Griper Blade: The 'Bagger's Plan to Screw Themselves

One of the advantages liberals have over conservatives is the conservative impulse for panic. It's a proven fact that people on the right are 'fraidy cats. As a result, they will always over-react. It's guaranteed.

So it shouldn't surprise anyone to learn that the right is reacting to a reawakened labor movement with a pants-wetting panic. Further, no one should be shocked to discover that their solution to this problem is poorly thought-out and counter-productive to their own goals.

With these facts in mind, I give you the Tea Party's plan to hang themselves.

Patriot Action Network:

FIGHT THE SEIU WITH TACTIC THEY USE AGAINST US – THIS WEEK!

http://action.seiu.org/page/s/solidarityaction

That link will take you to an SEIU page where you can sign up as an "organizer" for one of their upcoming major rallies to support the union goons in Wisconsin.
Here is what I am doing in Sacramento, where they are holding a 5:30 PM event this coming Tuesday: (1) I signed up as an organizer (2) with any luck they will contact me and I will have an "in" (3) in or not I will be there and am asking as many other people as can get there to come with, all of us in SEIU shirts (those who don’t have them we can possibly buy some from vendors likely to be there) (4) we are going to target the many TV cameras and reporters looking for comments from the members there (5) we will approach the cameras to make good pictures… signs under our shirts that say things like "screw the taxpayer!" and "you OWE me!" to be pulled out for the camera (timing is important because the signs will be taken away from us) (6) we will echo those slogans in angry sounding tones to the cameras and the reporters. (7) if I do get the 'in' I am going to do my darnedest to get podium access and take the mic to do that rant from there…with any luck and if I can manage the moments to build up to it, I can probably get a cheer out of the crowd for something extreme...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: The Great GOP Wealth Redistribution

Over the last two years since President Obama has taken office, the federal government has added 200,000 new federal jobs. And if some of those jobs are lost in this, so be it. We're broke. It's time for us to get serious about how we're spending the nation's money.
-House Speaker John Boehner

All told, we find that Boehner’s 200,000 number is way off. We rate it False.
-Politifact

At this point, it should be abundantly clear that Republicans are about as interested in jobs as they are in the truth. Likewise, the math suggests that they aren't really all that interested in the deficit, either. After all, in demanding that the tax cuts for the richest 2% of Americans be extended, they've committed to adding $36 billion to the deficit. Yet, now that those tax cuts have been extended, Republicans insist on paying for them after the fact. So they propose taking things away from you. It's a massive redistribution of wealth, from the middle class to the wealthy. And, in the mainstream media, almost no one is pointing this out.

Remember during the healthcare debate, when Republicans posed as defenders of Medicare? Yeah, they aren't doing that anymore. In the name of appeasing the Almighty Deficit, while preserving the Sacred Tax Cuts, Republicans now demand cuts to entitlements -- meaning Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

The term you're looking for right now is "bait and switch."...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: The No Job Agenda

Jobs, jobs, jobs. Republicans are all about jobs. Except they aren't. When it comes to things that will definitely create actual, real-world jobs -- i.e., infrastructure spending -- they're against it. But when it comes to pie-in-the-sky schemes that have never created jobs -- i.e., tax give-aways to the wealthy and corporations -- they're all for it. The reason is simple. The GOP is about jobs; not very good jobs, not very plentiful jobs, and jobs not to workers' advantage.

It's basically supply and demand. If unemployment is high, then this drives wages down. Since the Republican Party represents businesses, not workers, unemployment is good for their constituency. But you don't get elected by promising high unemployment and low wages, so you make up some crackpot economic theory that immediate employment by government -- even if that employment is in the private sector -- is bad, but potential and hypothetical jobs down the road are good. Then, with the help of a rightwing media noise machine and a mainstream media completely uninterested in facts, you convince everyone that supply and demand is bass-ackward -- that employers, not consumers, are the "job creators" and that everything you have must be sacrificed on their altar. And presto chango: you've just been talked into giving away a little of your Social Security, a little of your Medicaid, to give a big, juicy tax break to the rich. Because this is going to create jobs. Never mind that it never has in the past -- this time for sure. Kick that football again, Charlie Brown.

Needless to say, if you aren't wealthy and you're voting Republican, you're being played for a sucker. Need proof? Consider how the right feels about unionized labor. Unions keep the prevailing wage higher, because of their ability to negotiate a decent wage and benefits. Whether you belong to a union or not, you benefit from union activities. When they lobby for laws that help their members, all workers benefit. And when they negotiate a better deal than management would've liked, they drive wages up in their industry. If there is anything that's a bigger roadblock to the Republican cheap labor agenda than unions, it's low unemployment...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: Egypt

It looks like yesterday's reporting that Hosni Mubarak would step down as President of Egypt were premature -- but barely. I was going to write about something else, but there's only one real story today. Mubarak has stepped down and there's dancing in the streets of Cairo and Alexandria. If Mubarak had hoped yesterday's speech would save his butt, he was about as wrong as he could possibly be.

Juan Cole:

After the crowd at Tahrir Square absorbed the news that Mubarak was still president and that his gestures to them were mostly vague or symbolic, they were from all accounts angry. Some took off their shoes and showed the soles, a sign of disrespect. To their credit, the protesters mostly quietly dispersed in order to get some rest for Friday, when they were already calling for major protests.

But, some were so exercised that 3,000 headed toward the presidential palace, where they staged a demonstration. Another 10,000 headed toward the television station, which they surrounded. The symbology here was dire, since the first thing a coup-maker in the Arab world does is to send tanks to surround the television station...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: For Republicans, a Coming Dose of Reality

Part of the problem I have with Republicans is that they refuse to live in reality. For most, the cause is the fact that they don't have to. Former lobbyists, PAC folks, wealthy vanity campaigners, CEOs, and various and sundry political hacks, the closest many have come to hardship is finding out the club is out of topshelf scotch. They still have nightmares about that awful, awful rail booze.

But for others, there's a self-inflicted ignorance. Many of the fresh new GOP faces in Washington represent the first generation of lawmakers whose entire adult lives were spent under the spell of conservative talk radio. They were probably introduced to politics by Rush Limbaugh in the '90s and they haven't moved that dial since. If they don't live in the real world, it's because they no longer know where it is.

Regardless of the reason that reality is a strange neighborhood to them, when Republicans take a walk through it, it comes as something of a shock.

Politico:

Ask any House Republican about repealing President Barack Obama's health care law, and you'll get the same fiery, self-assured talking points about tearing down what Speaker John Boehner has called a "monstrosity."

But talk to some of the 16 freshman lawmakers who have declined their government health benefits, and you'll hear a different side of the story -- about tough out-of-pocket expenses, pre-existing conditions and support for health reforms that would help those who struggle with their coverage. As they venture into the free market for health insurance, these lawmakers -- many of whom swept into office fueled by tea party anger over the health care law -- are facing monthly premiums of $1,200 and fears of double-digit rate hikes...CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: Fracturing the Coalition

It was a move worthy of Harry Reid. Assuming that an extension of key provisions of the PATRIOT Act would pass easily, House Speaker John Boehner put the bill on the fast track, suspending the rules to push it through so they could get right to work on such "job-saving" measures as defunding healthcare reform and shutting down Planned Parenthood. In doing so, Boehner had to raise the bar -- instead of needing a simple majority to pass, the bill needed a two-thirds majority to pass without amendments or debate. Turns out the Speaker's whip count was off a tad and the measure failed by seven votes.

Don't get too excited though. It'll be reintroduced the slow way and it'll pass. Then again, that's what everyone said about it this time. With the bill open to amendments and debate, it may be that opponents can either weaken the bill or insert a poison-pill amendment to give other members an incentive to vote against it. The clock is ticking. If the extension isn't passed, the provisions -- "roving" surveillance, so ability to snoop through personal records (including library records), and the ability to spy on people not affiliated with terrorists groups -- end on February 28.

Good news, to be sure. But the importance of this decidedly temporary defeat isn't the only thing that's being overstated here. Many are crediting the Tea Party with the defeat. The problem with this analysis: many 'baggers voted for the extension and, if you look at the number of those who dissented from their party, it doesn't actually add up...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: If the Muslim Had Stabbed the Christian, Then It'd be Big, National News

Sometimes, you come across a story and wonder why it hasn't become national news. For me, this is one of those times.

Tampa Tribune:

A St. Petersburg man faces a hate crime accusation after deputies say he stabbed a man because he is Muslim.

Bradley Kent Strott, 52, and Samad Ebadi were at Marsha's Wayside Inn bar, at 4021 54th Ave. N. in St. Petersburg, about 7:30 p.m. Friday, talking about religion, according to a Pinellas County Sheriff's Office arrest report...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: Auction House Democracy

You've probably heard the name, now meet the Koch Brothers, as introduced by Jane Mayer on NPR's Fresh Air (Video courtesy of Crooks and Liars):



OK, so a couple of rightwing nutjobs are giving money to the GOP -- who else would these days? There are two possible intentions in giving a political donation and it always pays to keep this in mind. People will give to candidates or parties because they agree with them, which only makes sense. If candidate Bob believes what you believe, you're going to want him to win. So you're going to do what you can to help him.

The other intention is as a legal bribe. If candidate Bob is sort of squishy on your issues, then maybe a big campaign contribution will give him an incentive to be a little more solidly on your side. Where the first intention is the political system as it was meant to operate, the second is corruption -- and there's a very fine line between the two. Unfortunately, both are legal. Which only makes sense, since it would be nearly impossible to distinguish between the two with any level of certainty...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: From Egypt, Revolution Porn and Fear Porn

I've finally dug out after being buried in snow for a couple of days. If a blizzard is a disaster, it's a beautiful disaster. It's almost seems the entire world is white and clean looking, like a heavily frosted wedding cake.

Unfortunately, the whole world is not clean and beautiful. Cable networks, newspapers, and the internet have dropped ugliness in my lap, in the form of violence in Egypt. It may be overstating things quite a bit, but it looks a lot like Hosni Mubarak attempted a stealth Tienanmen Square massacre and failed on both the stealth and massacre aspects. By now, there is no doubt that the "pro-Mubarak protesters" on camel- and horseback are Egyptian police (click the image above for a look at some of their police IDs) and Mubarak's hamhanded attempt to save his position may only have made matters worse for him. Still, to go back to Tienanmen, if China proves anything, it proves that an authoritarian regime can pull some pretty awful stuff and still remain a member in good standing of the world community.

It's tempting to engage in revolution pornography, posting inspiring images of the past few days. There's certainly been enough great photojournalism and much of it has been breathtaking. And, while calls for freedom stir some American consciences, other see only reason for fear...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: On Milbank's Palin Embargo

I'm not completely sold on Dana Milbanks's embargo on Sarah Palin news for the month of February. Personally, I'd like the unpopular Palin and the equally brainless demagogue Michele Bachmann to become the two vacant faces of the Republican Party. The only downside to this that I can see is that people will start equating a midwestern accent with idiocy.

In any case, it's not February yet, so deciding to join in or to violate the ban is a moot point. Which is good, because it turns out someone told Sarah to say something clever and she's extremely proud of herself.

Politico:

Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin said Wednesday night that President Barack Obama's call for "winning the future" during his State of the Union address is best framed by the acronym it shares with a much different phrase -- "wtf."

"That was a tough speech to sit through and try to stomach," Palin said during an interview with Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: A Stealth Attack on Democracy

I'm running a little late today, so this one's going to be pretty short. I just want to draw your attention to a piece by Andy Kroll at Mother Jones:

On Wednesday, House Republicans plan to rush to the floor a bill that would eliminate the federal government's presidential financing system—in the process, violating recent pledges by the GOP's leadership of increased transparency and debate in Congress. Not one hearing has been held on the legislation, nor has a single commitee debated its merits. If it passes, it will roll back more than 30 years of law born out of the Watergate scandal, eviscerating one of the few remaining protections stopping corporations from heavily influencing, if not outright buying, American elections, reform experts say.

Democratic lawmakers and campaign finance reformers blasted the bill, not only for seeking to kill public financing but for breaking the GOP's campaign promises on transparency and accountability. "This is a sneak attack on the system," says Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). "It's a total break from their public pledge for transparency and openness." Fred Wertheimer, a longtime campaign finance reform advocate at Democracy 21, called the bill "a gross abuse of the legislative process."...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: Republicans Strike Another Blow in the War on Math

The Republican War on Math marches on, as the House's farthest-right members, in the form of the Republican Study Committee, put forward a list of cuts they say amount to $2.5 trillion over ten years. By cutting, non-defense discretionary spending, and then holding spending to 1996 levels for ten years, they promise it's going to save a specific amount. However, when asked how these savings are going to be achieved at this specific level, things get a little murky -- as Rep. John Campbell demonstrates:

Partial transcript from Think Progress (emphasis their's):

CAVUTO: I don't want to pick it apart too much, because you always appreciate the efforts at spending cuts, but a lot of these eliminations and reductions, Congressman, realistically come to $330 billion of the $2.5 trillion of proposed cuts. So, in other words, the real meat, up-front cuts, while still substantial, about $330 billion, ain't the $2.5 trillion. So what is the more realistic figure?

CAMPBELL: The more realistic figure than the two, oh, you mean other than what's listed on here?...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: For the GOP, We are All Just 'Minor Things'

Here's a short list of things that are the height of tyranny -- at least, in terms of healthcare reform -- according to Republicans (and courtesy of Crooks and Liars):

-Excluding children under age 19 with pre-existing conditions
-Lifting lifetime and annual limits on benefits paid. No longer can a price be put on someone's life.
-Allowing young adults to remain on their parents' policies.
-Closing the Medicare Part D donut hole for seniors.

These things must be repealed or the Republic shall surely fall! So the party's majority in the House of Representatives voted to save America from communism last night, passing a bill to repeal the healthcare reform law. Unfortunately, the effort is doomed to fail and is seen as symbolic (read, "political theater"). The hyperbolically and inaccurately titled "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act" has no chance of ever becoming law itself. It would have to pass in the Senate -- where it stands no chance -- then to the president's desk -- where it'll be surely vetoed. Then it's back to Congress, where there's no chance of a veto override. The only thing more doomed than this bill are Sarah Palin's presidential ambitions...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: Birth of a Conspiracy Theory

Monday, a pipe bomb was discovered in a backpack left along the route of a Martin Luther King Day unity march in Spokane, Washington. The bomb was described by the FBI as a case of "domestic terrorism."

MSNBC:

In an interview on MSNBC cable's The Rachel Maddow Show, Spokesman-Review reporter Thomas Clouse said confidential sources told him that the device was equipped with a remote control detonator and contained shrapnel.

A bomb disposal unit was called in and neutralized the device with a robot. The FBI said in a statement on Tuesday that "the backpack contained a potentially deadly destructive device, likely capable of inflicting multiple casualties."

"You could describe it as an improvised destructive device... or improvised explosive device," Frank Harrill of the Spokane FBI office said. "...the timing and placement of the backpack [along the march route] is inescapable."...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: Poor, Poor Sarah Palin

One thing I've believed for a long time is something I believe is obvious -- you don't get to decide what other people find offensive. If you say something and someone is insulted by it, then the wisest thing to do is explain that you didn't put that very well, apologize, and move on. It's a pretty simple concept. Even in cases where you believe you're right, just drop it and move on. Maybe you didn't mean it the way it was taken, maybe you meant it exactly that way, but are surprised the other person found it so offensive, maybe they're completely misunderstanding what you said -- whatever, doesn't matter. Apologize and move on. If you get bogged down in an argument over whether there's any cause for offense, you're going to lose the thread of your conversation and get stuck arguing about an issue that simply isn't the point. Needless to say, this is less than constructive. If you unintentionally hurt someone's feelings, apologize and let it go, because -- no matter what it was you meant to say -- those hurt feelings are real.

The right has never gotten this. When they say something that's offensive, they often stick to their guns and argue that you have no right to take offense. You see it all the time. What should've been a simple, momentary distraction becomes an issue all its own. And, as all of these tertiary distractions snowball, Republicans suddenly find themselves on the defensive, fighting battles that have absolutely nothing to do with the original point. No wonder conservatives make a deliberate effort to stay on message and all recite exactly the same words -- get them to wing it for a second and everything goes spiraling completely out of control, as they skirmish over idiotic trivia like word-choice. It's like a political version of adult ADD.

The latest example of this is Sarah Palin's use of the term "blood libel" to explain that she's been the real victim in the Tucson shooting incident. When some took offense at the term, the smart thing to do would have been to say, "Blogger Glenn Reynolds used that term and I thought it sounded nifty! That's what it means? Yikes! I sure didn't mean that!"...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: The Right, Ayn Rand, and Dr. King

Martin Luther King was a Republican. This statement was all the rage a year ago, when it was extremely important to remember that Tea Partiers marching around with racist signs were most definitely not racist. In fact, when Glenn Beck announced his big rally on the anniversary of King's "I Have a Dream Speech," he said it was to "reclaim" the civil rights movement -- as if King and his followers braved dogs and batons and jail to protect the downtrodden, oppressed rich white guy from tax increases. But it pays to remember where King was and what he was doing when he died.

John Nichols, The Nation:

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was not assassinated at a rally organized by a right-wing talk radio host, or at the inauguration of a conservative Republican governor.

King, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning campaigner for economic and social justice whose legacy we celebrate with a holiday that falls on Jan. 17 this year, died while supporting the right of public employees to organize labor unions and to fight for the preservation of public services...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: Moving Toward a More Pleasant Lie

Civility is all the rage in Washington. At least, for now. Not surprisingly, the voices speaking most about civility equate it with a failed centrism. Apparently, being civil while sticking to your guns is completely impossible. Somewhere along the line, "civility" and "compromise" became synonymous. I guess because it's completely impossible to disagree respectfully. Frankly, I don't see Washington suddenly catching the "middle-of-the-road" bug. Further, I don't think it should. Democracy is competitive by design and for a purpose.

But will a more respectful tone in Washington and in the media really change anything? Sure, you could argue that the right's Second Amendment fetish (along with their misinterpretation of that amendment) makes for some pretty scary talk of "Second Amendment remedies" and "ballot or bullet" signs, but the fact remains that the people with the guns and the signs are angry -- in many cases panic-stricken -- about things that just aren't happening. There are no "death panels," Socialism isn't the same thing as Communism or Fascism, Barack Obama isn't a foreigner bent on destroying America, all Muslims aren't terrorists, people's taxes have gone down, and George W. Bush is responsible for a lion's share of the deficit. Without scarecrows to be afraid of, no one would be freaked out to the point that they begin to babble about a second revolution.

This isn't to say that a little more respect wouldn't be nice in political rhetoric, it just wouldn't accomplish much. What America needs is a push toward truth in political rhetoric and, sadly, no one seems to be talking about that. If there were truth in politics, not only wouldn't we have to worry about some 'bagger practicing his Second Amendment remedies against elected officials, but there probably wouldn't even be a Tea Party to begin with. It's a "movement" funded by billionaires and Washington insiders, driven by propaganda that convinces people to be afraid of non-existent plots. Without the lies, there would be no fear. And without the fear, there would be no danger...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: Wingnut Blogosphere's Fake Outrage of the Day

As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together...

And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let's remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy, it did not, but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make (the victims) proud.
-President Barack Obama, eulogizing the victims of the gun tragedy in Tucson.

It doesn't stop. Not for a moment, not for a second, not for a heartbeat. it was a time for Americans to come together and, for just once, stop the idiotic sniping and spin and phony outrage and crappy punditry and just breathe for a second. A memorial for the victims of an act of chaos, Barack Obama's appearance in Tucson last night was the act of a president. It was what any president would do in a moment of national shock and it was this president who did it...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: Illinois Set to End Human Sacrifice

It's hard for me to think of a policy I support less than the death penalty. The short take is that it's expensive, it doesn't work, and -- for me, the clincher -- it cannot be reversed. An innocent person put to death is a mistake that can't be rectified and this alone renders illogical the argument that killing people makes us safer. If your government can kill you, despite the fact that you've done nothing wrong, then you're most definitely not safer for it. The death penalty should be viewed the way we view other forms of human sacrifice -- a brutal and ineffective attempt to manipulate reality, founded only in a bloodthirsty superstition.

One state is poised to abandon this savage mumbo-jumbo; the Illinois legislature has sent a bill repealing that state's death penalty to Gov. Pat Quinn's desk. There's some question as to whether Quinn will sign it into law or not. There shouldn't be.

CBS News:

"We cannot afford to continue to have a death penalty in Illinois with the track record we have," Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, the main Senate sponsor, said Tuesday. "I believe only the state of Florida has had more people sent to death row for crimes that they did not commit. We ought to be embarrassed by that."

Illinois has removed 20 wrongly condemned people from death row since 1987. There's no evidence Illinois has executed an innocent person...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: Thoughts on Tragedy

There are a lot of things we can take away from Jared Loughner's crime in Tucson -- I'm going to hit a few of them and they aren't all related, so don't expect a post with a lot of flow. I'm going to go where it takes me.

For example: Yes, the rhetoric in the political arena has become heated, but no, it's not fair to say that both sides are equally guilty of this -- who is the leftwing Sarah Palin, who invented "death panels" and a coming senior Holocaust out of thin air? Who is the leftwing Glenn Beck, a serial liar who routinely accuses people of actively destroying America and tells his audience they must be stopped? Where are the lefty protesters, showing up to political rallies with guns and signs about the "blood of patriots?" Where is the abortion rights activist assassinating the anti-abortion leader? If "both sides do it," why is it that both sides don't actually do it? As always, false equivalency rules in our media, as fears of "bias" trump reporting of the truth. The right has gone completely off the rails in recent years, yet when reporting on this, it's always very important to note that the left isn't off the hook either. This despite the fact that the figures used as examples of lefty hate -- say, the New Black Panthers -- are people that no one on the left has ever heard of. They certainly aren't our leaders.

The same thing happened when Ward Churchill said some victims of 9/11 were "little Eichmanns" who were complicit in crimes of imperialism that inspired the terrorism in the first place. Suddenly, Churchill was a influential thinker on the left, one of our big intellectual leaders and someone everyone listened to with rapt attention -- a household name among the arugula-eating set. Of course, the real response to criticism of Ward Churchill among the left was "Who the hell is Ward Churchill?" When you need an example of controversial or insensitive speech by liberals, you can just go grab someone at random and suddenly they're one of the Great Leaders of the Left -- ask Bill Ayers, who was elected Grand Poobah of all Things Liberal by Sarah Palin and the rightwing media.

But in trying to fix the blame on left or right, some things are being lost in the shuffle. For instance, the right has glommed onto the twitter account of someone claiming to know Loughner, because one tweet says "he was left wing, quite liberal." But that same user also tells us she hasn't seen or heard from him in three years. Not exactly the freshest information, but it'll do for media outlets and blogs eager to pin his party affiliation on anyone other than Republicans (Loughner is a registered Independent)...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]