Who MUST President Obama fire?

OK, a loss of 60-plus seats in the House and 6 Senate seats is a disaster.  Luckily the teabaggers threw up certified lunatics like Joe Miller, Sharron Angle, Ken Buck and Christine O'Donnell and incompetents like Carly Fiorina and Dino Rossi or the Senate would be gone too.  Let's be real: President Obama is significantly if not mostly to blame for this "shellacking".  Although not alone that is, for there are incompetents in his cabinet who are letting not just him but the American people down.  After the 2006 midterms when the GOP was pummeled and lost both houses of Congress, at least President George W. Bush did one right thing and fired the incompetent Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who had been overseeing 2 failing wars (that are still failing but that's a whole other diary).  Yet 3 weeks after the bloodbath and President Obama has not made ONE substantive staffing move.  I believe a bold move MUST be done to show that the White House is listening to the will of the people.  So why don't we help him along?  Here's a few names I wouldn't shed any tears over:

How about Timothy Geithner?  This should be a no-brainer.  He should have been dropped for consideration for the job that includes head of the I.R.S. once it came out that he couldn't even manage to do his own damn taxes right.  2 years later and the sailing has been just as rough.  Why is the stock market flush with cash but unemployment still sky-high?  Why are there huge bonuses going out to execs of taxpayer-money hoarding corporations but very little hiring or lending going on? 

How about offshore oil-drilling shill Ken Salazar?  Rolling Stone makes the best case as to why Interior Secretary Salazar's hands are dirty when it comes to the BP oil spill (the whole article is a must-read):

Though he criticized the actions of "a few rotten apples" at the agency, he left long-serving lackeys of the oil industry in charge. "The people that are ethically challenged are the career managers, the people who come up through the ranks," says a marine biologist who left the agency over the way science was tampered with by top officials. "In order to get promoted at MMS, you better get invested in this pro-development oil culture." One of the Bush-era managers whom Salazar left in place was John Goll, the agency's director for Alaska. Shortly after, the Interior secretary announced a reorganization of MMS in the wake of the Gulf disaster, Goll called a staff meeting and served cake decorated with the words "Drill, baby, drill."

How about Homeland Security head Janet Napolitano?  The new TSA screening guidelines are a traveler's (and public relations) nightmare.  Why didn't her department adequately prepare the public for the new procedures?  She hasn't made the case and the result is that the TSA is a laughingstock and enraging more people every day.  This was hardly her first misstep either.

How about Eric Holder?  Was it really necessary to blast America as a "nation of cowards" when first assuming the job as Attorney General?  Beyond that controversial first-impression are his decisions to hold a civil trial for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York City and the recent failure of his Justice department to convict Ahmed Ghailani on more than 1 count out of more than 280.  Whether or not you think civilian terrorist trials are a good idea there's little doubt that Holder's leadership in these matters hardly inspires confidence.

Then there's Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the genius who decided to blast the "professional left", you know the BASE that helped push Obama over the edge in the 2008 primaries, shortly before the mid-terms when it was clear that turnout would be key.  Heckuva job there.

So who should go?  I vote all of the above.

wow! is dis bitch serious?

“calling all tea party people across the United States ‘tea baggers,’ which is a denigrating word with negative connotations... It’s as bad as calling a black person the N-word.”

so says Debbie Gunnoe, a tea party organizer from Navarre, Fla.

srsly!

I don't even know where to begin, for one, you aren't born a Teabagger, like a black person is born black. Secondly it's nothing but a sly nickname for members of an absurd, disingenuous movement, kinda like labeling people "Birthers" and "Truthers". I say disingenuous, because why is it that these people are so concerned now with the national debt? Where was this movement during the Bush administration? While we are at it, who famously said "deficits don't matter"? Yup, former VP Dick Cheney. WHERE WERE THESE PEOPLE THEN? I'm sorry but it's way too convenient for them to start screaming about the debt soon after President Obama took office, considering he inherited the Great Recession from George W. Bush and needed the Stimulus to bring the economy back from the brink.

Also Ms. Gunnoe, Teabaggers themselves did use the "N-word" as well as called Barney Frank a "faggot" this past weekend, so how can you exactly claim the high ground here? You cannot. Lastly, I know the Teabaggers are god-fearing, seeing how the second of Glenn Beck's 9 Principles of his "9/12 Project", the commandments of the Teabagger set you could say, is "I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life", so when it comes to heath care I ask of them: What Would Jesus Do? From what I've heard he was a pretty generous fellow, one who wanted to care for the poor and downtrodden, so I doubt he'd treat very sick people like this:



So ok Debbie, I won't call you a Teabagger, how about I just refer to you guys as what you truly are: racists, homophobes, phony Christians, but most of all: H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E-S!!! There! That better?

there's no winning in Afghanistan

Well, 8 years after Al-Qaeda attacked us and Osama Bin Laden escaped Tora Bora, President Obama has decided to pull a "W" and go for a surge in Afghanistan. First of all, there is no "winning" a war in a country that isn't really a country. Afghanistan is simply a collection of Islamic tribes with no functional central government, it's never had one and never will. Secondly, the founding fathers made the Commander-in-Chief a civilian for a reason, so military men can't bleed us dry in unwinnable wars with limitless amounts of troops. So why is Obama doing the same as Dubya and just giving the Generals whatever they want? This country is BROKE! We are $12 TRILLION in the hole and growing! We cannot afford to rebuild THREE countries! Bring our troops home NOW and work on rebuilding America!

Blog Wars erupt on the right

I check out quite a few blogs during the day, left and right wing-oriented, and I must say I am fascinated by what is happening with the right these days. Little Green Footballs, transformed by fledgling musician/cyclist Charles Johnson after 9/11 as a mostly anti-Islam blog, has taken a far more sensible path since Barack Obama was inaugurated, which of course doesn't sit well with the knuckle-dragging, bible-thumping, dead-enders that make up what's left of the Republican Party. I am by no means championing Johnson or his site here, I mean, let's face it, the man is batshit crazy, a Howard Hughes-save and drink his own urine-type if you will, but follow me after the jump to see the all-too-fun civil war he has sparked among the right-wing blogs......

In the past year or so, Charles Johnson has been focusing on the scourge of creationism and it's rising popularity among the right. Well, the bible is the end-all be-all for many conservatives, who pushed back and were purged in big numbers by the control-freak Johnson. Combine that with the rise of the birthers or "nirthers" and Ron Paulians, and Little Green Footballs was soon battling back against the craziest elements of the right. Well, these folks didn't go quietly, they have been pushing back hard on sites such as Michelle Malkin's Hot Air and Ace of Spades, where you can find attacks on Johnson in almost any thread these days. Well, Johnson is pushing back as well, by attacking these sites and their administrators, his former allies. So chummy under the George W. Bush Administration, these right-wingers have turned their fire on each other.....

Master vs. Apprentice

Oh, and apologies to LGF on behalf of our “wingnut blog”..... when a site that gave up blogging about Iran and the New York City terror plot to focus on the urgent threat from creationism tells you you’re falling down on the job, you listen.

I haven’t said anything about him before and hope not to again. I used to love his blog; it’s what inspired me to start blogging, so I get no joy from squabbling with him. But the sneering about “wingnut blogs” was too much. I eat plenty of crap for being an atheist and taking occasional swipes at creationism myself. I criticize Palin and Glenn Beck when a lot of other conservative bloggers don’t. Who is he to accuse me of being some talking-point machine?

Allahpundit on October 13, 2009 at 6:55 PM

so said Hot Air's resident blogger Allahpundit this week, firing back at Charles Johnson, who had the nerve to expose Hot Air's racist wingnut commenters in an ongoing series called "Hot Air Comments of the Day". An LGF reader alerted Johnson to the many racist comments directed at First Lady Michelle Obama as a "wookie" (amongst other names) last month, leading to Hot Air enacting a new comment policy which pissed the racists off even more because they lost an outlet to spread their hate. Well the attacks on Johnson continued at Hot Air and spilled over to Ace of Spades as well, so much so that those sites have devoted entire threads to letting people just bitch about and attack Johnson!

Grab the popcorn

I could go on and on deconstructing the tit-for-tat that has broken out between these sites, but I'm sure you get the gist by now. Will the GOP be the party of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck or will it return to it's more centrist days as the party of George H.W. Bush and Colin Powell? The right-wing blogs are the front-lines of this battle, so sit back, watch them scorch the earth and let's see who survives.....

>>>>>Beers and Bullshit<<<<<

Yesterday was all kumbaya blah blah bullshit between Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge Police Sergeant James Crowley at the White House with President Obama over beers (hey, isn't it nice not to have a dry-drunk prez like that asshole Bush?), but excuse me, why the fuck hasn't Crowley been fired? This douchebag arrested a man on the front porch of the house he owns and pays taxes on, all because he didn't like what he was saying! It's outrageous!

Even more outrageous: the so-called conservatives on the right-wing blogs defending Crowley's actions. These "get the government out of our lives!" folks really have no problem with the government (Crowley) throwing a citizen in jail for expressing his right to free speech (Gates)? What is this, motherfucking China? North Korea? This is not a police state! This is the United States of America! If you wanna tell a cop in your house to go fuck his mama you have every right to do so without being hauled off in handcuffs!

But I shouldn't be surprised the faux-conservatives in the G.O.P. are siding against Gates, because all black men are criminals in their minds.

Palin not under fire from the feds?

So says the L.A. Times. So WTF? Is she really planning to run for President? On what record?

On 2.5 years of experience as the Governor of a cash-flush state with no real problems?

If the economy is still shitty and unemployment is over 10% when 2012 comes around, there's no doubt Obama will be vulnerable. But no way in hell voters would gamble our future on another charismatic politician w/ a flimsy resume. Mitt "I fix businesses" Romney would be the smart choice to take on Obama if that is the case.

On her Jerry Springer-ish "family values"?

Bill Clinton's seedy personal history had to be in the back of some primary voters minds when choosing between Obama and my candidate of choice, Hillary Clinton. Would voters choose to quadruple down on First Family Drama by housing the freak-show Palin brood at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? Fuck no!

On her flimsy education and even flimsier intellect?

Voters are in no mood for another retard republican president so soon after Dumbya.....

On her tits and legs?

They can't stay that nice and firm forever!

So what's left for Sarah? Fox News? A reality show to follow Octo-Mom's? Ooooh how about a politcal edition of "The Surreal Life"?! Sarah, Todd and Bristol Palin thrown in a house with Eliot Spitzer, David Vitter, Mark Foley, Mark Sanford, Barney Frank, John Ensign, Larry Craig, Jim McGreevey, Rod Blagojevich and an assorted mix of prostitutes, interns, Argentinian sluts, gay staffers, Ponzi schemers, bathroom stalls and adult diapers!

So long, BSG.....

One of TV's best science-fiction series ever, Battlestar Galactica, signed off last night in an action-packed, emotional and ultimately satisfying series finale. Never has a futuristic show been so timely. The show's creators molded a cheesy 1970's flop network series into a drama-heavy, existential sci-fi masterwork for our grim post-9/11, Bush-presidency era (and helmed by a fellow latino, Edward James Olmos, no less).

If you have never watched the show just take a look at the trailer below, it should do the trick of pulling you in. I highly recommend getting the DVD's on Netflix, starting with the 2003 miniseries and working your way through all 4 seasons, well, you can skip the 3rd, it was moral-relativist in the worst. If you have seen the series, check out my personal grades for each season and my Top 5 episodes below the trailer.



SEASON GRADES

Miniseries: A+
Season 1: B
Season 2: A
Season 3: D
Season 4: B

TOP 5 EPISODES

1) Scar
2) Blood on the Scales
3) Unfinished Business
4) Sometimes a Great Notion
5) Sacrifice

Thank you, BSG.  I sure as frak am gonna miss you!

Matthews v. Fleisher

Former Bush administration press secretary/pathological liar Ari Fleischer was on MSNBC's 'Hardball' yesterday to defend Bush's legacy, and well, it got pretty ugly with host Chris Matthews. They touched on President Obama's first 50 days in office, the Bush recession and most intriguingly the Bush record on keeping America safe. Fleischer was quick to slobber all over Bush's cock for the lack of a major terrorist attack in this country since the 9/11 attacks, yet was shocked, SHOCKED I SAY, when Matthews dared point out the fact that Bush pretty much blew off the Presidential Daily Briefing titled "Bin Laden determined to strike in U.S." he received 8/6/01, just about a month before Bin Laden did strike the U.S. Well, if Bush's stooges are gonna take credit for the lack of an attack since then aren't they also deserving of the blame FOR that apocalyptic day? I mean, the chatter from overseas had been off the charts that summer and that very PDB detailed such intel as:

FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.

and

Bin Laden implied in U.S. television interviews in 1997 and 1998 that his followers would follow the example of World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef and "bring the fighting to America."

and

Al Qaeda members -- including some who are U.S. citizens -- have resided in or traveled to the U.S. for years, and the group apparently maintains a support structure that could aid attacks.

So, it's pretty clear that former NSA Adviser/Sec. of State Condi Rice lied when she testified "I don't remember the al Qaeda cells as being something that we were told we needed to do something about" to the 9/11 commission in 2004. The administration knew full well of the threat and either didn't take it seriously, or worse, just ignored it altogether.

Either way, Ari Fleischer is full of shit.  He is the "shameful" one for lying to cover his failed administration's ass over the biggest intelligence failure since Pearl Harbor. Matthews is right, our country is far better off w/o these douchebags in office. At least now we have a far more competent administration to deal with not only the Al Qaeda terror threat but also the economic 9/11 we are now suffering through, also Bush's fault!

Why Bernie Madoff, not Rush Limbaugh, should be made the face of the G.O.P.

The simplest breakdown of America's 2 major political parties is this: The Republicans blame the poor for all our problems, while the Democrats blame the rich. When the poor are seen by the public-at-large as the culprits, the Repubs do well, like in 1994 when "welfare queens" got all the blame for our economic ills. Right now the Democrats are coming off of 2 straight electoral ass-whoopings and are enjoying a huge identification advantage over the G.O.P. Why? Well, George W. Bush for one. Also, there are now more poor people than rich people, and that super rich Ponzi-scheming bastard Bernie Madoff is Public Enemy #1.

Look, as long as that fat fuck Limbaugh is still breathing he'll be saying stupid shit, that's not news. So Operation Rushbo may be a success so far for President Obama, but as long as the face of this financial crisis is a super-rich crook like Madoff, the rich will be (rightly) blamed for this recession and the Democrats will be sitting pretty.