taking back america

what oliver said:

when liberals were out of power, we had these conferences called "take back america". they were a way to network, learn activism, etc. i went to a few (and spoke at a panel on one) and the overriding message was about turning america back to its progressive path. now conservatives are out of power and rather than the kind of talk we had, they talked about the "bloody battle" they would engage in with their guns in order to "take back america". slightly different.

though not everyone's saying we would get our hair mussed:

there is a remote, although gaining, possibility america's military will intervene as a last resort to resolve the “obama problem." don't dismiss it as unrealistic. america isn't the third world. if a military coup does occur here it will be civilized. that it has never happened doesn't mean it wont.... ... will the day come when patriotic general and flag officers sit down with the president, or with those who control him, and work out the national equivalent of a "family intervention," with some form of limited, shared responsibility? imagine a bloodless coup to restore and defend the constitution through an interim administration that would do the serious business of governing and defending the nation. skilled, military-trained, nation-builders would replace accountability-challenged, radical-left commissars. having bonded with his twin teleprompters, the president would be detailed for ceremonial speech-making.

not too long ago, it was "no less than an act of treason" to question the president. today, for the "disloyal" opposition, treason is patriotism — which, they have conveniently forgotten, has always been "the last refuge of the scoundrel".

update: annihilation alert

it looks like john perry's "seven days in may" wet dream got the zot from his masters. just a bit too much information even for them, i suppose. via conwebwatch:

newsmax has quietly removed without explanation john l. perry's column advocating a military coup against president obama. newsmax has offered no explanation or apology.

link updated accordingly.

farewell to summer

bachmann, 1: census bureau, -1

the AP is reporting that bill sparkman, a 51-year-old part-time census field worker and occasional teacher, was found hung to death in kentucky with the word "fed" was scrawled on the dead man's chest. investigators are still trying to determine the motive, but "law enforcement officers have told the agency the matter is 'an apparent homicide.'" "our job is to determine if there was foul play involved — and that's part of the investigation — and if there was foul play involved, whether that is related to his employment as a census worker," said FBI spokesman david beyer.

since i'm not working this case, i can freely say that it's a pretty damn obvious foul play was involved, and that his job had something to do with it, as well as who's responsible:

michelle bachmann (r-mn), june 26:

if we look at american history, between 1942 and 1947, the data that was collected by the census bureau was handed over to the FBI and other organizations, at the request of president roosevelt, and that’s how the japanese were rounded up and put into the internment camps. i’m not saying that’s what the administration is planning to do. but i am saying that private, personal information that was given to the census bureau in the 1940s was used against americans to round them up.

it appears bachmann has been threatening to launch her own personal war on the census bureau ...

mission accomplished.

thanks for sharing

(art by stivers, 1984)

bombs of love™

atrios @ eschaton:

our Very Serious foreign policy community seems to think that "winning" a war involves leaving behind paradise, and then are a bit surprised when our Bombs of Love don't produce that outcome.

life cycle of a birther lawsuit

it all started on august 21, 2008 in the eastern federal district of pennsylvania when "puma" and "9-11 truther" attorney phil berg filed the first case against the kenyan usurper-to-be, one that lives on in appeals to this day. proudly taking on the role of the "disloyal" opposition, the birthers, after over 60 suits and their appeals, have settled into a reliable, if not yet productive, though now diagrammable, litigation routine. it's just one of those bugs-turned-feature of our new post-racial marxist collective, folks. get used to it.

anyone not regularly following the birthers' pathetic patriotic trials and tribulations in defense of the constitution can now refer to the following flowchart (click image to enlarge) as a navigational aid through the many stages in the life cycle of what has become a typical lawsuit.

it's worth noting that the cycle has essentially become a closed system, making it possible to run without end — or at least into 2017 ...

quote of the day

researcher joseph strayhorn of drexel university college of medicine and university of pittsburgh, on the high teen birth rate of religious conservatives:

we conjecture that religious communities in the u.s. are more successful in discouraging the use of contraception among their teenagers than they are in discouraging sexual intercourse itself.

(hat tip to p.z. myers @ pharyngula)

quote of the day

tim f. @ balloon juice:

barack obama stripped millions of americans of their right to not have a black president.

observing 9/12

matt yglesias @ thinkprogress:

as we know, back in november most people voted for barack obama. most people voted for a democratic house candidate. and most people voted for a democratic senate candidate. today, most people prefer obama’s approach to the approach of congressional republicans. but this is a very large country. and a large minority of the population is out of step with the views of the minority [sic: matt meant "majority"]. you’ve got your anti-abortion guys, your tenthers, your birthers, your medicare-hating congressmen, etc. something called the ayn rand center for individual rights is among the sponsors of the rally. and so, fine, there are a lot of people with far-right political opinions. but the idea that this is actually some kind of response to specific things barack obama has done is pretty off-base. it’s just the usual suspects getting fired up.

mark mckinnon @ the washington post:

mark mckinnon, a former adviser to sen. john mccain (ariz.) and other republicans, said there is an "opportunity for republicans" to tap into legitimate fears about an overreaching federal government. but he said that "right-wing nutballs are aligning themselves with these movements" and are dominating media coverage. "it's bad for republicans because in the absence of any real leadership, the freaks fill the void and define the party," mckinnon said.

alex pareene @ gawker:

on 9/12, people in new york (and DC) did not feel as "great" as glenn beck. they just felt like shit. they felt scared and confused and depressed ... and only an idiot or an actual terrorist would want to always feel like it was 9/12/01. and eight years later, normal people, with brains and souls, have decided that some emotional distance from that disaster is healthier and wiser than trying to recapture the dread. so thank fucking christ that the commander in chief is no longer subjecting the nation to death porn. no, this year it’s limited to a nutty little cult leader on basic cable who is encouraging his radicalized band of fanatical followers to invade the cities where the tragedy actually happened in order to shock the populace back into fear. glenn beck is an actual terrorist, and the people attending his rally in DC tomorrow are al-qaeda in america.

(art by rottenart @ daily kos)

update: reader feedback

sigh.

i'll type s-l-o-w-l-y so even hillary can understand.

you said that he is on "basic cable"....are you saying that FOX news is "basic cable"...just asking. i mean, what does that even mean???

1) alex pareene said "basic cable". i'm quoting him.

2) basic cable = tv networks "generally transmitted without any scrambling or other special methods and thus anyone connected to the cable tv system can receive them". l-i-k-e f-o-x n-e-w-s.

GLENN HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE 9/12 MARCH!!! it was put together by a completely different group of people who told glenn about it.

from glenn beck's the912project.com:

9/12 SATURDAY – FINAL UPDATE – MORE NEW STATES & EVENTS FOR 9-12-09 ... GLENN WILL BE ANCHORING THE COVERAGE OF 9-12 EVENTS, LIVE ON FOX NEWS ... SEPTEMBER 12, 2009 FROM 1-3PM Eastern time. many have asked about the event in washington dc on 9-12, here are a couple links to help you find out more information from the people who have organized the event and are helping people find the best way to participate. ... HOW DO I FIND A LOCAL GROUP OR EVENT? we have tried to list, by state, every single 9-12 event that we know about. we may have missed one so please share your information with us. you can also look online here. if you cannot go to DC — there are probably events happening CLOSE TO YOU. glenn has always suggested using meetup.com to find like-minded souls in your area and we also suggest looking there for local events that are not listed below. get off the keyboards and on your feet. ... HERE ARE THE LOCAL EVENTS WE HAVE HEARD ABOUT FOR SATURDAY 9-12-09 (SORTED BY STATE, ALPHABETICALLY) [etc etc ]...

"nothing to do with it" must not have anything to do with sponsoring, organizing, promoting and covering it. glad you helped clear that up.

thanks for visiting my little stake on the intertubes. it's nice to have fans, even if some of them are m-o-r-a-n-s.

read arguing with idiots. read common sense. read SOMETHING.

please, hillary, watch something besides glenn beck. a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g.

quote of the day

megan carpentier @ air america:

an overnight poll by AARP shows that obama's speech on health care helped resolve the concerns of many people over 45 dumb enough to believe braying republicans that the administration planned on executing the elderly.

(hat tip to josh marshall)

quote of the day

dougj @ balloon juice:

no one could have predicted that a white southern congressman would heckle a black president.

round and round

... we go.

where we stop, does anyone know ... ?

obama: ... any plan i sign must include an insurance exchange: a one-stop shopping marketplace where you can compare the benefits, cost and track records of a variety of plans — including a public option to increase competition and keep insurance companies honest — and choose what’s best for your family. (jul. 17)

obama: all i'm saying is, though, that the public option, whether we have it or we don't have it, is not the entirety of health care reform. (aug. 15)

ap: health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius says obama still believes there should be choice and competition" in the health insurance market — but that a public option is 'not the essential element.' (aug. 16)

sebelius: here’s the bottom-line: absolutely nothing has changed. we continue to support the public option that will help lower costs, give american consumers more choice, and keep private insurers honest. (aug. 18)

obama: the only thing that we have said — and this continues to be the truth — and i mean, sometimes you can fault me maybe for being honest to a fault — is that the public option is just one component of a broader plan. (aug. 20)

dailykos: [senate majority leader harry] reid spokesman jim manley emails in that reid's preference is for a "public option," but would not confirm that reid means "public option" as commonly understood: an insurance program run by the department of health and human services or another government body. (aug. 28)

nancy pelosi: a bill without a strong public option will not pass the house. eliminating the public option would be a major victory for the insurance companies who have rationed care, increased premiums and denied coverage. (sep. 3)

politico: "we have been saying all along that the most important part of this debate is not the public option, but rather ensuring choice and competition," [a white house] aide said. (sep. 3)

ny times: [administration officials] insisted that mr. obama had not given up on the provision that has attracted the most fire from the right, a proposal for a government-run competitor to private insurers, although many democrats say the proposal may eventually be jettisoned. (sep. 3)

cnn: president barack obama and top aides have quietly stepped up talks with moderate republican sen. olympia snowe of maine on a scaled-back health-care bill, according to two sources familiar with the negotiations. the compromise plan would lack a government-run public health insurance option favored by obama, but would leave the door open to adding that provision down the road under an idea proposed by snowe, the sources said. (sep. 3)

another oldie

neither gone nor forgotten ...