”


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Friday, June 03, 2011

Republicans: “First Amendment? We Were Just Kidding”

Here’s the GOP’s two-pronged approach to the 2012 election:

1. Raise trillions of dollars — most of it from anonymous donors — for a bunch of vicious slanderous TV attacks on Obama.

2. Prevent TV stations from airing the Democrats’ opposing commercials.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is demanding that a New Hampshire TV station yank a commercial they’ve been running. This ad is making the absolutely preposterous claim that the Republican budget plan will end Medicare. [gasp!]

The National Republican Congressional Committee has sent threatening letters to TV station WMUR and Comcast Boston, demanding that the add be pulled.

Republicans already have a gazillion dollar campaign fund — remember, corporations are people — and a 24/7/365 rightwing propaganda campaign on Fox News. Isn’t that enough???? On top of their huge advantage, they’re trying to censor opposing TV ads?!?

In the Republican version of the Bible, Goliath killed David with a slingshot.


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Thursday, June 02, 2011

International Panel: “End the War on Drugs”

This probably won’t change anything. For decades, prominent American politicians — including conservatives — have called for an end to the war on drugs. It falls on deaf ears every time. The multi-trillion-dollar Prison Industrial Complex is perfectly happy with our drug laws just the way they are. Case closed.

Now an international panel, commissioned by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, is calling for an end to the war on drugs. This commission includes the Prime Minister of Greece; the former presidents of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia; former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan; and George Schultz and Paul Volcker.

The panel issued a statement saying:

“Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem, and that the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won.”

The former president of Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, said:

“The fact is that the war on drugs is a failure. Being a failure is not saying that you have nothing to do with drugs. You have to act. The drug are infiltrating the local power in several parts of the world. Corruption is increasing and the consumption of drugs is also increasing.”

The former president of Colombia said:

“We hope the U.S. at least starts to think there are alternatives. We don't see the U.S. evolving in a way that is compatible with our countries’ long-term interests.”

In a related story: Mexico’s violent crime rate is through the roof; and not just in Juarez and other border cities. Monterray, an industrial powerhouse and one of Mexico’s wealthiest cities, is being swallowed up by drug-related gang killings and kidnappings. Monterray has already had as many drug-related murders so far this year as it had in all of 2010.

Imagine the outrage in the U.S. if a law in Mexico was causing tens of thousands of Americans to be kidnapped and murdered every year. Mexico has some of the highest anti-American sentiment in the world. We can thank the war on drugs for that.


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Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Citizens For A Better Arizona

Since Arizona is notorious for its teabagging KKK population, it’s nice to know the state also has some unbigoted non-rednecks who don’t want to “take their country back” to 1859.

Citizens For A Better Arizona has filed a recall petition against state Senator Russell Pearce (R—Inbred). Pearce is the author of Arizona’s infamous “Zee Papersss Pleasse” immigration law. He’s also a devoted birther and tenther.

Citizens For A Better Arizona describes itself as a “coalition of concerned citizens committed to improving the quality of life of all Arizonans.” The group has already collected 18,315 voter signatures for their recall petition; they only needed 7,756 signatures.

Russell Pearce originated the idea — dutifully carried out by his faithful dog, Sheriff Joe Arpaio — of creating tent cities for detaining illegal immigrants. He also said:

“The best thing about the immigration law is that Obama may not be visiting Arizona because we actually require papers now.”

Here’s the website for Citizens For A Better Arizona. Come on Arizona voters
get that shitstain out of the Senate.


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