World News Korner

Courtesy of the Kochsucker's Facebook page:

First, kudos to the Louisiana GOP for filing a federal ethics complaint against Sen. Harry Reid for illegally using our tax dollars to play his “politics of personal destruction” including trying to humiliate and ruin reputations of good Americans for his radically liberal partisan purposes (including his ongoing jihad against private citizens David and Charles Koch, whom Reid hypocritically benefits from by having accepted their campaign donations through Koch-connected PACs). He unethically spends other people’s money (his addiction to O.P.M. is renown) to enrich family and friends. Reid gets away with his continual unethical behavior because no one pushes back. Finally someone is!

Personally I think that it is well within Senator Reid's right to use his website to call out the Koch brothers for hijacking our democracy.

If you want to see a REAL waste of taxpayers dollars then just refer back to the post right below this one.

I seriously doubt that the ethics complaint will go anywhere. And unlike Palin back in 2009, Harry Reid will not let a few ethics investigations drive him out of office.

However this post, and others like it on Right Wing media sites, makes me think that the Koch brothers are starting to worry that constantly being called out on MSNBC, on progressive blogs, and by Harry Reid himself might be causing them to worry that they will not be able to continue to hide behind the scenes while the bright light of public scrutiny is aimed in their direction.

The power of the Koch brothers to influence elections and public policy was aided partially by the fact that they were not well known, which allowed movements like the Tea Party to claim they were grass roots, when actually they were funded by Charles and David.

Remember with everybody looking it is much harder to stab Democrats in the back.

The second part of Palin's ghostwritten Facebook post is an almost Glenn Beck like diatribe that focuses on the wife of Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, and her possible nomination to the first circuit court of appeals.

There is no actual evidence that this might take place, but the mere thought of it is making the Right Wing apoplectic.

And if their are crazy conspiracies to fan, then how could Sarah Palin be far behind?

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Courtesy of Think Progress:

A series of IRS documents, provided to ThinkProgress under the Freedom of Information Act, appears to contradict the claims by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that only Tea Party organizations applying for tax-exempt status “received systematic scrutiny because of their political beliefs.” The 22 “Be On the Look Out” keywords lists, distributed to staff reviewing applications between August 12, 2010 and April 19, 2013, included more explicit references to progressive groups, ACORN successors, and medical marijuana organizations than to Tea Party entities.

The IRS provided the heavily-redacted lists to ThinkProgress, after nearly a year-long search. From the earliest lists through 2012, the “historical” section of the lists encouraged reviewers to watch out for “progressive” groups with names like “blue,” as their requests for 501(c)(3) charitable status might be inappropriate. Their inclusion in this section suggests that the concern predates the initial 2010 list.

Explicit references to “Tea Party,” included in the “emerging issues” section of the lists, also began in August 2010 — but stopped appearing after the May 10, 2011 list. From that point on, the lists instructed agents to flag all political advocacy groups of any stripe. The documents instructed the agents to forward any “organization involved with political, lobbying, or advocacy” applying for 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) status be forwarded to “group 7822″ for additional review. Groups under both categories are limited in the amount of of lobbying and political activity each can undertake.


Other types of groups received explicit scrutiny for longer than “progressive” or “Tea Party” organizations. These included applicants involved with “medical marijuana” but not “exclusively education” (19 appearances in the “watch list” section of the lists), which were to be forwarded to a “group 7888″ and groups believed to be possible successor-groups to ACORN, the now-shuttered Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (12 appearances on the “watch list” section). Those applications were also to be elevated to managers for further review. All 22 documents also flagged applicants with Puerto Rico addresses and certain types of “Testamentary Trusts.”

It is worth noting that Issa subpoenaed the IRS records last year, and has certainly seen these same documents. As has ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings which helps to explain why he blew up at Issa back in March.

Much like Fast and Furious and Benghazi, this whole thing has been bullshit from day one.

And it is taxpayer money that is being spent while the Republicans desperately beat the bushes hoping to uncover, or create out of whole cloth, some scandal that will stick against the Obama administration.

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Courtesy of Politico:

Although Miller narrowly lost his bid for the Senate, he parlayed Palin’s endorsement into national name recognition, what he calls a “top-ranked” Internet news site (“Restoring Liberty” at joemiller.us) and a small but intensely loyal local following—the kinds of people who are “looking for the Ted Cruzes, the Mike Lees, the Rand Pauls.”

Miller is running again this year in the Republican primary for the right to oppose incumbent Sen. Mark Begich—one of the most endangered Democrats of the 2014 midterms and a key takedown target for Republicans. Yet by an unusual arrangement of events, Miller is actually poised to seal Begich’s re-election, protect the Democrats’ Senate majority and prevent the repeal of Obamacare. And it’s all thanks to Sarah Palin.

Of coursed if by some miracle Miller were to win the Republican primary, a possibility that I will put in the "When hell freezes over" category, it would mean that Begich could retain his seat essentially without spending another cent on campaign commercials.

But that scenario is not exactly what Politico finds interesting:

But something else is going on that should delight national Democrats and unnerve national Republicans.

Until this past year, when new chairman Peter Goldberg established calm, fratricidal bickering between Tea Party-style libertarians and everyone else has bedeviled the Alaskan Republican Party. Several chairmen have been ousted since 2010, and at one point the party leadership resembled the medieval papacy, with multiple claimants and no clear pope. The wounds from those intra-party fights are still fresh, and it’s not hard to imagine Miller launching an independent bid should he lose the primary, taking many of his Tea Party supporters with him. After all, “there’s a reason why the party bosses hate him and Washington fears him,” says the voiceover in one campaign ad. In the same clip, Miller says he is sending a message to “big-taxing, big-spending elites that the party is over.”

For the GOP, Miller’s run as an independent would likely be a disaster. In February, a Hays poll hypothetically pitted Begich, Sullivan and an independent Miller against each other (omitting Treadwell—a decision his campaign protested for “ignor[ing] the space-time continuum”), and found 45 percent for Begich, 33 percent for Sullivan and 10 percent for Miller—just enough to prevent a Republican victory.

Miller has been cagey about his plans. When prompted at a University of Alaska speaking event on April 10, he was careful neither to confirm nor deny a possible independent run in November, if he does not win the primary. But he did say that a vote for Treadwell or Sullivan would amount to a vote for Begich, and he did refer to good and “evil” Republicans.

Politico is right, a run as an Independent by Miller would certainly doom the Republican party candidate. And the party has already been badly damaged by Miller's attempt to hijack it in 2012.

Miller is undoubtedly going to be eviscerated again this time around, especially after some new evidence about illegal campaign donations hits the MSM, but he may also essentially cripple the ARP for the foreseeable future.

And THAT is good news for Senator Mark Begich and the Democratic party moving forward.

So do you think we should send that thank you fruit basket to Wasilla, or the house in Scottsdale?

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Courtesy of Kickstarter:

When the filmmaker's parents moved to a place where her father had a long solo commute to work and started listening to Talk Radio to alleviate the boredom, her family saw him change from a non-political Democrat to a radicalized, angry Right-Wing Republican. What happened to Dad?

As filmmaker, Jen Senko, tries to understand the transformation of her father from a mild mannered life-long Democrat to an angry, Right-Wing fanatic, she uncovers the forces behind the media that changed him completely: a plan by Roger Ailes under Nixon for a media by the GOP, The Powell Memo and the dismantling of the Fairness Doctrine, all of which would ultimately misinform millions, divide families and even the country itself.

Remember when Hillary Clinton got pilloried for blaming a “vast right-wing conspiracy” for the relentless attacks against her husband? Maybe you weren’t around then. Well, she said it. Some thought she’d gone off the deep-end. We all know that “conspiracies” mean that you think that we really didn’t land a man on the moon, or that Bigfoot stalks the North - not that there’s anything wrong with that!

But really, was Hillary right? If you think about it, the country has changed dramatically within the last 30 years. During the 1960s and 70s America was moving in a much more socially minded direction. One could say, “liberal”. Then, slowly the country began to shift. What was once considered “right” is now “center-left”. It can’t be denied that corporations play an ever-increasing role in every facet of our government and the media has been instrumental in this development. We are now so divided that the Left will argue that President Obama is to the right of Reagan while the Right labels him a “Socialist”. Hmm. How did that happen?

This documentary will look at the changes that happened to a dad (and many others) when he changed his media habits. Then we look at how the media itself changed and the effect it had on our country. The media has a powerful influence on the American mind – so much so that one could argue: if you control the Media, you control the American Mind.

I think all of us have seen this happen to at least one family member, or friend, over the last ten to fifteen years. It almost got my mom, but she started to trust her son and now she is in conservative talking points rehab.

I just finished reading the Roger Ailes biography, "The Loudest Voice in the Room," and let me tell you it reads like it should be in the horror section of most bookstores.

What Roger Ailes has done, along with conservative talk radio and Right Wing media groups, is just this side of sedition.

They hide behind the 1st Amendment, while doing everything they can to sabotage or potentially overthrow the government.

The only time they calm down is when the Republicans run everything, but the minute the Democrats get any control the shit starts flying hot and heavy.

Fortunately for all of us this new group of young Millennials are very savvy about messaging, and not as easily swayed by fear mongering and subliminal imagery.

If they keep their heads, and not allow greed or fear to distract them, they have a real shot at making this country and this planet a much better place.

And I am going to help this process by making sure my daughter sees this film.

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Yesterday Curt Clawson won the special election to be Florida District 19th's Republican nominee, beating out four challengers.

Among them one of the Grizzled Mama's chosen ones.

This from Slate:

Among the vanquished: State Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto. She'd been endorsed by Sarah Palin, who flown into the district to raise funds for her. She'd been endorsed by Jeb Bush, who cut an ad for her. And she'd attacked Clawson for accepting an "Obamacare bailout," without anyone who edited that ad realizing that they were accusing the guy of taking a bailout in 2009 from a law passed in 2010.

It backfired. Clawson ended up winning 38 percent of the vote, exactly what pollsters had predicted. It's a sort of victory for Tea Party groups; in two weeks, in Nebraska's U.S. Senate primary, the conservative base and its campaign organs have another chance to determine the winner of an open primary.

I think it would be awesome if Palin's losing streak continued, and that every one of her endorsements ended up a flaming wreck like this one, as THAT might finally end any political gravitas that the Right Wing still thinks they perceive in her, AND dry up SarahPAC donations overnight.

However since she made so many endorsements this time around that is a lot to hope for.

Still, she IS Sarah Palin. So the chance that she rolls snake eyes every time, is not entirely out of the question.



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Rep. Steve Hurst is pulling out the big gun in his campaign. #alpolitics pic.twitter.com/JlHKftOpi0
— greg varner (@varnergreg) April 21, 2014

Courtesy of AL.com:

Alabama Rep. Steve Hurst wants you to know he is for gun rights.

The District 35 Republican from Talladega gets his message across at parades in a very unmistakable way: He uses a giant revolver as a parade float. (And a barbecue. The gun is actually not a balloon but a large barbecue shaped like a handgun.)

Hurst said the parade float has two purposes: For one, it reminds people Hurst is a small business owner. He owns a fencing company and also Haynes Street Pawn and Gun Shop. He sells guns with his business partner.

And two, the gun-shaped barbecue, often attached to his truck, reminds people he supports gun rights. Hurst pushed for and won a change in Alabama law that no longer requires homeowners to flee from an intruder. Now Alabamians can shoot an intruder, a right often referred to as the "castle" doctrine.

Well hey, at least this giant compensation for a small wiener can be used to grill them as well.

I found the reporting on the castle doctrine law a little telling.

"Now Alabamians CAN shoot an intruder." Makes it sound like this is something the people of Alabama have been looking forward to, and now they get to do it.

Personally I might have worded it as "this law means that if a homeowner HAS to defend themselves, and their family, by taking an intruder's life, they will not face prosecution."

Unless of course the defending of the property, and protecting the lives of their families, is secondary, and the REAL selling point is that now people get to shoot somebody.

But that's just crazy, right?

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Courtesy of Mediaite:

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) joined Seth Meyers on Late Night Monday night to reminisce about his various appearances on Saturday Night Live over the years. By picking Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008, McCain figured he’s at least partly responsible for Tina Fey’s massive success.

“It made Tina Fey famous forever,” McCain said of her “iconic” Palin impression. Asked if he knew right away that Palin looked like Fey, McCain joked, “That’s why I selected her.”

Yeah, ha ha that's funny.

You know what's not funny?

The amount of damage that lunatic has helped to visit on this country.

If I were John McCain I would be ashamed to show my face in public.

Of course shame does not seem to be a possibility for the Republican party these days.

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