So, does CNN, FAUX News, etc. have long weekend - long lock - up marathons like MSNBC? I'm asking for a friend. ;D If MSNBC is truly going to be the place for news & politics, their weekend programming better start indicating as such. Hell, just re - run some Dylan Ratigan, Ed, Tweety, Keith, or Rachel or SOMETHING if weekend personnel staffing is an issue! OK, getting off my soapbox now...for a bit - HA!
We've got some doozy "this day in history" items; I HAVE TO bring out THE cake for one of them, so those of you with "poo" sensitive natures will want to avert your eyes. But, you'll see bringing out THE cake is so deserved. On this date in 1854, the first official meeting of the Republican Party took place in Jackson, MI; there was no mention of a tea bagger constituency - HA! ;D On this date in 2003, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, in a New York Times op-ed, disputed President George W. Bush's statement that Iraq had sought uranium in Africa, saying he had found no evidence to support the claim when the CIA asked him to investigate. We all remember what happened afterwards, yes? *&^%$#@!
The Joseph Wilson item actually provides a nice bridge to our birthday that warrants THE cake so, again, avert your eyes if necessary. GWB is 64 today. Do I really REALLY need to go into the reasons why he deserves THE cake only with real "poo" instead of fake "poo"? Let's suffice to say that for the harm that you did to this nation through your reign of terror that can never be undone, you're invited to dive in with the admonition to GO...wait...GWB already Cheneyed himself for 8 years.
Let's end with a good birthday! Ned Beatty is 73 today. No, I'm not bringing out any Deliverance clips! I'm bringing out THIS one. ;D
LOVE IT!
Let's Countdown...
#5 "BP Oil Leak: Day 78" AKA "The Big Greasy" AKA "Govt. Failout" - Tar balls are in TX now, so every single state along the Gulf of Mexico has seen oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill. Does Gov. Secession still want to secede, or will he be in line for federal aid? Oil is even near New Orleans because oil is in Lake Pontchartrain. Gadzooks! Winds are still hampering clean – up efforts. Canadians have been using dehydrated peat moss for similar messes for years. Meh...what do Canadians know? They gave us Celine Dion for sparks’ sake! ;D BP/BS isn’t using this stuff because they won’t be able to get the oil after clean – up efforts; the crude won’t be around for them to sell! BP/BS & TransOcean got all kinds of tax benefits, too.
BP/BS put their name on a board game back in the 70s about the "thrill" of off – shore drilling. It doesn’t sound anything like Candy Land or Chutes & Ladders! Bob Cavnar is with us again. If levees around New Orleans break again, the city would get a river of icky sludgy bubblin’ crude. A month before Deepwater Horizon blew up & sank, BP/BS submitted a report to MMS that they had the capacity to skim & retrieve up to 4 times the amount of oil in a spill than what they are actually doing now; they never had that capacity to begin with.
So, whose head (if any) will roll for THIS latest fib? All the skimming & other equipment BP/BS had to deal with spills was 30 years old & had no way of sufficiently tackling a spill of the nature of Deepwater Horizon. Mr. Cavnar made a great point; BP/BS is burning off a $hitload of oil! So, they must not be TOO concerned about recovering oil to sell again on the open market, or they wouldn’t be burning all that stuff! Eric Bates, from Rolling Stone, is in da’ house to talk government largesse in the oil & gas industry. The federal government is supposed to be in charge of this clean – up, so they should be sparkin’ telling BP/BS to try every damn feasible idea that’s been put forth! Of course, they haven’t.
GWB broke this system, President Obama knew this system was broken when he came into office, and he didn’t make efforts to fix this broken system until it was way too damn late. Making Ken Salazar a Cabinet member wasn’t exactly a brilliant move, either. Keith, this event hasn’t had any effect on Ken Salazar losing his job because he & too many other politicos ON BOTH SIDES OF THE POLITICAL AISLE have too many vested interests to not ensure that BP/BS & others don’t get the tar & feathering they deserve. How could BP/BS efforts get any worse with or without Ken Salazar?!
#4 "Papers Please Politics" - The DOJ has FINALLY OFFICIALLY filed suit against SB 1070 – ‘bout damn time! The basis for the DOJ lawsuit is that the "Show Me Your Papers" state law is unconstitutional because it usurps federal authority in controlling immigration policy. The DOJ also asked for an injunction to prevent the law from going into effect on the 29th of this month. How are other injunction efforts going, or are there still other efforts going since the DOJ has finally stepped in? Local law enforcement has come out against the law because it will actually make it more difficult for them to actually CATCH & CONTROL undocumented people from entering this country. And, let the GOBP whiney *itching begin! ;D Like we didn’t think THAT would happen... Here’s what the "honorable" Governator had to say:
As a direct result of failed and inconsistent federal enforcement, Arizona is under attack from violent Mexican drug and immigrant smuggling cartels. Now, Arizona is under attack in federal court from President Obama and his Department of Justice.
Huh...comparing this administration to drug cartels? CLASSY! And, way to stoke up that "tyranny of government" shtick! Senators McCentury & Kooky Kyl couldn’t respond fast enough, either.
...the American people must wonder whether the Obama Administration is really committed to securing the border...
Lordy, Senator McCentury & the "honorable" Governator are absolutely PETRIFIED of losing next month, aren’t they! Mitchie McConnell, not from the "Show Me Your Papers" state the last I remember, also threw in his way – less – than 2 cents’ worth. Maybe, he’s worried about all the undocumented Hoosiers jumping the border. ;D
Small Price to Pay Goldilocks just had to say something, too. Howard Fineman gets to talk SB 1070 & politics. Them GOBPers are all about security – except when "the birthday boy" ignores a memo indicating AQ was determined to strike on our soil. But, we won’t go there. 11 GOBPers voted for Senator McCentury’s & Kennedy’s immigration bill a few years ago; there ain’t no damn way ANY will vote for any kind of immigration reform, now. If SB 1070 gets really enforced, Howard compared the effort to a cross between Keystone Cops & Japanese internment during WWII. Lovely... I should read the sucker myself. Do I really WANNA read the sucker myself?! The law basically seeks to clog up the federal immigration system on purpose just to make a point rather than ACTUALLY controlling illegal immigration. Actually seeing this shtick on the television machine would actually do "wonders" for the GOBPers! Howard had a GREAT idea about possible GOBP framing of this issue! If they’re so hot & bothered about border security & building a big fancy fence, make them say where the money will come from out of the defense budget!! YO DEMS! DID YA’ HEAR THAT?! President Obama may yet be looking for another compromise; again, you can’t compromise with a group that has no interest in negotiating in good faith. I would hope he’d learned that lesson by now!
** Here’s the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest at Coney Island; the Japanese previous champ crashed the thing! There’s a nap hotel in Argentina; insert Gov. Mark Sanford joke here. ;D **
#3 "War Pigs" AKA "The Military – Industrial Complex" - Reps. Ron Paul & Barney Frank are uniting efforts to get the DOD budget decreased – good luck with THAT, fellers! Remember the phrase "military industrial complex"? You’re gonna have a whole MESS of people fighting you on that score! $693 BILLION is the Pentagon’s budget for next year. Damn... Even if you take out the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, the DOD still does 42% of the spending! SOD Gates has already called on a decrease in their budget? Seriously?! Well, St. Sarah from Wasilla won’t have ANY of that:
This administration may be willing to cut defense spending but it’s increasing it everywhere else. I think we should do it the other way round: cut spending in other departments – apart from defense.
Good sparkin’ grief, those talking points are how many years old??!! Remember...again...
Here’s Rep. Barney Frank! He thinks the UAE should stick their defense ideas up a dark stinky place. ;D Rep. Frank thinks President Obama is too easily intimidated on the terrorism issue. Most of the bases we have all over the world do nothing to ensure our security, and most defense budgets for countries in Europe don’t come close to half their gross domestic spending because we’re paying for a whole lot of it!
"Tea Time" Sharron Angle compared herself to President Lincoln; that whirring you hear in Abe spinning in his grave!
WPITW – Nice pic of Lonesome Rhodes, there! He didn’t like what Will Bunch had to say about his little diploma mill; I’m crying a river. Rep. Steve King is using some damn twisted sparked up political "logic" to trash this administration’s level of cooperation with Gov. Gilligan. Boss Limbaugh said the only reason Barack Obama won the election was because he’s black and compared his success to Oprah’s?! Uh – oh! Them Oprah fans is rabid; NOW, he’s gonna get it! ;D That’s funny; before the segment, I guessed the person would be Muhammad Ali.
#1 "Obtuse Angle" AKA "Extreme Makeover" - Sharron Angle is threatening to sue Harry Reid if he keeps quoting her bat$hit politics from her pesky intertubes site. She has totally redone her website; she wants the sole right to fib about herself! Dr. Rand Paul is also doing some "policy switching" in the run – up to his general election as to not look so bat$hit. Here’s Chris Hayes to talk bat$hit & the appropriate "side dishes" for the Hayes droolers. ;D