The NRA Has Done So Much For America

They must adore these numbers:

 

Where are all those good guys with guns?

Bob Gates – Pathetic!

I am sickened after reading snippets of former Defense Secretary Gates’ self-serving book, “Duty.”  After all his apparent dedication to the country, it turns out Mr. Gates is just another war-mongering, right-wing neocon.  It seems his major complaint about Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden is that they didn’t agree with him and thought that getting out of Afghanistan ASAP was a good idea.  Apparently the deaths of over 2,000 American troops and the loss of almost a trillion dollars wasn’t enough for Gates to figure out things weren’t going so well over there.  Gates mentions that the President didn’t trust his generals? No s**t, Shylock.  A string of military leaders kept promising that the Afghans were just about ready to take over military operations at the end of the year… every year for a decade.  A just a few thousand more troops, they said, and a few hundred billion more dollars and everything would be dandy.  It’s a sad commentary on Gates’ career that he claims utter disdain for virtually everyone he worked with but never voiced any of those objections publicly –until he had a fat book deal.

More GOP Denial of Reality – Federal Govt. Smallest in 47 Years

Idiotic Republican leaders and pundits continue to rail against Big Government…. in spite of the fact that the number of federal employees is at its lowest point since 1966.  Of course that won’t stop Ryan, Cruz, Boehner, Paul, et al. from more repeated exhortations about the need for smaller government.  That will go on, I suppose, until there’s another Republican in the White House when federal employee roles will balloon like they did under Bush II.

Related articles

• Government jobs at lowest in 47 years… or 4 years (economy.money.cnn.com)

Note to Tea Party

Civics 101, day 1.  In America, you make and change laws by winning elections and gaining a majority in Congress.  So try that instead of extortion, blackmail, lying, bullying, ….

Message to my People in Congress

I just sent email to my three representatives in the Senate and House.

“Don’t give in to the GOP extortionists.  Don’t ‘compromise’ on anything.  The ACA is law.  In America, we don’t change laws by blackmail.  I don’t care if the value of my savings falls to zero and I never collect a Social Security check.  Don’t give in to the Republican right-wing terrorists.”

“What Goes Around Comes Around…”

So said John McCain today in a lame effort to somehow caution Democrats about their behavior in the current government shutdown nonsense.  He would do better, I think, to offer that same warning to his fellow GOP crazies.  The next time the Republicans are in control of the White House, if that ever happens in my lifetime, I hope and expect the Democrats will filibuster, refuse to raise the debt ceiling, and threaten to defund anything the GOP passes.  As the sage Mr. McCain says: “What goes around comes around.” even stupid, irrational. anti-American behavior.

Related articles

• Senator John McCain tells Fox News: No, The Shutdown Is The GOP’s Fault (crooksandliars.com)
• McCain To Fox News: No, The Shutdown Is The GOP’s Fault (VIDEO) (talkingpointsmemo.com)
• McCain: Democrats should understand ‘What goes around comes around’ (cnnpolitics.com)

Republicans Don’t Know History — Just 8 Years Back

The country is doomed.  GOP voters can’t remember who was president in 2005… just eight years ago.  Or, maybe they really do believe then Senator Obama somehow screwed up the Hurricane Katrina emergency response.  Almost one-third of Louisiana GOPers believe it was all Mr. Obama’s fault; conveniently forgetting it was their very own G.W. Bush who was in the White House then and who famously stated that everything was being handled just swell.

 

Related articles

• More Louisiana Republicans Blame President Obama For Hurricane Katrina Response Than Bush (thinkprogress.org)
• 29% of La. Republicans Blame Katrina Mess on… Obama (newser.com)

Rethinking America’s Priorities: $8 Trillion for Homeland Security

The recent revelations about the scope of the NSA’s tracking of telecommunications raised the question (again) for me about the nation’s priorities.  I’m all for combating terrorist threats but not at the cost of ignoring all other national needs.  Nick Kristof’s op-ed piece posits the question more elegantly than I could. He notes that American’s are much more likely to die from in-home accidents, bee stings and, of course, gun shots than from a terrorist attack.  And Congress continues to ignore our crumbling infrastructure and massive unemployment and any rational gun control.  But anything couched in terms of  preventing terrorism gets funded, no questions asked; adding up to $8 trillion spent for homeland security since 9/11.  The country needs to rethink its priorities.

Related articles

• How Could We Blow This One (NYTimes.com)

The GOP Agenda; a Refresher

It’s difficult to keep track of all the things the Republicon Party is against these days.  The Party of No has such an extensive list of things it finds objectionable.  So I’ve made a short list just so I don’t forget.

The GOP is AGAINST:

… abortion rights
… same sex marriage
… universal health care
… clean energy
… unions
… teachers
… public education
… immigration reform
… planning for climate change
… efforts to lower unemployment
… repairing/upgrading America’s infrastructure
… low interest rate student loans
… filling open positions on federal courts
… protecting the environment
… birth control and family planning
… minimum wage
… unemployment benefits
… food programs for poor children

The GOP is FOR:

… tax cuts for the rich
… tax cuts for the rich
… tax cuts for the rich
… no taxes on corporations
… burning more carcinogenic dirty coal
… waging war anywhere in the Mideast
… more guns for everyone
… taxpayer/lobbyist funded junkets for members of Congress
… taxpayer subsidized great health insurance for members of Congress

oh… and Tax cuts for the rich….

Rand Paul… Just Weird

Mostly I can just ignore Rand Paul….  He says so many bizarre things.  But yesterday talking with Glenn Beck no less he stated “What is it that is the leading cause of poverty in our country?’ It’s having kids without marriage.”

Another right-winger just making stuff up.

Suppose this assertion is true.  What does it have to do with the same-sex marriage issue?  In fact, it sounds like a good reason to support same-sex marriage… so kids have married parents….

Oh, and then there was Mr. Paul’s suggestion that same-sex marriage might lead to bestiality.  Well, if it does maybe we’ll get more rational people in Congress.