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Does God Hate the GOP?

Thursday, August 23, 2012

I don’t believe it for a moment, but you do have to ask the question…

Four years ago, James Dobson and Focus On the Family actually ran an ad calling for people to pray to God to rain out Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. I don’t know how many people prayed, but it didn’t work. In fact, the weather was fantastic, with nary a cloud in the sky.

Ironically, four days later, the Republican National Convention was nearly cancelled due to Hurricane Gustav.

But Republicans continue to equate bad weather and other disasters with divine retribution. Glenn Beck said the Japanese earthquake and tsunami were a “message being sent” by God. Last year, Michele Bachmann said that an earthquake in Virginia and hurricane Irene were attempts by God “to get the attention of the politicians“. Pat Robertson blamed the earthquake in Haiti on that country’s “pact with the devil”, and said that Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for abortion. Jerry Falwell even said that God allowed the 9/11 attacks as retribution for feminists and the ACLU.

So what are Republicans going to say about the fact that next week’s Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida is also being threatened by a hurricane? Currently a tropical storm, Isaac — whose name was taken from the Bible and literally means “he will laugh“ — is expected to gain strength and become a hurricane on Thursday. The projected path takes it right to Tampa on Monday, just as the convention starts.


© Weather Underground

The mayor of Tampa has said that he is prepared to call the convention off if necessary. Of course, hurricane predictions are often wrong, especially five days out. But I still find it hilarious that ever since Dobson prayed for rain on the Democrats, the Republicans have received nothing but.

Ironically, RNC Host Committee CEO Ken Jones said that he’s not worried, and that if a storm arrives during the RNC, the responsibility to get everyone out safely will fall to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Does someone need to remind him that government is not the solution?

UPDATE:

© Jerry Holbert

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Late Night Political Humor

Thursday, August 23, 2012

“Mitt Romney said he will not release any more tax returns. He said that he guarantees that he paid at least 13 percent every year. 13 percent? That’s not a tax, that’s a tip. In fact, it’s even a crappy tip.” – Jay Leno

“In a new interview with Fortune magazine, Mitt Romney says he wants to cut funding for PBS. When he heard that, Oscar the Grouch was like, ‘Seriously? I already live in a garbage can — how much worse can my life get?'” – Jimmy Fallon

“Mitt Romney wants to cut funding for PBS. That explains why today “Sesame Street” was brought to you by the letters ‘O and “Bama.'” – Jimmy Fallon

“Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are now campaigning separately. They didn’t want to, but Chick-Fil-A threatened to pull their campaign contributions. Getting too loose. Kind of a bromance.” – Jay Leno

“Paul Ryan looks like a guy who owns his own chain of nursing homes.” – David Letterman

“Paul Ryan likes to catch a catfish bare-handed. He’ll wade into a river and pull it out with his bare hands. Meanwhile, Chris Christie likes to reach into the tank at Red Lobster.” – David Letterman

“You all remember Donald Trump. He was the guy who thought President Obama was born in Kenya. Hey, I got a message for Donald Trump: ‘Kenya’ shut up?” – David Letterman

“President Obama met with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in the Oval Office. They agreed on a new economic plan after losing last night’s big Powerball lottery.” – Jay Leno

“President Obama is still reminding people that he inherited this economy. Let me tell you something. If this economy doesn’t turn around soon, his inheritance could be cut off in November.” – Jay Leno

“Joe Biden has a new slogan — “Chains you can believe in’.” – Jay Leno

“Even though he made a number of gaffes this week, President Obama says he’s sticking with Joe Biden as his running mate, and Biden is thrilled. Of course he’s thrilled. Do you want to be looking for a job in this economy?” – Jay Leno

“When Facebook stock went on the market, it was priced at $38 a share. Now, a share is worth $18.99. Market analysts have said we’re not posting enough pictures of our cats on Facebook.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Some investors are suing Facebook saying they were misled. Their CEO is a kid in a hoodie. That’s how much we have been misled.” – Jimmy Kimmel

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Ryan’s Recall

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Does Paul Ryan have a memory problem?

For example, just before being named as Romney’s running mate, Ryan suddenly amended his financial disclosure statements to add an income producing trust that is worth between $1 and $5 million. Members of Congress are required to disclose major financial holdings, but Ryan claimed that leaving the trust off his disclosure was an “inadvertent omission”. I’d love to have so much money that I can forget about an asset that could be worth as much as $5 million, but Ryan’s net worth is around $4.5 million. Did he really forget about something that is likely to be his biggest asset? But I guess it is easy to forget about things you didn’t have to earn — almost all of Ryan’s money comes from his marriage and inheritances.

Or how about the case of Ryan repeatedly claiming that he never took any stimulus money for his district. But the Boston Globe discovered multiple letters from Ryan requesting stimulus money (which were awarded). After being confronted with the letters, he still claimed he would never do such a thing. But just a few hours later he confessed. His excuse? He claims that the requests were sent by his office, not by him. Personally, I don’t know which would be worse — repeatedly lying about requesting stimulus funds, or having no idea what his office is doing. Indeed, why didn’t his office didn’t inform him of the problem when the issue first came up in 2010? Is this Ryan’s Bridge to Nowhere?

Incidentally, Ryan also repeatedly said he wouldn’t take stimulus money because the stimulus didn’t work. And yet, most studies show that the stimulus did help the economy. So he’s even lying about that.

An even bigger issue to me is that Ryan likes to pretend to be a fiscal conservative, but when the Republicans were in power, he spent like a drunken sailor. Ryan voted for the $700 billion bank bailout, the auto industry rescue, the unfunded Medicare expansion that drove up the deficit by $400 billion, and the highway bill that included the “Bridge to Nowhere”. Naturally, he also voted for the Bush tax cuts. He even campaigned on eliminating subsidies to oil companies, before voting to support them.

Now that he is running for vice president, will his memory get any better? I doubt it. Just last week, Ryan accused Obama of failing to rescue an auto factory in his home district in Wisconsin. So not only is Ryan not acting like much of a fiscal conservative, there is a bigger problem. The plant closed in 2008, under George W. Bush.

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Unlikely Voters

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Our old friend and master of statistics Nate Silver has an interesting column that points out an interesting fact. Most polls try to survey only likely voters, since only people who vote determine elections.

But a recent survey did the opposite, surveying people who were either not registered to vote, or who said they were not likely to vote. The results were — to say the least — interesting:

Among these adults, 43 percent said they preferred Mr. Obama, while 17 percent backed Mr. Romney. Since quite a few Americans fit into this category – about 4 in 10 adults will not vote in November – it is easy to see how Mr. Obama could have a double-digit lead when they are added back into the total …. But those adults will not help Mr. Obama any if they do not show up on Nov. 6.

So the excuse that some people have that their vote doesn’t matter isn’t true. It only doesn’t matter because they don’t vote.

Another excuse that people give for not voting is that they don’t like either of the candidates from the two major political parties. In the survey “about 20 percent of unlikely voters said they would prefer to vote for a third-party candidate for president – much larger than in polls of likely voters.”

Fledgling political parties like the Libertarians and the Greens thus face something of a Catch-22. Many adults who might otherwise be inclined to support them do not bother to vote, possibly because they do not regard the parties as viable and think voting would be a waste of time. But without doing a little better at the ballot booth, it is hard for these minor parties to demonstrate their viability and gain any momentum.

So by not voting for third parties, non-voters are virtually guaranteeing that those parties will never gain any traction. Ironically, it is a self-fulfilling prophesy.

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Late Night Political Humor

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

“Republicans like Paul Ryan because they say he’s a fiscal conservative, and that’s a perfect balance for Romney who’s a guy that has an elevator for his Cadillacs.” – David Letterman

“Thank you for coming out on a hot day. The heat has not let up here. It was 109 today in Los Angeles. I was sweating like a Medicare patient at a Romney-Ryan rally.” – Jay Leno

“It was so hot Joe Biden put his foot in his mouth just to cool it off.” – Jay Leno

“Biden has made too many mistakes for Obama and he’s fed up. So today President Obama called Mitt Romney and asked Mitt if he would fire Biden.” – David Letterman

“Mitt Romney has selected Paul Ryan as his running mate. They say this could be a big boost for the Republican ticket and I was thinking, ‘Well, Joe Biden could be a big boost for the Republican ticket, you know?'” – David Letterman

“President Obama visited a wind farm in Iowa. You know, just one wind farm with 50 turbines generates as much wind power as a single Joe Biden speech.” – Jay Leno

“The White House just revealed that it brews its own beer and President Obama drinks it when out campaigning. And even more of it when Joe Biden goes out campaigning.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Mitt Romney said he wants to cut funding for things like Amtrak and PBS, both of which are subsidized by the government. I don’t like the idea of cutting funds for PBS. Things are bad enough already. One of the Muppets is living in a garbage can.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Porn star Jenna Jameson has come out for Mitt Romney. So this election could have a happy ending after all.” – Jay Leno

“Endorsed by Jenna Jameson; how is that possible? The Democrats are losing the porn star vote? Let me tell you, that would never have happened under Bill Clinton.” – Jay Leno

“Donald Trump says he has a big surprise in store for everybody at the Republican National Convention this year – a surprise he says people will love. So apparently he’s not going.” – Jay Leno

“A new Gallup poll shows that only 1 in 10 Americans approve of the job Congress is doing. A 10 percent approval rating is about the same approval rating that rabies has.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“According to a new poll, atheism is becoming more and more popular among Americans. God only knows why.” – Jay Leno

“The U.S. military is sending surveillance blimps to monitor the U.S. border with Mexico. It’s a great plan until everyone looks up and sees the blimps.” – Jimmy Fallon

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People in Glass Houses?

Tuesday, August 21, 2012


© Matt Wuerker

The inventors of Swift Boating are accusing Obama of running a negative campaign? Because they are pressuring Romney to release his tax returns?

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Miss-spoke

Monday, August 20, 2012

I have some sympathy for politicians who make verbal gaffes. After all, everybody says things they regret later.

So I’m curious about what people think of current Congressman and GOP Senate candidate Todd Akin, who was asked why he opposes abortion even in the case of rape. Akin claimed that “from what I understand from doctors, (pregnancy from rape) is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

Akin later claimed that he “misspoke”.

Really? I’m trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I’m having troubles. In the past, Akin praised an anti-abortion militia group that participated in invasions of abortion clinics. Akin also voted for an anti-marital-rape law, questioning whether women used accusations of rape as a legal weapon in a messy divorce.

But what really makes me shake my head is that Akin is a current member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Really.

The other thing that is ironic in this case is that one reason Akin won the GOP nomination for the Senate is that Democrats, including his upcoming opponent Clair McCaskill, donated $1.5 million to his campaign, helping him win over more moderate candidates. Of course, McCaskill expressed outrage at Akin’s rape statement, but isn’t that a bit disingenuous given that she donated to his campaign? When does something stop being good strategy, and start being dirty politics?

UPDATE: According to the reliable electoral-vote.com:

Earlier this year, every House Republican and 16 Blue Dog Democrats voted for a bill that would have redefined rape in federal statutes to be “forcible rape.” If this bill had become law, then statutory rape, the rape of a drugged or mentally impaired woman, or any rape where the rapist did not use physical force would not be considered rape. The bill died in the Senate. When Akin said “legitimate rape” he undoubtedly meant “forcible rape” as defined by the House bill but forgot the exact terminology.

Congressman, and now vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, was a co-sponsor of that bill.

But what’s really hypocritical about this is that the Republican Party platform is going to contain a call for a constitutional amendment forbidding all abortions, even in the case of incest or rape (including forcible, legitimate, or whatever). So why are they shocked at Akin’s statement?

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Late Night Political Humor

Monday, August 20, 2012

“Mitt Romney has picked Paul Ryan as his running mate. Experts say Ryan can add something vital to this campaign that Mitt Romney lacks: a personality.” – Jay Leno

“Have you seen these guys, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan? They look like father and son dentists.” – David Letterman

“Mitt Romney kept his selection of Ryan as his VP nominee secret for more than a week. You know how he was able to keep it secret? He had it hidden next to his tax returns.” – Jay Leno

“Paul Ryan likes to hunt and we all know that a vice president who hunts is always a good choice.” – David Letterman

“Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential pick, Paul Ryan, criticized President Obama for not doing enough to create jobs. In response, Obama said, ‘Didn’t you just get a new job?'” – Jimmy Fallon

“Paul Ryan is full of excitement, he’s drawing big crowds. The only thing holding Paul Ryan back now according to political experts is Mitt Romney.” – David Letterman

“Speaking of Paul Ryan, a new poll actually found that 42 percent of Americans do not approve of Mitt Romney’s running mate, which isn’t too bad considering most Americans don’t approve of Paul Ryan’s running mate.” – Jimmy Fallon

“We’re learning more and more about the Wisconsin Congressman. Apparently, he’s a huge Green Bay Packers fan. See, that shows you how far the Republicans have progressed – this time, their VP is a cheesehead. Remember, last time it was an airhead. That was totally different.” – Jay Leno

“Tell me one area where Paul Ryan and Sarah Palin would disagree? I cannot find one area. So somehow he’s the smartest guy in the party and she’s the stupidest woman on earth, but they agree on everything.” – Bill Maher

Ever since it was announced Sarah Palin will not be speaking at the Republican Convention, the Romney campaign has been flooded with thousands of texts and emails demanding that she be allowed to speak… all from President Obama.” – Jay Leno

“New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is going to be the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention, and wherever Chris Christie goes you know what that means. That’s right, unlimited bread sticks.” – David Letterman

“I think Chris Christie is a good choice for the keynote speaker. I mean, is there a better symbol for belt tightening than Chris Christie?” – David Letterman

Police in Florida have arrested a man who said he finally achieved his goal of shoplifting in all 50 states. You know what you call someone who steals from all 50 states? A congressman.” – Jay Leno

“North Korea could test a nuclear missile in two weeks. North Korea says this launch will go much better than previous ones because they got twice as much Diet Coke and Mentos.” – Jimmy Fallon

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Soledad O’Brien on a Roll

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Last week I posted a video with Soledad O’Brien interviewing John Sununu, and challenging him when he repeated lies Republican talking points.

Well, it looks like CNN acting like a source of real journalism wasn’t a fluke. This week, O’Brien challenged Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) to explain his claim that Paul Ryan’s plan for Medicare wouldn’t turn it into a voucher system:

It is hilarious when Chaffetz tries to change the subject, saying “Let’s keep to the facts that President Obama did take $700 billion out of Medicare.” But O’Brien doesn’t let him get away with that talking point either, pointing out that the same $700 billion saving is in Ryan’s budget, which Chaffetz himself voted for, twice.

The same week, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty also tried to claim that Obama had cut $700 billion from Medicare. When O’Brien objected, pointing out that the Congressional Budget Office would disagree with Pawlenty, he accused the CBO of “mumbo jumbo in the bureaucracy” and suggested that O’Brien didn’t understand English (she is of Latino/Irish/African descent, but speaks only English fluently).

Strike three.

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Critical Thinking

Sunday, August 19, 2012

In 2009, Republican legislators in Kentucky passed a law that required testing of high school students to evaluate if those students are ready for college. That sounds very good!

But now the results have come back, and some members of the GOP are upset because the test requires the students to have a good knowledge of evolution in order to do well in college biology courses. Well, duh.

But the GOP doesn’t see it that way:

The theory of evolution is a theory, and essentially the theory of evolution is not science — Darwin made it up. My objection is they should ensure whatever scientific material is being put forth as a standard should at least stand up to scientific method. Under the most rudimentary, basic scientific examination, the theory of evolution has never stood up to scientific scrutiny.

This despite the fact that the chairman of the University of Kentucky biology department, who served on the committee that developed the standards, pointed out:

The theory of evolution is the fundamental backbone of all biological research. There is more evidence for evolution than there is for the theory of gravity, than the idea that things are made up of atoms, or Einstein’s theory of relativity. It is the finest scientific theory ever devised.

In a stunning statement, one state senator claimed “we don’t want what is a theory to be taught as a fact in such a way it may damage students’ ability to do critical thinking.” They want creationism to be taught so that the kids can be “critical thinkers to be able to reason between the two.”

But wait, it gets better. Their solution is to have the testing company develop a test personalized for Kentucky. I’m just trying to imagine that.

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Four More Years

Saturday, August 18, 2012

I fully admit that this is blatantly political, but he is just so darned cute:

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Late Night Political Humor

Saturday, August 18, 2012

“Mitt Romney is hoping to energize Republicans by announcing Paul Ryan as his running mate. Seriously? That’s like trying to spice up a bowl of oatmeal with more oatmeal.” – Jimmy Fallon

“On Sunday, Mitt Romney chose Paul Ryan as his running mate. Forty-three percent of Americans have never heard of Ryan and the others thought he was the private that Tom Hanks brought home from Normandy.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“How many of you have the Paul Ryan fever? They say that Paul Ryan will humanize Romney. And I thought, hell, an amoeba could humanize Romney.” – David Letterman

“Paul Ryan’s plan is to cut government spending with his razor-sharp widow’s peak. … You could open a can of beans with that.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“I like the looks of this Paul Ryan, the representative from Wisconsin. He reminds me of who your sister would date in college. He looks like one of those guys who pretends to be a doctor on an infomercial. He reminds me of the guy at Olive Garden who comes over to see how everything was.” – David Letterman

“His eyes are just so blue. It’s like looking into a Smurf’s anus.” – Jon Stewart

“Romney and Ryan kind of look like a father and son in an ad for Super Cuts.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“During the announcement, Mitt Romney said that he and Paul Ryan are ‘America’s Comeback Team.’ You know, as in ‘come back in four years and try again.'” – Jimmy Fallon

“Paul Ryan, like Mitt Romney, and like President Obama and like Joe Biden, is a good family man. We have four good family men in this presidential race. See, what about me? I don’t need family men, I have a monologue. I need more Herman Cains, I need John Edwards.” – Jay Leno

“In college Paul Ryan drove the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. So he and Romney have something in common. Both have the experience of driving a car with a dog on the roof.” – David Letterman

“Mitt Romney had a horse competing in the Olympics. He didn’t win. But next year, he’ll be competing in ‘Dancing with the Stars.'” – David Letterman

“Athletes from the United States did very well in the Olympics. They won more medals than any country. So congratulations to all the Olympic medal winners/future “Dancing With the Stars” contestants.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“After Romney’s horse finished 18th it refused to release its tax records.” – David Letterman

“Usain Bolt won the gold for the men’s 100- and 200-meter dashes for the second Olympics in a row. You know, he has been running since he was in elementary school — kind of like Mitt Romney.” – Jay Leno

“It was a great Olympics – Team USA finished the games with 17 more medals than China. China said it was tough to swallow – especially when they had to make all of our “We’re #1” T-shirts.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Wasn’t it thrilling when the U.S. Women’s team took home the gold in gymnastics? A group of American teenagers getting a higher score than Chinese kids? That never happens.” – Jay Leno

“How about those Olympics, ladies and gentlemen. Didn’t London look like the place to be? New York City was in the running for this Olympics. But here’s what happened. We got outbribed.” – David Letterman

“Congratulations to Mexico. They upset Brazil to win a gold medal in men’s soccer. And after the Olympics ended, the Mexican soccer team, of course, returned home to their houses here in Los Angeles.” – Jay Leno

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Get out the vote, or throw out the vote?

Friday, August 17, 2012

“That’s the price you pay to prevent something that doesn’t happen.”

But my favorite part is the legislator who designed the bill even brags about it allowing Romney win the election. At least he’s transparent!

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Big Lie

Friday, August 17, 2012

[LOLGOP has a great rant about Republicans and budget deficits. Enjoy! –iron]

The Big Lie of the Day: Republicans Balance Federal Budgets

The Lie: Republicans have a plan to balance the federal budget and care deeply about fiscal responsibility.

The Truth: The last Republican president who ever balanced the budget was Dwight Eisenhower.

Between 1998 and 2000, President Bill Clinton’s Treasury Department paid off more than $360 billion in debt. As a result of 115 straight months of economic expansion that began after an increase in the top income tax rate — which was virulently opposed by the right — the huge deficits left by 12 years of Republican rule had been transformed into a surplus.

Within months after taking office in the narrowest victory of nearly any U.S. president—by only one vote in the Supreme Court—George W. Bush had begun to turn that surplus back into deficits that grew and grew, despite funding two wars on emergency supplemental bills that were not figured into the budget.

Vice-President Cheney laughed off the promises that the Bush tax breaks would pay for themselves and the budget would be balanced: “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.” But deficits do matter to Republicans…whenever there is a Democratic president.

Since they woke up from a coma on the day President Obama was elected, Republicans have pushed two Big Lies: The President is responsible for the deficit, which is nearly entirely the result of Bush-era choices that the Republicans refused to abandon, and the deficit is responsible for the poor economy.

In both instances, the opposite is true.

Using the deficit as a battering ram, the GOP pushed for the rapid adoption of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, which would ignore the true causes of the deficit—tax breaks, the wars and an unfunded Medicare expansion—and demand huge cuts to Medicaid, Pell Grants and every service the government provides.

Paul Ryan proposed a budget plan with these draconian measures yet impartial experts warn that his budget doesn’t balance for decades. The largest expenditure in the Ryan budget is interest on the national debt.

Eager to prove how conservative he is, Mitt Romney signed up for a balanced budget plan that works even faster than Ryan’s, by cutting even more government services. And he pledges to do it without asking rich Americans like himself to ever pay a nickel more in taxes.

Like the majority of Republicans in Congress, Romney has signed a pledge to never say aye to any new taxes. Forget asking the rich to contribute what they can. Under Romney’s plan they’ll pay even less. Of course, to do this Romney would have to demand that the working poor and the middle class pay up to $2000 a year more to make the math work.

And when does Mitt Romney’s budget balance? Don’t ask Romney senior adviser Ed Gillespie (who also advised George W. Bush). Yesterday Gillespie told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, “ Uh … Wolf, I’m not sure of that myself, actually. I’ll get that to you though and I’m sure it’s on our website.” Don’t count on it.

Why? Romney purposely released a budget that can’t be scored, and thus makes no serious projections. No one can say he isn’t a Republican now!

Republicans have long abandoned any impulse to open a real discussion about the federal budget in hopes of distorting the debate. They’re attacking cuts that eliminate wasteful spending in Medicare, while proposing trillions in cuts that would do real damage. They’re blaming deficit spending for a bad economy that only deficit spending can help us to escape. They’re promising to balance the budget with Paul Ryan’s smile and the magic of trickle down economics.

And how did that work out last time?

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Atheist Worship

Friday, August 17, 2012


© Joel Pett

Ayn Rand, right-wing hero, was an outspoken atheist with a very low opinion of religion — “Faith is the worst curse of mankind, as the exact antithesis and enemy of thought.”

She was strongly in favor of abortion rights, saying:

Abortion is a moral right—which should be left to the sole discretion of the woman involved; morally, nothing other than her wish in the matter is to be considered. Who can conceivably have the right to dictate to her what disposition she is to make of the functions of her own body?

She also strongly disliked Reagan and urged her supporters to not vote for him.

Why doesn’t this bother social conservatives?

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