Posts filed under ‘WingNutO’Sphere’
Oops! Gerald Rivera in a Hoodie — Look Out
Uh oh, here’s Geraldo Rivera in a hoodie. Yikes:
Via GeraldoInAHoodie.tumblr.com
Limbaugh Says Protests Against Him Aren’t Working
…so the obvious thing to do is hire a crisis management firm. Makes sense, right?
While [Rush Limbaugh] publicly scoffed at the notion that the reaction to his misogyny [and his three-day rant against "slut" Sandra Fluke] is having an impact, he’s quietly hired an expert in crisis management to handle the fallout.
Brian Glicklich has been acting on Limbaugh’s behalf since at least March 8. Glicklich is a former vice president at Premiere Radio Networks, and currently heads the firm How Handy Is That, which specializes in reputation and crisis management and “gadfly defense.” He previously worked as counsel to a firm that provides crisis management to clients like David Copperfield and Paris Hilton. Glicklich also has an extensive relationship with Glenn Beck, and is thanked in the acknowledgements of several of Beck’s books.
Repeat after me: This is having no effect! This is having no effect! This is having no effect!
Man, there’s no end to the lying coming from the right these days.
Conservative Blogger Didn’t Think This Picture Would Offend Anyone
Holy cow:
Former John Locke Foundation blogger Tara Servatius has issued the statement below about her use of an image of President Barack Obama dressed in gay fetish wear and high heels with a bucket of fried chicken.
Servatius, a former conservative radio host in Charlotte, resigned from the Locke Foundation’s Meck Deck blog this morning.
“I am genuinely sorry my inclusion of the photo along with my blog post has caused controversy for the John Locke Foundation.
“If it has offended anyone, I sincerely regret that. That was certainly not my intention and I would feel awful if that was the case. It was meant to illustrate Obama’s southern political strategy, nothing more. An honest reading of the piece itself shows there is nothing offensive in it.”
[...]
“Regrettably, I didn’t think about the racial implications of the picture when I posted it. I simply don’t think in those terms. Unfortunately some people do. To me, fried chicken is simply a Southern Cuisine.”
This is the image:
(Via.)
She “didn’t think about the racial implications of the picture” because she doesn’t “think in those terms?” What? We’re supposed to believe she doesn’t have a speck of racism in her body? In all seriousness: Is she blind?
American Theocracy — It Begins With “Little” Things Like License Plates
What is your immediate thought when you see this Colorado license plate?
Anti-abortion, right? But that’s not what the theocrats in Colorado told us when they rammed this down our throat:
You’ve seen them — Colorado’s most popular specialty plates, with white mountains under a blue sky, bearing an image of the state flower, the columbine. Former [Republican] Gov. Bill Owens’ (R) administration approved the design, ostensibly to commemorate the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School.
[...]
“I thought it was about being against abortion,” says Angie Wagner, loading her Buick with her four kids and groceries outside a Family Dollar store on Wednesday.
“It’s pro-life all the way,” adds Hunter Reyes, parked outside a Christian bookstore.
A bill authorizing the plate was introduced in the legislature in 2000 but voted down. Owens’ [R-Religious Zealot] Division of Motor Vehicles went ahead anyway.
If the anti-choice former governor really meant to honor the Columbine tragedy, there would have been more direct ways of doing it. “April 20, 1999. We will remember,” comes to mind. Or “Don’t Kill Your Schoolmates” might have made the point more bluntly.
Instead, the state seems to have exploited the massacre and its victims by using rhetoric that’s off-point and unmistakably political. Imagine the uproar over a license plate reading, “Respect Choice.” “Toke Up” or “Marry Gay” would have been equally lacking in subtlety.
I bring this up because of this:
‘I Believe’ license plates available in South Carolina 2 years after ruling
South Carolina drivers can buy religious license plates that feature three crosses and a sunrise, 2 1/2 years after a federal judge declared a previous legislative effort for the “I Believe” tags unconstitutional.
The new tags are sponsored by the nonprofit group www.IBELIEVEsc.net as allowed under state law.
The new tag is a nonpolitical way for Christians of all denominations to share their faith, said Adrian Grimes, spokeswoman for the group’s upcoming rollout of the plate.
A federal judge ruled in 2009 that “I Believe” tags that legislators created through a state law violated the First Amendment ban on establishment of religion by government. That plate featured a cross and stained glass window.
The new plates show the nonprofit’s name across the top, with the letters “JC” between the image of three crosses on a hill and the license number.
Be careful America/USA.
About the Separation of Church and State
Why never to vote for Rick Santorum (my Tweet of the Day):
And just think, the Romney campaign is kicking around the idea of making Santorum the — say it ain’t so already — attorney general.
Unthinkable, imho.
Heard about the “Don’t Re-Nig” Bumper Sticker?
Ah yes, Republicans, stay classy! Oh, and you too can have your very own “Don’t Re-Nig” bumper sticker for only $3.00 at Stickatude.com:
And in case you don’t know what “Re-nig” means, they provide this handy definition (and a way for the site to pretend it isn’t hatefully racist):
Riiiiight.
Early April Fool’s Joke?
Holy cow:
Mitt Romney, mired in a frustrating slog toward the presidential nomination, has directed his top advisers to launch a multi-pronged effort to unite the Republican Party as the primaries draw to a close.
While Romney’s public activities are geared almost entirely toward winning the nomination, his campaign is on a private mission aimed beyond spring. Senior aides and surrogates — hoping to seize a moment when even some unfriendly Republicans are beginning to see Romney as inevitable — have spent the past several weeks making calls and visits to conservative leaders and activists who have resisted Romney’s candidacy.
[...]
Among those being courted is Richard Land, a longtime leader of the Southern Baptist Convention. As a practice, Land said, he does not endorse political candidates, but he is considered a powerful barometer of the evangelical community.
Land said that after a private dinner with Romney last year at Acadiana, a Washington restaurant, Romney’s advisers have been in regular touch. Land said he recently told them that Romney could win over recalcitrant conservatives by picking Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) as his vice presidential running mate and previewing a few Cabinet selections: Santorum as attorney general, Gingrich as ambassador to the United Nations and John Bolton as secretary of state.
Can you imagine Rick Santorum as attorney general? We’d have prayer in schools and women not only wouldn’t have access to birth control, they wouldn’t be allowed to wear pants anymore. And Gingrich as ambassador to the United Nations? I don’t know if his humongous ego would fit in the building. And pair him with John Bolton as secretary of state and they’d end up pissing off the entire world and starting who knows how many new wars.
What a nightmare.
Gay Guys at the White House — Yikes!
This is the amazing blogger Andrew Sullivan (on the left) walking into the White House last night with his spouse, Aaron Tone, on their way to the state dinner with British PM David Cameron.
What a wonderful picture. Despite all the gloom, it reminds me that yes, we’re slowly making progress despite having to drag the ball and chain of the Republicans along with us:
Photo via AndrewSullivan.TheDailyBeast.com
Love it.
Bravo to President Obama for having the guts to invite these two and bravo to Andrew and Tony for their pride and confidence.
Rick Santorum Pissed Puerto Rico Off Today
I’m pretty sure this didn’t go over very well in Puerto Rico today:
Santorum to Puerto Rico: Speak English if you want statehood
Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum told Puerto Ricans on Wednesday they would have to make English their primary language if they want to pursue U.S. statehood, a statement at odds with the U.S. Constitution.
[...]
“We need to work together and determine what type of relationship we want to develop,” he told the newspaper.
But Santorum said he did not support a state in which English was not the primary language.
“Like any other state, there has to be compliance with this and any other federal law,” Santorum said. “And that is that English has to be the principal language. There are other states with more than one language such as Hawaii but to be a state of the United States, English has to be the principal language.”
However, the U.S. Constitution does not designate an official language, nor is there a requirement that a territory adopt English as its primary language in order to become a state.
[...]
Santorum’s statement may fall flat with Puerto Rican Republicans, who have always argued that issues of language and culture should be controlled by state governments and not the federal government.
It also could alienate the 4.2 million Puerto Ricans who live on the U.S. mainland, including nearly 1 million in presidential swing-state Florida.
Santorum has a my-way-or-the-highway attitude. You do what he wants/believes or you’re punished. The American Taliban. Duck the Constitution.
Fox Must Be Patting Itself on the Back
I have a feeling the folks at Fox are proud as hell of themselves today:
New Poll: Majority of Southerners Say Obama is a Muslim
Plaintiff in Anti-Obama Health Care Lawsuit Went Bankrupt Due to Medical Bills
The irony and hypocrisy here are so thick you would have to cut them with a chain saw:
Mary Brown (via the Wall Street Journal)
Mary Brown, a 56-year-old Florida woman who owned a small auto repair shop but had no health insurance, became the lead plaintiff challenging President Obama’s healthcare law because she was passionate about the issue.
Brown “doesn’t have insurance. She doesn’t want to pay for it. And she doesn’t want the government to tell her she has to have it,” said Karen Harned, a lawyer for the National Federation of Independent Business. Brown is a plaintiff in the federation’s case, which the Supreme Court plans to hear later this month.
But court records reveal that Brown and her husband filed for bankruptcy last fall with $4,500 in unpaid medical bills.
[...]
The central issue before the Supreme Court is whether the government can require people to buy health insurance. Under the law, those who fail to buy insurance after 2014 could face a fine of up to $700.
See what I mean? The irony and hypocrisy is staring Brown smack dab in the face but she doesn’t get it. The new health care law is designed to prevent precisely what happened to her.
Not only that, she’s “passionate” about not being forced to buy insurance but she has no problem discharging her $4,500 debt and letting the rest of us pick up the tab.
What a moral and ethical icon (she compares herself to Rosa Parks), standing for fairness and justice with nothing but the purest of principles driving her.
Geezus.
Quote of the Morning
Funny:
And make no mistake: Limbaugh’s audience is very old. One station manager quipped to me, “The median age of Limbaugh’s audience? Deceased.”
(Via.)
A Doctor Speaks Out Against Arizona’s Let-Doctors-Lie-to-Women Legislation
Last Thursday I posted about legislation wending its way through the Arizona legislature known as the “Let Women Die” law. It would permit a doctor who opposes abortion to withhold information about the condition of a patient’s fetus if they feared the patient would choose to abort if they knew how diseased and/or deformed the fetus was.
I think a better name for the legislation is let’s legalize letting “Doctors Lie to Women” or let’s legalize medical practice, because that’s essentially what it would do.
Reader beth, who commented on the post (see the link above), brought up a good point: “Where the hell has the American Medical Association been on all this?” Ah, yeah!
Well, the AMA is still MIA but finally a doctor has weighed in. Meet Dr. Megan Evans:
Imagine carrying a baby to term. You’ve waited nine long months for this moment. You’ve planned for her arrival, you’ve had the baby shower, and you’ve gone to all your prenatal appointments. All along you are told that you are progressing normally and your baby is healthy. Your delivery day comes and, at delivery, your doctor tells you your baby has a devastating abnormality. A cardiac defect or a severe structural abnormality or chromosomal abnormality… something that was likely already detected early in your pregnancy.
You then discover your doctor withheld this information from you for fear you would seek an abortion. What a nightmare.
Unfortunately, the Arizona legislation is working to make this nightmare a reality.
[...]
I respect my patients, I trust them to make the best decision for themselves and their families, and I trust my colleagues to do the same. I, as a physician, have no right to make medical decisions for my patients based purely on what I think is best or based on my religious beliefs.
Thank you Dr. Evans. I can only imagine the hate mail you’re getting tonight. Now I’m waiting for the AMA as a whole to start making some major noise — to start SCREAMING — about this unspeakable oppression.
Remember How Sarah Palin Used Her Kids as Props?
Tonight, while the Very Serious Journalists in D.C. and New York are getting ready to go on television tomorrow to punditize about Game Change, I’m reminded about having lived through that time myself. Here’s an example (this is how crazy it was back then):
Is Sarah Palin Using Kids as Props Like Saddam Hussein Did?
Reported by Melanie – October 13, 2008 – Comments (108)
Have you noticed how Sarah Palin drags one or more of her kids around with her to campaign stops? I have too.
Surprise, surprise. Fox “News” hypocrite Neil Cavuto hasn’t said a word about that even though he attacked Ted Kennedy last year during the debate about SCHIP because he allegedly used kids as props, just like Saddam Hussein did.
Limbaugh Filling Ad Air Time With PSAs
Morning tidbit:
56% of Limbaugh’s WABC ads Were Unpaid PSAs Yesterday, Versus Zero the Day Before
To date, 45 advertisers have dropped Limbaugh’s show.
Rush Limbaugh Defended the Monster Joseph Kony 2012
I. Am. Speechless.
Yesterday I posted a video produced by Invisible Children about Joseph Kony, the ruthless, soulless, ice-in-his-veins head of the “Lord’s Resistance Army,” a Ugandan militia group that kidnaps kids out of their beds.
Under threat of death, boys are made to be killers and/or mutilators (killing and/or mutilating their own parents included) and girls are forced into a life of sex slavery.
I’m ashamed to say I hadn’t heard of Joseph Kony before watching the video (see it here) but when I did, I got mad as hell. I will never forget the name or face of Joseph Kony.
As of yesterday early afternoon, the video, which was posted on March 5, had 1,845,000 views. As of today @7:42 p.m. ET, there have been 9,925,483 views.
Bravo to the world for that.
That said, check this out:
Joseph Kony, head of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a militia group in Uganda responsible for mass killings and mutilations in that country (often forcing children to perform their atrocities), is the subject of a new film intended to promote efforts to bring him to justice for crimes against humanity.
In October 2011, Joseph Kony had an unusual backer in the U.S. media: Rush Limbaugh.
At that time, President Obama announced that he had “authorized a small number of combat equipped U.S. forces to deploy to central Africa to provide assistance to regional forces that are working toward the removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield.”
While conservatives like Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) supported the Obama administration’s effort, Limbaugh saw the announcement as an opportunity to bash the President.
Limbaugh told his audience that Obama was sending “a hundred troops to wipe out Christians” in Uganda, and that he was “help[ing] the Egyptians wipe out the Christians.”
On RushLimbaugh.com the headline was “Obama Invades Uganda, Targets Christians.”
Listen to the audio of Limbaugh ranting here.
Judging from this, and his 9-hour humiliation of Sandra Fluck, during which he proved he had no idea what Ms. Fluck said in her congressional testimony, I can only assume that a little bird plants a seed in Limbaugh’s ear and he goes off, without having any idea what he’s talking about.
Back in the day, when I blogged at the NewsHounds, conservatives would nitpick about a misplaced comma, yet they listen to Limbaugh who obviously doesn’t do his homework before he rips someone apart, as in the case of Ms. Fluck, or offers support, as in the case of the war criminal Joseph Kony.
It’s about doing ones homework and knowing what one is talking about, or it’s about not giving a flying f*ck.
430 Abortion Restrictions Introduced in State Legislatures Last Year
Holy cow, my eyes almost popped out when I read this just now:
Image via Guttmacher Institute / Guttmacher.org
By any estimate, advocates of reproductive rights have had a pretty successful week here in Washington. Dozens of companies have pulled ads from Rush Limbaugh’s show after the conservative radio host called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and “prostitute.” Senate Republicans are backing off their push to repeal the health reform law’s contraceptives mandate. Their House colleagues don’t look keen to pick up the fight.
Outside the beltway, though, the landscape is quite different. Despite intense backlash to some of the provisions, states could be on track for another, record-breaking year of passing restrictions on reproductive health.
“We’re looking at about 430 abortion restrictions that have been introduced into state legislatures this year, which is pretty much in the same ballpark as 2011,” says Elizabeth Nash of the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy group that focuses on health and reproductive rights. This year, Nash says, “is shaping up to be quite busy.”
Keep in mind, 2011 was already a watershed year for abortion restrictions: States passed 83 such laws, more than triple the 23 laws passed in 2010. And much of that had to do with the 2010 election, when Republicans gained control of many state legislatures. With the political makeup of state capitols unchanged, lawmakers are continuing to put more limits abortion.
More details on how Republicans are trying to foist their evangelical religious beliefs on the rest of us, here.
Now Pat Robertson Attacks Sandra Fluke
Pat Robertson today:
You know there was a woman, the law student at Georgetown University who appeared before a congressional committee, and she said that students needed $3,000 a year for contraception and that they couldn’t afford it. As I understand, the Catholic school was supposed to pay for it. Now Catholics say that fornication, if you will, sex outside of marriage, is a sin. This woman is saying ‘I’m going to be committing sin but I want you to pay for my sin.’ Now am I overstating that? Rush Limbaugh got a little bit over the top on that thing but is that what it amounted to?
Do insurance companies ask men if they’re married before they agree to pay for Viagra Pat?
Geezus. It takes two to fornicate but men are entirely left out of all this.
Watch the video here.
Limbaugh on Fluke, in Seven Minutes
I’m as sick of Rush (have been for years) as you are but I think it’s important to make a record of what just happened so here is a 7-minute video compilation of his smears against Sandra Fluke, in case you didn’t have time to watch all nine hours:
Oh, and don’t forget, he “apologized” for two words, “slut” and “prostitute.”
Statue of Rush Limbaugh Headed to Missouri State Captiol
Wooah:
Radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, at the center of a storm of criticism for derogatory remarks directed at a young law school student, is set to be honored by the Missouri Legislature with a statue at the state Capitol.
House Speaker Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, confirmed Monday that Limbaugh, who, like Tilley, hails from southeast Missouri, will be honored with a place in the Hall of Famous Missourians, a circle of busts in the Capitol rotunda recognizing prominent Missouri citizens.
The statues are paid for with private funds raised by the speaker.
The unveiling is not expected until closer to the end of the legislative session in May, but, last month, a Kansas City artist published an announcement on his website indicating he was working on sculptures of Limbaugh and Dred Scott, whose landmark slavery case was heard at the Old Courthouse in St. Louis.
They’re drinking some serious Kool-Aid out there in Missouri.
Ann Romney: I’m Not Rich
Last week Ann Romney suggested she should do the talking for her husband, presumably because he says something that alienates struggling voters every time he opens his mouth.
But oops, it looks like both Mitt and Ann are out there somewhere in la la land, void of any idea of what most of us are living through.
Ann Romney doesn’t consider herself wealthy even though she’s married too one of the richest men to run for president in the history of the United States?
Mitt Romney may have more money than any other presidential candidate in the race, but his wife said today that she does not consider herself wealthy.
“We can be poor in spirit, and I don’t even consider myself wealthy, which is an interesting thing,” Ann Romney said in an interview on Fox News. “It can be here today and gone tomorrow.”
[...]
According to his tax returns, Romney brought in about $42 million in 2010 and 2011. His estimated net worth is around $200 million.
Of course it can be “here today and gone tomorrow” Ann but your husband’s lawyers made sure that won’t happen.
Huzzah.
$42 million in one year? I’d have to go back 25 or 30 generations to claim my family made that much money.
Female Vets Call on Armed Services Radio to Drop Rush
Bravo!
The largest progressive group of veterans in America, VoteVets.org, is today releasing a statement from three female Iraq war veterans calling on Rush Limbaugh’s show to stop being broadcast by the American Forces Network (AFN).
“Rush Limbaugh has a freedom of speech and can say what he wants, but in light of his horribly misogynistic comments, American Forces Radio should no longer give him a platform. Our entire military depends on troops respecting each other – women and men. There simply can be no place on military airwaves for sentiments that would undermine that respect. When many of our female troops use birth control, for Limbaugh to say they are “sluts” and “prostitutes” is beyond the pale. It isn’t just disrespectful to our women serving our country, but it’s language that goes against everything that makes our military work. Again, we swore to uphold our Constitution, including the freedom of speech, and would not take that away from anyone – even Limbaugh. But that does not mean AFN should broadcast him. In fact, it shouldn’t.”
(Via.)
Andrew Breitbart Wouldn’t Have Been a Star Without Dumb People
My last post about Andrew Breitbart is this tweet from the extremely conservative David Frum:
What a legacy.
Get Rush Off Of Armed Services Radio
Let’s get Rush off of Armed Services Radio. Our tax dollars shouldn’t support humiliating the women in our military.
Seven Advertisers Have Dumped Rush
I’m likin’ this:
ProFlowers said Sunday on its Facebook page that it has suspended advertising on Limbaugh’s program because his comments about Georgetown University student Sandra Fluke “went beyond political discourse to a personal attack and do not reflect our values as a company.”
The six other advertisers that say they have pulled ads from his show are mortgage lender Quicken Loans, mattress retailers Sleep Train and Sleep Number, software maker Citrix Systems Inc., online data backup service provider Carbonite and online legal document services company LegalZoom.
Now I’m waiting for Oreck to make a move. I have an Oreck and I’ll never buy another one if they don’t.
Andrew Breitbart’s Fans Confirm He Was Vicious and Hateful
Read Matt Taibbi’s thoughts on Andrew Breitbart’s death here and then scroll down and read his update as to how, via their comments to his post, Breitbart’s fans have confirmed that Breitbart’s legacy is one of hate and vengeance.
Matt Taibbi
Here’s the update:
UPDATE: Well done, Breitbart fans, well done! In less than 24 hours you’ve hacked into my Wiki page, published my telephone number on Twitter, called the Rolling Stone offices pretending to be outraged “advertisers” (anonymous ones, who hung up before we could figure out which “ads” to pull), and then spent all night calling and texting my phone with various threats and insults, many of them directed at my family. “Better grow eyes in the back of your head,” was one; “I’m going to take a shit on your mother’s grave,” was another; a third called my wife a “piece of shit like you,” and many others called me a “pile of human excrement.”
Those last ones to me were the most interesting because that quote is lifted directly from Breitbart’s own obit of Ted Kennedy, which like me Breitbart ran just hours after his subject died. So that means the writers of these letters knew that what I did was exactly the same as what Breitbart had done, and yet they still found a way to be unironically outraged on Breitbart’s behalf. I thought: “These people don’t even get their own jokes.”
The really crazy thing is that I was sort of trying to be nice to Breitbart – the obit was at least half an homage. Not that I liked the guy, but he did have a few attractive qualities, one of which being the fact that he got a kick out of the nasty things people said about him. He even once had a plan to set up a website encouraging anti-Breitbart abuse, and was going to let it ride for a while, even spending six figures to hire an Obama p.r. flack to make anti-Breitbart posters, until finally revealing that he’d sponsored the whole thing. Would a person like that really expect someone like me to send flowers when he croaked? No way: he’d be insulted if I didn’t give him one last kick in the balls on the way out the door.
But I guess no homage is complete without a celebration of the whole man, and the whole man in this case was not just a guy who once said, “It’s all about a good laugh,” but also someone who liked to publish peoples’ personal information on the internet, hack into private web sites, tell lies in an attempt to get his enemies fired, and incite readers to threats against his targets and their families, including death threats. I left all of that stuff out of my obit, but now, thanks to you readers, that’s all in there as well, leaving, for posterity, a much more complete picture of the man.
Rush Limbaugh DID NOT Apologize to Sandra Fluke
The liberal media is reporting tonight that Rush Limbaugh has “apologized” to Sandra Fluke for insulting her.
What a joke. He didn’t apologize. Read his two sentence “apology” below. No way is he sorry he insulted Ms. Fluke. He wishes he hadn’t used the words he used. That’s all.
“My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir,” Limbaugh said on his website. “I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.”
Gimme some more disinfotainment!
Not only that, he “apologized” on a Saturday evening via Facebook. Coward.
