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Tyranny in America

Friday, April 6, 2012

Rachel Maddow has an incredible story about how the Michigan legislature is violating the rule of law, and doing everything they can to get rid of democracy in the state, both at the local level and in the legislature itself.

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Unions United?

Friday, April 6, 2012

Last year, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker became notorious for stripping public workers of their right to collective bargaining. But last week, a federal judge reversed the key provisions of that law.

What makes this ironic is that the judge repeatedly cited the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, saying that Walker’s law violated the free speech rights of the unions. Since the Citizens United decision protected the political speech of organizations such as corporations, the same logic applies to unions, and (according to the judge) “unions engage — indeed one of their core functions is to engage — in speech.”

Meanwhile, another federal court issued a ruling that may remove one of the most troubling aspects of the Citizens United decision — the ability of organizations (including both corporations and unions) to donate money anonymously to political causes. For example, Karl Rove’s non-profit Crossroads GPS, the Koch brothers run non-profits American Energy Alliance and Americans for Prosperity, and the US Chamber of Commerce have spent millions on electioneering communications against Obama and Democratic senators without disclosing any of their donors. The new ruling will require disclosure of contributions to these groups, and many other groups.

The Citizens United decision not only opened the floodgates for soft political money, it allowed donors to hide their identities. This new ruling will allow us to once again “follow the money”.

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The Race to the Bottom

Friday, April 6, 2012


Kevin Siers

Why are the Republicans still pushing “trickle down” economics? And why are people letting them get away with it?

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Pot Calling The Kettle, umm…

Thursday, April 5, 2012

This morning in a campaign speech Mitt Romney said “We have a president, who I think is is a nice guy, but he spent too much time at Harvard, perhaps.”

There’s just one problem, Romney also went to Harvard. In fact, he got both his JD (same as Obama) plus an MBA at Harvard, so he spent a year more time there than Obama did.

Sheesh.

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Late Night Political Humor

Thursday, April 5, 2012

“This was the week the Supreme Court heard all the arguments about health care. The mood in Washington very tense. Angry, incoherent Tea Party protesters were everywhere, including the five on the Supreme Court.” – Bill Maher

“They made their decision but we will not hear about it until June. It’s like an election in Florida. Apparently they have made the call and I don’t want to bum you out but if you get cancer, put ice on it. And unfortunately, because of global warming, we’re out of it.” – Bill Maher

“That’s the bad news: there won’t be any more health care. Of course, the good news, we will take your organs and stick them in Dick Cheney if you get sick, so you can look forward to that.” – Bill Maher

“We learned this week that Mitt Romney is building a car elevator in his house. An elevator for your cars. I get the feeling this guy wants to be president so he has a place to live while he’s remodeling his beach house.” – Bill Maher

“I’m not worried that this guy is out of touch. I’m worried he’s Batman.” – Bill Maher

“I could see Mitt as Batman. He hears about a robbery, he changes into the magic underwear, he rushes to the crime scene, and he helps the crooks manage their new money.” – Bill Maher

“Tonight was the big Mega Millions drawing. Mega Millions, isn’t that Mitt Romney’s Secret Service code name?” – Jay Leno

“Gay groups are upset because Rick Santorum wouldn’t let a boy use a pink bowling ball. Maybe Rick just likes black balls, the bigger and heftier the better.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Bad news for George Zimmerman of Florida, everyone still hates him for killing a teenager over Skittles. The bright side for him, he just won the Hunger Games.” – Bill Maher

“George Zimmerman’s family has been all over TV this week. The dad told Fox News that the real problem is so much hate coming from Obama. You know what, man. Obama has drones and Seal Team Six. If he hated you, you’d know about it.” – Bill Maher

“African American Congressman Bobby Rush wore a hoodie on the floor of Congress to make a point this week. And they threw him out. They said a hoodie is too scary for Congress. Too scary? Have you ever looked into Michele Bachmann’s eyes?” – Bill Maher

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You Don’t (Hear)Say!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Tucson’s school board bans the Mexican-American studies program based on “solid evidence”.

The school board member interviewed in the video claims he did not know that the Daily Show “is a satirical news show and thus does not always represent the true remarks their guest make. I went on this show to talk about the Mexican American Studies (MAS) classes. What I believed to be would be a true interview ended up being nothing of the sort. It is unfortunate that the Daily show opted to amuse rather then inform” (the typos are his).

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Fraudulent Votes

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

A spot check of election results in Palm Beach, Florida (land of questionable elections) turned up a few inconsistencies, so a judge ordered a hand recount of the ballots that had been tabulated using a computer system from Sequoia Voting Systems.

Why did it take a judge to order a recount? Because, hand counting ballots in Florida is now illegal. (Seriously. Who came up with a stupid law like that?)

The hand count found that the electronic system had declared the wrong winners in several races. According to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections “Frankly, without paper ballots and without audits, we would have let the wrong winners serve. I have a feeling that this isn’t the first time, but we never noticed.” Indeed, the spot checks are a new thing in Florida, and without them there would have been no way to tell that there might be problems.

The same voting system is widely used across the country. In fact, similar systems will be used to count 70% of the votes to be cast in this year’s presidential election. Do you have any trust at all that the results will be reported accurately?

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Word!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012


© Tom Tomorrow

Is it possible for the health care debate to get any more insane?

I’m curious why the business community is not speaking out in defense of Obamacare. Anything that can bring down the cost of health insurance, while keeping workers healthier, will be a tremendous boon to the economy. Even the health insurance industry has tons to gain from the individual mandate — after all it is a law that requires people to buy your product. But there has been nary a peep from them.

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Late Night Political Humor

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

“Seems Mitt Romney is going to get the nomination. That brings to mind the question of why we still have the other candidates. Rick Santorum wants to keep raising awareness for conservative issues. Newt Gingrich wants to stay in the public eye and sell more books. And Ron Paul doesn’t want to return to his old life of panning for gold.” – David Letterman

“A new poll found that President Obama’s approval rating is above 50 percent for the first time since last May. Obama made sure to thank the people who made that possible — Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Yesterday, Mitt Romney told what he thought was a humorous story about how his father closed down a Michigan factory. Then Romney went on to quote some of his favorite funny quotes from the movie ‘Schindler’s List.’” – Conan O’Brien

“This Mega Millions lottery jackpot is now over half a billion dollars. That is so much money, I saw Mitt Romney buying a lotto ticket.” – Jay Leno

“What do you think your odds are of winning that jackpot? The last odds I checked, 176 million to 1. But then again, still better odds than Newt Gingrich getting the nomination.” –Jay Leno

“A recent survey showed that Rick Santorum is the favorite GOP candidate among Republican women. When he heard that, Santorum was like, ‘Wait — women have the right to vote?’” – Jimmy Fallon

“Rick Santorum gave a speech at the Jelly Belly factory in California. Incidentally, ‘Jelly Belly Factory’ was also Newt Gingrich’s nickname in college.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Newt Gingrich is down to 12 staffers. The guy has more chins than that.” – David Letterman

“I think even President Obama realizes the Obamacare thing is not looking good in front of the Supreme Court. He’s starting to downplay it. Like, today, he called it Bidencare.” – Jay Leno

“Yesterday Joe Biden thanked Dr. Pepper instead of a woman named Dr. Paper. Biden apologized and said he meant no disre-sprite.” – Conan O’Brien

“The Pope met with Fidel Castro yesterday. As you know, the Pope is the world’s most recognized religious figure, not counting Tim Tebow.” – Jay Leno

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The Messenger Shooting Himself in the Foot

Tuesday, April 3, 2012


© Joel Pett

Yes, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia really did say that if the government can force you to buy health insurance, then it could force you to buy broccoli. Steven Pearlstein easily tears this argument to shreds:

Another of Scalia and Alito’s cute debating tricks was to latch on to an opposing argument and take it to its illogical extreme in order to show how silly it is. By this technique, the individual mandate suddenly became the first step on the proverbial slippery slope to government requiring that all Americans buy broccoli or a gym membership because those, too, will make us all healthier and thereby lower health-care costs.

It is axiomatic, of course, that the power to regulate, or to tax, or to criminalize is the power to regulate, tax or criminalize stupidly. The power to require you to buy airbags for your car is also the power to require you to buy leather seats and a surround-sound stereo. The power to levy a fee for buying a handgun is the power to levy a fee for not buying a handgun. The power to criminalize abortions is the power to criminalize condoms and birth-control pills.

But for some reason, when it comes to requiring Americans either to buy health insurance or pay a fee, we are now supposed to believe that “all bets are off,” according to Chief Justice John Roberts, or that “a fundamental shift” has occurred in the relationship between the individual and government, according to Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Really?

For starters, the Constitution already limits the “abuse” of such power by subjecting those who wield it to regular elections in which citizens are free to decide what is going too far and what is not.

And as justices know all too well, there are already in the case law scores of judicial tests that have been successfully applied to a wide range of congressional actions and powers to assure that they are reasonable and rational, that they are not arbitrary, that they are necessary to achieve a legitimate or compelling state interest. Surely Justices Roberts and Kennedy and their legion of summa cum laude law clerks can conjure up a workable criteria to distinguish a law requiring the purchase of health insurance from a law requiring the purchase of pomegranate juice.

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Late Night Political Humor

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

“Mitt Romney was a guest on ‘The Tonight Show’ on NBC. It’s interesting — you have an empty suit trying to please everyone, and then Romney comes out.” – David Letterman

“This week Walt Disney’s stock reached its highest point in a year. In fact, Disney is so wealthy, today Mickey and Minnie endorsed Mitt Romney for president.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Newt Gingrich’s campaign is broke. All the money gone. So now he’s charging $50 for a photo. And for $100 you can marry him.” – David Letterman

“Newt Gingrich announced today he is laying off a third of his campaign staff. Is that surprising? He laid off two-thirds of his wives.” – Jay Leno

“Ron Paul said it’s still too early to count him out as the Republican nominee. Seriously? That’s like Newt Gingrich saying it’s too early to count him out as an Abercrombie model.” – Jimmy Fallon

“A New York City madam says John Edwards was a customer. This is the first time a hooker is more embarrassed at being caught than the john.” – Jay Leno

“Gas prices are expected to continue to rise throughout the summer, and oil companies say it’s because of high demand due to warmer summer weather — as opposed to what they told us a couple of months ago, that oil prices went up because of higher demand for winter heating oil. So basically, if there’s weather, gas prices go up.” – Jay Leno

“A study claims eight out of 109 cities that value sex the most are in California. So thank you, Governor Schwarzenegger.” – Jimmy Kimmel

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Quantum Politics

Monday, April 2, 2012

New York Times columnist David Javerbaum presents a new theory of politics, based on recent observations of the behavior of presidential candidate Mitt Romney. This new theory has striking (and hilarious) similarities to Quantum Mechanics, and violates many of the laws of traditional classical politics. In classical Newtonian Politics (named after Newt Gingrich, in the same way that traditional physics is named “Newtonian Physics” after Sir Isaac Newton), “a candidate’s position on an issue tends to stay at rest until an outside force — the Tea Party, say, or a six-figure credit line at Tiffany — compels him to alter his stance.”

Like Quantum Mechanics, the rules of Quantum Politics are bizarre and appear to violate everyday experience and even common sense. Javerbaum explains the basic concepts of the new political model:

Complementarity. In much the same way that light is both a particle and a wave, Mitt Romney is both a moderate and a conservative, depending on the situation. It is not that he is one or the other; it is not that he is one and then the other. He is both at the same time.

Probability. Mitt Romney’s political viewpoints can be expressed only in terms of likelihood, not certainty. While some views are obviously far less likely than others, no view can be thought of as absolutely impossible. Thus, for instance, there is at any given moment a nonzero chance that Mitt Romney supports child slavery.

Uncertainty. Frustrating as it may be, the rules of quantum campaigning dictate that no human being can ever simultaneously know both what Mitt Romney’s current position is and where that position will be at some future date. This is known as the “principle uncertainty principle.”

Entanglement. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a proton, neutron or Mormon: the act of observing cannot be separated from the outcome of the observation. By asking Mitt Romney how he feels about an issue, you unavoidably affect how he feels about it. More precisely, Mitt Romney will feel every possible way about an issue until the moment he is asked about it, at which point the many feelings decohere into the single answer most likely to please the asker.

Noncausality. The Romney campaign often violates, and even reverses, the law of cause and effect. For example, ordinarily the cause of getting the most votes leads to the effect of being considered the most electable candidate. But in the case of Mitt Romney, the cause of being considered the most electable candidate actually produces the effect of getting the most votes.

Duality. Many conservatives believe the existence of Mitt Romney allows for the possibility of the spontaneous creation of an “anti-Romney” that leaps into existence and annihilates Mitt Romney. (However, the science behind this is somewhat suspect, as it is financed by Rick Santorum, for whom science itself is suspect.)

The figure at right is a Feynman diagram of an encounter between a Romney and an anti-Romney. The resulting collision annihilates both, leaving behind a single electron and a $20 bill.”

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Nothing to Fear

Monday, April 2, 2012

I complain about the lack of bipartisan cooperation in Congress, but this is not what I was looking for. The group Vet Voice, led by progressive Jon Soltz, is putting pressure on Congress to pass a bill introduced by Rep. Pete King (R-NY) and Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) to prohibit people who are on the FBI’s terrorist watch list from purchasing guns.

While it may sound like common sense to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, the problem with this law is the terrorism watch list itself. Back in 2008, there were over a million people on the list, and it was growing by an average of 20,000 names a month.

It doesn’t take much to get on the list, as evidenced by some of the people who found themselves on it (and often couldn’t get themselves off), including several US Senators and Congresspersons, airline pilots, active members of the US military, children (including an 11-month-old), winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, presidents of foreign countries, and non-terrorists the government doesn’t like (employees of the ACLU, and singer Cat Stevens), and even people with common names like Gary Smith, Robert Johnson, John Williams, and David Nelson.

And this law is not even necessary. An estimated 95% of people on the list are already prohibited from buying guns. When it processes background checks, the FBI does know if someone is on the terrorist watch list, and can investigate further. But this law wants to make merely being on the list a reason to fail the background check.

For example, someone could get on the terrorism list because they participate in a peaceful protest event (say, for the Tea Party or the Occupy Wall Street movement), and suddenly have their rights taken away, without them even knowing it happened. Even worse, if you are already a gun owner and then somehow get put on the terrorist watch list, you could be subject to a 10 year prison sentence.

When the government can start making arbitrary lists of people it suspects of something, and then start denying them their constitutional rights without even the slightest judicial review, then something is terribly wrong.

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Late Night Political Humor

Monday, April 2, 2012

“Over the weekend they gave Dick Cheney a heart transplant. Finally all of those midnight trips to the graveyard with the hunchbacked assistant have paid off.” – David Letterman

“Dick Cheney was talking to a reporter right after the surgery and he said he wants to live long enough to make sure nobody else gets healthcare.” – David Letterman

“The Supreme Court is deciding right now whether the government can mandate that all Americans buy health insurance. Rick Santorum said, ‘There’s no way I’m letting the government make me go on a man date.’” – Conan O’Brien

“Rumors now that Mitt Romney might pick Rick Santorum for his VP running mate. But Rick is dubious. He thinks two guys on the same ticket might be gay.” – David Letterman

“Newt Gingrich’s campaign is charging people $50 to pose for a picture with Newt. And for $100 you can get one without Newt.” – Conan O’Brien

“Newt Gingrich is hoping to cut into his campaign debt by charging people $50 to take a photo with him. Just imagine — a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a personal picture with a man who will never be the president of the United States.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“A madam in New York City claims that John Edwards was a customer in her brothel. You hear that kind of thing and it really makes you lose respect for prostitutes, doesn’t it?” – Jay Leno

“(Monday) was Nancy Pelosi’s birthday. They had a huge surprise party for her. Actually, it was a regular party, she just always looks surprised.” – Jay Leno

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The Doctor is in Court

Sunday, April 1, 2012


© Ed Stein

[commentary by Ed Stein]

Another one about the Supreme Court’s likely decision, unthinkable just a few months ago. If the Court throws this back to Congress, it may be another generation before Americans can enjoy the health care security that every other industrialized democracy enjoys. In the meantime, more millions will be unable to afford or even find insurance, there will be more medical bankruptcies, more homes foreclosed, and more Americans will die from preventable illnesses because this country, alone among the wealthy nations, cannot figure out how to provide a basic level of health care for all its citizens. I hope you have good insurance, and can keep it.

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