-- Sarah Palin, in Dallas, screeching at Gov Rick Perry for dissing the troops, Link
As you know, I really really love this Rove vs Teabagger civil war the GOP has going on.
Now if we could just get crazy Palin and nutty Perry to open a second war theater...
We need them to turn on each other and fight like the animals we know they are
for about three years, then let them come together in the summer of 2016 just in time
for Hillary to kick Rubio's sorry teabagger ass.
They fight the war from computer consoles and video screens.
But the troops that launch the drone strikes and direct the cyberattacks that can kill or disable an enemy may never set foot in the combat zone. Now, defense officials say, their battlefield contributions may be recognized.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is expected to announce Wednesday that for the first time the Pentagon is creating a medal that can be awarded to troops who have a direct impact on combat operations, but do it from afar.
The Associated Press has learned that the new blue, red andwhite-ribboned Distinguished Warfare Medal will be awarded to individuals for "extraordinary achievement" related to a military operation that occurred after Sept. 11, 2001. But unlike other combat medals, it does not require the recipient risk his or her life to get it.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made.
What I'm taking from this is that drones are now the new normal. Drone warfare is not some "we'll do it just this once, because 9/11" sort of thing, It's what we do. Drone strikes are a terrible strategy on so many levels and a testament to the lazy inefficiency of modern warfare. We could fight in ways that would minimize loss of life — especially innocent, civilian life — but this is so much easier and cheaper, so fuck it.
Push a button, win a medal.
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Overall, 40% of Americans nationwide were classified as very religious in 2012 -- based on saying religion is an important part of their daily life and that they attend religious services every week or almost every week. Thirty-one percent of Americans were nonreligious, saying religion is not an important part of their daily life and that they seldom or never attend religious services. The remaining 29% of Americans were moderately religious, saying religion is important in their lives but that they do not attend services regularly, or that religion is not important but that they still attend services.The Friendly Atheist observes: "Incidentally (and also according to Gallup), Mississippi ranked at the top or near the top of the list of states when it came to obesity, inability to afford food, and least livable place. When people don't have a lot going for them, it's understandable they would turn to religion. If only they would realize God isn't helping their situation."
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The Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who was allegedly grabbed around the neck in her chambers by a fellow justice has broken her public silence.
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Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, the Republican party's other/previous savior, has seen his approval rating bottom out over the last two years.
When PPP last polled Louisiana in 2010, Bobby Jindal was one of the most popular Governors in the country. 58% of voters approved of the job he was doing to just 34% who disapproved. Over the last two and a half years though there's been a massive downward shift in Jindal's popularity, and he is now one of the most unpopular Governors in the country. Just 37% of voters now think he's doing a good job to 57% who are unhappy with him.
The decline in Jindal's popularity cuts across party lines. Where he was at 81/13 with Republicans in August 2010, now it's 59/35. Where he was at 67/22 with independents back then, now he's at 41/54. And what was a higher than normal amount of crossover support from Democrats at 33/58 is now 15/78.
It seems plausible that his drop in approval among liberals could be linked to his schoolvoucher program that offered state funds to fake schools that whitewash the history of the south and teach children that Jesus rode a dinosaur, but his drop in approval among conservatives is more suspect.
Because this is a recent poll, I will assume his comments that the Republican party can't afford to be the "stupid party" did not play well with his base.
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During an interview with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham today, Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered glowing praise for Senator Marco Rubio's State of the Union response.
On the other hand, when Laura asked for his reaction to Rubio's speech, McConnell gave him a glowing review. "I thought it was terrific. Upbeat, optimistic, reminding everyone what made America great. I think Marco is the best communicator we've had since Ronald Reagan."
McConnell laughed off the amount of attention given to Rubio's awkward grab for a bottle of water. "It was no big deal. Marco sips water! He did when he made his great speech down at the [Republican National] Convention."
He accused liberals of trying to distract from the substantive points Rubio made in the speech. "If the left is making something out of it, it's simply because they want to divert attention away from his core message, which was inspiring."
I don't expect Mitch McConnell to dump on Rubio publicly even if it was the poorest State of the Union rebuttal I've seen since the tradition began, but the best communicator since Ronald Reagan? Really? For their sake, Republican voters should hope someone else is waiting in the wings.
Under different circumstances, it may be unfair or unjust to focus on Rubio's water bottle moment, but there's nothing else to focus on. His rebuttal was devoid of substance and inspired little more than a double-take on my part to confirm that he really was delivering Mitt Romney's 2012 stump speech verbatim.
Rubio opened his rebuttal with a nod to the pro-life movement and then dovetailed right into a pitch for smaller government that could have been delivered by anyone. Rubio didn't even offer his own spin on the idea. In fact, his pitch was rather boilerplate and cheesy and came off as more of a pitch to sell me an illustrated bible or a new and improved vacuum than a governing philosophy.
America has heard this 'small government, personal responsibility, low taxes' argument until we're blue in the face. It's tired and stale. And 2016 isn't going to be pretty for the Republican party if this is what they plan to run on again.
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Take note, all you people planning on invading South Carolina: They are going to be ready, and they will ignore hypothetical federal laws to do it.
A subcommittee in the South Carolina State Senate has just passed a bill onto the general committee that defines "the duties and responsibilities of the South Carolina Unorganized Militia," which does not sound like the most imposing fighting force ever assembled, but will have tons of guns nonetheless. READ MORE »
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That gentleman in the bluejeans up there, leaning uncomfortably into the aisle at the State of the Union address is one Ted Nugent, whose reputation preceded him. Seated next to him, at the invitation of Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer, is another musician, Pink Martini's Thomas Lauderdale, from Portland. Besides performing hip retro lounge music, Lauderdale is also, as Gawker puts it, "the anti-Ted Nugent: A liberal, Occupy-Movement-supporting, openly gay civil rights activist who favors gun control and loves classical music." While Gawker attributes the seating arrangement to trolling, we didn't see any confirmation that it was anything other than a fine karmic coincidence. In any case, Lauderdale said they had a pleasant conversation while waiting for the event, and thought Mr. Nugent was a "real gentleman." We are pleased to report that Nugent more or less behaved himself, although a tweet from Dave Weigel noted that the super-patriot did not even "stand and clap for 'our brave men and women in uniform are coming home.'" But can you blame him? If we were the Secret Service, we'd have warned him against making any sudden movements. READ MORE »
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