YouTube: Lee Stranahan to America's Wingnuts--Slow Down!

Investment Banks Targeted in Madoff Scandal

Let's see, $65 billion vanishes into thin air in the biggest thievery in world history and one dude goes to jail?

You've got to be kidding me!

Anyone with even the most remote knowledge of finance and money knows that several, probably dozens of people were either in on this scam or knew something was wrong....

As this article illustrates--attorney's are targeting the fat targets of investment banks to get some of their clients money back...

YouTube: Putin as Rambo

He's setting the stage to run again for the Russian presidency in 2012 and serve for another decade by showing everyone what a virile, young, stud he is...

Book: Obama Faces 30 Death Threats a Day

Am I the only one terrified of President Obama getting assassinated?

There are so many people with guns in this country, and so many angry, disgruntled, wacko racists...

Needless to say this article did nothing to allay my fears--indeed it exponentially increased them.

If the unthinkable did happen, it would immediately lead to the darkest days in the history of the Republic--a veritable tipping point involving horrible racist violence and anarchy...

The United States Secret Service has the most important job in the world.

Birthers, Deathers, and Truthers

We are living in a really, really weird era in American political history where bizarre conspiracy theories are becoming increasingly accepted by people in the mainstream frustrated by their decreasing lots in life during this brutal recession and searching for a greater meaning.

I would like to focus on three here--two which are piping hot and in the news right now, and another another one that's nearly a decade old now but keeps growing. The fact that any rational person could actually believe any contain even a morsel of truth is, well....really weird.

1. "Birthers"--Discussed in an earlier blog post on this page, these largely innately racist white Americans just can't accept the fact that a black man is their Commander in Chief--it's too much of a shock to them. To fight this bitter reality they have signed on to the birther movement which espouses the completely, 100% debunked theory that President Obama was born in Kenya or Indonesia or something and therefore was illegitimately elected, and is not really the president. Well ok then...
2. "Deathers"--Perhaps an even more bizarre lot are the new "Deathers". In a desperate effort to halt American health care reform, right wing lunatic groups are spreading the rumor that under Obama's plan, old people will be forcibly euthanized by the government. Makes complete sense to me!
3. "Truthers"--These are the folks who believe September 11 was a government engineered plot--either by the American government or the Israeli government or both. They point to how the buildings collapsed, the types of people who were present in the buildings at the time of the events, etc. as proof positive that it was all pre-planned by 'those in the know'. Sign me up!

The cold truth is that dumb, uneducated people are most likely to fall for these absurd notions hook, line, and sinker.

Unfortunately, we can these days never underestimate the power of the American people to, well, be really dumb....Around 62 million people voted for George W. Bush's reelection in 2004.

YouTube: Juan Williams of FOX News Slams Glenn Beck of FOX News

Frank Rich: America's Pre-Eminent Editorialist

Having read every single Sunday editorial that the New York Times' Frank Rich has written over the past several years, I can confidently say he has never, ever written anything that is less than completely spectacular.

The man is simply a superb writer: insightful, clear, often biting and humorous--Rich sets the bar for the other millions of us wanna-be's on the political writing circuit.

Please treat yourself to this Sunday's piece on the Obama/Gates/Crowley racism arrest furor that erupted last week after Obama called the arrest 'stupid' in a press conference....

It's a Frank Rich piece. You won't be disappointed.

Colin Powell Endorses Michael Bloomberg

These two guys represent the future of the Republican party. Indeed, it would be a formidable presidential ticket...

Coulter Breaks with Fellow Right Wing Freaks--Criticizes Birthers

In a very unexpected move, right wing nutball Ann Coulter has broken with her fringe base and criticized the Obama birther movement--the crazed racist lunatics who believe Obama was not born in America and therefore is an illegitimate president....

This should give you an idea of how nuts these people are...

YouTube: Kristol calls Obama "Arrogant"

Kristol has often stirred the GOP's drink over the past 20 years--he was both the driving intellectual force behind the successful effort to kill Hillarycare in 1992 and the frightineningly successful neocon organized puppeteeering Bush Jr. into invading Iraq. Here's he's testing on FOX News a new right wing strategy to take down Obama...

Public Libraries and Other Evil Socialist Entities

It's been my experience that 95% of the general American public don't understand what the often maligned, political hot-button word 'Socialism' means.

That number leaps up to approximately 99.999% of registered all Republicans and Libertarians...

Fueled by the right wing echo chamber of the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, etc.--to these people, Socialism is indifferent to Communism and one step ahead of Fascism.

Logic be damned, these folks are economic experts: Socialism bad, Capitalism good! No socialized health care! Even if I have no health care coverage and can't afford a doctor!! Now let me go vote for George W. Bush!!

I've found, however, that when confronted with the most remedial of every day facts, such as that our public libraries, public parks system, interstate highway system, fire departments, police departments, public school systems....post offices are all quintessentially government run socialist enterprises--these same experts become flummoxed and dumbfounded.

So, the next time you throw around the terms 'Socialism' and 'Capitalism' and the 'Free Market'...actually take 5 seconds to actually ponder what you are trying to say.

It might improve the quality of the current public debate.

Obama Backtracks on "Stupid" Police Comment

Ok, we all realize that President Obama is not perfect--he's just really, really....really good.

He clearly made an error when calling the Cambridge Police Department 'stupid' in their handling of prominent black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s arrest a few days ago during his prime time news conference two nights ago.

He quickly realized he made an error and as this story reports, has moved to minimize the political fallout.

Again, note the stark contrast to former president George Bush, Jr. who was as stubborn as a mule and would never admit to making an error--seeing that as being 'un-macho' or 'un-leader' like.

Obama should have not said the Cambridge Police Department acted 'stupidly', he should have used the word 'inappropriately'. He realizes he made a mistake.

Case closed. Let's move on.

Obama Off Base Criticizing Police Officer

Keep in mind when dealing with issues of race and the police in the United States of America, you are dealing with an explosive topic...

Still, Obama was way off base during last night's press conference when he labeled the actions of the Cambridge Police Department "stupid" with regards to their arresting of prominent Harvard black professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

I don't care who Gates is, you don't yell at a police officer and call them racist. If you do so and are told to stop, and you continue to do so, then you deserve to be arrested.

It's called the law, and it's called how we keep things calm in a supposedly orderly society. Police officers have a difficult enough job without the President of the United States taking shots at them in front of the entire nation.

Poor show, Mr. President....

Obama Looked Tired Last Night

If you missed Obama's prime time news conference last night on health care reform, you can be forgiven: it's the summer time and there's quite a bit going on. You can catch the first part of it here...

He looked really tired and wasn't as enthusiastically positive as he usually is. To me, this is a good thing: it indicates that he's involved himself in the heavy lifting of the incredibly long, complex, and difficult negotiations with Congress regarding health care, and is working tirelessly at an enormously difficult project.

Major health care reform has been on the agenda of pretty much every president for the last 50 years, mind you, and none have been able to successfully navigate the political mind fields present to get it done...

What a refreshing change from the presidency of George W. Bush. W would brag that he never got to bed past 10pm every night, and the guy clearly was a lazy, disinterested figure who'd rather watch a Rangers game or Howdy Doody or whatever than get involved with the development of complex laws aimed at improving the lives of Americans.

Health care reform will eventually get passed. And the American people will credit President Obama when it does.

Change, truly, has arrived.

YouTube: Freak Glenn Beck Brings Loaded Gun to The Movies

The Birther Movement

America is currently mired in its' worst economic slump since the Great Depression, is fighting two simultaneous wars in the Middle East, is in the middle of an incredibly important debate on completely overhauling its massive health care system, and the national unemployment rate is hovering near 10% and going up every month...

You would think nearly every citizen would be focused on one of the above major issues and how it affects both them and their country.

Alas, sadly, for the lunatic right wing xenophobe, the red state American ignoramus (and there are millions of them), this could not be further from the truth--

What floats their boat, what keeps them up at night, what they harass their elected officials about, is the question of whether President Obama was born in America or not.

These freaks ignore the certified birth certificate shown in the picture to the right from the state of Hawaii. These freaks don't listen to facts or logic. These freaks listen to Rush Limbaugh all day and Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity at night, who reinforce their fantasies to enhance their television and radio ratings...

They live in a parallel universe, a Twilight Zone made up of their own Alice in Wonderland racism and hatred.

These freaks have a name. They are called 'birthers'. And they are a disgrace to their country....

Pawlenty Readies for Big Time

Tim Pawlenty for all intensive purposes is already running for the Republican nomination for president in 2012.

As this article discusses, he's begun formalizing this by networking with the types of big money Republican donors and fundraisers that will be critical to the eventual success or failure of his presidential ambitions.

Pawlenty is certainly for real, and barring any meltdown or skeleton in the closet type revelation ala Mark Sanford, he will be there at the end of the nominating process along with Mitt 'Android' Romney.

The smart money at this early point is clearly still with Romney--if for nothing else he came in second last time around and he's filthy rich. But Pawlenty's political star is on the rise--in real time.

USA Freak: Car Dealer Offers Free AK-47 with Purchase of New Truck

This would fall into Minor Ripper's "News From Red State America" category, except that Missouri went blue and voted for Obama in 2008.

I can guarantee you that this particular Missouri citizen didn't pull the lever for Obama, though....

The guy also most likely believes that Obama isn't an American citizen, and also probably doesn't own a passport, either.

Alas, I digress.

Do you think he actually is aware that AK-47's are manufactured in Russia, not America? Probably not...

No wonder the rest of the world thinks Americans are gun toting nut balls. Red necks are not only stupid, they're dangerous and a menace to society....

YouTube: Glen Beck Goes on Convulsing, Bizarre Rant Over Obama Health Care Plan

Question for Americans: do you trust this man or Barack Obama?

Joe the Plumber Agrees with Meghan McCain: I am an idiot.

It's hard to believe that just one year ago, this guy was front and center of the American political debate after being thrust there by a desperate McCain campaign.

You might have thought the campaign would have done a second or two of a background check on Joe, and they then might have realized the guy can't walk and chew gum at the same time, and is also a homophobe racist.

But no, this was the same merry band of Keystone Cops that chose Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate...

SEE VIDEO OF JOE THE PLUMBER SPEAKING YESTERDAY AT A 'TEA PARTY' IN SOUTH CAROLINA HERE!!

A block of ice has a higher IQ than Joe the Plumber.

GOP Strategist Kristol: Republicans Should "Go for the kill" on Health Care Reform

William "horse's ass" Kristol was formerly Dan Quayle's Chief of Staff. That fact alone should tell you about all you need to know about this guy.

Unfortunately, he still commands a loyal following due to his frequent appearances on Fox 'news', and he is widely regarded as having provided the main intellectual reasoning and rationale for the neocons to persuade George "Puppet" Bush Jr. to invade Iraq.

Now he's resurfaced with constructive advice for the Republican party as the country grapples with the subject of health car reform...

One final data point on Kristol. He was/is a huge Sarah Palin supporter--

New Iphone App Helps You Score Weed

These Iphones certainly are pretty cool. California's seriously considering legalizing weed and then taxing the hell out of it to help the state out of its current financial mess...

The potential market for legalized ganja in America is tremendous, and the businesses who are up and running and positioned well for its eventual legalization--the overwhelming majority of which are currently located in the state of California, stand to make a killing....

How many states will eventually legalize weed and how many newly minted marijuana millionaires will be created in the United States?

Dowd and Rich Chronicle Dying GOP in Sunday New York Times Editorials

Below are two fantastic, must read editorials on the decaying into extinction before our very own eyes Republican party. The takeaways for me are the following:

1. The days of white male dominance in American politics are over. (FRANK RICH EDITORIAL)
2. If a politician or a political party runs on a platform of ethics, honesty, and ambiguous 'family values--they better practice what they preach or voters will punish them....(MAUREEN DOWD EDITORIAL)

YouTube: Cronkite Announces JFK's Death to Nation

Cronkite's announcement of JFK's death in 1963: the way he takes off his glasses, viewed live by nearly the entire country....Arguably the seminal moment in a young nation's history....

The Global Financial Crisis: Is It All Over Now?

A year ago apocalyptic proclamations about the end of the world as we know it were the norm: our bank accounts were going to vaporize and we were all on the cusp of having to forage for our next meal...

Boy, what a difference a year makes!

Today, it's as if the so-called 'global financial crisis' never happened. Goldman Sachs is back to printing their own money, the stock market is back to going up seemingly every day, Hummers are again flying off the car lots...ok I made that last one up, but you get the picture--

That wasn't so bad, though, was it? I mean the 'global financial Armageddon' was merely a blip--a pimple on an elephant's ass, right?

Or are we in the calm before the storm. The eye of the hurricane....

Obama to Play Hardball

And I'm not referring to the Chris Matthews hosted TV show, either...

After trying for the entire six months of his presidency to be bipartisan and win at least partial Republican support with his legislation--including the $700 billion budget stimulus, and getting nothing for his efforts, Obama appears ready to use his popularity and huge Congressional majorities to ram through his agenda.

Bipartisanship comity be damned.

The GOP is so dysfunctional and rudderless these days, about the only thing they have been able to do is oppose anything and everything Obama suggests--including the stimulus package, his judicial nominees, and most importantly health care reform.

Obama holds all the political cards, though, and the clock is ticking. Time to call the other side's bluff and take home the spoils....

Bush v. Gore Part Deux? It Could Happen

Al Gore is 62 years old. Joe Biden is 66 years old. In eight years time, well, you can do the math.

Seasoned Democratic strategist James Carville has been quoted as saying, "Running for president is like sex. You can't just do it once."

If Gore does run again in 2016, there's a good possibility his opponent from the GOP would be Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida.

You see, whoever runs against Obama in 2012 from the Republican side--and the smart money is on Mitt "Android" Romney--stands slightly over a 0% chance of winning, and will be nothing more than a sacrificial lamb.

The next real competitive race will be in 2016.

nd, believe it or not, it could be Bush v. Gore.

Olbermann Slams Racists and Pastor who Prays for Obama's Death

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Sotomayor Will Cruise

Hearings get under way today for the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, and there is a 100% chance that she will cruise through and be placed on the high court.

Not only is she eminently qualified (unlike someone like Clarence Thomas, for example), but she would be the first Hispanic ever to serve on the Supreme Court. Hispanics are the fastest growing demographic in America by a large margin, and they voted in droves for the Democrats and Barack Obama in particular during the last two elections.

The only pressure to try and rough up Sotomayor is coming from Conservative bible-thumping social Conservatives--the very types of voters Republicans have long relied on in the past for their winning coalition.

The key word above was 'past'. Today's winning coalitions in America must include Hispanics.

YouTube: Al Franken in the 70's Movie Tunnel Vision

Story here.

Iraq and Afghanistan: Do Americans Care Anymore?

99% of military aged men in America care more by a factor of ten about their upcoming fantasy football season than they do about the two simultaneous, savage wars being fought by a minuscule minority of their peers in the far away lands of Iraq and Afghanistan.

That fact is appalling.

It is the product of a spoiled, fat, shallow, under-educated, military draft free generation in this country that could care a less about the less than 1% of their brethren who are unfortunate enough to be fighting overseas.

Remember what George W. Bush told us before launching these two wars? First off he gave the wealthy a big fat tax cut, then he told the rest of us to go to the mall and go shopping.

Great job buddy! You're a regular Winston Churchill!!

The country's priorities are completely out of whack. The military draft should be reinstated if for nothing else than to wake the population out of its stupor with regards t0 war and its consequences.

It's a sad indictment of our culture that we are dropping bombs and killing in other countries in the name of the United States.

And virtually no one in the United States cares.

Yes Nice Can! Obama and Sarkozy Ogle Broad at G8 Summit

Tim Pawlenty, Republican Presidential Candidate

Tim Pawlenty will probably wind up being Mitt Romney's running mate in the 2012 presidential election.

That statement begs the question, who the hell is Tim Pawlenty?

He's the current governor of Minnesota: widely regarded as being both a successful executive, moderate, a good speaker, telegenic and, well....normal.

Of the above adjectives, the two most important ones are 'moderate' and 'normal'.

You see, there aren't too many of those in the Republican party these days.

The smart money for the nomination is still on Romney--he's the next guy in line and he's filthy rich. But the smart money's also on whoever becomes the Republican nominee being routed by Obama in 2012.

So keep your eye on Pawlenty. He could be America's next Republican president. In 2016, that is...

60 Democrats in the Senate Means Very Little

People have become fixated on the supposedly magical '60' number in the United States Senate now that Al Franken has been seated from Minnesota.

It's a silly thing to focus on and pretty much meaningless--other than the obvious fact that the Republican party continues to atrophy and wither on the vine.

As this page has mentioned several times, it will soon be extinct in its present form--meaning the weird longstanding marriage of bible thumping social conservatives and more mainstream fiscal conservatives.

Alas, I digress...

The magical number of 60 in the eyes of many means that the Democrats now have a filibuster-proof majority and can pass whatever the legislation they want. This simply is not the case.

In reality, there are Republicans who often vote with Democrats, and conservative Democrats who often vote with Republicans.

Indeed on upcoming controversial legislation like health care reform and union card check, we can expect plenty of crossover voting which will make the supposed filibuster proof majority moot.

Practically, though, Al Franken's victory is a very important development, as it signifies yet another nail in the coffin of today's GOP.

Gas Taxes: Raise Them for The Public Good

Here in New York City the price to take the subway or ride a public bus just rose an astonishing 25%, from $2.00 to $2.50.

It is a case study in government doing exactly the wrong thing for society as a whole.

Our 'leaders' should be doing everything in their power to encourage travelling by mass transit for a whole variety of obvious, incredibly important reasons such as global warming, safety, efficiency, foreign relations, the environment, etc...

One clear way to encourage people to abandon their cars--at least somewhat, in favor of mass transit would be to significantly raise the federal excise tax on gas.

I know, I know, this is an incredibly controversial proposition, especially during a recession, but raising taxes will never be popular with the American people.

We ostensibly elect our leaders to make tough decisions for the public good, and this would incontrovertibly be good for nearly everyone.

America, the richest country on the planet, is a third world backwater with regards to our decaying rail system. The very car companies that succeeded in crippling the rail companies at the turn of last century are now themselves bankrupt.

It's time for Washington to use its power to tax to charge more for Americans to fill up their cars, then direct that money in its entirety to develop mass transit.

It's now or never.

On Michael Jackson's Death

Rarely have the deep ills of an entire society been on more full display than in the aftermath of Michael Jackson's death.

Michael Jackson was a bizarre, troubled individual who most likely molested several young boys.

Yes, he wrote two or three very popular pop records during his career and was undeniably a great dancer--but that's it.

He wasn't a prolific artist: in addition to molesting children he spent 99% of his time lounging around in luxury, getting multiple plastic surgeries, and dying his skin white.

What on planet earth is all the fuss about??!!

An estimated 1 million people are expected to descend upon Los Angeles for Jackson's memorial service tomorrow.

Get a life, people! Don't you have anything better to do with your time!! Unemployment is pushing ten percent!! Attending Michael Jackson's memorial service will not further your career!

The aftermath of the death of Michael Jackson: a snapshot in history of a celebrity obsessed, irrational, irresponsible, society in steep decline...