Headlines - Tuesday

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

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Afghanistan is lost

Most Americans don't know it, but the US military commander was fired in Afghanistan last month for failure. America has killed so many Afghan civilian men, women and children in error even the new Army commander admitted "we can lose this fight" if we keep slaughtering kids by mistake.

The nightly news hates stories where brave American GI's screw up under fire and indiscriminately blow up at least 120 Afghan civilians by directly contradicting procedures, which happened May 4th of this year, so very few Americans know about that either.

Keep reading: http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/014205.php

 

And ...

 

As the Obama administration ramps up the Drug Enforcement Administration's presence in Afghanistan, some special-agent pilots contend that they're being illegally forced to go to a combat zone, while others who've volunteered say they're not being properly equipped.

 

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Bachmann boasts about breaking the law: I'm refusing to fill out the census

 

 

Next year, the 2010 Census will be sent to every American household, as required by the U.S. Constitution. The far right has issued dire warnings of the Census; on a May 29th episode of Bill Bennett's radio show, RNC Chairman Michael Steele intoned, "Certainly the collection of this information is going to be part of an ongoing political campaign by this administration."

 

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Iran had a democracy before we took it away: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/06/22-0

 

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Taking the Democrat health care Kabukie Boogie Seriously: http://casadelogo.typepad.com/factesque/2009/06/taking-the-democrat-health-care-kabukie-boogie-seriously.html

 

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Sack up already, Democrats

 

Krugman:

The real risk is that health care reform will be undermined by "centrist" Democratic senators who either prevent the passage of a bill or insist on watering down key elements of reform. I use scare quotes around "centrist," by the way, because if the center means the position held by most Americans, the self-proclaimed centrists are in fact way out in right field.

While driving this morning I was listening to somebody absolutely rip the insurance companies a new one on NPR. Just blistering them. What brave Democrat could this be, I thought?

Republican Joe Fucking Barton: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEj-Mi7D_1o&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efirst%2Ddraft%2Ecom%2F2009%2F06%2Fsack%2Dup%2Dalready%2Ddemocrats%2Ehtml&feature=player_embedded

Keep reading: http://www.first-draft.com/2009/06/sack-up-already-democrats.html

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Neocons see a perfectly good excuse for war going to waste

 

I'm going to beat the same drum I've been beating for a while now; what's the deal with Republicans and Iran? When the people who were saying we should bomb Iran just a minute ago become the Iranian people's biggest fans, it's seems to be a pretty fair and obvious question. When the GOP criticizes Obama's response to Iran, do they have the Iranian's best interests at heart? Ours? Anyone's?

Keep reading: http://griperblade.blogspot.com/2009/06/neocons-see-perfectly-good-excuse-for.html

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From the General

Saving Fetus Americans

Jill Stanek
Pro Life Pulse

Dear Nurse Stanek,

First, I want to thank you for asking the FBI to interview me for "threatening your life." I can't wait for them to contact me. It'll be a great opportunity for me to show actual representatives of the United States government all the good work we're doing--me, with my spermatazoan-American liberation and housing project (I'm hoping the agent will help me fill up the rest of this mason jar), and you, with your tacit encouragement of those who would assassinate our nation's doctors.

I've been thinking a lot about the work you're doing lately, and all the success the Coerced Childbirth Movement has had in reducing the number of doctors willing to perform late-term abortions. I'm not sure how many there were ten years ago, but after a decade of pro-life assassinations, there appear to be only two (and maybe only one, soon, if an assassin for Jesus puts the photos and addresses to which you linked to use.

More: http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/

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The St. Petersburg Times is running a series on the Church of Scientology that has some pretty eye-popping allegations, particularly with regard to Church leader David Miscavige. For those who have long argued that the Church is a cult (most recently in Europe) the exposé will likely reinforce their views.

http://jonathanturley.org/2009/06/22/cult-or-miscavige-of-justice-newspaper-runs-indepth-expose-on-church-of-scientology/#more-12073

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Morford: Your wonderful totally bogus freedom

You are so wild and lawless and rebellious! But not really: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/06/17/notes061709.DTL

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First it was Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), who said there was no point in meeting with Obama nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

Now it's Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) who is too mindful of the clock to meet with Sotomayor.

Sen. Bob Corker blew off his meeting with Sonia Sotomayor last week. Hobbling along with her leg in a cast, she was 10 minutes late and he said he didn't feel like waiting. "I decided to proceed on to the next meeting," he told a Tennessee Press Association breakfast in Chattanooga.

This kind of treatment is insulting and shabby and reflects poorly on the high office these men hold. Common courtesy is the hallmark of the Senate, but these two dolts obviously didn't get the memo.

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Twitter: Love it or hate it, but you have to admit that something very brief can provide huge insight.

Take Marco Rubio for example, or should I say marcorubio? The only guy not scared of running against Charlie Crist in a Republican primary in Florida for U.S. Senate is exploring his inner Iranian freedom meme on twitter. In successive posts on Father's Day, you can watch him home in on how best to slam Obama, strike the proper note of patriotism and far rightwing zealotry, and applaud fatherhood. It's not an easy job, but I think he's done it:

May God bless those fathers in Iran who are speaking out in order to protect their childrens future.

An American govt afraid to speak out for freedom is exactly what the terrorists wanted to accomplish.

American govt may be afraid to speak out in support of Iranian freedom but the American people are not! 

I have a feeling the situation in Iran would be a little different if they had a 2nd amendment like ours. 

Yes, more guns are always the answer, Marco.

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Shades of Danny Boy's potatoe

Priceless:

On Saturday, Pat Buchanan hosted a conference to discuss how Republicans can regain a majority in America. During one discussion, panelists suggested supporting English-only initiatives as a prime way of attracting "working class white Democrats." The discussion ridiculed Judge Sotomayor for the fact that she studied children's classics to improve her grammar while attending college. The panelists also suggested that, without English as the official language, President Obama would force Americans to speak Spanish.

One salient feature of the event was the banner hanging over the English-only advocates. The word conference was spelled "Conferenece." 

The panelists pressed on with their anti-bilingualism diatribe without noting the irony of the obvious misspelling on the banner: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/22/misspelled-english-buchanan/

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This is why we won't be getting health care reform anytime soon

Contributions from the health care bastards to the crooked members in Congress:

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The Guardian: Goldman Sachs ...most profitable year ever

What do these people construct? Create? Manufacture? Farm? Have they fought fires? Saved a community? Saved a life with care? Nothing. They do nothing except tanking the global economy, so why the hell do they deserve bonuses? They deserve nothing but public scorn.

 

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Watching the events in Iran and listening to the talking heads, I'm just wondering if the Republicans are so concerned about election integrity, why didn't they care about the lack of integrity in our own elections in 2000 and 2004? Why are some Republicans pleading guilty to voter registration fraud? Why is it that citizens of a country that many in the U.S. want to bomb to smithereens seem to want to fight and die for their vote while U.S. citizens could care less about even showing up to the polls

 

And I'm also very thankful John McCain isn't president.

 

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Neda Agha Soltani, shot down by the Iranian Basiji Militia on Saturday.

She wasn't taking part in the demonstrations, but a Basij killed her anyway. The Iranian regime has much to be proud of; they've proven that they can gun down a young, slender, unarmed woman.

 

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Why children should go hungry

 

A lawmaker from the party of Hoover actually made an argument for allowing children to go hungry. Note the item of jewelry that said lawmaker is wearing around her neck. Feel free to comment on the irony. No, it is not Michele Bachmann (R-Nut Barn), but it is understandable if you assumed that.

Then take a look at her actual newsletter and note the "joke" she posted on the bottom, which is a "humorous" take on the decades-old Wingnut line that "poor people are lazy."

I gather that she did not get the memo about "compassionate conservatives" nor was she awake for a good part of her Sunday School classes.

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