Traitors: Dairylanders who signed Grover's pledge

These are the legislators from Wisconsin who have pledged their allegiance to Grover Norquist over their constituents:

WI-Sen Ron Johnson (R)
WI-01 Paul Ryan (R)
WI-05 Jim Sensenbrenner (R)
WI-06 Tom Petri (R)
WI-07 Sean Duffy (R)
WI-08 Reid Ribble (R)

These people are NOT in our corner, they don't have our back except to bury a knife in, and they need to be eliminated from government as soon as possible. They are anti-American.

Get the national list (pdf) here. Then, if they're running this year in your district, get off yer a$$ and vote them out.

They didn't build this; they destroyed it.

Class act: A friend Ann Coulter doesn't deserve to make

Illustration: Paul Szep via Huff Post

When John Franklin Stephens read Ann Coulter's tweet calling the President a retard,  he decided not to let her get away with it:

Dear Ann Coulter,

Come on Ms. Coulter, you aren’t dumb and you aren’t shallow.  So why are you continually using a word like the R-word as an insult?

I’m a 30 year old man with Down syndrome who has struggled with the public’s perception that an intellectual disability means that I am dumb and shallow.  I am not either of those things, but I do process information more slowly than the rest of you.  In fact it has taken me all day to figure out how to respond to your use of the R-word last night.

John goes on to wonder what Coulter meant by the slur:

... I wondered if you meant to degrade him as someone who is likely to receive bad health care, live in low grade housing with very little income and still manages to see life as a wonderful gift.

I read John's letter with tears in my eyes, not just for John, but for my daughter and everyone else in the country at risk of losing hugely if Romney and Ryan get their way.

Having watched my daughter (who will remain unnamed here) grow up in and cope with this mean-spirited, selfish society we have built ourselves, I can still not fathom what it must be like to be John Franklin Stephens. Even more baffling is Mr. Stephens' ability to, as he puts it "[love] life so much":

I have to wonder if you considered other hateful words but recoiled from the backlash.

Well, Ms. Coulter, you, and society, need to learn that being compared to people like me should be considered a badge of honor.
No one overcomes more than we do and still loves life so much.

John signs his letter "A friend you haven’t made yet."

Ann Coulter should be so goddam lucky. Read John's entire post.

Please support Special Olympics, and consider a donation.

Update: Can we please be rid of this sociopathic asshole? Just stop reporting the worthless shit she says. Please.

The hunger

"Strictly speaking, all amassing or hoarding of wealth above and beyond one's legitimate requirements is theft. There would be no occasion for theft, and therefore no thieves, if there were wise regulations of wealth and absolute social justice."

Mahatma Ghandi

A fact: There is a limited amount of material wealth available in the world. However much it is, and it is obviously vast, it is finite. When individuals are allowed, even encouraged, to gather unlimited fortunes, the vast majority of folks are going to be left sucking the shit end of the stick.

The human who takes way more than they need to live comfortably, frankly, is one of the faces of true evil in the world today. For every Mitt Romney (or Donald Trump, or [your favorite entitled jackass here]) there are legions of families who could be adequately fed, housed, doctored and employed for only a fraction of his wealth.

When you have more money than you and your children can possibly spend in a lifetime, how do you justify taking more?

How do you square your constant pressure to contribute less and less to the world you plunder more each year?

How much is enough?

 The United States has been down this road before, leading to sharp divides in the people: the 1770s, the 1860s, and the 1960s, to name a few. What makes this time different, imo worse, is that the divide is not about ideology or politics. It's about money, greed, pure and simple. The 400 richest Americans own as much wealth as the poorest half of us, and they are happy to use that money to buy elected officials who legislate to maintain their bloat-rate.

We have allowed the psycho-pathetic fringe of our country to commandeer our media, in large part; we have allowed them to take over statehouses and legislatures nation-wide. They have launched a full-scale attack on public education, because, you know, if nobody makes a buck on it it must be bad. They have sworn to roll back every piece of humane legislation since the 1920s because job creation they want the money. They have collectively told so many lies in pursuit of their goals as to poison the country.

Dice


The question is no longer who will let them; it's who will stop them.

Ayn Rand, paraphrased, #19

Hauntedtable via Rezinnaise

Willful Ignorance & Stupidity Preferable to Education & Intelligence

Well-known prig Rick Santorum can insult a room full of Values Voters and get applause for it:

"We will never have the media on our side, ever, in this country," Santorum said, according to BuzzFeed and a video posted by Right Wing Watch, available above. "We will never have the elite, smart people on our side, because they believe they should have the power to tell you what to do." [article on Huffington Post]

Forgive me, but I really wish I was making this up. It makes me want to puke that these morons really believe ignorance and stupidity are virtues. My education and ability to think (and spell) make me suspect and somehow part of that shadowy "other" region occupied by President Obama and anybody else with an IQ greater than their belt size.

Stunning. Coupled with the nation-wide attack on public education, it's also frightening as hell. This is the Tea Party's "long game:" By 2016 or 2020, they intend to make the majority of Americans too stupid to know they're dumb.

Full transcript on Politico. Hat-tip: Huffington Post.

Letter from the colonies

[Thanks to oldmoderate for the great post; I couldn't resist riffing.]

Colonialism, according to Wikipedia, is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. They go on to call it (my emphasis):

". . . a set of unequal relationships between the metropole ['mother city'] and the colony and between the colonists and the indigenous population.

Here in Wisconsin, we're learning first-hand what it means to be "colonized" by a hostile power. Scott Walker is a colonial governor, placed in power by fascists running multinational corporations to control our fortunes to their best interest. We're getting the deluxe package:

• for-profit education fed by vouchers: taxpayer money going pretty much directly into the pockets of Walker's friends in the profit education business
• public employee unions busted, not only at the state level, but county, municipal and school district levels as well
• legislative chambers essentially closed to the public, silent protesters routinely arrested and hauled away for (couldn't make this shit up) holding a sign or shooting a cellphone video
• bills passed in the middle of the night, behind locked doors, with no scrutiny or input from constituents, those who, you know, might not agree with getting screwed repeatedly to profit the "job creators."
• speaking of, where the hell ARE the jobs?
• NRA and ALEC-driven concealed carry and castle doctrine legislation, one fatality so far
• one of the most draconian voter ID laws in the country, currently on a fast track to the Colonial supreme court, where it will be quickly freed of pesky injunctions by the court's ethics-impaired conservative majority and allowed to become law
• high-level civil service positions changed to gubernatorial appointments, often filled with the unqualified relatives of political donors and allies
• and then there's Walkergate . . .

Even though he's from 'Tosa, Scott Walker is a colonist. No, actually, he's a carpetbagger, as are Kleefisch,  the Fitzgeralds and the rest of this unholy train wreck of an administration, including 4 of 7 state supreme court justices. Walker's public motives are those of his handlers; he exhibits no loyalty to the state of Wisconsin, to its erstwhile reputation for open government, the quality of its air and water, or its people. While Walker has to "dance wit those whut brung him," for his political survival, his only real loyalty is to Scott Walker.

Olbermann is right: Walker is a fascist bastard. The things he's done to my state are anti-democracy and anti-American.

Here's your October Surprise ... a few months early

The latest ploy by the paleoconservative gang to throw Barack Obama out of the Whitehouse is ... (wait for it) ... WAR WITH IRAN!!!

A military strike on Iran, whether by the US or Israel or anybody, would pretty much destroy the global economy, particularly here in the land of the dollar bill, where every single aspect of our daily lives depends on what? Oil, boys & girls. If somebody bombs Iran, the price of a barrel of oil will likely go over $160 in a heartbeat when they close the Strait of Hormuz in response. If that happens, there will absolutely be a global great depression. Such a small price to pay for getting that black guy out of the Whitehouse, no?

From Thom Hartmann: 

"On Tuesday - International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde warned that a military strike on Iran could disrupt oil supplies around the world - causing the price of oil to spike 30%. Lagarde said, 'Clearly it would be a shock to economies if there was a major shortage of exports of oil out of Iran...A sudden and brutal rise in the price of oil would have serious consequences on the global economy.' "

So if you've been puzzled by the constant yammering about Irani nukes, despite the fact that Mossad and all 18 US intelligence agencies (18? That in itself makes you wanna puke) are convinced that Iran has no nukes, puz no more. They'll have to bomb Iran to take out Obama because, face it, without crashing the economy they probably can't.

They've tried strangling the US economy with their damnable tinkle-down economics, they've tried to strangle the working class by killing unions both public and private, and they've tried to gut some of the country's most popular and successful programs (social security, Medicare, even the Post Office, because it comprises the biggest public sector union on the planet) in the interest of tanking the economy and disabling their opposition.

Why must we sacrifice necessities for poor, working class, and disabled people in order to provide more money and toys for rich legislators and their friends?

 

Because it is the fascist way, and we are being taken over by fascists. Look at what's happened in Wisconsin.

Steve Nass: If I don't like it, you can't see it

This one really pisses me off: Steve Nasshole (R-La Grange) has threatened the UW-Extension School for Workers into cancelling an art exhibition displaying the images and written works that sprang from the historic protests in Madison last spring. Nass claims that " . . . there are lots of Republicans and conservatives around the state who are still very angry about that whole thing. We just suggested that now, with all the tensions that still exist, this may not be the appropriate time for this arts festival."

Why should I give a damn if "republicans and conservatives around the state" are pretty angry about the protests? If these pudlickers want to help out the 1% by giving public property and tax money to assholes like David Koch, then they can damn well expect the rest of us to get pissed. There are a lot of "democrats and liberals" in this state who are pretty angry, too, except Nazis like Nass don't believe in our right to express anything but agreement with his corporatist bullshit agenda.

Short and sweet: To hell with Steve Nass and his censorship, and to hell with the School of Workers for caving in to it. Their pussy excuse is a response to Nass' threat to defund the School, a shit trick he has pulled before. AND THEY SIMPLY LET HIM GET AWAY WITH IT.

Walker on foreclosure settlement: I coulda used it all

Okay, nobody actually said that, but Wisconsin will receive $141 million as part of a foreclosure fraud settlement with five of the country's biggest banks, of which $31.6 million is to go directly to the state. Good thing it wasn't the whole $141 million: Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, whose office has control of the money, has made the decision, in consultation with Governor Scott Walker, that exactly none of that $31.6 million will go to actually compensate homeowners. The plan is that most of the money - $25.6 million - will be used to finger the gushing dike of the Walker "budget" (currently in arrears about $143 million, $208 million by the end of the biennium in 2013, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau).  The remaining $6 million will be "retained by the Department of Justice to be allocated at a later date."

What can you even say about douche-baggery of this magnitude? Here's Scooter's take:

“Just like communities and individuals have been affected, the foreclosure crisis has had an effect on the state of Wisconsin, in terms of unemployment. … This will offset that damage done to the state of Wisconsin,” Walker said [jsonline].

Leaves you gasping for breath, doesn't it?

Credit: Pokeracademy.co.uk

Boy Scouts court martial Scott Walker

MADISON — In a surprise move yesterday, the Boy Scouts of America announced they will begin court martial proceedings against Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin.The ultimate goal of the court martial, according to a Boy Scout press release, is to strip Walker of his Eagle Scout rank and "bust him all the way back to cleaning latrines. Really nasty latrines." The Scouts went on to say that the charges against Walker stem from his basic dishonesty, a callous disregard for "those of us who most need a helping hand," and generally giving a potful of public money to private individuals who don't need it.

"Scott Walker no longer personifies the Boy Scout ideal," the release concluded. "He will be stripped of his insignia, rank, and uniform, then marched to the nearest public toilet to begin his new Scouting assignment."

Walker spokesperson Cullen Werwie declined comment on the matter, claiming he was on his way to a singing engagement at the Federal Building in Milwaukee and had to save his voice. (Werwie has been granted immunity in a John Doe investigation into irregularities during Walker's recent campaign for the Governor's post. The probe is being conducted by Milwaukee County DA John Chisolm.)

Wisconsin State Assembly to debate whether they should govern at all

Photo: TPM

In a stunning and courageous move, Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald introduced legislation, bill number AB-000a, nicknamed "Government: So Over" today. In a press release this afternoon, Fitzgerald urged Wisconsinites to pay no attention, go shopping or something.

While little is known of the actual language in the bill, sources close to the Speaker confirm that the bill would essentially repeal Wisconsin's constitutional government and create a quasi-public-private-amorphous entity called WisProfit to run the state as a for-profit corporation in its place.

"It's my dream," Fitzgerald said at a presser in the Assembly chamber late today. "I want to repeal my own job, then go to work for WisProfit. Sweet."

Jobsturbation

jobs·tur·ba·tion
noun, "jōbs-tər-bā-shən"

stroking of the 1% believing they'll pop for a few jobs, pastime of Republican legislators and tea party governors.

Scott Walker in New York to combat out-of-state funds with out-of-state funds

Walker's campaign is allowed to raise unlimited funds to compensate for bearing the cost of verifying signatures in a recall election. Big Apple Scotty has deemed that Badger taxpayers now cover that cost, while he continues to raise unlimited dollars from unaccountable sources. Unaccountable out of state sources interested in purchasing influence here.

The sound of that much money can be soooooo sexy. The recall, I suspect, might be a little more like a rodeo than a horse-race. The bull doesn't give a shit how much money you have.

Via Uppity Wisconsin.

Tim Cullen to run against Walker? Is that dog blue?

I read yesterday on Uppity Wisconsin that Tommy Thompson is endorsing Democrat Tim Cullen to run against Scott Walker in the upcoming recall election. Couple comments:

• Walker spoke highly of Cullen in the phone call with blogger Ian Murphy posing as David Koch;
  
• Cullen served in the Thompson administration as head of Health and Human Services;
  
• In the background: Thompson did the advance work that allowed the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to attack and quash democracy in Wisconsin.
  

I figure the junta is either trying to hinder Cullen's bid for the Governorship by tainting him with the stink of their own corruption, or Cullen is more one of them than one of us. Either way, any endorsement from Walker's cabal of fascist thieves, particularly of a candidate preparing to run against them, brings both the candidate and the endorsement under suspicion.

The Walker administration is corrupt, anti-democratic and un-American. Accepting endorsements from them, or the likes of Thompson, is questionable strategy at best.

Just sayin'.

Corporations: As people, you suck

Casting corporations as people, and their money as speech, lends them legitimacy in government they do not merit and is rational only if one assumes government should be run on a corporate model. Because, y'know, business and financial types never fuck anything up. It was the folks who believed they could afford those mortgages who brought the economy to the brink, right? Even though they were lied to (the back room term in the business is "liar's loans"), they should've known it was too good to be true. Then the banks committed "control fraud" by colluding with property estimators and securities rating companies to bundle and re-sell these worthless pieces of paper as AAA-rated instruments before they defaulted. When the bottom fell out of the whole thing, our corporate citizens were bailed out by flesh-and-blood taxpayers, and nobody went to jail. Back to record-breaking earnings, privatized profits and socialized losses.

Here's one problem: governments and corporations have differing and mutually exclusive motives. Where the motive of government on our constitutional model is to provide for its citizens, the motive of government on the corporate model is to make money off the provisions, or rig the game so our corporate citizens can.

Here's another problem: When 20% of Americans control 93% of the country's financial wealth and 85% of its total net worth, 80% of us are going to be without a voice because we don't have the money to buy into the game of government. Screwed. And expecting the federal legislature to act on our behalf? 47% of Congress, as opposed to 1% of the general population of the U.S., are millionaires.

And yet another: Voter suppression ID laws springing up like pecker-shaped mushrooms in states across the country. This is blatant, arrogant disenfranchisement of targeted groups, anti-democratic, and un-American. It is also a direct by-product of corporatist take-over.

The insulting roster of potential Republican candidates for President in 2012: really? How many people even in the Tea Party base are that fucking stupid? It doesn't matter, though, how much of a tool they put into the office, as long as it one of their tools. Because "tool" is precisely the right word.


To paraphrase:

'A man without a corporation is like a fish without a bicycle.'

Like they say, I'd rather be a stationary haddock.