CISPA HOUSE VOTE BREAKDOWN

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) was a threat to the privacy of all Americans and the so-called "constitutional party" voted overwhelmingly in favor of it:

 H R 624      YEA-AND-NAY      18-Apr-2013      12:59 PM
      QUESTION:  On Passage
      BILL TITLE: Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act

	Yeas	Nays	PRES	NV
Republican	196	29		6
Democratic	92	98		11
Independent
TOTALS	288	127		17

Note well that far too many so-called Democrats voted for this piece of crap.

WHAT'S WITH CLASSICAL GREECE & CONSERVATIVES INTELLECTUALS?

Victor Davis Hanson, Harvey C. Mansfield, Leo Strauss, Donald Kagan all seem to think that the ancient Greeks have something extra-special to teach us about politics despite the enormous advances in the social sciences since those times, starting with Machiavelli and Mandeville.

RACHEL IS CORRECT...

She calls out the Baggers for being dupes of professional grifters and I'd like to share a few emails I get from these groups.

First, the classic "make your penis a Redwood tree" scam:

Dear Tea Party Reader,

Please find below an important message from one of our sponsors, The Patriot Health Institute. They have some special information to share with you.

Thank you.

---

“53 Year Old Man Discovers 1 Little Known “Secret”
That Instantly Boosts Your Testosterone And Gives You
The Manly Vibe That Drives Women Crazy..."
…Without Any Deadly Drugs Or Pricey Prescriptions”

Second, the "get rich owning a precious metal" scam:

Dear Tea Party Reader,

Please find below an important message from one of our sponsors, Stansberry. They have some special information to share with you.

Thank you.

---

Last, the bogus health care claim:

Dear Reader,

Right now, a group of banks in the U.S. are finding themselves in possession of a certain type of government-created silver coin, which does not normally circulate in the general population…

These coins contain as much as 90% pure silver. If you find them you can keep them as part of a free transaction. Click here to learn how.

Sincerely,

Brian Hunt,
Editor in Chief, S&A

Last, the bogus health care ad:

Dear Tea Party Reader,

Please find below an important message from one of our sponsors, Nutrition & Healing. They have some special information to share with you.

Thank you.

---

Dear Reader,

For the next 24 hours, a shocking underground video is being made available to you.

(Although not offensive, it contains adult-oriented material and we suggest viewers be at least 21 years of age.)

For the first time, we're exposing the "forbidden" food that could be the biggest health breakthrough of our time.
--Matthew Simons
Publisher, Nutrition & Healing

IS MICHAEL SAVAGE NOW AN ANTI-SEMITE?

Tonight, he criticized Israel for the first time I can recall.  He said that Israel was the tail wagging the dog of US foreign policy and that has to stop now before we get into more trouble in the Middle East.

In the past, he's attacked callers who said that Israel has too much influence on America's foreign policy.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MATT YGLESIAS?

It seems like he's boinking the Free Market Fairy.

NO FUCKING WAY

Some politicians, even some like Feinstein who should know better, are starting to bang the drums despite the American people's near unamimous belief that we should nor fuck around in Syria.  This House GOP asshat utters the formerly magic words:

Republican Howard “Buck” McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said Assad’s use of chemical weapons on the Syrian people, if true, is “an astounding violation of human rights,” and triggers a “national security imperative.”
Obama now has “a deep moral imperative” to act, McKeon said.

AYFKM, PART 2

Steven,

Yesterday Americans gathered for the dedication of the George W. Bush Library and Museum.

This new facility celebrates President Bush's unparalleled commitment to keeping Americans safe, unwavering support for those who serve our country in uniform, and continuing humanitarian work in Africa and throughout the world.

We invite you to join us in celebrating the legacy of our 43rd President with this limited edition bumper sticker.

Contribute $5 to receive our "Thanks W." sticker today!



Thanks,



Reince Priebus
Chairman, Republican National Chairman

LUNTZ MAKES A RADIO INDUSTRY PUBLICATION

I don't know how many people get Tom Taylor's newsletter but I suspect it's enough to force Limbaugh & Levin to respond to Luntz:

GOP wordsmith Frank Luntz has some frank opinions about Limbaugh, Levin, etc. – they’re “problematic” for the party.

This wasn’t supposed to go public, but “off-the-record” is almost a quaint notion these days, when everybody’s carrying a pocket video recorder (their smartphone). Republican consultant Frank Luntz told a College Republicans event at the University of Pennsylvania on Monday that Marco Rubio is “getting destroyed by Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh and a few others” in conservative media. Luntz says Rubio’s “trying to find a long-term, effective solution to immigration that isn’t the traditional Republican approach, and talk radio is killing him” for it. According to Mother Jones, Luntz also isn’t happy about conservative talk hosts who talk about birth control and women’s control over their own bodies – which probably traces back to Rush’s comments about Sandra Fluke. (The pushback by progressive activists has cost radio a lot of ad dollars.) Luntz doesn’t want to tangle with Limbaugh in the open – he agreed to talk in detail only when he thought he wouldn’t be quoted. Don’t expect Rush to back off – he’s playing to his base, and they love him.

THIS IS NOT A DEAD HORSE

Now that former president George W. Bush seems to be re-emerging into the public arena, it's time to make sure that Americans never forget the damage he and his administration did to this country.

Jon Perr has a great summary of the many failures of the regime and for me the most important is his mention of the recently released documents that deal with 9/11. Here's the part that should convince a reasonable person of the Bush Administration's incompetence:

A Series of CIA Senior Executive Intelligence Briefs (SEIBS) from June-September 2001 Warning of "Imminent" Al-Qaeda Attacks:

• 2001-06-23 – "International: Bin Ladin Attacks May Be Imminent [Excised]" Senior Executive Intelligence Brief. [Chapter 8, Endnote 14, See also p. 257 9/11 Commission Report]
• 2001-06-25 – "Terrorism: Bin Ladin and Associates Making Near-Term Threats," Senior Executive Intelligence Brief. [Chapter 8, Endnotes 12, 14]
• 2001-06-30 – "Terrorism: Bin Laden Planning High Profile Attacks [Excised]," Senior Executive Intelligence Brief. [Chapter 8, Endnote 12]
• 2001-07-02 – "Terrorism: Planning for Bin Ladin Attacks Continues, Despite Delay [Excised]," Senior Executive Intelligence Brief. [Chapter 8, Endnote 18]
• 2001-07-13 – "Terrorism: Bin Ladin Plans Delayed but Not Abandoned [Excised]," Senior Executive Intelligence Brief. [Chapter 8, Endnote 28]
• 2001-07-25 – "Terrorism: One Bin Ladin Operation Delayed, Others Ongoing [Excised]," Senior Executive Intelligence Brief. [Chapter 8, Endnote 28]
• 2001-08-07 – "Terrorism: Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in the US," Senior Executive Intelligence Brief. [Chapter 8, Endnote 38. Chapter 11, Endnote 5. Page 342]

Jordan Michael Smith and Kurt Eichenwild have also reported on these documents and I'm a bit surprised that I entirely missed this.

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

I got this e-mail today:

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, click here to view.

Steven, Today Americans from all across the country are gathering in Dallas, Texas for the opening of the George W. Bush Library and Museum. Even if you were unable to take part in the ceremony, we invite you to join us in celebrating the legacy of our 43rd President. Sign the card to thank President Bush for his hard work and dedication to the principles that make America great! Thanks, Ari Fleischer Former White House Press Secretary

Paid for by the Republican National Committee. 310 First Street, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20003 (202) 863-8500 - www.GOP.com Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

You are receiving this email because you signed up as a member of the Republican National Committee's online community. If you would prefer to no longer receive emails from the Republican National Committee, please visit our subscription center .

A LITTLE BIT OF CONSERVATIVE REASONABLENESS

McClatchy has a report on long-term unemployment and I was encouraged to read this part:

Hassett, who’s now a researcher at the free-market research center the American Enterprise Institute,...Hassett urged Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who ran the hearing, to be creative and experiment with both Democratic and Republican ideas to test what might work to bring down long-term joblessness.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/04/24/189574/economists-long-term-joblessness.html?storylink=MI_emailed#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/04/24/189574/economists-long-term-joblessness.html?storylink=MI_emailed#storylink=cpy

This is a step up from the usual "more tax cuts for the rich."

:-) FRANK LUNTZ TELLS OBVIOUS TRUTHS

Luntz pointed out that Fats Limbaugh and Foamer Levin are a problem for the GOP and when I read the rightwing replies to his statements, there was no real defense of either one.

FIVE + ONE == ATTACKS

Glenn Greenwald notes that 5 people who attacked Americans in America ALL said that one reason was the drone strikes that kill innocent civilians and just in case you think that this doesn't mean much, Matthew Berens quotes an editorial:

Writer Farea Al-Muslimi, in an Al Monitor editorial, "My Village Was Attacked By US Drones in Yemen," describes a sense of bewilderment that his village could be attacked, one that must have mirrored the sense of outrage felt by Bostonians when their trademark marathon was bombed. "If you live in Yemen, the golden rule is to expect anything any time," al-Muslimi wrote. "That, however, does not include expecting your hometown village -- one of the most peaceful and beautiful places in Yemen -- to be bombed. The peacefulness of such a place makes you believe that no one has ever heard of it, let alone that it is bombed by a US drone strike at night…. The ominous buzz of the drones terrorizes communities. Where will they strike? Will I be next? These are the questions youngsters now grow up asking...The 'collateral damage' of drones cannot just be measured in corpses. Drones are traumatizing a generation."

Based on the daily trauma of drone strikes, the editorial concludes, "It is tempting to conclude that the US has no interest in a measured response to terrorism. It is difficult not to think it doesn't matter to them whether they terrorize (and radicalize) entire populations as they check another name off their 'kill list.'"

FATS LIMBAUGH IS STARTING TO WILT

("Crumble" would imply that he's made of something fairly substantial but we know he's just another coward hiding behind a microphone.)

Today, Fats admitted that the boycott of his sponsors has had an effect and I encourage you to see the last part of this post for ways to speed his decline & fall.

NOW THAT KRAUTHAMMER HAS GONE HANNITY & MADE POLITICO

I think it's time everyone was reminded about his past statements, including this one:

Ten Years of Krauthammer Days

by Henry on April 22, 2013

It’s now been exactly a decade since Charles Krauthammer told us that

Hans Blix had five months to find weapons. He found nothing. We’ve had five weeks. Come back to me in five months. If we haven’t found any, we will have a credibility problem.

I LIKED THIS

The Christian Science Monitor reports that Glenn Beck's Saudi/Boston conspiracy hypothesis was debunked by none other than FAUX News' Bret Baier.  After getting back on his meds, Beck graciously said that Baier & FAUX News were probably not in on the conspiracy.

FEAR IS HONEY TO CONSERVATIVES

FAUX News was in a ratings decline until the Boston bombings...

"Fox News Finishes First in Ratings for Week of Boston Bombings"

Joe Flint, Los Angeles Times, April 23, 2013

THE REAL PROBLEM WITH RAND PAUL

He simply doesn't think enough before he speaks and maybe that's a sign that he flat out doesn't think enough.

FP quotes part of his famous filibuster:

I will speak as long as it takes, until the alarm is sounded from coast to coast that our Constitution is important, that your rights to trial by jury are precious, that no American should be killed by a drone on American soil without first being charged with a crime, without first being found to be guilty by a court.

and then quotes a more recent statement he made to FOX Business Network:

"I've never argued against any technology being used when you have an imminent threat, an active crime going on," Paul said. "If someone comes out of a liquor store with a weapon and fifty dollars in cash. I don't care if a drone kills him or a policeman kills him."

Paul tried to get out of this contradiction by using the "imminent threat" escape hatch but robbing a liquor store doesn't strike me as such a threat.

A CYCLIST IS NOT THE REAL PROBLEM

Why can't DOJ go after the banksters using the same argument?

Justice says Armstrong was 'unjustly enriched'
By JIM VERTUNO | Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The federal government is going after Lance Armstrong's money. As much as it can get.

The Justice Department unveiled its formal complaint against Armstrong on Tuesday, saying the cyclist violated his contract with the U.S. Postal Service and was "unjustly enriched" while cheating to win the Tour de France.

TOO FUNNY NOT TO QUOTE

Roy Edroso catches some glue sniffer at PJ Media wailing about the "liberal fascism" in 2001: A Space Odyssey and one of Roy's commenters hit a grand slam:

Spaghetti Lee: "'Lower the top marginal income tax rate, HAL.' 'I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.'"

IF THIS ISN'T TRUE, IT SHOULD BE...

(h/t Alfredo)

Tamerlan Tsarnaev Was an Alex Jones Fan

UPDATE: Alex responds

RON FOURNIER IS FUCKED UP

PROOF:

Go Ahead, Admit It: George W. Bush Is a Good Man
By Ron Fournier
Updated: April 23, 2013 | 10:24 a.m.
April 22, 2013 | 7:40 p.m.
The National Journal

If you don't think that's fair, go here.

FAUX NATION BRINGS OUT THE OLD ME

I was reading this thread and found a couple of people like this one asking what Michelle Obama was doing ONLY visiting the Saudi national who was hurt in the Boston Bombings so I decided to look it up:

Obamas Visit Boston Marathon Bombing Victims At Hospitals
April 18, 2013 2:45 PM

BOSTON (CBS) - President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama visited victims of the Boston Marathon bombings at several hospitals Thursday afternoon.

After attending an interfaith service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the president rode to Massachusetts General Hospital where he met privately with patients, their families and hospital staff.

The First Lady went to Boston Children’s Hospital, where she visited the medical and surgical intensive care unit.

Afterwards, she went next door to Brigham and Women’s Hospital to meet more victims and their families for more than an hour.

I DIDN'T GET THE HEADLINE FOR THIS POST...

so I clicked through and found this great pic on DU:

REMEMBER SHELDON ADELSON & NEWT GINGRICH?

(h/t DougJ)

Adelson's money kept Newt in the race despite the fact that GOP primary voters weren't interested. In this article about how the Koch brothers may greatly increase the number of agit-prop news outlets, I found this tidbit:

Guests at the Aspen seminar included Philip F. Anschutz, the Republican oil mogul who owns the companies that publish The Washington Examiner, The Oklahoman and The Weekly Standard,...

With this sort of backing, those outlets don't have to turn a profit.

PAM STENZEL == WACKO LOSER

(h/t Ilyse Hogue)

Another anti-sex fundie turns out to be a psycho:

While talking about the importance of only ever having sex with one person for your entire life, she says, ”If you have sex outside of that context you will pay. No one has ever had more than one partner and not paid.”

I WAS WRONG

Beck is still on the 3pm-6pm slot at KNST.  I guess last Friday was just a glitch.

GLENDA BECK DOUBLES DOWN

(h/t Mediaite)

I don't think he had a choice because he's only committed to keeping his ratings up:

Conservative radio host Glenn Beck told his audience with certainty on Monday that the Saudi national who was detained in the immediate wake of the Boston bombings last week, Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi, was involved in the attack on the Boston Marathon.

I'M IMPRESSED

(h/t Nicole Belle at Crooks & Liars)

Tom Brokaw had a moment of foreign policy lucidity on Sunday:

And I think we also have to examine the use of drones that the United States is involved and-- and there are a lot of civilians who are innocently killed in a drone attack in Pakistan, in Afghanistan, and in Iraq. And I can tell you having spent a lot of time over there, young people will come up to me on the streets and say we love America. If you harm one hair on the-- on the head of my sister, I will fight you forever and there is this enormous rage against what they see in that part of the world as a presumptuousness of the United States.

The drone killings part of what I was referring to below.

Also, this could probably be entered as 5) on my list of gasbag radio talking points if you turn it upside down and accuse Brokaw of being un-American.

YOU CAN SKIP CONSERVATIVE TALK RADIO TOMORROW

I pretty sure I have the scripts:

1) The FBI failed us, probably because it was being "politically correct."

2) Pres. Obama has mislead America about the war on terror.

3) The terrorist should be sent to Guantanamo or waterboarded.  At
     the very least, he should be treated as an enemy combatant.

4) The police acted like fascist thugs toward innocent civilians.