Headlines - Friday January 14

Leaving for here tomorrow. It's not gonna suck to be me!

 

 

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They told the truth.
Last time they came unarmed.
Last Saturday, they came armed.

 

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"Where I come from the person that is actually shooting is the one that's culpable. - Palin, thru her lying spokesman Link

So Palin is now calling for the release of Charlie Manson because he wasn't an actual shooter in the Tate-LaBianca murders?

Someone else pointed out that Hitler didn't personally push Jews into the oven.

 

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Wisco: Wingnut blogosphere's fake outrage of the day

 

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NORTH CAROLINA: Tea Party-Backed School Board Reinstitutes Segregation

Wake County, North Carolina Republicans swept onto the Raleigh school board with the backing of the Tea Party are abolishing the busing of minority students from poor neighborhoods into better-funded school districts.

The new school board has won applause from parents who blame the old policy - which sought to avoid high-poverty, racially isolated schools - for an array of problems in the district and who say that promoting diversity is no longer a proper or necessary goal for public schools. "This is Raleigh in 2010, not Selma, Alabama, in the 1960s - my life is integrated," said John Tedesco, a new board member. "We need new paradigms." But critics accuse the new board of pursuing an ideological agenda aimed at nothing less than sounding the official death knell of government-sponsored integration in one of the last places to promote it. Without a diversity policy in place, they say, the county will inevitably slip into the pattern that defines most districts across the country, where schools in well-off neighborhoods are decent and those in poor, usually minority neighborhoods struggle.

The NAACP has filed a lawsuit. Wake County's school superintendent has resigned in protest. His expected replacement is a Tea Party activist and retired general. 

 

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GLAAD Angry About Westboro Radio Deal

The Westboro Baptist Church has agreed not to picket the funeral of the federal judge murdered in Saturday's massacre in Arizona. In return, a nationally syndicated radio show will give Westboro airtime to broadcast their repulsive message. GLAAD wants the deal called off.

This week Westboro has reacted to the tragedy in Tucson with messages like "God Sent the Shooter." Giving airtime to this malicious group is like negotiating with terrorists. Except in this case, Westboro is being incentivized by being provided with an outlet to broadcast their hate to thousands of others. While countless radio stations and media outlets around the country are properly paying tribute to the fallen and taking a serious look at the tragedy in Tucson, KXXT-AM and CFNY-FM have decided to renege on their responsibility as broadcasters by rewarding one of the most anti-American groups in the country. Make your voice heard. Tell KXXT-AM and CFNY-FM that rewarding hateful behavior doesn't work and demand that they immediately rescind their offer of airtime to the Westboro Baptist Church.

Here's GLAAD's petition. 

 

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The only time she makes sense: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9kfcEga0lk&feature=player_embedded#!

 

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Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) To Propose Bill Allowing Guns On Floor Of U.S. House

Teabagger Rep. Louie Gohmert says he will introduce a bill authorizing members of Congress to bring guns to work.

"It'd be a good thing for members of Congress who want to carry a weapon in the District," he said. "I know friends that walk home from the Capitol. There's no security for us," he said, adding that the measure would deter people from attacking members. "There is some protection in having protection." He said there were times during the health care debate last year that he felt afraid, including when a stranger approached him on the street and started screaming at him. Though Gohmert doesn't have a concealed weapon permit in Texas, he's long been a strong advocate for Second Amendment rights.

What could possibly go wrong? 

 

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"Are these guys headed to the OK Corral?" "No, they're congressmen headed to the floor of the House of Representatives."

 

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Glenn Beck Defends Three-Fifths Clause

How did I miss this? Glenn Beck managed to defend one of the most awful and ridiculous sections of the Constitution: the Three-Fifths Clause which defined slaves as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of congressional representation.

http://www.bobcesca.com/blog-archives/2011/01/glenn_beck_defe_1.html

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What do you think? Does Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) have the hots for Sarah Palin or is he just plain crazy?  Whichever it is, this guy has just moved the wingnut bar one notch higher.

"If every person in the world was like Sarah Palin, there probably wouldn't even be need for government because no one would be in danger of any kind.  If every person were like Sarah Palin, this world would be a peaceful, beautiful world to live in."

Actually, there would be all kinds of dangers in a Palin-cloned world, not the least one being the thrashing that common sense, honesty, intelligence and the English language would take.

Best line goes to the Politico reader who wrote of Franks:

Ooooooh. Another customer for my famous Sarah Palin Scratch and Sniff Calendar.

I've got a prize for the person coming up with the best ending to, "If every person in the world was like Sarah Palin, then [...]".  Take your best shot.

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Here's how the tea party showed respect for our democracy.

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It should be interesting to watch Republicans, and the NRA, and the Tea Party (which is the same thing as Republicans, just the far right fringe), argue that people SHOULD be allowed to carry guns within 1000 feet of a member of Congress or a judge at an event. More from Huff Post.

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D-cap has an excellent post up looking at the state of our Union:

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In just about ever[y] statistic that is measured, we are below average when compared to the rest of the world. The only place we come out as leaders of the pack are in military might and waging war - and even those two have not had a good ride as of late. Look at the state of education, health care, savings, tolerance, happiness, poverty, and manufacturing in this country - nothing we do anymore screams innovation or leadership. All it screams is how much money can it make for the investor class. The politicians can rile up the crowds with American exceptionalism all they want - all the facts prove they are wrong.

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USA! USA!

America in the 21st Century has become the land of delusional idiots.

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Political Correction

POLITICO: What in the world does the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus do?

HARPER: We hunt liberal, tree-hugging Democrats, although it does seem like a waste of good ammunition.

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The winger fixation with the idea of an attack on Sarah Palin is starting to creep me out. Erick Erickson (via Southern Beale):

Out there somewhere is someone who would love to kill Governor Palin. God forbid they do it. But you and I both know there is some crazy MSNBC watcher and Media Matters reader who even now is dreaming of doing so.

And should they try, we can be equally sure of something else. The left will be divided into two camps: (1) bitch deserved it and (2) not my fault.

It is unfortunate. I hope it never happens. But you and I both know the reality in which we live.

Glenn Beck to Palin:

I want you to know you have my support. But please look into protection for your family. An attempt on you could bring the republic down.

It sure sounds like they're hoping some attack will be made, whether because they fantasize about being victims or because they think it would be exciting to see if "the republic" would be brought down, I can't say.

I would not be shocked if Palin eventually makes up some crazy story about an attempted attack on her, maybe along the lines of the Ross Perot story about how the Viet Cong tried to put a hit on him.

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Jill: Now let me see if I have the twisted Teabagger mindset straight: In Teabag America, Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh are victims because people say their rhetoric is unnecessarily inflammatory, but Gabrielle Giffords had it coming. 

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Raw story: Clear Channel pulls Limbaugh's 'Straight Shooter' billboard in Tucson.

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Hundreds dead, thousands homeless in Brazil. "More than 420 people have now been killed by flooding and mudslides in south-eastern Brazil, officials say. About 200 people have died in the town of Nova Friburgo, some 175 in Teresopolis and dozens more in Petropolis, media report. Thousands of people have been made homeless. Rio de Janeiro Governor Sergio Cabral blamed local governments for allowing poor building and illegal occupations. President Dilma Rousseff has toured damaged areas in Nova Friburgo. She vowed that there would be "firm action" by the government."

Worst natural disaster in its history. "The Australian state of Queensland is facing a reconstruction task of "post-war proportions", as floods left swathes of it under water. State Premier Anna Bligh said the state was reeling from the worst natural disaster in its history. Powerful flood waters have surged through the state capital, Brisbane, leaving thousands of homes submerged. The floods peaked at a lower level than expected but more than 30 suburbs are under water. Huge amounts of debris - cars, boats and jetties - have been floating downstream, some smashing into bridges. One man died when he was sucked into a storm drain and two more deaths elsewhere were reported by Australian broadcaster ABC, bringing the toll from this week's flooding to 15, with dozens more missing."

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The EPA yesterday "revoked the permit for one of the nation's largest mountaintop-removal coal mining projects," arguing "the mine would have done unacceptable damage to rivers, wildlife and communities in West Virginia." Arch Coal's proposed mine "would have buried miles of Appalachian streams under millions of tons of residue."

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Many members of Congress are looking for increased security as they travel back to their districts for events, following the shootings in Arizona — but local law enforcement agencies may not be able to help due to widespread state and local budgeting problems. A quarter of U.S. cities have reported cutting their public safety budgets in the past year and 80 percent of them have 10 officers or less.

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Republican Oklahoma governor swears to "offend" the Constitution, blames cold weather for misstatement.

Meanwhile, the Republican governor of Minnesota continues his 'thoughtful discourse' by saying the US tilts every day, a little more toward tyranny. Oh, and he'll reinstate DADT when he's president.

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On Louisiana coast, damage from oil goes much deeper than spill.

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11 small eco homes.

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Young pigs are seen in their pen at the Ebsen organic farm on January 13, 2011 in Langenhorn, Germany. Organic foods retailers are reporting a surge in demand following a recent contamination scandal. Investigators are pursuing a criminal investigation against the leading employees at Harles and Jentzsch - which announced some of the fatty proteins they had supplied to animal feed producers was tainted with dioxin. German authorities responded by barring 4,700 mostly poultry and hog farms from selling their products until laboratory tests could guarantee them dioxin free. Organic farms have thus far been immune from the scandal since they use no industrially-produced animal feed. By Joern Pollex/Getty Images.

 

Headlines - Thursday January 13

Orange Julius has great priorities.

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A spate of attacks against Afghanistan's intelligence service and international forces killed at least nine people, including five NATO troops, on Wednesday in a violent testament to the tenuous nature of gains made against the virulent insurgency. 

Thank Jeebus we'll be staying there indefinitely.

 

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Blaming the media by using an anti-semitic slur in the wake of the attempted assassination of a Jewish congresswoman! That woman is even dumber and less sensitive than we thought. Amazing.

Think Progress reports that Jewish groups are denouncing Sarah Palin's usage of the term "blood libel." As most of you doubtlessly know, "blood libel" refers to the anti-Semitic claim that Jews use the blood of Christian babies to make matzoh. Such claims have been used to murder hundreds of Jews.

From the Jewish lobbying group, J Street:

J Street is saddened by Governor Palin's use of the term "blood libel." The country's attention is rightfully focused on the memorial service for the victims of Saturday's shooting. Our prayers continue to be with those who are still fighting to recover and the families of the victims. The last thing the country needs now is for the rhetoric in the wake of this tragedy to return to where it was before. We hope that Governor Palin will recognize, when it is brought to her attention, that the term "blood libel" brings back painful echoes of a very dark time in our communal history when Jews were falsely accused of committing heinous deeds.

From the National Jewish Democratic Council:

Instead of dialing down the rhetoric at this difficult moment, Sarah Palin chose to accuse others trying to sort out the meaning of this tragedy of somehow engaging in a "blood libel" against her and others. This is of course a particularly heinous term for American Jews, given that the repeated fiction of blood libels are directly responsible for the murder of so many Jews across centuries—and given that blood libels are so directly intertwined with deeply ingrained anti-Semitism around the globe, even today.

Most are noting that Palin's claim is especially offensive considering that Rep. Giffords is Jewish.

 

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"We never ever, ever intended it to be gun sights. It was simply cross-hairs like you'd see on maps. - Palin's lying spokesman   Link        Yeah, cross-hairs on a map - right, because everyone knows how you "reload" a map. Besides, that's not what the PW said:         ###               North Carolina state Rep. Larry Brown says his state should eliminate all funding to treat adults with AIDS because it is caused by people living "perverted lifestyles." #### "Today has been set aside to honor the victims of the Tucson massacre. And Sarah Palin has apparently decided she's one of them." Josh Marshall ###  ### CNN's Howard Kurtz issued the following correction: When I conducted the telephone interview for my Nov. 27 article on California Rep. Darrell Issa, my unambiguous understanding was that I was speaking with Rep. Issa. I subsequently learned that I was speaking to his chief spokesman, Kurt Bardella. None of the views ascribed to Issa are inaccurate, but the attribution throughout the story should have been to his spokesman, not to the congressman. We have since corrected the article. The earlier version also mentioned Darrell Issa's "tendency to refer to himself in the third person." In fact, that usage was appropriate because the interview was with his spokesman. I can't imagine why political reporting is so perpetually dumbstupid. ### Let the healing begin

 

Says CNN's Eric Erickson of the assassination attempt of nice jewish lady Rep. Gabrielle Giffords:

Through it all though, well meaning people on both sides of the ideological and partisan divide are not talking about the one thing that should be talked about — a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

I wonder how that squares with referring to Justice Souter as a goat-fucking child molester.

(Media Matters)

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Matt Taibbi provided his reflections on the Gifford massacre and the state of our over-polarized society looking for entertainment in all the wrong places.

It's certainly possible that we've all become too used to unrestrained rhetoric as a form of entertainment, and people like me live right in the middle of the guilt parabola there. Most all of us are grownups and can handle extreme argument, but clearly some people are not, and obviously I'm not just talking about Jared Loughner.

To see that, all you have to do is attend almost any family gathering, where once-loving relationships have been completely lost because of the overheated right-left culture war. If real family relationships are being lost to this kind of political debate, if someone on TV can reach into your living room and break up your family without knowing anything about you or even knowing that you exist, that tells us that this mechanized mass-media rhetoric has been almost unimaginably successful at dehumanizing whole classes of people.

So how do we work to re-humanize those other guys so that we can start to work on our shared problems together?

(I personally don't want to even talk with any of them, much less live in the same country.)

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The Rude Pundit:

There she sits, our idiot queen, crowned by her Hollywood coif, needing two American flags in the frame of the video to tell us how really, most sincerely Americanly American she is. In a jacket and a lower-cut than usual blouse (which, truly, made the Rude Pundit think, "She needs to use more sunscreen on her upper chest"), Sarah Palin speaks to the tragedy that occurred in Arizona this past Saturday, in "our country," she says. Then, in a moment that can only be described as "Uh, is she having an orgasm?" Palin sighs, "Mmmm...our vibrant country."

To watch Palin's seven and a half minutes of self-aggrandizement and strained victimhood is to understand in a microcosmic moment how cynically Palin is manipulating her followers. Simply put, the faux absence of self-awareness isn't charmingly silly anymore. It's just dangerous and sad. Quoting Ronald Reagan, she says, "Each individual is accountable for his actions." Then she continues, "They begin and end with the criminals who commit them." If that was the case, the world would be a simpler place, no? The entire fields of sociology, anthropology, psychology, and, well, criminal justice could be banished from the courtroom. Crime doesn't happen in a vacuum. If it did, if society had no responsibility to prevent it, then someone should have told the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, back in 2001 not to worry too much about building a nice hockey rink to keep the kids out of trouble.

But it gets worse. Later in the meandering video, in chiding members of Congress for overreacting to the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, she says, "Recall how the events of 9-11 challenged our values and we had to fight the tendency to trade our freedoms for perceived security." Umm, we didn't fight for our freedoms. That's why we have people held for ten years now without charge or trial in Guantanamo Bay (something Palin supports) and why we may have to have our nuts or vags fondled at the airport.

What Palin is actually saying comes through not in her hyperbolic use of "blood libel" (the Rude Pundit actually prefers his matzoh free of Christian child blood). Instead, here she is in defiant mode: "We will not be stopped from celebrating the greatness of our country and our foundational freedoms." No, no, let's not do anything in the wake of this shooting, like consider gun control measures and greater spending on mental health programs. That would take away our liberty. How can one celebrate America's greatness unless one is allowed to shoot the fuck out of animals while saying liberals are socialists bent on murdering your grandpa with a panel? It's unpossible.

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Sarah Goes Full Auto on the Media

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Blue Girl: Is civility with Conservatives even possible?

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Keep trashing Sheriff Dupnik, right-wingers The people on their feet when he popped up on the Jumbotron? Yeah, they are the people who vote for him, and have in every election he has stood for since being appointed in 1980. You are not going to drive him out of office in Pima County; the job is his as long as he wants it. But you might get your radio shows dropped from the second-largest market in the desert southwest. And since we think that would be a good thing for the American body politic, we say keep talkin.'

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Ted Nugent op-ed: Don't try to understand evil with "psychology" — just be ready to eff it in the aye! [Washington Times]

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Wonkette: Sarah Palin Delivers Annual State of Hateful Charlatan Provocation Address

 

Headlines - Wednesday January 12

 

His God keeps and bears the biggest arms in the Universe. Such is the faith that sustains him.

 

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Earlier thoughts on gun nuttery and right wing demagoguery

As you may recall, there was in the summer of 2009, a disturbing tendency for various disaffected right wingers to show up at political events openly carrying fire arms.  When some of us on the left voiced concern about this trend, geniuses like Megan McArdle made the case for gun toting as a form of protest, entitled to protection.  

I remember writing about this trend with alarm at the time; it didn't seem to require an abundance of prescience to see that this was all going to lead to no good end.  Quoting myself is a bit crass, but a couple of things I wrote were said about as well as I can express them.  First, with respect to McArdle and others mischaracterizing carrying guns as a form of politcal speech:

Let me explain the issue so even McArdle can understand it.  The guns that people bring to these events are designed to kill people -- that is their sole purpose.  When I strap one on and wear it to an event I am saying to my fellow citizens "if you fuck with me, I am willing to kill you."  The gun is not designed to stimulate debate, it is designed to end it.  It is not a symbol of civil liberty, it is an instrument of solipsistic incivility saying rather clearly that I intend to have the last word -- and not in the way that Megan imperiously proclaims from her perch on high in her blog post.

As for the dangerous interplay of guns, the fringe characters attracted to the tea party ethos, and their right wing cheerleaders, here was my impression from 16 months ago of what we were probably going to see:

What you see here is a lumpen mass whose inherent sense of resentment and suspicion has been turned up to eleven by right wing manipulators like Fox, NRO, Malkin, Instapundit, and their fellow traveling cretins.  It's all well and good until one one or two or more of these armed rubes snaps and we have carnage on our hands.  Then despite the inevitable protestations of shocked innocence on the part of the aforementioned shit stirrers, they will truly have blood on their hands.

I wish I had been wrong.

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In Arizona, Glocks Selling Like Death Hotcakes Right Now

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US has fired 250,000 rounds for every insurgent killed

There is an amazing (and startling) statistic out of Iraq and Afghanistan: the United States has fired an estimated 250,000 for every insurgent killed. The U.S. is going through so much ammo that manufacturers are struggling to keep up. In another milestone, U.S. troops in Afghanistan now surpass the number in Iraq.
Continue reading 'GAO: U.S. Has Fired 250,000 Rounds For Every Insurgent Killed'

And in a related story:

Vice President Biden told reporters at a press conference in Kabul on Tuesday that the United States is willing to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014 if the Afghans want the assistance. Funny. I don't remember being asked if I was willing. 

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Start Your Subscription Today!

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No. Both sides do NOT do it

Whatever may have happened in another country and another time, the plain, simple fact is that the right wing in this country is and has been routinely endorsing violence against their political opponents for decades now.

There are people still alive who supported the segregationist policies of George Wallace, who cheered as the police used dogs and firehoses on marchers.  These people don't vote for Democrats anymore.  They were conservative in the 1960s, and they're conservative now.  They have always used violence to achieve their ends.

The entire conservative movement - from their politicians to their media personalities to the 'grassroots' Tea Party groups - has embraced continual calls for violence against their fellow citizens.  Ann Coulter has sold a lot of books advocating that conservatives speak to liberals only with baseball bats.  The very same conservatives  - again, from politicians to TV hosts to columnists to nameless fool on the street - who got the vapors every time Bush was denounced now consider it perfectly fine to call the President of the United States of America a non-citizen usurper, a traitor to this country, a dangerous criminal hell-bent on destroying everything we hold dear.  They worship guns, they constantly fantasize about violence.

So in whatever way you can, resist those who want to blame 'both sides' and/or cast conservatives as victims.  Do not give into those who warn against 'politicizing' this event; someone tried to assassinate a politician based upon her views and votes.  It was political from start to finish.

PZ Meyers has a great post about this, please read it if you haven't already.

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Remember this?

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Herbert: A Flood Tide of Murder

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Wisco: Thoughts on the Tragedy.

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For what? WikiLeaks: Julian Assange 'Faces Execution or Guantánamo Detention'

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It appears Pat Robertson is not alone speaking for God in the use of nature to punish the sins of man. A Christian pastor in Queensland, Daniel Nalliah of Catch the Fire Ministries, has announced that the devastating floods in Australia are actually divine judgment against Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd because he "spoke against Israel" in December 2010.

Continue reading 'Australian Pastor Blames Prime Minister for Causing Disasterous Floods as God's Vengence'

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Glenn Beck: Then And Now

Glenn Beck in 2005: "I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out -- is this wrong?"

Glenn Beck in 2011: "Sixty percent of Americans say the rhetoric in America has nothing to do with the shooting. It's -- it's quite honestly an abomination that it's only 60 percent of the American people. I don't understand how rhetoric had anything to do with it."

What would Glenn Beck be saying today if somebody had shot Michael Moore?

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Remember this?

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Bob Cesca: Doof Quote of the day

"This guy appears to be a communist. His beliefs are the liberal of the liberals [sic]. There is no evidence whatsoever that this man was influenced by Sarah Palin or anybody in the Republican Party. This man is not a conservative; he's a fan of communism - that's the opposite of conservatism." Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-Dumbstupid

To repeat what I just wrote on Twitter in response to this nonsense: I own the book "Of Mice and Men." That doesn't prove I'm a Depression-era migrant worker or a mentally challenged rabbit-fetishist.

Also, have you noticed how Hannity and others are suggesting that Loughner's copy of "Mein Kampf" indicates he's a liberal? Yep. The Goldberg/Beck myth that fascists are somehow liberal marches on.

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Why We Should Not Let a Semblance of Normalcy Silence Us  

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The most prominent Conservative public intellectual in America weighs in on the Tuscon tragedy.

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AZ to do something right! Will wonders never cease?

HuffPo: Arizona's state legislature has announced a legislative effort to combat the infamous Westboro Baptist Church's plans to picket the funerals of the shooting victims in Tucson over the weekend.

Every state should pass this, and someone also needs to remove their tax exempt status. Yesterday.

 

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Oh, look, it's Sarah Palin! - by mistermix

Sarah Palin released a video earlier this morning. It's a mix of sympathy for the victims, boilerplate platitudes (American exceptionalism gets multiple mentions) and attack.

There's no apology for her imagery, since "both sides do it":

Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that only serves only to incite the very hatred and violence that they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.

She claims that debate now is more civil than back when there were duels, and says we can't be stopped by those who seek to "muzzle dissent by shrill cries of imagined insults". And, haters, take note: we're better than "mindless fingerpointing". When Sarah points her finger, as she does many times in this video, she wants you to know that her mind is fully engaged.

Palin's toned-down appearance and scripted delivery show that she wants to adopt the appearance of reasonableness, but the message is more-or-less unchanged. The setting is presidential, but the message is classic Palin, lashing back at her critics. She was clearly hoping to show "gravitas", but that's more than set dressing.

Update: Here's how the Times, Post and Politico headlined their reports. So much for reasonableness and gravitas.

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Just in time for this year's State of the Union Address a gun and accessories manufacturer in South Carolina is celebrating their well known neo-Confederate asshole of a Congressman, Joe Wilson, with a special edition of a lower receiver for the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. It is a limited edition of a part that can be adjusted to convert the weapon into a fully automatic rifle and it is stamped with "You Lie" in tribute to Wilson's childish outburst at last year's SOTU:

According to the local paper the asswipes represented by Congressman Asswipe wanted to:

"...honor our esteemed congressman Joe Wilson with the release of our new 'You Lie' AR-15 lower receiver…"

And in light of the many, many recent events linked to gun violence the company added some small print to help Wilson duck and cover:

Continue reading What will he say this year…

 

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Jill: The Wall Street/Washington battle to restore the Gilded Age and do away with a thriving middle class is almost complete.

 

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Erick Erickson:  

Because he had the wretched cruelty to write:

Through it all though, well meaning people on both sides of the ideological and partisan divide are not talking about the one thing that should be talked about — a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Yup, sure, that's my first thought:  kill a nine year old girl; shoot some nice lady through the left hemisphere, murder a judge, and the proper response is to reflect on just how much that Jewish love child Jesus has done for me lately.

 

Keep reading: http://www.balloon-juice.com/2011/01/11/i-hope-erick-erickson-lives-a-long-and-miserable-life-afflicted-by-at-least-six-of-the-ten-plaugues/

 

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A "courageous first step" or a "tacit admission" 

You decide:

"I told all of our guys [at Fox News], shut up, tone it down, make your argument intellectually," Mr. Ailes said. "You don't have to do it with bombast. I hope the other side does that."

I suspect that won't last, because, as Andy Borowitz humorously noted, that would create a real problem for Fox News:

"Fox without violent rhetoric would be like The Weather Channel without maps."

Seriously, though, while it is a good thing that there are people on the Right who are now talking about toning down the hate, I don't see it happening. They would have to make a real argument as to why giving massive tax breaks to large corporations and the rich helps reduce the deficit and spurs economic growth. They would have to put forth a plan to address the rapid rise in health care costs that have been going on for many years.

They probably can't, which is why they resort to bullshit cries of "socialism", "communism", "Second Amendment remedies", "Obama's a secret Muslim" and all of the rest of that crap. I think that you'll see Fox News and the rest of the Right Wing Noise Machine pick up the Crack Pipe of Hate soon enough.

But I will be happy to be proven wrong.

 

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Safety for me, but not for thee

 

In August of 2009, when the hatred and fearmongering over healthcare reform reached a fever pitch, a man named William Kostric showed up at a presidential town hall meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire with a gun strapped to his thigh. He stood on church property near the high school where the meeting was taking place, holding a hand-made sign that paraphrased Thomas Jefferson's now-infamous quote about watering the tree of liberty with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

A few days later, when the President held another town hall in Phoenix, about a dozen protesters with weapons showed up. One of them had an assault rifle slung over his shoulder.

When liberals and Democrats -- the memory of teachers wearing t-shirts that said simply Protect Our Civil Liberties being thrown out of a Bush rally and threatened with arrest for "obscenity" still fresh in our minds -- protested this effrontery, we were mocked.

These people, we were told indignantly, had a Constitutional right under the Second Amendment to bear arms even in the presence of our precious President, and if you don't exercise your rights, they warned,m those rights will disappear. (Oddly, they remained silent on the infringement of the First Amendment rights of those who had disagreed with Bush.)

Now, a proposed new law would require all "federal officials" to wear beanie hats with flashing lights on the top 

Otherwise, how are we to know when we are within 1,000' of a "federal official"?

At least that's probably what would be required by Rep. Peter "The IRA Was Not a Terrorist Group" King's proposed bill. A bill which, of course, Mayor Mike and his cabal of gun-banners loves.

Let's face it, this proposed law would be about as stupid as they get, which says volumes about the lack of intelligence of Rep. King. If someone is bringing a gun to a public event to shoot someone, does anyone seriously think that they will be deterred by a law making it illegal to have the weapon? It already is illegal almost everywhere to shoot congressmen and judges.

So let's suppose, for the sake of argument, that Mr. IRA was speaking at a hall next to an interstate. Every vehicle driving by with a gun in the trunk, hunters, target shooters, people who had no idea that the Former Supporter of Terrorism was speaking there would be subject to being locked up in a federal prison. This bill is a stupid idea, even for Pete King.

(By the way, that noted fan of Irish terrorists is also wrong about his statement that it is illegal to have a gun within 1,000' of a school. That was thrown out by the Supremes over 15 years ago.)

 

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If you buy the "all Muslims are terrorists" meme, then you are invited to explain this:

Thousands of Muslims honored a promise made by their leaders and showed up at Christmas Mass or at candlelight vigils outside Egyptian churches on Friday, offering their bodies as human shields against any acts of terrorists.

Feel free to explain how Muslims protecting Christian services is an act of terror. I'd love to hear the rationalizations from the Christian Taliban in our nation.

 

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This doesn't happen very often There is snow on the ground in 49 of the 50 states, with Florida being the only state with none of the white stuff (Snow falls on Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea all winter long, and one of us has even snowskied in Hawaii.)

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Happy belated Gitmo Day! On Jan. 11, 2002, the United States captured a few dozen civilians in Afghanistan, and then shipped them to a lawless shithole Navy base on an embargoed island.

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Is Arizona a f***ed-up disaster?  If so, you might want to blame Arizonians who vote for politicians of the caliber of Republican State Senator Sylvia Allen.

Allen, who retained her seat in an election that fall, has since gained minor notoriety after calling for more uranium mining, saying in a speech that "this earth has been here 6,000 years, long before anybody had environmental laws, and somehow it hasn't been done away with." She also has complained that trees are "stealing Arizona's water supply" and sponsored a new law that allows carriers of concealed weapons to forego safety training and the indignity of background checks.

I have no words to describe the utter ignorance of Sen. Allen.  None.

Watch this.

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Remember this?

 

 

 

Headlines - Tuesday January 11

William Rivers Pitt

 

......

I just thought you should know a few things about the people you helped into their graves and hospital beds this weekend.

Yes, you.

You false patriots who bring assault rifles to political rallies, you hack politicians and media personalities who lied through your stinking teeth about "death panels" and "Obama is coming for your guns" and "He isn't a citizen" and "He's a secret Muslim" and "Sharia Law is coming to America," you who spread this bastard gospel and you who swallowed it whole, I am talking to you, because this was your doing just as surely as it was the doing of the deranged damned soul who pulled the trigger.  The poison you injected into our culture is deeply culpable for this carnage.

You who worship Jesus at the top of your lungs (in defiance of Christ's own teachings on the matter of worship, by the way) helped put several churchgoers into their graves and into the hospital. You who shriek about the sanctity of marriage helped cut down a man who was about to be married. You who crow with ceaseless abandon about military service and the nobility of our fighting forces helped to critically wound the wife of a Naval aviator who fought for you in a war. You who hold September 11 as your sword and shield helped put a little girl born on that day into the ground.

You helped. Yes, damn you, you helped.

Read the whole thing - it's spectacular.

 

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AZ clip was banned under Clinton, but GOP said killing 14 not enough.

 

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"We're better then the Democrats.  You don't see any Republicans running to a microphone to blame a Democrat for the shooting in Arizona, do you?"- The Oxy-d out Pigboy, live on the radio in Tulsa

Hey Pigboy, he SHOT a DEMOCRAT! 
 
You're right - nobody is blaming the Democrats for this shooting.

 

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Looks like Arizona'a answer to the shooting spree is more guns.

 

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The cracks are cracked: Absolutely Everyone Thought This Kid Was Going On a Shooting Spree

 

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Yes, nine inches of snow in Louisiana is exactly the kind of fucked-up weather you get as a result of global warming. "Freezing rain and sleet have caused power outages, icy roads and school cancellations in the south-eastern US, following a snow storm that struck in the region at the weekend. As much as 9in (23cm) of snow has blanketed states from Louisiana to North Carolina. At least three people have died in weather-related car crashes in the area over the past few days. The winter mix is expected to turn to ice by Tuesday, forecasters said. "Since it's going to be pretty cold over the next few days, we could see whatever accumulates sticking around for a few days," National Weather Service meteorologist Daniel Lamb told the Associated Press news agency."

 

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Glenn Beck's efforts to end the violence hits a snag 

From GlennBeck.com:

Nothing says "stop the violence" like pretending (and "pretending" is the right word) to be a bad-ass motherf'r with a gun.

I wonder who he thinks he's shooting.

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Tom DeLay sentenced to three years of dancing behind the bars

Hopefully that hammer will come in handy while breaking up rocks on the chain gang:

A judge has ordered U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to serve three years in prison for his role in a scheme to illegally funnel corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002.

The sentence comes after a jury in November convicted DeLay on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. DeLay was once one of the most powerful men in U.S. politics, ascending to the No. 2 job in the House of Representatives.

Slimy, mean little man.  I found this part amusing.

Hastert, an Illinois Republican who was House speaker from 1999 to 2006, testified that DeLay was not motivated by power but for a need to help others. Hastert talked about DeLay's conservative and religious values, his efforts to provide tax relief for his constituents in Texas, his work helping foster children and the help he provided to the family of one of the police officers who was killed in a 1998 shooting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

"That's the real Tom DeLay that a lot of people never got to see," Hastert said.

Yeah, right.  A real Mother Teresa.  Shut up, Hastert.

I'd love to think that others watching DeLay get his just deserts could learn and possibly be deterred from going down the same path.  It ain't about to happen.  Greedy, self-serving, egocentric, power-hungry bastards tend to view themselves as omnipotent demi-gods and demi-gods, as we all know, don't need no stinkin' lessons from anyone.

As for DeLay, these words sum up who this creep is.

"I can't be remorseful for something I don't think I did."

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Republicans worship a Constitution they don't understand

Imagine a group of self-proclaimed "Shakespeare experts" who claim to know everything that's not in the play The Tempest. They go on at length, explaining how this isn't in it and that isn't in it, giving everyone the impression that their knowledge of things not in the play in all-encompassing and complete. Logic would dictate that, since they know everything that is not in The Tempest, they would know everything that is. Even if only by the process of elimination, they should be able to recognize the text.
Keep reading: http://griperblade.blogspot.com/2011/01/republicans-worship-constitution-they.html

 

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Digby: Warning bells

 

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OMFG: Cindy Jacobs: God Is Killing All Those Birds Because Of The Repeal Of DADT

 

Betty Bowers says, "The Jerri Blank of Christianity, wearing a jacket of shiny aubergine ocelot applique and a necklace of Vietnamese Ben Wa balls, thinks that the number one concern among birds is gays in the military."

 

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Today the National Organization for Marriage announced on their blog that Japan is a "dying culture" because fewer people are marrying and having children. As proof of their claim, they offer this quote from the Economist:

In the 1950s, fertility started to plummet. Since the 1980s, when the birth rate fell below 1.5 children per woman, Japan has, in effect, had a one-child policy—though, unlike in China, it was self-imposed. It came as a shock to demographers when the 2005 census showed that the number of deaths exceeded that of births for the first time: the population had started to shrink two years ahead of schedule. The 2010 census results are currently being processed and preliminary results are due in February 2011."

Another billion people have crowded this planet in just the last ten years. But keep cranking out those babies or NOM will say, "This is what a dying culture looks like."

 

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Unlike many elected officials, particularly Republicans, who cower when Limbaugh attacks them, Dupnik went on ABC News and criticized Limbaugh by name for his role in inciting hatred and violence. Good for him.

 

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Because clean air for humans is obviously a terrible idea, the GOP is working hard to block new air regulations from U.S. EPA -- and not just the ones that are aimed at climate change.

 

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We're running a "socialist program"* in Afghanistan when we can't afford to help poor Americans?

At the entrance to a military base in southern Afghanistan, US Army Staff Sergeant Andrew Cunningham hands out money to locals employed to help rebuild their villages devastated by war.

...

Men from the 101st Airborne are now taking steps to help the population rebuild villages and irrigation canals through a cash-for-work scheme, part of the counterinsurgency plan to keep locals from backing the Taliban rebels.

...

This is why there never should have been "American boots on the ground" in Afghanistan. The minute we declared we wanted to "win hearts and minds" (remember that?) obliged us to rebuild what we broke (somehow, we now own everything the Soviets broke too, go figure) and stop the drug lords (except for the Pals of Karzai). Being the only common understanding with them is "we have the cash and you want it", we'll be subsidizing Afghan society until my nieces and nephews have grandchildren.

...

Later on the military base, about 100 workers are left annoyed when Cunningham runs out of money to pay them.

They will have to wait for their pay until next week -- more frustration for a population which has faced years of it.

And next week they'll be Sarge's pal again. Tomorrow, they'll put a bullet in Sarge's head if a Taliban gives them $50. Once (if) we leave, the Taliban will kill Karzai (if he doesn't leave for Zurich with his bankbook before when we go) and go back to business as usual. That's how shit works over there.

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"Everybody does it."

Yer ass. Read it and weep.

 

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From the Guardian, "BP shuts Alaska pipeline after leak":

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Judge Gives Tom DeLay Three Years in Prison; "Should Be Enough Time to Wipe That Smile Off His Face," Judge Says

 

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As we have been taught, 'guns don't kill people; people kill people'.  That's why Jared Loughner killed six, and wounded fourteen others, with his bare hands.

 

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Giving credit where credit is due, today's honoree is Melissa, for putting the ultimate nail in the coffin of the "Both Sides Are The Same" doctrine.

Money quote:

And as long as we continue to play this foolish game of "both sides are just as bad," and rely on trusty old ablism to dismiss Jared Lee Loughner as a crackpot—dutifully ignoring that people with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators; carefully pretending that the existence of people with mental illness who are potentially dangerous somehow absolves us of responsibility for violent rhetoric, as opposed to serving to underline precisely why it's irresponsible—it will be inevitable again.

Let's get this straight: This shit doesn't happen in a void. It happens in a culture rife with violent political rhetoric, and it's time for conservatives to pull up their goddamn bootstraps and get to work doing the hard business of self-reflection.

This is one problem the invisible hand of the market can't fix for them—unless, perhaps, it's holding a mirror.

Word.

 

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Still trying to claim that right-wing hate rhetoric breeds violence, are ya?

 

I don't know what would give anyone that idea:

 

Authorities responded Monday to a threat against Sen. Michael Bennet's (D-Colo.) Denver office, Bennet's spokesman said.

The FBI and U.S. Capitol Police arrested an individual suspected of making a threat to the Colorado Democrat's state office, said Adam Bozzi, the senator's communications director.

"We can confirm that there was a threat against Senator Bennet's office and that the FBI is working with the Capitol Police to have arrested the individual responsible for the threat," Bozzi said in a statement.

 

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Just move along, there's no pattern, just a coinkydink, nothing to see here

 

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Are the Koch brothers offering a reward for the most dangerously ludicrous response to the assassination in Arizona? Because the Kentucky General Assembly just won it.

From the Herald:

Lawmakers are pushing three identical bills to exempt Kentucky-made guns and ammunition from federal background checks, dealer licenses and other national regulations if the items remain in the state.

The effort comes as a recent report shows Kentucky is one of the nation's biggest exporters of guns that cross state lines - legally or illegally - and end up at crime scenes in other states, often in cities with tight gun ownership restrictions.

Beat that, Texas!

At the same time, one lawmaker who opposes the proposed legislation is pointing to Saturday's mass shooting in Arizona, which left six dead and wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and many others, as evidence Kentucky's guns laws should be strengthened, not weakened.

"This is just an effort to pander to the National Rifle Association and the Tea Party movement, which is shameful given the attempted assassination of a congresswoman over the weekend," said Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville.

Hushup, Mary Lou! You're gonna make us lose gun-nut first place.

Read the whole thing.

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This terrifies us -- we remember that Heath Schuler couldn't hit a wide receiver with a football more than half the time. "Both Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) told POLITICO they will be carrying their guns in their home districts for protection. Both lawmakers hold a conceal and carry permit, but will not carry their weapons in the District of Columbia. ... Shuler, who received a serious death threat in 2009, says he is planning to carry his weapon more often and boost security at his district events. He's even encouraging his staffers to get their own conceal to carry permits. ... "You never think something like this will happen, but then it does," Shuler said "After the elections, I let my guard down. Now I know I need to have [my gun] on me. We're going to need to do a much better job of with security at these events."

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The "Christian Right" is gonna be pissed about this. Passport applications are going gender-neutral. Instead of asking for "father" and "mother" they will now ask for "parent one" and parent two."

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Forty-Eight Hours That is how long it took for the "tea party" jackasses to start fundraising off the tragedy in Tucson.

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Dumb Rep. Bob Brady Wants To Make Crosshairs On Maps Illegal

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David Frum Asks Important Question: 'Did Pot Trigger Giffords Shooting?

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If David Frum explanations for shootings aren't dumb enough for you, the Arizona Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group, has written up legislation to end assassination attempts directed at legislators: make "members of Congress and people who work for them" from Arizona undergo "firearms training, using firearms confiscated by the state." Sounds like fun! Thank God the fine assault weapons owners of Arizona have found a way to let crazed 22-year-olds shoot at people with their assault weapons in peace, as the founders intended. Never mind that this would never actually work or be useful or constitutional. The important thing is that we can blame future shooting deaths on members of Congress and their staffs not being good with guns, instead of on our gun laws.

http://wonkette.com/434770/gun-rights-group-congressman-battling-over-who-can-come-up-with-dumber-legislation#more-434770

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