ACORN Target Of GOP Lies Because They Registered Voters

The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities ~ James Allen (11/28/1864 to 1/241912) a British philosophical writer known for his inspirational books and poetry and as a pioneer of the self-help movement.

Remember the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, and all the flap surrounding this organization that concluded with Congress defunding them, resulting in them closing their doors (they went out of business and no longer exist)?

It was a number of lies that brought down ACORN, all of them emanating from the Right. Seems the Right was desperate to get rid of this organization. Why? Because, ACORN "advocated for low and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable housing, and other social issues".

So... because ACORN advocated on behalf of people who usually vote Democratic, the Rightwing decided ACORN was the enemy, and that getting rid of ACORN would mean less poor and moderate-income voters registered and therefore fewer votes for Democratic candidates. (Although, of course, some of the people they registered voted Republican).

Paul Weyrich, the head GOP election-cheating guru (prior to his death near the end of 2008) conveyed the Repub strategy for winning elections when he said, "I don't want people to vote... In fact, our leverage goes up as the voting populace goes down". (see video below). Knocking as many legitimate voters off the rolls as possible (who might vote Democrat) explains why ACORN was a target.

ACORN, in fact, did absolutely nothing wrong. Nothing wrong except register people who were more likely to vote for Democrats than Republicans, that is. (Although they did some issues with hirelings who decided they wanted to be paid for doing no work and stupid employees who took the bait thrown out by GOP operatives. But that is on a small number of bad employees, not ACORN).

Lie #1: ACORN was involved in Election Fraud (2008)

Factcheck.org, in their article "The Whoppers of 2008 - The Sequel", refers to the charge of "election fraud" as "breathtakingly inaccurate" (under the heading "ACORN Fables").

FactCheck: There's a huge difference between voter fraud and voter registration fraud. And while ACORN, which hires part-time, $8-an-hour canvassers to go door-to-door and register people to vote, has had widespread problems with phony registrations invented by employees who don't want to work, the problem has never been that it sent people to the polls using bogus identities or to vote in any other fraudulent manner. Even the Republican prosecutor of the largest ACORN case to date said the shenanigans of ACORN workers were "not intended to permit illegal voting". (10/31/2008).

These were the hirelings who wanted to collect a paycheck and not actually do the work of collecting the voter registrations from real people. So they (on their own, in an effort to defraud ACORN) filled out the registrations themselves (by making up fake people). ACORN never directed their workers to do this. In fact, ACORN was a victim in these instances (of the lazy cheating individuals they hired to do ACTUAL work... as opposed to pretend work).

Lie #2: ACORN employees engaged in criminal activity (2009)

These charges came about as a result of "under cover" videos filmed by James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles. O'Keefe dressed as a pimp and Giles dressed as a prostitute... outside ACORN offices. Then they removed their costumes and entered ACORN offices. While inside they did not appear on camera (as the cameras were hidden on their bodies). The LIE was that they went into the ACORN offices in their ridiculous pimp and a prostitute costumes and ACORN employees interacted with them dressed that way... which is something that did not happen.

ACORN suffered an extremely damaging nationwide controversy beginning in the fall of 2009 after two conservative activists secretly made and released videos of staged interactions with low-level ACORN personnel in several offices, portraying them as encouraging criminal behavior. Some media publicized the videos without investigation. These videos were later found in several independent law enforcement investigations to have been partially falsified and selectively edited... (source: Wikipedia).

Unfortunately "the California Attorney General granted immunity to O'Keefe and Giles in exchange for their raw videos shot at three California ACORN offices"... which is why the lying fraudsters were not prosecuted. Although O'Keefe agreed to pay fired ACORN employee, Juan Carlos Vera, $100k and issued a public apology as part of a lawsuit settlement. (O'Keefe inquired if Vera could help "help get underage girls across the border". Vera said he could, but called the police after O'Keefe left).

Some other employees went along (thinking it was a joke), and others tried to help the "pimp and prostitute" because... who know? Perhaps because they're idiots? Or perhaps they actually were inclined to help O'Keefe and Giles commit criminal acts? Whatever the reasoning of these individual employees, they were fired by ACORN.

The ACORN verdict

ACORN (the organization), in regards to ALL these charges... of "election fraud" and of helping pimps and hos commit criminal acts... was found to be completely innocent.

The Seattle Times: The Congressional Research Service says in a new report that it couldn't find any instances in which people improperly registered to vote by the activist group known as ACORN showed up at the polls on Election Day. The report also found no instances in the past five years of the group misusing federal funds. Both houses of Congress voted to cut off money to the group after the release of videotapes showing employees advising two conservative activists posing as a pimp and prostitute. (Congressional report clears ACORN of voter fraud by Jonathan D. Salant, 12/24/2009).

Although this investigation confirming ACORN's innocence came AFTER the Right demanded a vote to defund the organization. And a number of chickenshit Democrats joined with Republicans to pass the Defund ACORN Act (DAA). As a result of this legislation pulling federal funding (10 percent of ACORN's budget) they also lost private donations and were forced to file for bankruptcy.

"That 20-minute video ruined 40 years of good work", said Sonja Merchant-Jones, former co-chairwoman of ACORN's recently closed Maryland chapter. Although ACORN did have some of it's own problems that contributed to it's downfall. (Acorn on Brink of Bankruptcy, Officials Say, 3/19/2010).

In any case, the GOP got it's way and stopped the evil ACORN from continuing to perform it's evil task of registering citizens legally entitled to vote, thus increasing citizen participation in the election process. Because when more people vote it's bad for the GOP and good for Democrats.

Republicans want fewer people to vote (and will cheat and scheme to achieve their dishonest agenda), whereas Democrats want more people to vote (although they will often wuss out in pursuance of their honest agenda of expanding participation). It's that simple.

Note: The final vote tally for the DAA was 345-75 in The House (with 2 "present" votes) and 85-11 in the Senate. Although, as Fox Nooz points out, "Democrats offered overwhelming support to the ACORN measure because they didn't want to derail the student aid bill" (which the DAA was attached to).

Video: Paul Weyrich, the founder of ALEC (The American Legislative Exchange Council), giving a speech in which he said "I don't want people to vote... In fact, our leverage goes up as the voting populace goes down". YouTube Publish Date: 4/6/2012. (0:38).

SWTD #300

Tea Party Hearts Breitbart Lies

The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth ~ H.L. Mencken (9/12/1880 to 1/29/1956) an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of American life and culture, and a student of American English.

Unqualified Candidates

If you're like me, you're probably asking yourself "how much longer will the Tea Party joke continue?" Wednesday night (9/15/2010) a lesser qualified and not quite as intelligent Sarah Palin wannabe and Conservative Christian nutjob by the name of Christine O'Donnell "defeated" her Republican opponent, nine-term US congressman and former Delaware governor Mike Castle in the Delaware Republican Primary. Her Democratic opponent in the November race for Joe Biden's old Senate seat will be moderate Democrat Christopher Coons.

O'Donnell, who has been accused of using campaign donations for rent and personal expenses, claimed a "big victory", even though only roughly 16% of registered Republicans in Delaware's closed primary cast their ballot for her (30,561 out of approximately 179,941). The fact that this is double the Republican turnout in the 2008 primary shows how much an influence angry idiots can have on an election.

The Tea Party apparently likes the idea of electing unqualified candidates to political office. Although I'm sure that isn't the way they'd state the case. I'd guess the Palin-endorsed O'Donnell is another "regular Jane" Tea Partiers mad at the "establishment" can relate to. Barack Obama is "professorial" and Liberals are intellectual elites who just don't understand them. The Tea Party Joes and Janes don't want someone to explain the issues to them, they want a dumbed-down message delivered by a charismatic Lonesome Rhodes everyman (or woman) who tells them what they want to hear, regardless of the facts.

Professional Liars

This explains why they turned out for the newly minted televangelist and huckster prophet Glenn Beck's sermon and book promotion "restoring honor" rally on 8/28/2010. And why they continue to place their trust in professional Conservative mud slingers like Andrew Breitbart. Most Democratic voters who follow politics know this is the slimeball who attempted to smear Shirley Sherrod with a deceptively edited video and got caught (7/19/2010).

But this wasn't the first nor the last manufactured video controversy Breitbart has been involved in. James O'Keef's undercover ACORN "sting" videos were used by Breitbart to launch his "Big Government" website (the videos were released between 9/10/2009 and 9/17/2009). The ACORN videos were found to be "heavily edited" deceptive splice jobs by investigating law enforcement agencies. In at least one instance an ACORN employee later called the authorities and filled them in regarding the illegal activities O'Keefe had described to him. No charges were ever filed against ACORN in connection with the videos.

Are we to believe Breitbart posts excerpts but never views complete videos? This is the lame excuse he offered when his Shirley Sherrod clips were revealed to be highly misleading. He offered no excuse or apology in regards to the ACORN tapes, but I suspect he viewed the complete tapes and was a participant in the editing process... in both cases. With his reputation (theoretically) on the line, it would be unlikely he would post any clip without viewing the complete tape. Breitbart's strategy clearly is simply to get the damaging video out there and hope the public doesn't notice (or care) when the "evidence" is debunked later.

It worked with ACORN, which no longer exists thanks to his efforts. I'm sure he expected the same results with the Sherrod tape... he just wasn't expecting to be outed as soon as he was. And, even though it was quickly debunked, there was damage done - the Obama administration was made to look foolish when US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack over-reacted and asked for Sherrod's resignation without investigating the veracity of the claims. Being caught lying means nothing to the operatives defending the Republican (and now Tea Party) noise machine. It's guerrilla (class) warfare, or what Rush Limbaugh refers to as "the drive-by media".

Accusing your enemy of using the very same tactics you are employing tends to deflate the criticisms against you - especially when you make the accusations before your enemy does. This explains why Glenn Beck claimed President Obama has a "deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture", why Breitbart (attempted) to smear Shirley Sherrod as a "black racist", why the Tea Party members often carry signs stating the Obama Administration is racist, and why so many conservatives blogs display placards saying the same (see images below).

More Video Evidence?

This brings me to a third (or second, chronologically - see "Breitbart Deceptively Edited Video Timeline" below) Breitbart manufactured video controversy that you may have previously been unaware of. Or at least I was until my recent visit to "The Voltron Ruffian Blog" (VRB). As reported by the Huffington Post, a 3/20/2010 health care legislation protest rally turned ugly when several Democratic Congressmen were assaulted by Tea Partiers who shouted racist and homophobic slurs at Georgia Representative John Lewis and Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank.

Indiana Representative André Carson recalls that, "while walking with John Lewis and his chief of staff from the Cannon building, amid chants of Kill the bill he heard the N-word at least 15 times". Missouri representative Emanuel Cleaver reported that he was spat on by a protester. Democrat Heath Shuler of North Carolina (who is white) said he also heard the slurs.

Of course I'd heard about the "Kill the Bill" D.C. rally and the verbal and spitting assault on our Democratic House members - and Breitbart's offer of a $100,000 donation to the United Negro College Fund for any audio/video footage of the incident - but I wasn't aware that Breitbart actually found video footage proving the attack didn't happen as reported.

When I responded to the VRB post "Andrew Breitbart: The American People Are The 4th Estate", post author and VRB contributor Freedom Fan told me to "study the video evidence if you really care about the truth". According to Mr. Fan, "there is no question that Andre Carson and Eldridge Cleaver, The CBC, [and the] NAACP are liars". Freedom Fan described the incident as part of the Left's "Goebbels Big Lie Smear of the Tea Party movement as racists".

The video evidence, as one might expect, is of a different moment during the protest, and not of the moment when the racial slurs were uttered. Columnist Tommy Christopher of Meidaite correctly points out, "several crudely-shot 5 to 7 second video clips of poor audio quality [are not] proof positive that nothing happened that day". More importantly, "[we need] to go over the other evidence that the incident did occur, at least as told by the corroborating testimony of three credible eyewitnesses", notably "John Lewis [who] is a hero of the Civil Rights movement". Christopher concludes that "no video of the incident [is the] thinnest refutation possible".

Also, while no footage exists (or has been released) on which the racial slurs can be heard (possibly because of the poor audio quality of the Breitbart clips), the same cannot be said of the homophobic epithet hurled at Congressman Barney Frank. A 4/11/2010 Washington Post article reveals that "an ABC News video recorded the incident inside a House office building". The video "clearly captures a protester shouting, Barney, you faggot". The article does suggest that the spitting incident may not have been deliberate, but an accidental spraying by a rabidly screaming tea bagger. Fair enough, I say. It is believable that the loogies may have been unintentional.

However, while there may be no video on which the N-word can be heard being uttered, we do have the word of three respected members of Congress, "each of whom [has] little motivation to lie". It is NOT believable that the event was fabricated by the Left "to marginalize Tea Party supporters", as Breitbart claims. I think we have more than enough evidence to conclude that the incident happened as described by the Congressmen who were there. Breitbart was not present, and his video footage proves nothing.

Eldridge Cleaver (who Freedom Fan identified as one of the liars in his response to my comment) wasn't there either... because he has been dead for more than 12 years. Eldridge Cleaver was a leading member of the (original) Black Panther Party, and isn't related to Missouri Democrat Emanuel Cleaver. I mention this identification of the wrong man as being present at the rally because it is the lie direct from Breitbart's lips. The fool can't even be bothered to get the genuine facts right in his mostly fabricated story - and Mr. Fan can't be bothered to do any independent research - instead using a known liar as his only source.

Breitbart: Tea Party Hero?

Freedom Fan concludes by saying "Andrew Breitbart is a national hero for calling the Libs' bluff and defending the honor of the decent folks in the Tea Party movement". First of all, the preponderance of the evidence has unequivocally proven Breitbart to be a unethical lying slimeball. Secondly, no one on the Left has ever claimed EVERYONE who identifies with the Tea Party movement is a racist (or a homophobe). I believe, while I strongly disagree with their politics, there certainly are decent people who have been deluded into believing Tea Party economics would solve America's ills.

Because of the recent NAACP resolution that condemed "extremist ELEMENTS within the Tea Party, and called for "Tea Party leaders to repudiate those in their ranks who use racist language in their signs and speeches", Freedom Fan included the "current president and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People" Ben Jealous on his list of liars. However, when the Tea Party claims the NAACP resolution is without merit they deny ANY of it's members harbor racist sentiments. Not one single racist has ever attended a Tea Party rally? That REALLY is unbelievable.

As I pointed out in my 11/29/2009 post titled "The Racists Who Disagree With Us", Jimmy Carter was absolutely correct when he said the racists in the Tea Party are a "radical fringe element". The debate could be put to rest very easily. The Tea Party leaders could agree with the NAACP resolution and issue a zero tolerance policy for any racist language or signage. The reason they don't do this is because they are using the racists in their movement to their advantage (in their smear campaign against the Obama Administration).

Asserting that our President isn't Constitutionally eligible to serve because he was born in Kenya or that he has an "anti-colonialist agenda inherited from his father" - is an attempt to delegitimize his presidency. It is also thinly veiled racism. Those putting forth these cockamamie theories are telling their base that it's OK to use racist arguments against Obama, his administration, and all minorities - so long as your racism/bigotry is at least thinly veiled. Or not. Take a look at some of the signs these Tea Partiers carry. I wouldn't call them "thinly veiled" at all. Which is why they attack Obama and the Left for their "racism". To deflect criticism of their own racism.

Tea Party Loves Liars

And this explains why Tea Partiers like Freedom Fan are eager to believe a discredited moral cretin like Breitbart. The Breitbarts, Gingrichs and D'Souzas tell them what they want to hear - it's OK to associate with a movement that condones racism within it's ranks. It's OK to use whatever methods, no matter how vile, if they are effective in taking down your opponent. The Communist and Socialist accusations have been levied at Democrats for decades now, and despite the fact that their side favors plutocracy, the Communist/Socialist/Marxist charges have gained traction. They've conflated socialism with fascism to the point where their followers don't know the difference.

Under the Obama administration they've managed to conflate legitimate concerns over racism with attacks on the entire Tea Party movement. They actually believe the Left is attacking them by labeling policy disagreements racism! The Tea Party fancies itself an anti-establishment movement - but this simply isn't true. They are pawns of wealthy elites like the Koch brothers who are playing them for suckers. You can't get more "establishment" than the upper one percenters. Don't try making this argument to a Tea Partier, however. They honestly believe the billionaire-funded FreedomWorks (headed by establishment figure and former House Majority Leader Dick Armey) is "grass roots".

In other words they truly do admire daring liars and detest those who try to tell them the truth. I don't know how a rational mind could reach any other conclusion regarding anyone who would suggest Breitbart is a "national hero"... but these are the same people who buy into Frank Luntz's spin (although, I'd say Luntz is a tad classier than Breitbart). Andrew Breitbart is a morally repugnant sleaze merchant and exposed liar - and the Tea Party loves him for it. That, and the fact that they'd vote for someone as unqualified as Christine O'Donnel to represent them in the US Senate really speaks to just how gullible and misinformed these people are.

Breitbart Deceptively Edited Video Timeline
->9/10/2009 & 9/17/2009: Deceptively Edited ACORN videos released. Note: O'Keefe dresses as a pimp outside ACORN offices, but wears a dress shirt and pants inside.
->03/20/2010: Breitbart releases several crudely-shot 5-7 second video clips with poor audio quality which he claims "prove" nothing "racially charged" happened.
->7/19/2010: Shirley Sherrod is forced to resign from her position as Georgia State Director of Rural Development for the US Department of Agriculture after blogger Andrew Breitbart posts deceptively edited excerpts of Sherrod's address at a March 2010 NAACP event to his website.

Further Reading & Viewing
[1] Teabaggers Money to Be Had! by Grung_e_Gene, Disaffected And it Feels so Good (blog), 9/15/2010.
[2] American Thinker: "Obama's racism against whites is upfront, in your face racism" Posted by Media Matters staff 11/23/2009.
[3] Zazzle T-shirt: I'm a typical white person appalled by Obama's racism.

Images: Placards often found on Conservative blogs.

SWTD #52

The Grassroots Organizing Business

There are three critical ingredients to democratic renewal and progressive change in America: good public policy, grassroots organizing and electoral politics ~ Paul Wellstone (7/21/1944 to 10/25/2002) a two-term U.S. Senator from the state of Minnesota and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

...there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies... bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up ~ Saint Peter (ascribed) referring to false prophets (2 Peter 2:1-3 NIV).

Why is the Left so afraid of Glenn? Could it be because he's shining a light where they don't want it to be shined?

This question was asked in the 7/6/2010 edition of Glenn Beck's "newsletter". Why should the Left be afraid? Because of the soon to be launched "Beck University". Motto of the online "university" is "Revolution Against Tyrants; Submission to God". Obviously Barack Obama is the "tyrant". Because he stole the 2009 election with the help of ACORN, presumably. But now, with ACORN's corruption revealed and it's funding cut, the people of American will "take our country back" starting this year.

The Tea Party morons have been a gold (line) mine for Beck. "Beck U" is another in the growing list of scams devised by Beck (or his advisers) to separate Right-wing fools and their money.

Other topics covered in the newsletter were President Obama's appeasement of our enemies (which started with his "apology tour"). Now, after cutting the space program, Obama has tasked NASA with making Muslim countries "feel better about themselves". The email didn't include details, just a link to a Beck radio program transcript.

He also trashed President Obama's "spin" regarding the touted "recovery". I'm not going to go into either of those topics. I've already established that Beck is an greedy hypocritical opportunist who is ripping off the "movement" he is pretending to lead - with God's help. He's a snake oil selling huckster, racist and false prophet. In my opinion, in any case. He's the one who is going to have to answer to the God he professes to believe in.

Finally, the Beck email contained a link to the self-proclaimed grassroots organization "FreedomWorks". Dictionary.com defines "grassroots" as "of, pertaining to, or involving the common people, esp. as contrasted with or separable from an elite".

In a 9/2/2009 post (Who Opposes Healthcare Insurance Reform), I noted that FreedomWorks contributors include foundations controlled by the conservative Scaife family. An organization run by foundations representing the interests of the wealthy elite is fake grassroots (or Astroturf). The purpose of FreedomWorks is to dupe low information voters and idiots into electing Republicans. Because the Republican Party has completely sold out to the interests of the wealthy.

Referring to grassroots organizing as a "business", which Glenn Beck and FreedomWorks do, shows just how stupid they believe the "common people" who watch Beck's show, listen to his radio program, buy his products, and show up at their rallies to "take America back" - on behalf of the wealthy elite - are. They are programmable pawns to be used to achieve their goals.

I clicked on the link and ordered their "Take America Back Action Kit". The kit includes... "a detailed strategy DVD video laying out how FreedomWorks plans to turn these many protests into electoral results this November, and a Don't Tread on Me souvenir flag. Because it was free. For me that is - of course it will cost them something. Next they asked me for a $20.10 contribution, and I told them to fu*k off. I said this not via email, but only in my mind. Which worked out OK, because they probably wouldn't send me an action kit otherwise.

Although, they did previously send me an "impeach Obama" bumper sticker. That was after I filled out an online poll of their's, selecting all the answers which clearly indicated that I am a Progressive. Obviously they did not match up the answers to the names and addresses, otherwise they would have realized that sending me the bumper sticker was a waste of money.

Also, they must have made a mistake, because a short while after I received the bumper sticker, they mailed me a second one (I only filled out the poll once). I did NOT attach either sticker to a bumper. I took some magnets and stuck it to my refrigerator. Because I find it hilarious! It was the last president who should have been impeached, not Barack Obama.

So, if you too want to screw with FreedomWorks by requesting a free action kit from Freedomworks and waste their money as I did - click the link below. However, as a tree hugging Liberal I must implore you not to order the kit if you intend to throw it in the trash as soon as you receive it. Personally, I could not resist. I'll keep ordering free items from them as long as they keep offering them. It's a way to amuse myself while I wait for Glenn Beck's swift destruction.

9/26/2014 Update: The Freedomworks "free action kit" is no longer available. Clicking the link takes you to a "page not found" error message on the FreedomWorks site.

Also, Glenn Beck's "swift destruction" obviously has not come quite yet. Instead he has become fabulously wealthy fooling conservative morons, earning $40 million in 2012 with subscriptions topping 300k to his TheBlaze TV (according to The Wall Street Journal).

Meanwhile, Keith Olbermann has left the world of Progressive punditry and returned to his old gig of sports commentating. Proof that pandering to stupidity pays (and pays big). *Sigh*.

SWTD #46

Obama Administration Thugs Extort 20 Billion From BP For ACORN Slush Fund!

It is now clear that the Constitution of the United States of America may as well not exist, and it's not just over the slush fund and the shakedown of BP that took place yesterday at the White House. ... Where is the money going to go? What unions are gonna get it? What ACORN people are gonna get it? What Democrats who are experiencing great trouble here in their reelection bids, are going to get this money? ~ Rush Limbaugh, Conservative Talk Radio host and de facto head of the Republican Party, commenting on Obama Administration corruption (The Rush Limbaugh Show, 6/17/2010).

There's a sucker born every minute ~ P.T. Barnum (7/5/1810 to 4/12/1891) American showman, businessman, and entertainer, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (attributed).

Organized crime in the White House? That is what the header over at Rush Limbaugh's website declares. If only I had heeded the paranoid delusions of the Right-wingers who predicted this! Paranoid delusions that have now, apparently, proven to be true - if Rush Limbaugh is to be believed. The illegitimate President Barack Obama has used the disaster in the Gulf to apply political pressure to BP CEO Tony Hayward and shake him down for a cool 20 billion. The money, according to Rush, will go to Democratic campaign funds, Unions, and ACORN, and NOT towards cleanup costs or to pay economic damage claims submitted by individuals and small businesses affected by the oil spill.

Never mind that ACORN closed up shop on 3/22/2010 following the pulling of their funding by Congress. Which, I might add, was a direct result of the James O'Keefe undercover video which smeared ACORN with a "heavily edited" and deceptive splice job showed how corrupt they were. 20 Billion will easily be able to resurrect ACORN, who will then steal the 2012 election, same as they stole the 2010 election. More Disney characters than ever before will cast their ballots to re-elect the Socialist Kenyan dictator!

In order to make this a reality, the President has appointed one of his corrupt Czars, a sleazy individual by the name of Kenneth Feinberg, who will facilitate the payoffs in return, no doubt, for a small taste of the 20 billion. Never mind that it was Mr. Feinberg who oversaw the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund", and was appointed to that position by bush administration Attorney General John Ashcroft. And never mind that he did most of the work pro-bono. That was all a setup for this, the ultimate payday! He'll probably retire to his own island in the Caribbean after the payoffs have been distributed.

And they will be able to get away with it because it's all a hoax. BP's well did explode and massive amounts of oil are spewing into the gulf, but that was all an accident; not to mention the fact that crude oil is completely harmless. Rush Limbaugh reminded us early on that "the ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and left out there [because] it's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is". The people of the Gulf States will be fine. The wildlife will be fine. The marshes will be fine.

Yes indeed, Rush spins one hell of a yarn, which is why he's a multi-millionaire with a brand new young trophy wife. Why shouldn't someone who has sold their soul, and certainly will burn in Hell for all eternity following his eventual demise due to a massive heart attack (what's the holdup re Dick Cheney?), be rewarded in this life? Only one question remains, however - teabaggers who have abandoned their critical thinking skills (or, more likely, they simply atrophied) to the Rightwing Spin Machine who DON'T live in the Gulf region will buy this baloney hook line and sinker - but what about the teabaggers who actually live in the region and DO see their livelihoods destroyed?

That must have been what the eco-terrorism story was for. Or maybe the Obama Administration and BP colluded in a scheme to produce an intentional leak. Teabagger candidate for North Carolina's 13th district U.S. House seat, Bill Randall speculated, "...personally I feel there is a possibility that there was some sort of collusion. I don't know how or why, but in that situation, if you have someone from a company violating a safety process and the government signing off on it, excuse me, maybe they wanted it to leak".

One thing the Right does offer it's adherents are numerous lies to choose from. If you don't quite buy one there's always another. Apparently it doesn't matter if they are contradictory. Regarding the Right's response to the disaster in the Gulf - I think it has never been more apparent exactly whose interests the GOP is looking out for. You can't come out in defense of an obviously criminally negligent oil company and NOT have people see through the blatant lies... can you?

SWTD #43

Conservatives Heart Bailouts

I think it is a tragedy in the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown - in this case a $20 billion shakedown ~ Joe Barton, Republican Congressman from TX and oil industry whore, apologizing to BP CEO Tony Hayward during a House hearing on 6/17/2010.

But if I was the head of BP, I would let the signal get out there - We're not going to be chumps, and we're not going to be fleeced ~ Michele Bachmann, Republican Congresswoman from MN and certified crazy person, speaking at a Heritage Foundation luncheon on 6/15/2010.

In my previous post I predicted that BP will not bear the entire cost of cleaning up the gulf, regardless of what Ken Salizar or Randal Paul think. I stand by this prediction, despite the fact that President Obama recently obtained a commitment from Tony Hayward for a 20 Billion dollar escrow account (administered by a 3rd party) "to cover the costs of cleaning up the spill and paying damages to individuals and businesses". This is a lot more than what I was expecting BP to be willing to be willing to shell out, and admit that it is good start - but it is still significantly lower than what the total price tag may end up being.

A 6/16/2010 MSNBC Business article notes, "Oil industry experts say it remains to be seen whether any amount of money can fully compensate victims and restore the Gulf Coast". Business Insider reports that, "Federal deficit spending will certainly rise by tens, and maybe hundreds, of billions as emergency appropriations are directed at larger and larger efforts to clean up this mess. At the same time, federal and state revenues tied to Gulf-region businesses will fall". The article concludes, predicting, "A double-dip recession has been made more likely by this tragedy" (5/2/2010).

Although President Obama insists that 20 billion is not a cap, I seriously doubt BP is going to be willing to pay hundreds of billions. I think it much more likely that BP believes 20 billion IS a cap. Or that they won't have to pay much more than a few additional billion. I also wonder if BP was promised anything in return for their 20 billion. Possibilities that I can think of include leniency in the criminal investigation or calculation of EPA fines. Maybe President Obama secured the money by informing Mr. Hayward that BP would be allowed to keep their oil leases and US government contracts (instead of canceling them all and kicking BP out of the country).

My last post also included a quote from US Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue who said, in regards to paying for cleanup of the Gulf, "We are going to have to get the money from the government and from the companies". I interpreted this to mean that Mr. Donohue was talking about a taxpayer funded BP bailout. So did a lot of other websites, including the Huffington Post, which was the story I linked to. Now, like Boehner before him, Mr. Donohue has issued a "clarification" of his earlier statement. The morning after I published my previous post I received an email that looked strange, and wondered why would I be getting an email from this particular person. The reason became clearer when I opened the email and read the following...

My name is Bryan Goettel and I work in the media relations department at the US Chamber of Commerce. I see you've been dedicating a lot of coverage to the BP oil spill and wanted to make sure you saw Tom Donohue's recent statement issued on Friday, clarifying his comments that he made at a breakfast in late May.

"Clarified" comments as follows...

Tom Donohue: Let me be clear - the recovery costs should not be on the backs of American taxpayers or the businesses that have been adversely affected by this tragedy. As I stated at the breakfast, we believe that abandoning the rule of law and retroactively changing the liability cap is not the best approach. (U.S. Chamber Statement on BP Oil Spill Cleanup, 6/11/2010).

I'm not buying Mr. Donohue's "clarification". Notice that he's still vehemently against lifting the liability cap. Meaning he doesn't think BP should pay the full cost of the "accident" caused by their reckless behavior. Although this time he adds that, oh no, he didn't mean taxpayers should pay either. I believe Mr. Donohue's first statement (the one where he was obviously suggesting that taxpayers pony up the dough), because his fellow Conservatives continue making similar BP butt kissing declarations.

Of course, SOMEBODY has to pay... likely those affected/the victims will end up paying quite a bit - as well as the taxpayers and future generations (when we borrow more money to pay for cleaning up after BP).

Texas Congressman Joe Barton apologized to BP's Tony Hayward for the White House "shakedown", branding the escrow account a "political slush fund". He later retracted his statement, but only because House Minority Leader John Boehner forced him to.

I agree with Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), who, on the 6/17/2010 broadcast of the Rachel Maddow show, asserted, "What Joe Barton said, even though it does reflect what they really believe, was not a good thing to put out there" (which is why he really retracted his apology).

We know Representative Schwakowsky's belief is correct because Tom Price (R-GA) of the Republican Study Committee (a caucus of over 100 conservative House Republicans and part of the Republican leadership) is on record claiming, "BP's reported willingness to go along with the White House's new fund suggests that the Obama administration is hard at work exerting its brand of Chicago-style shakedown politics".

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann believes that that BP is getting fleeced and being played for chumps, referring to the $20 billion escrow account as a "redistribution-of-wealth fund". And Rush Limbaugh suggested, instead of going to compensate BP's (human) victims (shrimpers, fishermen and others with legitimate claims whose livelihood BP has destroyed), the "slush fund" cash would instead be funneled to "union activists" or (the defunct) ACORN (The Rush Limbaugh Show, 6/16/2010).

Even though the fund will be administered by the same individual who oversaw the "September 11 Victim Compensation Fund", Kenneth Feinberg, who was appointed to the position by bush administration Attorney General John Ashcroft. So, the bush administration trusted Mr. Feinberg to "administer all aspects of the program, including evaluating applications, determining appropriate compensation and disseminating awards", but now he's so completely corrupt that he'd stand by while people who had no legitimate claim received payoffs?!

These statements show how outraged Conservatives are that BP is being made to pay for even a fraction of the damages they have caused. Because Conservatives truly believe that the rich and powerful operate under a different set of rules than the "small people". Unfortunately it will be the "small people" who pay the larger portion of the final bill. This, in my opinion, amounts to a bailout; and that what this, along with the bush administration bailout of the financial sector proves - without a doubt - is that Conservatives love bailouts.

See also: Right-wing Media Absurdly Declares Obama Admin Acted In "Illegal", "Unconstitutional" Manner by "Forcing" BP to Create Escrow Account by Media Matters for America staff, 6/18/2010.

SWTD #42

The Racists Who Disagree With Us

[President Obama] has exposed himself as a person with a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture. I'm not saying he doesn't like white people, he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist ~ Glenn Beck, American's Fear-Mongerer-in-Chief on the 7/28/2009 episode of Fox & Friends.

I've heard a lot of talk recently about how President Obama is a racist. Actually Glenn and Rush told me. They told their narrow-minded followers as well. If you take a look around the blogosphere you'll find the wing nuts are busy spreading the message that President Obama is a racist. So are Eric Holder, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jeremiah Wright, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. They are all black men who hate Whitey.

Of course not all African-American politicians and social activists are racist - just the Democrats (actually, if you're black and a social activist you're guaranteed to be a Democrat and a racist). However, if you are white and a Democratic politician you're 100% certain to be racist. White Democrats want to keep black people on the government dole so they will vote Democratic, not realizing that they'd be better off if they voted Republican and were forced to make something of themselves.

So, I'm wondering why Barack Obama, a black (or half black) racist, would be working with Whitey to keep other blacks down? It doesn't quite make sense, does it? I thought he hated white people? Remember, that's that Glenn said.

I guess it's just a ruse to allow President Obama to enact legislation (like the health care bill) which will really just be a cover for reparations. And the racist white Democrats are going along with it because they'll gain power.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) is right, the Republicans ARE the only party which believes in equality for all. As Rep. Foxx pointed out recently "we were the people who passed the civil rights bills back in the 60s without very much help from our colleagues across the aisle".

Oh, no, wait a minute. I think that it was Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA) who got it right when he said (in response to Foxx's ludicrous claim), "It was the Kennedy and Johnson administration where we passed that Great Society legislation. It was over the objections of people like Jesse Helms from the gentlewoman's state that we passed that civil rights legislation".

Actually what's going on here is known as "projection", which is "the unconscious act of denial of a person's own attributes, thoughts, and emotions, which are then ascribed to the outside world, ...the government, or to other people". When President Jimmy Carter said, "I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African American... I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the south but around the country, that African Americans are not qualified to lead this great country", the reason the Right hollered in indignation so loudly was because Mr. Carter's statement was entirety accurate.

The proof that Mr. Carter's words were accurate, and that projection is at play, is the speed at which the Right turned the accusations around on those calling out the racism demonstrated at the tea parties. First they falsely claimed that the Left was calling them racist over policy disagreements. From that they moved to bogus and laughable allegations that President Obama and (the black male) members of his administration are racist. The proof that President Obama is a racist is that he attended the church of, and listened to the sermons of Jeremiah Wright for twenty years.

They call African-Americans bigots when they speak out too loudly against white racism. And they call you anti-American when you speak out against American interventionism (whatever your race). In any case, the purpose of this rant is not to defend Jeremiah Wright, because I haven't agreed with everything he's said or done. Nor does Barack Obama, regardless of how often he attended his church and listened to him speak.

The purpose of this post is to illustration Republican hypocrisy and how they utilize projection in attacking the Left. In the health care debate, the Right is fighting to preserve the actual death panels the insurance cartels use to jack up their profits. They accuse the Left of "voter fraud" while they engage in election fraud. They decry socialist "wealth redistribution" while what they're actually in favor of is shifting the tax burden to the middle class and doling out government largess to corporations. And they use the military to accomplish this via Halliburton and other GOP administration connected corporations. While branding the Democrats as anti-American, anti-troop and soft on terror.

Just to be clear, I am not accusing all Conservatives of being racist. I agree with President Jimmy Carter who described the bigots as a "radical fringe element". But when those on the Right buy into the lie that the Left is calling any disagreement racist, fail to denounce the tea party bigots, and then turn around and call the President racist - in agreement with that nutcase Glenn Beck - they are enabling the racists in their party and, in my opinion, no better than the actual racists. At least those people are honest about their prejudices, unlike the liars who are using them to falsely attack the President.

Shame on Glenn Beck for his blatant lies and vile race baiting. Unfortunately this man, who the Anti-Defamation League recently dubbed the "fear-monger-in-chief", knows no shame - millions of dollars can have that effect on a person. But what is the excuse of the gullible Righties who are singing his praises and cheering him on? I respect your right to disagree, but open your eyes and stop enabling the bigots in your party and those who are using them for political advantage.

Glenn Beck's charges that President Obama has a "deep-seated hatred for white people", and is a "racist", even though, in the same breath he also claims that he's "not saying [President Obama] doesn't like white people" is just as insane as Rep. Foxx's claim that it was the Republicans who passed civil rights legislation. The people who believe these transparent lies are clearly incapable of rational thought.

These are the same dupes who believe that ACORN stole the election, Barack Obama is a Muslim Kenyan Socialist Manchurian Candidate, and refer to people expressing legitimate concerns regarding bush administration war crimes as suffering from "Bush Derangement Syndrome".

There is obviously something psychologically wrong with these people, given their willingness to believe the other side is guilty of the misdeeds they and their politicos and pundits are committing (projection) being just one symptom. The actual racists may a tiny minority, but they're loud and persistent. And it does not help when many within the party are in complete denial regarding the racists. They pretend those of us on the Left are labeling them racist because they disagree with us politically. Nope. We're only calling out the ACTUAL racism, as they should be. That most are not is quite shameful, IMO.

See also: GOP Repeatedly Duped by Scurrilous Anti-Obama Rumors by Aaron Keyak, National Jewish Democratic Council 3/20/2009.

Image Descriptions: [1] Racist Protester, [2] Liar enabling racism.

SWTD #31

An Arguing Idiot's Perverted Common Sense

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives ~ John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher, political economist and influential liberal thinker of the 19th century.

Program: Countdown with Keith Olbermann 9/24/2009.

Subject: World's worst person.

Winner: Lonesome Rhodes Beck. Referring to The Constitution, Article One, Section 9...

"The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person".

Glenn Beck Says: That's right. The founders actually put a price on coming to this country: $10 a person. Apparently they felt like there was a value to being able to live here. Not anymore. These days we can't ask anything of immigrants - including that they abide by our laws.

Keith Olbermann Responds: A clause requiring the continuation of slavery, he thinks is about immigration. He may be the dumbest man on the planet.

My Commentary: Shouldn't Glenn Beck's new book be titled "Arguing with Myself", instead of "with Idiots"? Or "My Arguments Prove I'm an Idiot"? Is Glenn really this dumb, or does he just think his fans are? How was he even able to write a book, let alone four (since November of 2007). Clearly the guy has problems simply READING. I Googled "Ghostwriter" and "Glenn Beck", but all I found was a headline concerning Sarah Palin hiring a ghostwriter for her memoirs.

Before the self-proclaimed book czar's latest anti-Obama screed he had the gall to write a book "inspired" by Thomas Paine's Common Sense. Apparently Beck was inspired by the title and obvious (to Beck) anti-government polemic contained within. When Mr. Paine writes, "society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness" and concludes that government is a "necessary evil" (because it restrains our vices), this translates for Beck as a warning against the dangers of "big government".

But the government Thomas Paine was railing against was the monarchy of Great Britain, not one of, for, and by the people. When Mr. Paine wrote Common Sense the notion that the people of a nation could govern themselves was unheard of. Which is why fellow founding fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson referred to our new representative democracy as a "liberal experiment".

Thomas Paine may have said, "government is best which governs least" (a quote conservatives appreciate), although he certainly wasn't a conservative or a libertarian (as Beck claims to be) by today's standards. Some of Mr. Paine's revolutionary ideas included a progressive income tax targeting the wealthy "to give the poor bootstraps by which they could pull themselves up", a fund to provide housing and food for the poor, a pension for all workers in their old age, public employment and a 90 percent reduction of armaments by all nations to ensure world peace.

Do these sound like ideas that would be championed by the Republican Party of today? Or, would their response to such suggestions be that redistribution of wealth by governmental theft is socialism - and that if we're weak on national defense we may as well surrender to the Socialist Marxist Commies and/or Muslim terrorists (and become atheists and/or Muslim converts, presumably)?

Glenn puts himself forward as a populist, but being a Libertarian makes this claim quite dubious in my opinion. Wikipedia defines (classical) populism as being "derived from the Latin word populus, which means people in English (in the sense of nation, as in: The Roman People (populus Romanus), not in the sense of multiple individual persons".

That we are a nation of individuals and not at all a "we society" - as Michael Moore suggests we should strive to be in his documentary film "Sicko" - is the essence of Libertarianism. (BTW I don't give a damn what the Populist Party of America thinks, Libertarianism and Populism are at odds with one another. Libertarians, the same as Republicans, would be against all of Paine's "revolutionary ideas" detailed above).

According to Beck "The populist sentiment is Common Sense" (a direct quote from Beck's own website), which is correct, but not at all what he is doing (promoting a populist sentiment). What Beck is doing with his "common sense" book is fraudulently recasting Thomas Paine as someone SHARING his anti-"big government socialism" point of view. Which is an out-and-out perversion of Mr. Paine's legacy. The "idiot" book is clearly more of the same nonsense. With Beck what it is really all about is protecting his millions.

In fact, it is fairly easy to discern that Beck is a fraud. Look at who he's attacking - labor unions and ACORN, two populist organizations! American Rights at Work, a union advocacy group truly states that "Unions, by fighting for higher standards for workers, businesses, families, the environment, and public health and safety, have helped to build the middle class and make sure the economy works for everyone". That's populism.

ACORN advocates "for low and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable housing, and other social issues". That's populism.

By Beck's own admission populism is common sense. But by Beck's own actions it is obvious he doesn't support populism. Although, it is common sense for him to promote the interests of America's super wealthy, the modern-day equivalent of Great Britain's aristocracy. He has done so successfully (people are buying his books and watching his show) and he has been rewarded handsomely.

A positive review of the "idiot" book declares it to be "chock-a-block with all the facts and data one needs to successfully and authoritatively rebut the Left's preposterous proletarian propaganda". "Proletarian propaganda", is, of course, code for "rhetoric in support of working people", or POPULISM.

Populism is preposterous, and needs to be attacked. That's according to a positive review of the "idiot" book. And Glenn Beck is a fraud and a moron. That's according to ME. Although, as Beck's earnings illustrate, there are quite a few gullible fools eager to buy into his faux populism. In regards to such people, Thomas Paine said, "When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon", and "Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it".

I'll leave you with a deft observation regarding Glenn Beck...

Glenn Beck likes arguing, but has a deep-seated hatred for logic ~ Stephen Colbert, 7/29/2009 on the "Colbert Report"

Further Reading
[1] Thomas Paine (1737-1809) A Sort History by Eric Foner.
[2] Thomas Paine and the Promise of America by Harvey J. Kaye, Thom Hartmann's "Independent Thinker" Book of the Month Review, BuzzFlash 2/2/2006.
[3] Senate Votes to Deny Funds To ACORN by Andrew Taylor, Associated Press 9/14/2009 (Reason to Read: ACORN alleges "prostitute & pimp" videos were doctored).

SWTD #23