Category Archives: Politics

Mapping America

I remember linking a few map links and figured now was the time to lay down a post about them.

First off, from Wired, American Vice: Mapping the 7 Deadly Sins. What is most interesting to me in this is how the “Bible Belt” is chock full of Envy, Wrath, Lust, and Pride.

Wrath: Number of violent crimes (murder, assault, and rape) per capita.

Here is a writeup in the Catholic Globe, plus more maps reprinted in the Las Vegas Sun, including Nevada state breakdowns.

Worried about climate change? If you are a citizen of the Plains/MidWest you’d better be. Not only are Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa in the crosshairs of major change, they are also represented by Republican global warming deniers that won’t be doing a damn thing to help out the Americans that will be hardest hit.

At the same time, resistance to climate change legislation by Republicans is costing their supporters jobs. Don’t believe me? Check out the following map:

Meanwhile, politically, a map that gives hope that we may eventually silence the Talibangelicals and Rethugs and at least get the GOP back to “just” racists and trickle-down theory idiots again. I mean, if THIS is what the Angry White Right for Jebus has to offer, the Republicans will find another way. Won’t they?

CIA Documents Provide Little Cover for Cheney Claims

Surprise. Surprise. Turns out that – once again – Dick Cheney is a liar. After months of claiming the CIA has documents “proving” torture works, the release of said documents say the exact opposite. From the article:

Strikingly, they provide little evidence for Cheney’s claims that the ‘enhanced interrogation’ program run by the CIA provided valuable information. In fact, throughout both documents, many passages — though several are incomplete and circumstantial, actually suggest the opposite of Cheney’s contention: that non-abusive techniques actually helped elicit some of the most important information the documents cite in defending the value of the CIA’s interrogations.

The Cause of His Life

“This is the cause of my life. For four decades I have carried this cause — from the floor of the United States Senate to every part of this country. It has never been merely a question of policy; it goes to the heart of my belief in a just society.”

– Ted Kennedy on providing health care to all Americans

Lush Rimjob is chortling his fat, drug-addled ass off, gleefully declaring “victory” by “predicting” that Ted Kennedy would be dead before health care reform was passed in this nation. It is bastards like that, encouraging bullyboy tactics and general thuggery that are derailing said reform and rotting our nation’s democracy.

Senator Robert Byrd wants to rename any health care legislation after Kennedy. Here’s a blog entry that states the same opinion.

And, of course, HonorKennedy.com asks you to add your name to an online petition to do the same.

That said, given the crap put out by Fifth Columnists like Max Baucus, they’re gonna have to rewrite any bill to fit Teddy’s requirements. As best put by Bob Cesca’s latest column, “Healthcare Reform Named After Ted Kennedy Must Not Suck”.

The Washington Independent: Obtained: The RNC’s Health Care Survey

“Yes, Dems are going to deny health care to anyone registered as a Republican. The original plan was to harvest their organs. However, that plan had to be scrapped after it was discovered that their brains weren’t any good and their hearts were completely gone!”

– Commenter Steve, tongue fully in cheek

Seriously, check this out. It’s a survey being passed out to Republicans. One, to scare them into pushing against reform. Two, to solicit donations to the RNC. Because, you know, it isn’t worth scaring American citizens to a Rethug if you can’t possibly make a buck off of it.

That question is the best part. Apparently it is meant to scare Republicans into thinking that they might not be allowed to participate into a public health care plan.

You know, the plan they call “socialist”. The plan they shout down town hall meetings to protest against. The ones they show up with assault weapons because they want to silence advocates for such a plan. The public option they’d like to kill the President over.

The RNC is so concerned about this that they want to warn their constituents by filling their heads with outright lies.

The height of hypocrisy here, of course, is that why the hell would Republicans be worried about mythically being left out of a system they swear up and down they won’t participate in? It’s like sending me a memo letting me know that I’ll probably not be allowed to join the Klan. Good! I didn’t want anything to do with Kluckers anyway!

Here’s the whole damned survey…

…followed by the begging for money section:

The GOP embraces the big lie – How the World Works – Salon.com

This treads into dangerous, but not necessarily erroneous, ground. This article compares the GOP’s strategy of opposing the President on health care – and everything else – to that of the Nazi “Big Lie”.

So yes, the GOP are acting like Nazis, without necessarily being Nazis. Got it?

They sure don’t. They’ve called the President every political label in the book and have him being born in Kenya, Indonesia, and probably the Moon for all I know. Basically, it’s a kitchen sink strategy.

They’ve called Democrats murderers for wanting to enforce living will policies even their blowhards have supported.

As for the generic GOP hatemonger at a town brawl? Odious people backing odious insurance companies.

Rep. John Dingell compares them to the KKK.

Rep. James Clyburn says they are the same ilk as our nation’s opponents to civil rights legislation:

“I have seen this kind of hate before. I have seen this discussion before….I have seen snarling dogs going after people who were trying to peacefully assemble. I have seen the eyes of people who were being spat upon.

“This is all about activity trying to deny the establishment of a civil right. And I do believe that health care for all is — a civil right.”

He went on to say the he had “no question” that some of this was racially motivated hate.

Rep. Jerry Nadler from NY calls the political theater of the GOP stalwarts as akin to using “fascist tactics”.

So, yeah, call it as you see it, but make sure the characterization does not turn into caricature.