Who Hijacked Our Country

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Holiday Shoppers: Boycott Walmart, Kmart and...

If you actually believe in those “Family Values” that the Religious Right is always blubbering about, you won't want to patronize the home-wrecking assholes that are forcing their employees to work on Thanksgiving Day.

This website lists the stores that are open on Thanksgiving.  Kmart (open at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving!!!), Walmart, the usual suspects...

For whatever it's worth (it's a start), there are two social media boycotts of stores that are open on Thanksgiving:  Boycott Black Thursday and Boycott Shopping on Thanksgiving Day.

And here is a list of 20 stores that refuse to open on Thanksgiving.

Please shop wisely.


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Sunday, November 23, 2014

The Truth about Keystone XL Pipeline




Keystone XL pipeline pumps pollution and profits, not jobs


Any questions?


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Friday, November 21, 2014

GOP Lawsuit Against Obama: Third Time's The Charm

After two failed attempts to persuade a lawyer to take their case, House Republicans have finally reeled one in.  Now it's Full Speed Ahead in the GOP lawsuit against President Obama.  Paid for by YOUR tax dollars.

Nancy Pelosi summed the whole thing up in much more printable language than I would have used:

“This lawsuit is a bald-faced attempt to achieve what Republicans have been unable to achieve through the political process. The legislative branch cannot sue simply because they disagree with the way a law passed by a different Congress has been implemented.”

And she accused Republicans of “prioritizing the special interests and the howls of impeachment-hungry extremists before the needs of the nation.”

That's putting it mildly.


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Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Senate Vote on Keystone

Not just No, but Fuck NO!!!


No doubt today's Senate vote on Keystone will be the first of dozens.  Scores!  Hundreds!  Oil industry prostitutes will stage vote after vote after vote.  Like they say about doing the same thing over and over...

Future paleontologists will be mystified when they exhume the remains of today's teabaggers and congressional prostitutes.  “Hmmm, their bodies bent over easily, their legs would spread at the drop of a coin, and yet these creatures were amazingly persistent and strong-willed.”

A pool should be taken.  Which burning issue will our congressional hookers ultimately take more votes on — repealing Obamacare or approving the Keystone oil pipeline?

Or to put it another way:  At what point will the number of “Yes on Keystone” votes equal the number of “Repeal Obamacare!” votes?  Guess the exact date and win _____________

Something else to guess:  If (make that when) Republican skanks start attaching a Keystone approval amendment to every must-pass Senate bill, will President Obama have the integrity and fortitude to veto these bills?


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Monday, November 17, 2014

Al Franken Walks Ted Cruz through the Deep Vast Mysteries of the Internet

What is it with Republicans and their mass befuddlement over the vast mysterious Internet?  Ted Stevens thought the Internet was “a series of tubes.”  Mitch McConnell says we don't need “the government tinkering with the Internet” (i.e. Net Neutrality).  And now Ted Cruz has derided Net Neutrality as “Obamacare for the Internet.”

Al Franken has taken the time to spell out a few simple facts for Ted Cruz.  Whether or not Ted Cruz will actually comprehend this information, who knows?

Here is an excerpt from Al Franken's CNN interview with Candy Crowley:

CROWLEY: [Cruz wrote] “Net neutrality is Obamacare for the Internet. It would put the government in charge of determining Internet prices, terms of service and what types of products and services can be delivered, leading to fewer choices, fewer opportunities and higher prices. Government-regulated utilities invariably destroy innovation and freedom.” Your reaction?
FRANKEN: He has it completely wrong. He just doesn’t understand what this issue is. We’ve had net neutrality the entire history of the Internet, so when he says this is the Obamacare… Obamacare was a government program that fixed something, that changed things. This is about reclassifying something, so it stays the same. This would keep things exactly the same. And the pricing happens by the value of something.

Makes sense to me, but then I'm not a Republican.


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Sunday, November 16, 2014

Man Bites Dog, Then Sues Dog for $1 Million

The exact headline reads “Woman sues owners of dog killed by her pit bulls.”

Emerald White of Texas City, TX, is the owner of four pit bulls.  Her four pit bulls tore through a neighbor's fence and killed his 10-year-old beagle.  And now Emerald White has filed a $1 million lawsuit against the owner of the beagle who was killed by her pit bulls.

I can either stop here, or start regurgitating all the colorful swear words I haven't heard since high school or boot camp...

No comment...


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Friday, November 14, 2014

Politics Corrupted by Campaign Contributions and Mass Media Gimmickry

This is too obvious to be even worth mentioning these days.  But Senator John F. Kennedy warned us in 1959 that political campaign contributions and TV gimmickry might have a corrupting influence on our political system.

He wrote an article in TV Guide titled “A Force That Has Changed The Political Scene.”  His article said in part:

“It is in your power to perceive deception, to shut off gimmickry, to reward honesty, to demand legislation where needed. Without your approval, no TV show is worthwhile and no politician can exist.” 

He warned that television could be misused for “manipulation, exploitation and gimmicks.  It can be abused by demigods, by appeals to emotions and prejudice and ignorance.”

He also warned us about political campaigns being taken over by “public relations experts.  Political shows like quiz shows can be fixed—and sometimes are.” 

And he warned us about the “financial cost.”

“If all parties and candidates are to have equal access to this essential and decisive campaign medium, without becoming deeply obligated to the big financial contributors … then the time has come when a solution must be found to this problem of TV costs.”

Between this article by Senator Kennedy and President Eisenhower's warning a few months later about the Military Industrial Complex — we can't say they didn't warn us.


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Thursday, November 13, 2014

How Democrats Can Fight Voter Suppression

During the 2014 midterm election, liberal donors spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to prop up Democratic candidates.  And what do they have to show for it?

Some of this money would have been better spent on get-out-the-vote efforts instead of endless commercials and robocalls.   Nothing like spending billions of dollars to get your base all fired up, and then they're not even allowed to vote because [consult your local teabagger for popular excuses]

These ALEC/Koch-directed voter suppression schemes are basically a poll tax, regardless of how many euphemisms the corporate-funded “Tea Party” comes up with.  And what should Democratic donors spend some of their money on?  As the linked article says, “pay people's poll taxes.”

It can be expensive to obtain an acceptable photo ID card.  A lot of low-income people don't drive and/or they live far away from the nearest DMV or county administrative office.  (That's why it's a poll tax.)   Other popular don't let them nigras vote tactics include banning same-day voter registration and banning early and extended voting hours.  These voter suppression laws are clearly unconstitutional, but don't expect the Supreme Court to step in.  Money is speech; voting isn't.  Corporations are people; swarthy minorities aren't.

Assuming these Jim Crow laws are still in effect for the next election, Democratic donors should spend whatever it takes to help millions of low-income voters with the cost (and bureaucratic red tape) of obtaining a photo ID card.  Conduct massive voter registration drives.  Send out constant reminders of when the polling booths are open for early and late voting.  Etc.


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Tuesday, November 11, 2014

“What Were You Thinking, America?”

This was the question asked by a Canadian citizen in an open letter to American voters.

The day after the midterm election, Richard Brunt of Victoria, B.C., wrote a letter praising President Obama for the falling unemployment rate, lower gas prices, lower interest rates and record corporate profits.  He followed that up with:

“Many of us Canadians are confused by the US midterm elections.  America is leading the world once again and respected internationally — in sharp contrast to the Bush years. Obama brought soldiers home from Iraq and killed Osama bin Laden.  So, Americans vote for the party that got you into the mess that Obama just dug you out of? This defies reason.”

Yes it does.  Wish I could help you.  Perhaps America's low-information brainwashed voters — several of whom are pictured below — can answer your question:






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Monday, November 10, 2014

Obama Takes Firm Stand on Net Neutrality

President Obama has come out swinging on the issue of Net Neutrality, even taking a swing (figuratively) at Tom Wheeler, his own appointee to head the FCC. Tom Wheeler had originally been in favor of Net Neutrality, and later flipflopped in favor of segregating the Internet into a Fast Lane (for those who are willing to pay a little extra) and a Slow Lane for everyone else.

Under the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the FCC has the authority to reclassify Internet Service Providers as utilities, and this is what Obama is urging the FCC to do.  If ISPs are classified as utilities, the FCC will be able to enforce Net Neutrality, i.e. the same Internet speed for everyone; no fast or slow lanes.  President Obama said:

“The time has come for the FCC to recognize that broadband service is of the same importance and must carry the same obligations as so many of the other vital services do.  To do that, I believe the FCC should reclassify consumer broadband service under Title II of the Telecommunications Act...This is a basic acknowledgment of the services ISPs provide to American homes and businesses, and the straightforward obligations necessary to ensure the network works for everyone — not just one or two companies.”

Bravo!  Net Neutrality is a populist issue — along with increasing the minimum wage and legalizing marijuana — that cuts across party lines.  I doubt if there are a whole lot of Internet users — regardless of how conservative they are — who are thinking “Sure, I'd be happy to pay more for Internet access or be relegated to the slow lane, because Freedom.”


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Friday, November 07, 2014

Yes, of course the Supreme Court will Hear Yet Another Obamacare Challenge

Was there any question?  Previous federal court decisions have been almost unanimous in their rejection of this latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act.  Ruth Bader Ginsburg pointed out that the absence of conflicting rulings was the reason the Supreme Court refused to hear gay marriage appeals last month.  And the executive director of Families USA said:

“All of the general guidelines that the court traditionally uses in determining whether it should schedule an appeal are totally absent in this case.”

But when it comes to pulling the rug out from under five million Americans who have health insurance for the first time in their lives, who needs logic or consistency?

The SCOTUS will probably hear this challenge in March; a decision is expected in late June.

This newest challenge to Obamacare is based on the “reasoning” that the Affordable Care Act only applies to the sixteen states that have set up their own health insurance exchanges.  In the other thirty-four states, the federal government has set up these exchanges; hence the Far Right's lawsuit and mass panty-twist.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute is financing this challenge to the Affordable Care Act.  The group's general counsel, Sam Kazman, said:

Outside of torturing small animals, nothing makes me cream in my jeans like the prospect of yanking five million people's health insurance away from them.  Ugh!  Oh God Oh God Oh God  The need for a quick and final resolution of this question is undeniable.”


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Tuesday, November 04, 2014

2014 Midterm Election Results: a Silver Lining

Looking for a silver lining in this year's abortional midterm election results is kind of like a newly homeless person saying “Cool!  No more mortgage payments; no more of those obnoxious neighborhood kids cutting across my lawn.”

And on that note:

Ballot initiatives to increase the minimum wage were approved by voters in South Dakota, Arkansas and Nebraska.

Voters in Oregon and Washington D.C. have approved the legalization of recreational marijuana.

A “Personhood” amendment (“life begins at ejaculation”) got trounced in Colorado.

The Worst Governor Ever — Tom Corbett, Pennsylvania's corporate-funded teabag-sucking skank — has been voted out.

A gun control initiative — all it does is increase background checks — actually passed in Washington State. I'm pretty neutral about the whole gun thing, but it was refreshing to see the usual NRA talking points (“Dey gonna take away our guns!”) and obfuscation tactics (coming up with an innocuously-worded rival measure that would prohibit background checks) being ignored by voters.

Michigan voters rejected two initiatives that would have 1) allowed trophy hunting of wolves, and 2) authorized an unelected unaccountable committee of ranchers and trophy hunters to make all future decisions on which animals could be hunted, regardless of these animals' endangered or threatened status.

And don't get me started on Maine's inbred voters who apparently drool and ejaculate at the prospect of luring bears with piles of donuts and candy and then shooting them pointblank.  

OOPS, this was supposed to be a positive post...