RSS

Monthly Archives: November 2011

White House Shooter Just Got Off a ‘Lucky Shot’?

20 Nov

The Huffington Post is reporting that a Republican Tea Party (GOTP) state legislator in New Hampshire posted a statement on Facebook questioning the attempted-assassination charges against the man who allegedly shot at the White House last week.

State Representative Jason Antosz wrote on his Facebook wall the day Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez was arrested by federal officials, that he did not believe the case rose to an assassination attempt, describing it as more of a “lucky shot.”

“An Idaho man accused of firing two shots at the White House exterior last week has been charged with attempting to assassinate President Barack Obama or his staff. Are Your Kidding me?” Antosz wrote on Facebook. “The Obama family according to sources was not even in Washington. It was a lucky shot via driving by on Pennsylvania Avenue. The president has the safety security in our history, it’s near impossible to kill a U.S. President with today’s secret service protocols and vehicle technologies.”

Ortega-Hernandez was arrested on 17 Nov 11 following an 11 Nov 11 incident in which he allegedly shot at the White House with an assault rifle. An Idaho resident, Ortega-Hernandez has been described by friends as having made threats against Obama in the past. In a tape auditioning for “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” Ortega-Hernandez ranted against the federal government.

Representative Antosz is, as expected, a Tea Party-backed Republican (GOTP) who was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 2010. He’s a member of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, and describes himself as “a Conservative Republican and advocate of Community Service, Pro-Life, and Patriotism” on his website.

According to the website, he’s also a member of the National Rifle Association and the Knights of Columbus and a former volunteer firefighter in Epping. He lists his platform positions including a smaller state government and state budget, protection of rivers, support of homeschooling, low or no taxes, transparency in government and support for the Second Amendment.

So, Antosz is your basic Tea Party, NRA, 2nd Amendment gun toting conservative who doesn’t understand that shooting an assault weapon at the White House, the residence of the President, is a federal crime. What is it with these people, are they really this obtuse? Well, yes, obviously they are this obtuse.

 
5 Comments

Posted by on November 20, 2011 in Second Amendment

 

Tags: , , , , ,

NO RELIGIOUS TEST!

20 Nov

Dear right-wing uber-conservative Christian fanatics,

Article VI of the United States Constitution reads, “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

“NO RELIGIOUS TEST SHALL EVER BE REQUIRED”! That means there’s supposed to be a separation from religious extremists like yourselves and the Presidency.

But, just in case Article VI isn’t clear enough, how about Article 2, Section 1?

“Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:–‘I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.'”

NOTE, there is no phrase, “So help me God” on the end of the oath of office; so stop pushing for there to be some twisted form of your uber-conservative Evangelical Christianity as the litmus test of who should or should not be elected President! You have two choices here, you either support the Constitution as the revered Founding Fathers wrote it, or you don’t; clearly there was to be a separation.

Furthermore, in spite of Michele “Krazy” Bachmann’s insistence that Washington uttered the phrase “So help me God” following his swearing in, the earliest known source indicating Washington added “So help me God” to his acceptance, not to the oath, is attributed to Washington Irving, who was six at the time of the inauguration, and first appears 65 years after the event; the only contemporary account that repeats the oath in full, a report from the French consul, Comte de Moustier, states only the constitutional oath, without reference to Washington’s adding “So Help Me God” to his acceptance. But if – and it’s a big IF – George Washington added the words that doesn’t make it somehow Constitutional by executive fiat.

While we’re running down this rabbit hole, did you know President Theodore Roosevelt didn’t use a Bible when taking the oath in 1901? Or that John Quincy Adams swore on a book of law? And that Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in on a Roman Catholic missal on Air Force One?

And furthermore, we’ve not had a single Evangelical Christian serve as President, and if Bachmann, Perry, Santorum and Cain are examples of what that would mean, then thank God for that, and it’ll probably be a long time before we do.

 
2 Comments

Posted by on November 20, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Cain would ‘overturn the Supreme Court’?

20 Nov

Republican Tea Party (GOTP) presidential has been Herman “Pizza Man” Cain declared Saturday he’d “overturn” the Supreme Court if they legalized same sex marriage.

During a debate at the First Federated Church in Des Moines, Iowa, National Organization for Marriage (NOM) president Brian Brown asked the Republican candidates what they’d do if the Supreme Court ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) — a law banning federal marriage equality — was unconstitutional.

“If the Perry case or a DOMA case gets to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court were to overturn DOMA or to find a — quote — unquote — constitutional — a U.S. Constitutional right to same sex marriage, if you were president, what would you do?” Brown asked.

“I would lead the charge to overturn the Supreme Court if they overturned DOMA,” Cain insisted. “Whether that was new legislation coming out of the Congress like Rep. [Michele] Bachmann said. The United States Congress is supposed to pass laws so if they did overturn DOMA, that charge, I would lead to reverse that.”

Once more the Pizza Man demonstrates his inability to grasp how things work within the confines of our Constitutional Republic; the President has no authority to “overturn” the Supreme Court. He can appoint new Justices to fill vacancies, but that’s as far as it goes. The President can’t “fire” the Supreme Court. Cain was posturing for the uber-conservative Evangelicals, and his statement simply showed his ignorance, not his competence.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on November 20, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Do’H!

18 Nov

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on November 18, 2011 in Humor

 

Tags: , , ,

Sean M. Walsh

18 Nov

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

SPC Sean M. Walsh, 21, of San Jose, Calif., died Nov. 16, in Khowst province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained after encountering indirect fire.  He was assigned to the 185th Military Police Battalion; 49th Military Police Brigade from Pittsburg, Calif.

SPC Walsh is the 1,838th American killed in Afghanistan … Ich hatt’ einen Kameraden

 
1 Comment

Posted by on November 18, 2011 in War on Terror

 

Tags:

James R. Burnett Jr. and Matthew C. Colin

18 Nov

They died 16 Nov 11, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device.  They were assigned to the 1st Battalion; 5th Infantry Regiment; 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team; 25th Infantry Division from Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

Killed were: SPC James R. Burnett Jr., 21, of Wichita, Kan.; and PFC Matthew C. Colin, 22, of Navarre, Fla.

Ken Colin said on his Facebook post that he intended to be at Dover Air Force Base, Del., on Thursday afternoon when his son’s body was returned. He later sent a message from Dover thanking the many friends and family who have commented on his posts since Matt Colin’s death.

Matt Colin is survived by his father, his mother Kathy and his older brother, Michael.

The death occurred earlier this week, according to Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations, which was charged with bringing Colin’s remains home.

Matt Colin joined the Army after he graduated from Navarre in 2007, according to Amanda Bishop, a teacher there.

Bishop and others who knew Colin used the word “exceptional” to describe him.

“He was soft spoken, a great athlete, a class act. This is a tragic loss,” said Mike McHenry, a friend of the family.

Bishop teaches a course at Navarre called Family Dynamics, which requires a lot of interaction between students and instructors.

“You get to see these students and what they are about. Matthew was a sincere, genuine, hard working kid,” she said. “I remember him as being upbeat, compassionate and very involved.”

Bishop said Colin was extremely close to his family and “always had time to help his friends.”

“I imagine the passion he had for his friends extended to the passion he had for his country,” a weeping Bishop said. “He died for what he was passionate about. He is going to be missed.”

McHenry said Colin was an exceptional athlete in high school who likely was going to make a career of his military service.

“He loved every minute of it,” he said. “He thought he was making a difference.”

On his Facebook page, Ken Colin stated that two other members of his son’s unit had been killed in recent days.

Although the Army did not provide confirmation, Matt Colin apparently was attached to the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. The two soldiers Ken Colin referenced on his Facebook post were with that combat team.

McHenry said he believed Matt Colin’s deployment to Afghanistan was nearing an end when he was killed.

Navarre High School Principal Brian Noack said “The entire Raider Nation” was mourning the loss.

“Our hearts go out to the family and friends during this most difficult time,” Noack said in an email statement. “Matthew paid the ultimate sacrifice for the country he loved and for the freedoms that we all so often take for granted.

Words cannot express the gratitude and pride that Matt has brought to his country, his school and his community.”

They are respectively the 1,836th and 1,837th Americans killed in Afghanistan … Ich hatt’ einen Kameraden

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on November 18, 2011 in War on Terror

 

Tags: ,

Herman Cain asks for help speaking ‘Cuban’?

17 Nov

Republican Tea Party (GOTP) presidential hopeful Herman “Pizza Man” Cain has probably not helped his standing amongst Hispanics in Florida; while campaigning in Miami, he asked people at the famous Versailles Restaurant what the Cuban word is for “delicious.”

While visiting the cafe, Cain sampled strong Cuban coffee and a croqueta, a deep-fried delicacy filled with ham; asked how he liked his snack, Cain asked, “How do you say ‘delicious’ in Cuban?”

For the record Pizza Man, Cubans speak Spanish.

Cain clearly had too many things whirling around in his head; it’s just one more notch in his podium demonstrating how he’s not ready for the primetime, and won’t be elected President.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on November 17, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

President had a privileged upbringing?

17 Nov

Republican Tea Party (GOTP) former front running candidate Reverend Rick Perry says President Barack Obama’s “privileged” upbringing and inability to accept responsibility makes him out of touch with struggling Americans.

“This president has never felt that angst that [the nation’s 14 million unemployed] have in their heart,” Perry told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “And I think he’s always, when he has had problems, he’s always pointed to somebody else and said it’s their fault, not mine.”

In a meeting over the weekend with CEOs in Honolulu, the President correctly described the American government and business sectors as a “little bit lazy.”

“I think it’s important to remember that the United States is still the largest recipient of foreign investment in the world. And there are a lot of things that make foreign investors see the U.S. as a great opportunity — our stability, our openness, our innovative free market culture,” Obama said. “But we’ve been a little bit lazy, I think, over the last couple of decades. We’ve kind of taken for granted — well, people will want to come here and we aren’t out there hungry, selling America and trying to attract new business into America.”

The Reverend’s campaign jumped on the comment, releasing a 30-second television advertisement claiming the President was calling Americans lazy. Hannity also asked Perry to comment on the president’s remarks.

“It reveals to me that he grew up in a privileged way,” Perry said. “He never had to really work for anything.”

What it reveals is Perry’s too busy suckling from big corporations to recognize the truth when he hears it, but yeah, he got him, the President’s upbringing was so privileged; unlike growing up on a Texas cattle ranch, spending the summers hunting at the family’s camp “Niggerhead”, and cheerleading for Texas A&M. But of course not everyone can earn a degree in Animal Science with a startling 2.5 GPA.

The President grew up so “privileged” his single mother only had to work multiple jobs while using food stamps to put meals on the table.

With poll numbers hovering around 5% nationally, Perry should be worrying a little more about Mitt Romney and his real “privileged” upbringing, then thinking he’s running against the President; news to the Seven Dwarves of the Crazy Eights, you’re running against Mitt, and you’ve got to beat him before you can run against the President.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on November 17, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

Tags: , , , ,

Latest 2012 Presidential Polls – 16 Nov 11 Edition

16 Nov

A new PPP (D) poll of registered voters conducted 10 – 13 Nov 11 has been released concerning the Republican Tea Party (GOTP) nominating circus; the current poll results are:

Newton Leroy Gingrich 28; Herman “Pizza Man” Cain 25; Mittens Romney 18; Reverend Rick Perry 6; Ronny Paul and Michele “Krazy” Bachmann 5; Jon “I can’t believe it’s not butter” Huntsman 3 and Ricky “The Ric” Santorum 1.

The GOTP version of The Awful Truth continues to play out with Newton taking the lead, followed by the Pizza Man with the Bridesmaid Mittens in third; Reverend Ricky, Paul and Krazy round out the middle of the pack, while Huntsman appears to be starting a slow climb as Santorum continues to glide as a bottom dwelling mud sucker.

In Iowa, a new The Polling Company (R) poll of likely voters conducted 11 – 13 Nov 11: Cain 20; Paul 19, Romney 18; Gingrich 17; Perry 7; Bachmann 5; Santorum 3 and Huntsman 1…

In New Hampshire, a new Bloomberg News poll of likely voters conducted 10 – 12 Nov 11: Mittens 40; Paul 17; Gingrich 11; Cain 8; Huntsman 7; Perry 3; Bachmann 2 and Santorum 1 …

In South Carolina, the new Insider Advantage poll of likely voters conducted 08 Nov 11: Cain 26; Gingrich 19; Romney 16; Perry 6; Bachmann 5; Paul 3; Santorum 2 and Huntsman 0 …

In Florida, the new Quinnipiac poll of registered voters conducted from 31 Oct – 07 Nov 11: Cain 27; Romney 21; Gingrich 17; Perry 5; Bachmann 4; Paul 3; Huntsman and Santorum 1 …

In Nevada, the PPP (D) poll of registered voters conducted from 20 – 23 Oct 11: Romney 29; Cain 28; Gingrich 15; Paul 7; Perry 6; Bachmann 3; Huntsman and Santorum 2 …

In the five states with the lead off primaries – or caucuses – Cain now leads 3-2 over Romney.

Concerning how the GOTP “candidates stack up against the President; according to the PPP (D) poll (referenced above) of registered voters conducted 10 – 13 Nov 11, if the general election were held today:

President Obama 46/Romney 43

President Obama 48/Cain 41

President Obama 49/Perry 39

President Obama 49/Gingrich 43

President Obama 47/Paul 41

President Obama 50/Bachmann 39

So, if the GOTP clown car had finally stopped spinning, and the general election was held today, the Newton Leroy Gingrich would be the nominee, and he would’ve lost to President Obama.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on November 16, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

Tags: , , ,

Newt was paid how much by Freddie Mac?

16 Nov

Republican Tea Party (GOTP) presidential candidate Newton Leroy Gingrich has been extremely critical of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, as well as the Democrats in Congress he claims played a key role in the collapse of the housing market, but what he hasn’t said is that he – apparently as a lobbyist – made between $1.6 million and $1.8 million in consulting fees from the mortgage company, a figure substantially larger than the $300,000 payment he was asked about during a recent Republican presidential debate.

Freddie Mac officials have also reportedly told Bloomberg that Gingrich was asked to build bridges with Capitol Hill Republicans and help sell the mortgage company’s public-private structure to conservatives, aka lobbying.

Of course Newton is denying the charges, “I do no lobbying of any kind, and I offered strategic advice and that’s all I do,” Gingrich said. “I don’t go to the Hill. I don’t lobby in any way. I haven’t for the years I’ve left the speakership, period.”

“I was quite happy to talk about the GSEs, which was the question,” Newton continued. “But once you got into a cycle where people were literally giving mortgages to people with no credit at all, you don’t have to be much of a historian to know that’s not sustainable.”

And not being much of a historian is a good thing since Newton isn’t much of a historian; case in point being during the 9 Nov 11, he claimed he warned Freddie Mac about its lending practices: “I offered advice. My advice as an historian when they walked in and said we are now making loans to people that have no credit history and have no record of paying back anything but that’s what the government wants us to do. I said at the time, this is a bubble. This is insane. This is impossible.”

But Newton’s version of “history” doesn’t match Freddie Mac’s, at least one source reportedly told Bloomberg Gingrich gave positive feedback on Freddie Mac’s plans to publicly pledge to issue subordinated debt, manage liquidity, undergo capital stress tests and expand various types of risk disclosures. Gingrich also said these moves would enable Freddie Mac to demonstrate benefits to the taxpayer, the source claimed.

Newton claims he offered the company “advice on precisely what they didn’t do;” once again however, the history is fairly muddied and no one at Freddie Mac remembers Gingrich raising the issue of the housing bubble or of being critical of Freddie Mac’s business model.

Once again Newton’s been caught with his hand in the cookie jar; first, as Speaker, he persecuted then President Clinton for indiscretions in the White House, all the while having his own sexual liaisons; second, now, as a presidential wannabe, he’s critical of Freddie Mac while having received more than a million dollars in “consulting” fees from the company? Newton is nothing more than the poster boy for today’s hypocritical conservative movement, whose mantra is “Do as I say, not as I do,” secondary only to its motto, “We belief in the Golden Rule; he who has the gold makes the rules.”

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on November 16, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

← Older posts
Newer posts →