Anti-abortionist extremist Randall Terry now blames Obama for his extremist compatriots coming off the rails. He wants Obama to take the blame for the murder of Dr. George Tiller and the security guard at the Washington Holocaust Museum.

When was personal responsibility abandoned by the right wing conservatives? Seems like with some conservatives, ring-wing principles fall prey to relativism, which, of course, is a bad word in conservative circles.

Seems like with some conservatives, liberal who commit crimes are responsible for their actions, period; conservatives who kill are not. When non-conservatives ask why young Muslims are joining Al Qaeda and taking up arms against the US, conservatives consider those questions of no consequence. Understanding the enemy isn't important. When conservatives take up arms and kill other Americans, then it becomes important to search for the reason why. Obama is their reason.

Didn't we get lectured on why executives who were promised million dollar bonuses should get them even if their efforts on their own behalf screwed the economy and led to the ruin of their companies. The contract was to be honored at all cost.

Now that the shoe is on the other foot, that is, some TARP recipients are ready to pay back the government, they want to rewrite the contract. They want to forego paying the interest and other financial obligations they had agreed to when they got the money. The want a free loan. When was the last time a financial institution gave you a free loan? If in fact they have recovered, we are still paying for the effects of their transgressions.

Will Obama let them off the hook? 

Cheney says, "... bottom line is we successfully defended the nation for seven and half years against a follow-on attack to 9/11. That was a remarkable achievement, nobody would have thought that was possible, but it was. I believe it was possible because of the policies we had in place, which they're now dismantling."

I don't know about that ... The US was attacked on February 26th 1993. That was the first time the WTC was attacked.  8 and 1/2 years passed between that attack and the Sept 11th, 2001 attack. The press has avoided this line of thinking, but the fact is Al Queda moves slowly. Certainly, interrupting their operations in Afghanistan effected their ability to train prepare and implement subsequent operations. But lack of an attack here doesn't prove the value of torture not to mention the recruiting value torture has on recruitment.

"nobody would have thought that was possible" Where have we heard this before? Oh yeah! The Bush administrations claim that no one expected airplanes flying into building.

Using Cheney's logic, the Clinton administration should take credit for thwarting a second attack for 7 years and 10 months ... without torturing?

Why, that's like closing the barn door, after the horses had already left the barn.

Will we see this here?



What wrong with us? We may be witnessing the largest transfer of wealth ever from the working to the ruling class and we are PASSIVE.

Move over Sarah P. It looks like Bachmann plays nutty even better than you. That's all I wanna say. 

This is unacceptable. Obama needs to fulfill his promise of transparency. So far, too much is being done behind closed doors.

Elizabeth Warren, in charge of oversight of the financial industry bailout, told a congressional panel Tuesday that the Treasury Department has not been cooperating with her efforts to oversee the project.

"We do not seem to be a priority for the Treasury Department," said Warren.

Warren argued that "continuous subsidization without vigorous oversight is exactly what got us into this." ... Warren said Congress may need to enact new legislation to give itself more access to the bailout program.

Update:This quotes are from testimony given during a Congressional hearing held today.  Here is the link.

Murtha says "If I'm corrupt, it's because I take care of my district." Hopefully this business will be resolved way ahead of the 2010 elections.

GOP Rep Michele Bachmann, wants to know if Obama secretly is in favor of getting rid of the dollar and replacing it with a multi-national currency. If so, that would feed the wingnut speculation that Obama is the anti-christ or preparing the way for the anti-christ. 

Santelli says

"You know, $165 million is like worrying about 16.5 cents, while $165 maybe necessitates a little more outrage. What do you guys think?"

Is this how these people think?

I am worried that this is a point of view, among many financial sector big shots, you know, the ones called "the best and the brightest." The ones who consider those who can't sell "worthless securities," losers.

This was just too funny and ironic to pass up.




Might she be a Limbaugh Republican?

Update: Here is the Urban Dictionary's entry for it. Google has 968,000 entries for "Tonya Hardinged." Yeah it's a slow day.

Now why would any of us want to do that? Shouldn't we be attacking him instead?

Yesterday, the Obama administration continued their effort to paint Rush Limbaugh as the head of the Republican Party. Here's Rahm Emanuel on Face the Nation.

The conventional wisdom is that you shouldn't respond to operatives of lower stature. Political analyst on both sides of the political spectrum have characterized these engagements as misguided. They question why the administration would want to elevate the radio talk show host to such a high level. Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs did the same two Fridays ago when he responded to Rick Santelli's tirade on the Chicago Stock Exchange floor, over the housing mortgage bill proposed by President Obama. Some liberals blasted MSNBC's all-day rebroadcasting of Santelli's rant. Political analyst again labeled Gibb's engagement a mistake. Personally I think the analysts are wrong now and were wrong before.

In my opinion, there are more pertinent questions to ask regarding these engagements, questions that acknowledge the Obama administration may be steps ahead of the pundits and the media, again. First, will Rush be able to handle the leadership role that the Obama administration is attempting to place upon his shoulders, or will he collapse under the pressure? Will he accept that role or will he publicly disclaim any claim to leadership.

Here's why I think this administration presses on with building up Limbaugh. Republicans are floundering without a leader or a message. It helps to be able to single out your adversary when it comes time to battle. Limbaugh has a message, albeit a highly unpopular one, that closely mirrors those professed by congressional Republicans.

An October 24, 2008, poll conducted by the Democratic research firm Greenberg-Quinlan-Rosner

had Rush Limbaugh enjoying a public-approval rating of just 21 percent among likely voters, while 58 percent have "cold" feelings toward the right-wing radio-talk-show host. Limbaugh's cold rating was higher than that of all the political figures the firm polled. It was seven points higher than Rev. Jeremiah Wright and eight points higher than former Weather Underground domestic terrorist William Ayers ... Limbaugh is so unpopular that only 44 percent of Republican voters reported "warm" feelings toward him. (paraphrased)

Gallup conducted a recent poll asking voters what they thought of Limbaugh.

The mayor of Los Alamitos, Ca, Dean Grose, decided to send the following email to friends living in his town. The email was sent from his personal account.

One of the recipients, local businesswoman and city volunteer Keyanus Price, a black women, got the email and wanted a public apology from the mayor.

Price said, "I honestly don't even understand where he was coming from, sending this to me. As a black person receiving something like this from the city-freakin'-mayor - come on ..." Grose confirmed to the AP that he sent the e-mail to Price and said he didn't mean to offend her. He said he was unaware of the racial stereotype that black people like watermelons. He said he and Price are friends and serve together on a community youth board.

Unaware? Then what was the point of the email? Obviously he thought something was funny.

"Bottom line is, we laugh at things and I didn't see this in the same light that she did," Grose told the AP. "I'm sorry. It wasn't sent to offend her personally - or anyone - from the standpoint of the African-American race." ... Los Alamitos is a 2¼-square-mile Orange County city of around 12,000 people. The mayor who took the mayoral position in December is elected by fellow members of the five-seat City Council.

Calls for his resignation came after the email was distributed. Grose admits the email was in poor taste and has effected his ability to lead the city. He will be resigning at the city council meeting this Monday.

Oh My God! Jindal is in competition for the Palinites. This is the hope of the Republican Party??? This is just as embarrassing as a Palin interview (other than Fox News).

Rachel Maddow was left speechless. Literally. Steele, Palin, Jindal, McCain, Limbaugh and Santelli are the leaders of our Republican Party. We are all Republicans!

Yesterday, Julian Bond, the head of the NAACP, promised a national boycott of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, if steps were not taken to resolve the issue involving the monkey cartoon published last Wednesday. This morning, Rupert Murdoch published an apology in the NY Post, and promise to do better in the future.

As the Chairman of the New York Post, I am ultimately responsible for what is printed in its pages. The buck stops with me.

Last week, we made a mistake. We ran a cartoon that offended many people. Today I want to personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted.

Over the past couple of days, I have spoken to a number of people and I now better understand the hurt this cartoon has caused. At the same time, I have had conversations with Post editors about the situation and I can assure you - without a doubt - that the only intent of that cartoon was to mock a badly written piece of legislation. It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such.

We all hold the readers of the New York Post in high regard and I promise you that we will seek to be more attuned to the sensitivities of our community.

Rupert is not one to offer apologies for News Corporation. This apology appears to be unprecedented for him. However, it seems to me there needs to be some accountability. What do you think should be done? 

If you found this post of interest, provocative, or believe others might benefit from reading it, please recommend. Thanks.