News Roundup for 6/14/12

Not conseritave enough for Utah

-Headline of the Day-
"Gay Republican presidential candidate Fred Karger gets a rough welcome in southern Utah."

Did you know there's still a not-Romney out there running? There is! His name is Fred Karger and he doesn't have a prayer because he's so gay. According to the report, Karger's "running an issues-based campaign to change attitudes within the GOP about same-sex marriage." So far, so bad.

See he went to Utah to see about getting on the ballot. The guy he met, Washington County Republican Party Chairman Willie Billings, was OK and all, but hooboy his wife...

Karger sent Willie home with some campaign gear -- a t-shirt and frisbee -- and got an email from Willie's wife Nanette that was as illiterate as it was nasty.

"you are an idiot," she wrote. "You met with my husband Willie Billings today about you being on the Utah ballot. He brought your tshirt, and frisby home and it is now out in the trash. I never want to hear from such a radical idiot again. You think you are conseritave? conseritave means you beleive in the values of founding fathers and God. Do you know you cant procreate right? Well thank goodness for that. Nanette Billings."

I'm glad she bothered to explain what "conseritave" means, because otherwise I'd have no idea.

So Fred Karger's campaign to "change attitudes within the GOP about same-sex marriage?" Yeah, not going real well. (The Ticket)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, you know that austerity stuff you keep hearing about? We're going to find out how it works!


Click for animation

It doesn't work very well. (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"Romney Campaign Bus Circling, Honking At Obama Speech Site."

It's becoming clearer all the time; Mitt Romney's a real dick. (Talking Points Memo)

News Roundup for 3/30/11

GOP candidates prepare for the first presidential debate

-Headline of the day-
"First Presidential Debate Pushed Back To September Due To Lack Of Candidates."

The Politico/NBC News presidential debate was going to be the first presidential debate, all but officially kicking off the 2012 presidential race, and it was going to be held May 2. Not anymore. According to the report, "The two big media titans announced today that they will push the debate back to the fall because so few candidates have officially announced their plans to run."

Announced candidates include Barack Obama, AKA "The Prez," Fred Karger, AKA "who?" and Jimmy McMillan, AKA the "Rent's Too Damn High Guy." In fact, not even Obama has officially announced his candidacy -- it's just taken for granted. I mean, when you're the incumbent, you're really a candidate unless you announce you're not running. And anyway, the debate seems to be GOP-only, which means just Who and the Mustache Gardener.

John Heubusch, executive director for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation which runs the debate, said, "Although there will be a long and impressive list of Republican candidates who eventually take the field, too few have made the commitment thus far for a debate to be worthwhile in early May."

Fox News, on the other hand, is undaunted and sticking to their May 5 schedule for their first debate. I'm sure that those three days will be enough time for GOPers to stop waffling and throw their hats in the ring. I mean, they ought to be able to get their shit together by then, right?

"This is my 10th presidential campaign, Lord help me," writes Time's Joe Klein. "I have never before seen such a bunch of vile, desperate-to-please, shameless, embarrassing losers coagulated under a single party's banner. They are the most compelling argument I've seen against American exceptionalism."

OK, so maybe not. (Talking Points Memo)


-Which is weird, because...-
...a new Quinnipiac poll puts President Obama in a pretty bad place. According to the report, the poll "gives President Barack Obama the lowest approval ratings of his presidency, with a majority of Americans saying he does not deserve another term in the White House."

I've got a quibble with the term "majority," since the percentage is 50% -- half isn't a majority, 51% is -- but it's close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades.

Still, the poll finds that the slump in Obama's numbers comes from his actions in Libya, which 47% oppose. In Obama's defense, these numbers are confusing, since "65% of the respondents think the U.S. should use military force to protects civilians from Col. Gadhafi, but they oppose using military force to remove him, 48%-41%" -- in other words, a vast majority back Obama's plan. Apparently, they just don't know that is the plan.

If only we had some sort of information-dispensing mechanism to set the public straight on that point -- a "news media," if you will.

Oh well, if wishes were horses... (Wall Street Journal)


-Bonus HotD-
"Clueless in Wisconsin: Newt Gingrich Praises Gov Walker as Job Creator."

Did you know Newt Gingrich used to be a history professor? That's right, he had a job teaching people about reality.

I hope he used to be better at it. (Politicususa)