PARTISAN DAWN

An All-Time Broadcasting Low

Rick — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:18:03 +0000

I’ve been listening to brain-dead conservatives spew hateful idiocy on the radio ever since Rush Limbaugh oozed up from the tar pits. (Until Al Franken came along, there was no such thing as liberal talk. Political junkies had few alternatives.) I’ve heard Liddy, Boortz, Hannity and countless other Limbaugh clones send some pretty disgustingly moronic electromagnetic waves hurtling through the vastness of interstellar space for all eternity. But on the Stephanie Miller Show today, I encountered something so stupid and so vile that it cannot ever possibly be topped. No way, no how. It comes to us courtesy of Mr. Glenn Beck, whose once-mighty radio program has degenerated into a morning zoo for right-wing sociopaths and religious freaks.

Anyway, here’s what went down yesterday:

Glenn Beck is resorting to playground-style taunting of the president, calling him a “girl” for saying he wasn’t sure whether he would let a hypothetical son play football because of his concerns about the sport’s safety for youngsters.

Obama’s view was too much for the conservative talk show host to take. He went on a rant during his online show, playing a clip of the Obama interview from CBS News and repeatedly saying “girl” while the president talked and mocking him in a girlish voice. It was about as juvenile as political commentary could ever get.

“His man card has been revoked by me, and that’s saying something” Beck said. “When I’m saying you’re a girl, you are absolutely 100 percent girl power.”

I listened to this revolting rant when Stephanie played it on her show. I have not listened to it a second time. If you have a strong stomach, click play.

Political Percentages (Brief “Filibuster Reform” Edition)

Rick — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:18:05 +0000

SCREWED AGAIN!

Chance that Mitch McConnell will work with Harry Reid to limit obstructive filibusters, as the Democratic reform proposal envisions: 0%

Chance that Mitch McConnell will eliminate the filibuster entirely if and when Republicans take control of the Senate: 100%

Hillary Clinton 77, House Republicans 0

Rick — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:04:20 +0000

I hope everybody had a chance to watch the Secretary of State testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee yesterday. In case you missed it, here’s an excerpt:

Watching those idiots go up against Hillary Clinton was like watching my high school football team play the Baltimore Ravens. One after another, each Republican Congressmen burnished his teabagger street cred by using his entire five minutes to recite a laundry list of Fox News talking points. Hillary looked bored as she swatted them away like so many flies.

I’ve been waiting since November for a sign that the Republican Party wants to appeal to somebody — anybody! — besides a bona fide, card-carrying wingnut. I’m still waiting.

Making Obama Do Their Dirty Work (Limerick)

Rick — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 15:01:15 +0000

Republicans rail against “spending.”
Our doom, they insist, is impending.
They’re panicky, but
What “spending” they’d cut
Is never a topic that’s trending.

CNBC: Worse Than Fox

Rick — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:24:09 +0000

Despite receiving one of the biggest bailouts in history, AIG is considering whether or not to join its former chief executive, Hank Greenberg, in a lawsuit against the government for allegedly cheating its shareholders out of millions of dollars and violating the Fifth Amendment.

The wild thing about it, though, is that it was under Greenberg’s tenure that AIG started investing in the financial interests that almost brought it down in the first place. — Business Insider

If there’s a bigger bunch of Wall Street lickspittles than Joe Kernen, Maria Bartiromo, and the rest of the gang at CNBC, I’ve never seen it. While most of the civilized world is rightly outraged at Maurice “Hank” Greenberg for suing the very taxpayers who bailed him out, these parasites have spent the last two days blowing him.

Of course, such corporate media whoredom is nothing new. Want to see some excellent television? Watch Eliot Spitzer absolutely destroy Ms. Bartiromo in this classic clip. There’s nothing left of her but a hairdo.

“Leverage” In A Nutshell

Rick — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:51:51 +0000

Republicans are threatening not to raise the nation’s debt ceiling unless they get a bunch of spending cuts. They think they have “leverage” because a refusal to raise the debt limit will lead to a world-wide depression. (In this sense, Republicans are acting like terrorists.)

Given such high stakes, and given their self-righteous “Think of the children!” rhetoric, one would assume that Republicans might help out by suggesting some specific budget cuts. But one would be wrong. Instead, their offer is this: Nothing. Not even the fee for the gaming license, which I would appreciate if you would put up personally — Oh, wait. Sorry. That’s a quote from Godfather II. — Anyway, Republicans have no ideas. (Nothing unusual there.)

Why the stony silence? Well, here’s the scenario Republicans want to see play out:

STEP ONE: Barack Obama and Harry Reid come up with a list of wildly unpopular entitlement cuts.

STEP TWO: Mitch McConnell and John Boehner go on vacation in Cancún. Boehner gets a sunburn.

STEP THREE: Obama and Reid submit their list of wildly unpopular entitlement cuts to McConnell and Boehner, who “reluctantly”agree to them.

STEP FOUR: The “Barack Obama Middle Class Destruction Act” is passed. McConnell and Boehner get the sniffles and are unable to attend the signing ceremony.

STEP FIVE: Republicans attack Democrats as “The Party That Killed Medicare.”

This just isn’t going to happen, folks. Republicans are going to cave on the debt ceiling, and the country will muddle through to the next phony “crisis.”

On Firearms For Self-Protection (Limerick)

Rick — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:19:46 +0000

The main risks of having a gun in the home stem from the fact that someone inappropriate can be shot or intimidated with the gun. There can be (a) accidents, (b) suicides, (c) assaults and homicides, and (d) intimidation. — Medscape News

I’m safe in my home with my Glock.
I’ll scare all the crooks on my block.
I’ll shoot them before
They walk through my door
(Unless they can jimmy my lock).

On John Boehner Being Re-Elected House Speaker (Limerick)

Rick — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 17:19:53 +0000

Pity the pitiful Boehner!
His Party has gotten insaner.
Its Teabagger Wing
Won’t budge on a thing –
Now Boehner’s a neutered retainer.

Greetings From Planet Bushney

Rick — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:46:27 +0000

I go to National Review Online every day. It’s supposed to be the “sane” right-wing website, and I suppose it is, but its denizens still live in a very strange place. Here are two posts from today:

Bush Reconsidered
In the age of Obama, Bush looks better.

The Superb Mitt Romney
Jay Nordlinger lashes out at the revisionists and revilers.

On the greatness of George W. Bush and Mitt Romney. Must-reads.

Betrayal

Rick — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 12:57:34 +0000

Look, I don’t expect anything from Republicans. If you’re not a “job creator” or a teabagger, they don’t even know you exist. But Democrats are supposed to look out for the little guy.

And yet:

If you have a pre-tax income of $50,000 per year, the fiscal-cliff deal means that you will pay about a thousand dollars more in payroll taxes in 2013. If your income is $114,000, you will pay about two thousand two hundred and seventy-four dollars more. And if you earn a million dollars you will pay—also two thousand two hundred and seventy-four dollars. There is a cap, which means that the working poor and middle class pay a higher proportion of their income than the rich. And the richer one gets, the greater the unfairness.

This sucks. Obama, Biden and their minions have a lot of explaining to do.

A lot of explaining.