Eh, I am watching baseball

Okay, just so you can see Hank Williams Jr. comparing President Obama to Hitler and the Speaker of the House to Bibi...

In defense of the wonderful (heh) folks at Fox & Friends, they seemed a bit shocked as well.

I can only wonder what Jon Stewart and the Daily Show will do about this.

Does anyone feel for Kid Rock for being name checked in this? Me neither.

Barry on Weiner

(That title is vaguely dirty...)

"When you get to the point where, because of various personal distractions, you can’t serve as effectively as you need to at the time when people are worrying about jobs and their mortgages and paying the bills, then you should probably step back,” Mr. Obama said.

Obama Suggests That Weiner Step Down

From the White House Correspondents' Dinner

Posted everywhere, but...if you don't want to go looking.

Both the President and Seth Meyers brought the funny.

And Barry Does the Right Thing

Funny story, Barry and Michelle's first date was Do the Right Thing (which I love as a film, for the record, and I know what the riot started) and Barry has finally come around to doing it.

Obama has finally order the Justice Department to stop defending DoMA.

Yay.

I know this was not a priority for the Obama Administration with two wars, a global economic collapse, and the fallout from the previous administration.

So, first thing being handled was DADT, which is kind of gone right now, and now DoMA, but...

Why did he wait so long? Is this a throwaway to the left so it looks like the Administration is doing something as the GOP on a state level goes after unions and the right to collective bargaining. (Which is another post, but most of you know where I stand on this, both personally and politically, and how I feel about teachers specifically.)

That's what it feels like to me. Indiana and Wisconsin are trying to destroy strong labor, Kansas is being even more strict about reproductive rights, and on the Federal level, the House is de-funding Planned Parenthood, NPR, and PBS, as well as a number of social initiatives that are near and dear to me.

So, is Barry placating the left?

And TEA becomes an advocate

TEA just gave me a call.

He is writing a letter to President Obama and Governor Cuomo.

He was doing a packet from school about the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and had some questions about how laws are made. He asked his mother, who is good at this type of thing, and they talked about where laws come from and if something is right, why it isn't a law. His mother explained that sometimes it is difficult to convince large groups of people to agree on the same thing.

He then talked to his mother about the issue that was bothering him.

His mother helped him with the letter and then called me.

This is my best recollection of what he said, as my eyes were welling with tears and my heart was swelling with pride.

Dad, guess what I am doing! I am writing a letter to the President and the Governor because gay people should be allowed to get married. They shouldn't listen to the priests because Jesus and Martin Luther King died so all the world could be free. So that white people and black people and gay people could be happy. I am writing this letter because I want the President and the Governor to change the law...

Naturally, my pride was immense in my son.

Then I asked his mother how this came about. I was asking not because I thought that Ami prompted this as a project or because of his stance on this hot button issue (I wouldn't have had a problem with either of those.) but just because I wanted to know TEA's mindset when doing this.

His mother stated that TEA's ideas were sui generis in their inception and she did not prompt them.

So...what does this say?

This says that an eight year old can see through the bigotry of the various factions who fight the idea of marriage equality as a concept as abhorrent as terrorism. More to the point, it shows that my son has a better understanding on what it means to be an American than people like Carl Kruger, Joseph Addabbo, and (wait for it...) Ruben Diaz. (Remember, there were eight members of the Senate Democrats who voted against the Marriage Equality Bill in 2009. Yeah, three lost, one was expelled from the Senate, one chose not to run, and these three "Heroes" were re-elected.)

My eight year old son has more compassion for his fellow Americans than people like the Secretary of State, and former junior Senator from the Empire State, who has once again come out against Marriage Equality.

And my eight year old son has a better understanding about the teachings of Jesus than some local men of the cloth, who make the claim that "God hates."

TEA, you are my son and I will always be proud of you and love you, but it is moments like this that I am proud to be your father.

Keep writing those letters, keep fighting for what is right, even if it isn't popular, and keeping living with the belief that one person, even if they are eight, can make the world a better place.

This Man Was A Senator

(The amazing part happens at the :31 mark.)

I love Rick Santorum. He is the male Sarah Palin. What is not to love about him? His gay marriage will lead to man on dog sex arguments have endeared him to the world, even naming personal care issues after him (Link NSFW), but now, while making a point about abortion, choice, and beginning of life, he says it. It is amazing.

You need to watch.

Via Talking Points Memo

A Tale of Two Senators

When she was a Representative, I did not care for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and I wasn't alone. Something has happened since she has become a US Senator. She is no longer identifying with the Blue Dogs (and that is a really good thing...think about who the spokesperson for the Blue Dogs is...Heath Shuler. The Heath Shuler! A man whose leadership skills were so valued by the Washington Redskins that he was replaced by Gus Frerotte. Frerotte was memorable for such things as headbutting the wall and giving himself a concussion. Frerotte had better leadership and decision making skills than Shuler and now Shuler speaks for a caucus. See what I am getting at here?) and has worked for a number of issues that are important to New Yorkers as a whole. (Notice, as a whole, as opposed to all New Yorkers, because there are those people who supported Carl Paladino and are still "Mad As Hell" with their baseball bats at the ready.)

In the past couple of weeks, she has been all over the place. Partially due to her work on the DADT repeal, her work on the Zadroga Amendment, and her friendship with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. She was on The View recently (Monday, 1.17.11) talking about all of these and more.



She was also on The Daily Show recently, and like she was on The View, she was charming, intelligent, vibrant, and Senatorial while retaining a sense of whimsy.

I do like that she is also moving to Albany for a short period of time. Why does this make me happy? It just does. I love the area, and I am very happy to have someone as notable as the Senator living here.

And then we have...

Senator Joseph Lieberman...

As I am sure you are aware, Senator Lieberman has announced that he will not seek re-election and it has been reported it is because he does not "want to leave the Senate feet first" and because he no longer fits into any particular political ideology.

That may be true.

My belief is that the are certain politicians who are able to serve until they are eighty because they have the strength of their beliefs that consistently reinvigorates them, while Senator Lieberman does not have the clarity of conscience to believe anew in his platform.

We have two Senators. One on the way up and the other on the way out, and contrasting them is interesting. As Senator Gillibrand became more liberal, her stock rose, and as Lieberman displayed more of his conservative nature, he became more reviled.

So, what does this mean? (or as JMFJT has often said to me, "Get to the point!")

President Obama has been tacking to the Center, which means he has been moving further to the right, since the election in the hope of winning re-election in 2012.

But that is a move in the wrong direction, and I know this runs contrary to prevailing wisdom, but...prevailing wisdom also said that the War in Iraq was a good idea, because President Obama ran on the power of hope and change and his biggest policy initiative has Bill Frist supporting it. That's not hope and change, that's triangulation, and President Obama is a poor substitute for the master of such a "trick".

I think of a line from The West Wing (written by Sam Seaborn and delivered by President Bartlett):

...but every time we think we have measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we're reminded that that capacity may well be limitless. This is a time for American heroes. We will do what is hard. We will achieve what is great. This is a time for American heroes and we reach for the stars.

President Obama, please look at the examples set by these two Senators, and embrace the hope, change and excitement of Senator Gillibrand and take to heart the warnings exemplified by Senator Lieberman's shift to the right.

You have time to save your Presidency, and you can let Senator Gillibrand help.

Amen to this

Yes, FAU, you can be upset with me.



Via someecards.com

Duck & Cover Redux

Or...Fallout Too (yeah, that's not a great geek joke but it was the first thing I thought of. For those of you who have no clue what I am talking about with this aside, go here.)

For the last seven years of the Bush Administration, every couple of months, we were told that we need to be on the watch for terrorists because a credible threat had been made (and some of these threats were probably credible and it is a credit to our security apparatus that these threats were exposed and nipped in the bud but some of them were pandering in order to shift focus from other domestic issues) and we should be afraid. Very afraid.

But now...

As the Obama administration is in the doldrums, beware of THE NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST!

My parents have told me stories of the duck and cover drills that they engaged in when they were school children and the fear that it inspired in them. My mother went to parochial school and was told that she would only have the time to say "Thank you, Jesus" because a full prayer was far too long to complete.

Now...in addition to the continuing economic collapse, the threat of the nuclear end times is being presented as a VERY POSSIBLE REALITY.

From the New York Times:

In June, the administration released to emergency officials around the nation an unclassified planning guide(PDF) 130 pages long on how to respond to a nuclear attack. It stressed citizen education, before any attack.

Without that knowledge, the guide added, “people will be more likely to follow the natural instinct to run from danger, potentially exposing themselves to fatal doses of radiation.”

Specialists outside of Washington are divided on the initiative. One group says the administration is overreacting to an atomic threat that is all but nonexistent.

Then there is this from the aforementioned guide:

There will be no significant Federal response at the scene for 24 hours and the
full extent of Federal assets will not be available for several days. Emergency
response is principally a local function. Federal assistance will be mobilized as
rapidly as possible; however, for purposes of this document, no significant Federal
response is assumed for 24 – 72 hours.


So, not only should we be terrified by the threat of nuclear attack (which many reasoned people insist will not happen) but we should understand that the Federal Government will not help us, which may be a lesson learned from the mistakes of "Rainstorm Katrina".

So, let me make this suggestion to you for your holiday season. As the drinks and canapés are being passed at your holiday parties, turn to the person to the left of you and ask, "When the inevitable nuclear attack happens, where are you going to go?" and then follow-up with "In a post nuclear attack world, would you prefer to be a member of a cannibalistic rape gang or a mindless zombie of the wasteland?"

I am sure that it will make you the life of the party, and that is exactly what Obama wants for you.

Via NYT

Tuesday Roundup

A large wooden statue of Jesus offended Zeus and was punished with a lightening strike yesterday in Ohio.

Newsweek.com has a new feature with Zombie's Attacking

You know those relief wells that BP is drilling, well, there is a good possibility that they may be as dangerous or even more dangerous than the original. BP has also hired Goldman Sachs to do something...because BP is doing fine. Nothing to see here. At least nothing the President will mention when he speaks tonight from the Oval Office.

MTA signs will no longer say what you are thinking about yourself.

Someone tries to defend the vuvuzela.

Speaking of something unrelated to soccer, Italian soccer players are stylish!

When Stealing, Steal from the Best

With the caveat that it was not a speech that launched a national career...



Oh, Vaughn, what were you thinking? Did you think that no one would notice?

Should we check to see if one of your physics papers from high school was called "über die Entwicklung unserer Anschauungen über das Wesen und die Konstitution der Strahlung"?

Via Morons With Signs

Best Facebook Screenshot Ever

Lady, you are AWESOME!

Via The Awl

Obama's Nuclear Plan

There is an almost surely apocryphal story about President Reagan being so concerned about nuclear war after seeing The Day After that he changed his policy on nuclear war and Mutually Assured Destruction and began working with the Soviets on arms limitation. It was a simpler time then, wasn't it?

Now, President Obama is engaging in the same thing.

Do you think as a younger man, he was influenced by Superman IV?



Rachel Maddow talked last night about the Obama Treaty and Reagan's work in the same sphere.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

And this morning, President Obama (while daring the Senate not to ratify it) signed the START with Russia's President Medvedev.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Psalm 109

You can buy a bumper sticker that says "Pray for Obama/Psalm 109"

This is what they are referencing:

 ⁸ May his days be few;
       may another take his place of leadership.

 ⁹ May his children be fatherless
       and his wife a widow.

 ¹⁰ May his children be wandering beggars;
       may they be driven ^[d] from their ruined homes.

 ¹¹ May a creditor seize all he has;
       may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.

(Source)

The Christian Science Monitor asks is the use of this Psalm is "funny or sinister".

Do you really have to ask?

The people who are displaying this are actively looking for the removal of the President of the United States through violence...

Rachel Maddow had a piece on this last night...

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I have no words...I am angry and full of loathing right now...