Todays headlines...... the right is on a roll, straight to LaLaLand

 Sharron Angle is against abortion in the case of rape or incest, says it would interfere with God's "plan"...

 Marco Rubio argues for making the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy permanent, says we must start "doing it now"....

John Boehner weeps for big business, he says the financial crisis was an 'ant' that Congress killed with a "nuclear weapon"...

 Rand Paul refuses to say how old the earth is, "I think I'm just gonna have to pass on that one" he says...

Michelle Bachmann pushes for a future where America is run by Rep. Steve King and his allies...

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) says gay men and women should be excluded from the 14th amendment's protections...

 

 These are headlines at Think Progress, scary to think these righties have followers isn't it?? I have never seen our country in such a mess as I have witnessed since the election of Barack Obama. The right has become the party of insanity. Not only these headlines but go to any conservative blog and you will read the most hideous of lies and distortions directed at liberals and our president. Amazing times we are living in....click the link and read the stories if you dare! :-)

 

Edited to add this from a conservative blog Maggies Notebook:

 Obama Admin Actively Working with Hamas: Musa Abu Marzook the Hamas-Obama Connection?

News is out that the Obama administrative is actively working with Hamas, and specifically with exiled Hamas official in Damascus. That person is likely Musa Abu Marzook. Marzook was a darling of Jeremiah Wright during the time the Obama family attended Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. In fact, Wright reprinted a Marzook manifesto in one of his Sunday bulletins. Marzook, also known as Mousa Abu Marzook (Marzouk, Marzouq, Marzuq) is a founder of the precursor to CAIR, and the Deputy Chief of Hamas' political bureau which is based in Damascus. He was directly involved with The Holy Land Foundation which provided funding for Hamas with the help of the U.S. Treasury.  Marzook is American educated and had permanent residency status here. He is a force to be reckoned with.

Republican Sabotage, it's really happening...

 This is too good an article to just link to, So I'm gonna give Theda Skocpol the bragging rights to it and post so you can comment. Thanks to TPM also.

We dems are talking about this republican sabotage but who is stepping up to the plate to stop them? Most of us here in our little blogs have said the same thing as Ms. Skocpol, but she says it so well, worth reading again and again....




Republicans are Undercutting National Economic Recovery -- and Dems Need to Say So 24/7

By Theda Skocpol - June 24, 2010, 12:18PM
The same old story happens again and again. Dems in the House pass reasonable legislation, and Senate Dems dicker with centrists and Republicans over "compromises," weakening the legislation step by step over many weeks, only to find zero Republican support in the end.

The public has no idea what is going on, and just blames Democrats, who appear to be in charge in DC. Now it is happening gain with vital public spending for national economy recovery -- state aid, unemployment relief, and adjustments in taxes and Medicare payments. This legislation is not just important to this or that group. It matters for keeping any semblance of national economic growth going, for creating and saving hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The President, Congressional leaders, and Democrats of all stripes should be yelling day in, day out, that REPUBLICANS ARE SABOTAGING NATIONAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY. AND PREVENTING JOB GROWTH, JUST FOR POLITICAL ADVANTAGE. That should be the message all the time, led by the President. Stop the murky compromises and the whining about "helping the unemployed." Stop pretending this is about the deficit -- nothing will hurt the deficit more than delayed economic growth. Say what it happening in terms of the national interest.

Republicans are not "compassionate" toward the unemployed, complain Democrats and bloggers. Sorry, folks, that is not what is happening here.

It is past time for President Obama to pin the tail on the Republican obstructionist elephant -- and do it loud and clear all the way to election day. So what if a few conservaDems are part of the problem, too? The real issue is 41 Senate Republicans who will not help the nation's economy recover fast, because they want political advantage. Say so.

 read more here

god Reagan said what?? Listen carefully conservative Obama haters.....

and don't say awwww shucks, we don't hate the man we hate his policies! Well, did you hate the Reagan policies??  Of course you didn't!

Thank you Rachel Maddow for highlighting President Obama's first 18 months. The media does NOT talk about these accomplishments enough, all they want to talk about is the negative and that's why liberals like myself get anxious, and impatient, and annoyed by the slow pace of things. We need to remember the past and why we elected Barack Obama. We have a capable man who is giving his damnedest so we can have a better future. The man is not perfect, no man is, but he is our president and we should respect that and stand behind him in good times and bad.  Look at the alternative! Republicans have promised Americans they will repeal everything Obama has done thus far, is that the direction we want to go, backwards?? They have told the voters they will sit on their hands and work hard to destroy the president, but what they are doing is not destroying Obama they are destroying the lives of you and me, can't the righties see that?? NO, because Glenn Beck talks to them about the Constitution and the Founding Fathers, so the sheep follow the lies and the hate and the fear. They want to go back to the comfort of the cowboy rule. They would rather have a warmonger cowboy in the White House then a black democrat. Sad and pathetic....

.Don't give up democrats, NEVER forget what this country was like under republican reign. Fight like hell to move forward, don't believe the lies. Keep reminding your fellow bloggers why the country put a democrat in the White House and why we must keep him there....

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This is the kind of man I am looking for...

to be our next president, Ed Schultz.  His fired up personality, the way he can tell the American people EXACTLY what the republican party is doing to us,  gets me so fired up I could punch every republican obstructionist square in the face and not feel one bit sorry! Who else is telling us the thugs have killed the unemployment extension AGAIN?? You don't see our Dem leaders on TV after the vote telling us these thugs are ruining the lives of millions of Americans out of work in the worst economy since the great depression!! Well, okay, you are seeing a few of the Senators on Ed's show but they sound defeated!! Why is a 57 to 41 NOT a majority vote to pass the bill??? I know people but FIX it so it is a majority vote!! The thugs are crying about unemployment insurance extensions and deficits again, BUT will fight for tax breaks for the wealthiest 1%!!! When I read these stories and watch Ed's show I get sick to my stomach, especially when new polls come out saying the country prefers Republicans to take control of the House and Senate!! What country do these people live in??? This is about Republicans and Democrats, there is a clear distinction between the 2 parties when it comes to the economy. Educate yourselves Independents....

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

McChrystal is out, Petraeus is in...

President Obama has relieved Gen. Stanley McChrystal of his duties as the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, after McChrystal was quoted criticizing top White House officials in a Rolling Stone article, according to a White House official.

President Obama named Gen. David Petraeus to succeed McChrystal as top war commander in Afghanistan.


Will this be a first for the rightwing bloggers to say a positive word about President Obama?? We'll soon see....

Think Progress says...Conservatives are likely to cheer Obama’s decision. Yesterday, The Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol advised Obama to “ask Gen. David Petraeus to give up his CENTCOM post and take command of the war in Afghanistan.”


But the asshole commenters at Fox.com say this...

"I just got finished reading the highlights of General McChrystal's career. This man is an American Patriot of the highest order. Since 1976, he has served with distinction and honor. The audacity that an incompetent, America hating loser of a president can terminate him makes my skin crawl. Barack Obama has no clue of how to prosecute a war, nor how to govern a country. America is in great peril as a result of the November, 2008 presidential election."

"How does an illegal alien get to fire a General?"

And I will end with this noble comment from one sick M F'er ....

"It is time for the military to remember to what their first allegiance is to; The Constitution of the United States and not to the President or Vice President. It is time for the military to take matters into their own hands and remove the traitors that occupy the White House, The Blair house, the Halls of Congress, and the Supreme Court of the United States; and Return the Nation to the Federalist Republic that the Founding Fathers created and intended our nation to be. Anyone who promotes SOCIALISM, as a choice for America, is an enemy of the States and Citizens of the United States and needs to be dealt with charges of High Treason and upon conviction executed as appropriate.
May God restore the mightiness of the United States, with His grace!
Pro Deo Et Patria!

These are Americas Fox Patriots!!

Shelby calls for Haywards resignation...

I'm not saying a word about Hayward on his yacht because you righties are prepared to slam Obama for playing golf now aren't ya?? Someone needs new PR...

Shelby also called Rep. Joe Barton’s (R-TX) assertion that BP was owed an apology “dumb.” He also invited Barton and Rand Paul — who defended Barton — to come down to the Gulf and “see what’s happening.”

Is Shelby calling Barton's apology to BP dumb, or is he saying Barton was dumb for apologizing?

Furthermore, while conservatives have begun attacking the Obama administration for being too tough on big business as a result of the pressure on BP, Shelby pushed back and echoed progressive calls for strengthening regulators:

SHELBY: We need hands-on regulation in this area. Maybe we’ve learned some things — that we can’t take shortcuts. … A lot of it is common sense — and not let the industry run way ahead of the regulators. The regulators have got to be on top of the industry, not the industry on top of the regulators.

Are the GOP'ers getting nervous? There has been a ton of anger down there in the Gulf region. Are they backtracking now because an election month is looming? We'll soon see how dedicated these Gopers are when it comes time to vote on new regulations!
Think Progress has some great commenter's, here's a few I agree with:
 
Marie says:

Some repugs have seen the writing on the wall insofar as their defense of BP — even Haley Barbour said today that he “misunderstood” how the $20B in escrow was going to be dealt, and now that he knows, he thinks Obama was smart to do it.
Yeah, right — the only thing these guys are trying to change is that their sympathy and defense for BP is NOT shared by their constituents. They can collect $$$ from the industry, but if they still can’t get enough votes to be reelected, they have trouble.
Barton, Paul and others who have come to the aid and comfort of BP and the industry are on the wrong side of this.
June 20th, 2010 at 12:07 pm


New England Indy says:

The Joe Barton episode has sure put the fear in the repugs. I guess they know now that protecting corporations at all cost is too costly. This whole “shakedown” meme was agreed upon by repugs before Barton said it. Imagine having a platform that you cant make public for fear that it will look bad.
June 20th, 2010 at 12:15 pm

And I will close with a little from Rahm.....

Marie says:

Rahm Emanual said today: Obama will make clear to voters the fundamental differences in how each party would govern, focusing on energy policy, Wall Street reform and economic recovery.
Republicans will side with big business, big banks, and big oil — Dems will side with people and our future.
June 20th, 2010 at 12:19 pm

 

 

Limbaugh, Limpballs, Limpy, Drugster,

Limbaugh: "[T]his is going to be used as a little miniature slush fund." On his radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed, "When we last heard from the leader of the regime, he said that an independent, third-party person will be handling the $20 billion payout to people in the Gulf of Mexico." After noting that Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation Kenneth Feinberg would oversee the escrow fund, Limbaugh said, "The guy works for Obama, he's a czar, but somehow this thing is going to be sloughed off as some sort of independent agency he's going to head up? How stupid do they think we are, folks?" Limbaugh later added:

Look, the government's in charge of this. I want to know who's going to get it. Who's going to get this money? Union activists? ACORN people? Who's going to get this money? Let's keep a sharp eye on who Feinberg gives this money to, because I'm telling you, this is another bailout fund called something else, and we'll see who gets it. If Obama's past is prologue -- and it is -- then this is going to be used as a little miniature slush fund. [The Rush Limbaugh Show, 6/16/10]

Who's going to get this MONEY???  LIMPBALLS wants to know!!!
Union activists??? ACORN PEOPLE??? 

HOLY FUCKIN' SHIT!!!  Is this asshole serious???


UPDATE:
Did you read Immoral Minority? Its on my sidebar, check out his post on Bill Randall. Here's some of it.......

Bill Randall, a North Carolina Republican candidate for Congress, is calling for a "thorough investigation" into whether President Barack Obama's administration colluded with BP to allow the Gulf oil spill.

"There were procedures that were violated by BP that the federal government signed off on, safeguards that decades of engineering wherewithal and knowledge told them that this way the way to do it," Randall told reporters earlier this week. "They intentionally bypassed that and the safety was compromised."

Randall continued: "I’m not necessarily a conspiracy person, but I don’t think enough investigation has been done on this. Someone needs to be digging into that situation. Personally, and this is purely speculative on my part and not based on any fact, but personally I feel there is a possibility that there was some sort of collusion."

What's going on with those teabagging morons?? I don't listen to Limbaughs show but I can bet this will be his next subject !

they really are going all out for the teabaggers!

Look what's new in your friendly neighborhood conservawackotive blogs! They call it Ten Bucks Friday, but I'll call it Dumbdown Friday...

With 40% of the vote, Sharron Angle wins in the first weekly "Ten Buck Fridays" Poll. Please send $10 to Sharron Angle today. Help defeat Dingy Harry in Nevada. Retire the Senate Majority leader!

Sharron Angle donation page.

Who will win next week? Be sure to check out RK's Sunday post to make a nomination for next week's poll.

 

 

Isn't this cute?? They have their own little game started to help elect TEABAGGERS!  I won't publish the blogs that are promoting this Ten Bucks Friday thingy, don't want to embarrass anyone... 

So far in this one blog there are 6 or so comments saying what a great idea, plus promises to send money to help out the great Ms. Angle.  Good lordy they have lost their minds.....

 

We should start up a donation game too for our side, anyone have any ideas??

The more they scream the better off WE are....

Think Progress has helped with this post:
Last night, the Republican Study Committee (RSC), the largest caucus of Republican House members, fired off a statement declaring that the $20 billion dollar negotiated by BP and the Obama administration for victims of the oil catastrophe in the gulf is a “Chicago-Style Political Shakedown.” Echoing this sentiment, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) told BP executives that he is “sorry” for Obama’s “shakedown” of their company.
This morning, ThinkProgress traveled to Capitol Hill to interview lawmakers about the escrow fund. Several members of Congress, like Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), agreed with the RSC’s criticism of the fund. Even though Fleming’s home state of Louisiana has been devastated by BP’s spill, Fleming attacked the administration for not trusting BP and for daring to “take control of all the money from BP.” Asked about Barton’s apology to BP, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) said any lawmaker has a right to “do what they want”

Let's be clear, rightwingers are screaming President Obama hasn't been a true leader during this Gulf disaster. They are screaming how incompetant our president has been these past 50 plus days, they say he is partying, he is playing golf, he is entertaining thugs at the White House while the Gulf is in peril!! 

Wingnuts are saying this agreement with BP will lead to the Obama administrations TAKEOVER of BIG OIL!!  "BP agreed to paying all costs for this disaster, so why did Obambi(thats what they call our president)have to resort to a "shakedown" with BP?" OKAY, so wingnuts trust BP, they think an agreement, a handshake, will be good enough. An AGREEMENT with BP is NOT a BINDING CONTRACT. What President Obama did yesterday was worthy of praise and wingnuts will go down in flames for this criticism. They are standing with big oil and slapping the faces of the people in the Gulf whose lives are changed, probably forever!

TP: He announced the $20 billion dollar escrow fund, funded by BP, to compensate some of the victims of this catastrophe. The Republican Study Committee put out a press release last night saying it’s a Chicago style power grab, do you agree with that sentiment?
FLEMING: I do because what we have seen from this administration is whenever something like this happens — look at automotive industry, financial industry — what they do is take control of dollars then they begin to disperse them along political agendas. And we’ve seen this happen before, and it looks like its the development here. BP has said, time and time again, that they will process all legitimate claims, we have no reason to believe they won’t. Why does the administration feel like it’s got to take control of all the money from BP?
TP: So Congressman, the Republican Study Committee last night said that the $20 billion dollar escrow fund is just another Chicago style politics kind of power grab. Do you agree with that, do you think that’s a fair characterization?
JORDAN: I’m, look, I’m always worried about this unprecedented involvement by the government in the private sector and look, BP obviously made some mistakes, but do we really believe the Federal government is going to do a better job?
TP: What do you think about Joe Barton in the hearing this morning, he said ‘I apologize’ to the BP executives for the escrow fund, saying again it’s a shakedown [...] Do you have any kind of reaction to a member of Congress apologizing to BP executives?
NUNES: Look, every member of Congress represents seven, eight hundred thousand people and they can do what they want.

Wingers wanted President Obama to be involved, to be a leader and take control, but when he does and does a good job they backtrack and start the criticizing.  No oil company with the terrible record that BP has deserves to be trusted by our government and our people. What Obama did was the right thing and the wacko right can keep screaming, all of America can hear them! YAY!!

This is that time...

when I wish I was a writer and could put into words how proud of President Obama I am today. This picture is from my very first blog post last August and it's time to use it again!

 This was in my inbox, this is what happened today at the meeting with BP.....
 News Alert: BP apologizes for oil spill, sets up worker compensation fund
02:47 PM EDT Wednesday, June 16, 2010
--------------------

BP apologizes to the American people for the damage caused by a gushing leak from a blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico and announces the creation of a $100 million compensation fund for oil workers who are out of work because of the catastrophe.

The oil giant also said it would work to fix all environmental damage to the gulf and will not pay its quarterly dividend to stockholders as part of its commitment to pay for damage.

Earlier today, BP and the administration agreed on a $20 billion escrow fund to compensate claims brought against the company for oil-related damage.


All you rightwinger's who criticized President Obama's speech can eat crow today. They really should have waited til after this meeting to post about how stupid, and terrible a president Obama is. They must be so embarrassed! Ya think? Nah, nothing embarrasses them and they would NEVER admit their mistakes anyway.  But today President Obama showed BP who is boss,  I hope I don't hear the word arrogant from the wingnuts, if I do it will only prove their desperate need for the president to fail. Barack Obama will not fail, get over it!!

Barbour and Gingrich, buffoons on parade...

Barbour Is Concerned That Escrow Account Will Cut Into BP’s Profits: ‘It Bothers Me’ 

It was announced earlier today BP has agreed to the 20 Billion in an escrow account for the Gulf victims. I believe negotiations are still going on so I'll probably update tonight. Think Progress has this to say...
Sticking with the “Obama is a socialist” meme, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) called the account a “redistribution of wealth fund.” Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) also thinks it is a bad idea. Although he noted on Fox News last night that BP is “saying that they have the ability to pay and that they will pay,” Barbour expressed concern that BP will lose some profits:

BARBOUR: If BP is the responsible party under the law, they’re to pay for everything. I do worry that this idea of making them make a huge escrow fund is going to make it less likely that they’ll pay for everything. They need their capital to drill wells. They need their capital to produce income. … But this escrow bothers me that it’s going to make them less able to pay us what they owe us. And that concerns me. … [I]t bothers me to talk about causing an escrow to be made, which will — which makes it less likely that they’ll make the income that they need to pay us.

 BP made $163 billion in profits from 2001 through 2009 and nearly $6 billion in the first quarter of 2010 alone. As the Washington Post noted, in the early days of the spill, BP paid $17.5 million per day while the company made on average $93 million per day in the first quarter.
In fact, throughout the oil spill disaster, Barbour has come to BP’s defense, downplaying its impact, blaming the media for his state’s economic woes, and even encouraging tourists to come to Mississippi’s oil contaminated beaches. “BP has never said no to any requests we have made,” he said. “I’m not going to complain.” Indeed, Barbour probably won’t complain because he owes the oil and gas industry for his rise in politics.

Yes I stick by my previous assertion, Barbour is a buffoon...

This is what we are dealing with on a daily basis from rightwingers....another headline from Think Progress...

 When asked about Obama’s prayer for the Gulf, Gingrich says he ‘hopes he means it.’ 

 Last night, Obama delivered a national address on BP’s oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. “We pray for the people of the Gulf, and we pray that a hand may guide us through the storm towards a greater day,” Obama said. This morning, Fox and Friends invited former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to find fault with Obama’s prayer. The hosts asked Gingrich — whose new book warns that progressives are trying to impose a “secular socialist machine” — about some content in Obama’s speech “that you might’ve found surprising, his references to God.” Gingrich expressed skepticism about Obama’s intent. “Well, I hope he means it,” he said. Host Gretchen Carlson then went on to say that “some people are analyzing that this morning as…disingenuous from a president who does not go to Church on a regular basis”

yea and I'll go on to say, "who are these fuckin creeps on this fake news show? Maybe someone should analyze them to see just how disingenuous they are! "

Oval Office Speech....

I liked the Oval Office speech last night.... I was disappointed to hear all the criticism from the left especially MSNBC hosts like Olbermann.  Fox used Palin as their expert analysis .....a half-term, half-assed dimwit...Goodfuckingrief!
What did they expect from a 15 minute speech? He said all that needed to be said in that time frame. The one thing he could have reminded the people listening is that Congress is full of oil sucking whores and they are the reason we have no Energy Bill!  Other than that, I liked it.....

It doesn't make sense for conservatives to despise progressives.

What does Progressive mean? Who are the Progressives and why do righties hate us??

"At its core," John Halpin writes, "progressivism is a non-ideological, pragmatic system of thought grounded in solving problems and maintaining strong values within society." Progressivism is practical and driven by the values that define America morality and have made our country stronger and better. It's a dynamic concept giving the leadership of an up-and-coming generation of politicos - you - the tools to make this nation's future brighter for all.

So, while conservatives fear change, Progressives see the world as ever changing and we welcome that change. And while conservatives will dispute this...it's true,  progressives don't simply ask "How can government help this situation," but "with the tools we have, both public and private, how can we solve this problem?" Isn't that what conservatives say about themselves? 

Many here say President Obama is a Pragmatist, Yes, good thing.  Progressives are pragmatic and flexible. Has Obama been different than Bush when he realizes he needs a change of strategy and doesn't fear changing course? Do we want a president who can do just that? Progressives are "free of ideological structures that tie leaders to strict policy courses". Why would conservatives fear this kind of progressive  leader?

Conservatives who claim they are the real patriots are so wrong. They accuse progressives of being un American, unpatriotic, when the truth is progressivism is about pragmatism and FAIRNESS, very American wouldn't you agree?

Conservatives accuse progressives of lacking morals, the truth is progressives encourage personal and moral responsibility. We believe in maximizing human freedoms and helping the members of our society achieve their full potential.
We believe power, wealth, and information must flow freely rather than be concentrated in the hands of a few so that ALL citizens have the means to contribute.

So, by now if you rightwingers are reading and trying to digest this truth, lets compare conservatives of today's society to progressivism.......
Progressives encourage personal and moral responsibility, and promote respect for ethical values.
Compare that with the false and empty chants of compassionate conservatives, who gladly engage in reckless and unjustified war; deny gays, lesbians and transgendered Americans their rights as citizens; condemn working families to a cycle of poverty; and err on the side of big business over public health and nature's untouched beauty. These are the same 'principled' conservatives who whole-heartedly defended the most crooked legislator in decades, Tom DeLay.


Progressivism is a living tree of pragmatic problem solving....

Progressives have to stand up and define the future of the progressive movement, founded firmly on the principles that make this nation great.......

Progressivism is uniquely American

 While some may think that to be a progressive means to be in favor of big government, in fact a true progressive would say they believe in “power to the people.” They see the government as the elected representation of the people and feel that the government ought to be more responsive to the needs of the people.

 Progesssives platform includes social justice, pacifism, environmentalism, and human rights. They believe in the democratic process via more direct voter control and they champion consumer rights.


The Progressive Magazine, founded by Robert LaFollette in 1909, is considered to be the primary voice of the Progressive movement. That magazine is still published monthly today, and recently celebrated its 100th anniversary bash in Madison, WI.
Current Progressive editor Matthew Rothschild has taken over LaFollette’s role (with a few editors in between) as the “voice of the Progressive movement.” In his “Editor’s Note” in the anniversary issue (April, 2009), Rothschild called the magazine “the articulation of a mission.” Then he went on to quote LaFollette’s words from the first issue of the publication:

In the course of every attempt to establish or develop free government, a struggle between Special Privilege and Equal Rights is inevitable. Our great industrial organizations [are] in control of politics, government, and natural resources. They manage conventions, make platforms, dictate legislation. They rule through the very men elected to represent them.

LaFollette then went on to say that the “battle” against corporate takeover of government “will be the longest and hardest ever fought for Democracy.” That was 100 years ago. Progressives today are still fighting that battle.

100 years ago! Now tell me conservatives, why do you despise the progressives, it makes no sense...

Of course Dick Cheney is Satan, I knew it all along!

This is an amazing video I stole from RZ at Reality Zone, it's just too good for him to keep it for himself! Please take the time to watch, it's a peek at Cheney and the right wingers of today, it also shows me what I believe to be a dimwitted GW Bush who was duped by the satanic Cheney and gang. Could it be? Bush was being taken for a ride, an 8 year ride by an evil empire! Hell NO, I'm not defending Bush and the part he took in the empire, But I believe he was Cheneys toy monkey in the decision making. It's pretty friggin scary but we must watch it so as to never let people like Cheney have power, EVER!! Our lives depend on it.

Hooray for Hollywood!

BP has given the greenlight for funding of a device that can separate oil from water! YAY some good news finally, God I hope it does some good...they say it works, so here we go!

  Development of the machine, which uses a centrifuge to separate the fluids, has been backed by actor Kevin Costner to the tune of $25 million.

John Houghtaling, Costner's chief partner in the project, told WWL First News that the oil company has ordered 32 of the devices for use in the Gulf of Mexico. 

"In a matter of weeks, we can be manufacturing ten of these a week," Houghtaling said.  "So we're hoping by the first of August to have all 32 of these things in the Gulf."

Listen to Houtaling talk about the deployment of the device:


According to Houtaling, the machines cost roughly half a million dollars to build, but also require the hiring of vessels to take them out onto the water.

Though the world-famous actor and Houtaling are both pleased that BP has now agreed to deploy the devices, Costner told members of Congress earlier this week. that he'd had a hard time getting an opportunity to try out his centrifuge for the Coast Guard.

"We would offer to take our machines out there but we couldn't get onto the spots because the Coast Guard would regulate that we couldn't get there," Costner testified.

Houghtaling said that in addition to providing clean-up duty in the gulf, deployment of even more of the devices could aid in shortening the six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling.

He said that he'd like to see the government use the machines as a safety measure to keep the deep-water drilling rigs in operation as safety procedures are reviewed.

"By the end of August...our company can have thirty-three of the machines around the rigs.  If there's a spill, we can deploy," Houtaling said.

To view an animation of how the device works, click the window below:

Meanwhile Costner's company is moving toward leasing 16 more oil sucking and separating machines to Plaquemines Parish officials directly.  They say if BP won't pay for that, they may sell the oil local officials pull from the water and fund the machines that way.

So good, maybe this will work in the short term but what about long term and our dependence on oil? Are we ever going to reduce our dependence and is that realistic? Here's some of the reasons why I don't think it's realistic...

Graphic shows products made from a barrel of crude oil, including household products

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- So the Gulf oil spill has you ready to quit petroleum cold turkey? Louisiana's brown pelicans have more of a chance of avoiding Big Oil than you do.
Merely parking the car and riding a bike won't cut it. Your sneakers and bike have petroleum products in them. Sure, you can shut off the AC, but the electric fans you switch to have plastic from oil and gas in them. And the insulation to keep your home cool, also started as oil and gas. Without all that, you will sweat and it'll be all too noticeable because deodorant comes from oil and gas too.
You can't even escape petroleum products with a nice cool fast-food milkshake -- which probably has a petrochemical-based thickener.
Oil is everywhere. It permeates our daily lives in ways we never think about. It's in carpeting, furniture, computers and clothing. It's in the most personal of products like toothpaste, shaving cream, lipstick and vitamin capsules. Petrochemicals are the glue of our modern lives and even in glue, too.


Sickening isn't it....Looks like drilling is here to stay but that doesn't mean it can't be done safely. Looks like that is up to you Mr. President. There MUST be safety before profits...

President Obama meets with the families, and Billo is a wackjob...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news abouth economy

Finally, can we put to rest the talking heads rhetoric that President Obama is emotionally detached from the Gulf disaster? According to Keith Jones, whose son Gordon died in that horrific explosion, his visit to the White House was very nice and the president spent a lot of time talking with  family members of the 11 killed that day in the Gulf.

Then we have Bill O'Reilly on Glenn Becks radio show, what he says about progressives is pretty sickening, so much so it's laughable. These moron rightwingers really should take a look at themselves in the mirror. What they accuse progressives of being is EXACTLY what the wingnuts are!!!
 

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It's the trillion dollar wars stupid, not the Dept. of Education!

Some righties are exuberant over the win by tea party darling Sharron Angle, calling it a victory for Republicans and a blow to Harry Reid. But I'm downright jubilant for the upcoming campaign and then election in November. Alot of us on the left, and yes maybe some of the sane right, think Angle is extreme in her views, which include privatizing Social Security, and we all know when a rightie says that they really mean ELIMINATE, she also wants to abolish the Department of Education, God knows righties hate educating our children right? Anytime a rightwinger takes office one of the first things they cut is education spending...one blogger said eliminating the Dept of Education alone would reduce the deficit by 70 billion. OKAY, if the rightwingers are so concerned with the deficit I have an article for them to read.....

1 TRILLION DOLLARS.........As of today, that's how much we've spent just in direct costs so far on the stupid wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
One trillion dollars, gone. And we're just getting warmed up...there are trillions more in future direct and indirect costs coming.
These two wars mutilated our economy. There's no other way to say it. We've taken a huge amount of wealth and done things with it that damaged the economy. People are out of work and hurting today because we chose to launch two wars that aren't worth the cost.
The most glaring example of this dynamic is the use of hundreds of billions of taxpayer money to invade and occupy Iraq, which led to higher oil prices, which hit taxpayers again in their pocketbooks.
Many other examples exist: We pay to train American kids to kill in Afghanistan. We pay to ship them overseas where they die or get injured. We pay for medical care for the survivors. Their families lose both the wounded's income and often lose additional income when loved ones reduce work hours to stay home and care for the wounded.
The list of these vicious cycles goes on and on. In all cases, our government actually charges us for the privilege of having an even harder time making it in this tough economy.
Actually, it's worse than that. The government charges us for the privilege of having a tough economy in the first place.
According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research's (CEPR) Dean Baker:

"In standard economic models, defense spending is a direct drain on the economy, reducing efficiency, slowing growth and costing jobs. ...[S]tandard economic models...project that the increase in defense spending since 2000 will cost the economy close to two million jobs in the long run."

Baker's point in his article was that groups that scream about potential "job loss" from government "interference" never put that "loss" in any context. Government spending does stimulate economic activity during a downturn. The question is, how stimulative is one type of spending versus another? So let's make sure we're playing fair and put this in some perspective in terms of job creation.
It turns out that, excluding tax cuts for consumption, war spending is the least stimulative type of government spending.
An October 2007 study by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) found that per $1 billion invested in the following fields, you create wildly different numbers of jobs:

• Defense: 8,555 jobs
• Construction for home weatherization/infrastructure: 12,804 jobs
• Health care: 12,883 jobs
• Education: 17,687 jobs
• Mass transit: 19,795 jobs

So if you take $1 billion in taxpayer dollars and spend it on war versus on building energy efficient homes and other infrastructure, the opportunity cost for that spending is 4,249 potential jobs. Spending it on war versus mass transit costs you 11,240 potential jobs.
Now consider that $1 trillion is one thousand billion. Because we're spending so many billions--now trillions--of dollars on these two wars, we're losing hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of potential jobs.
PERI concludes that:

...[B]y addressing social needs in the areas of health care,  education, mass transit, home weatherization and infrastructure repairs, we would also create more jobs and, depending on the specifics of how such a reallocation is pursued, both an overall higher level of compensation for working people in the U.S. and a better average quality of jobs.

Isn't it amazing what costs we pay to go to war, and worse, a war that means NOTHING, a war that is killing us day after day! So when Americans cry about the deficit and what it's doing to our future look no further than those in Washington who desire to continue these horrendously STUPID wars!

President Obama and his response to a gusher...

 Because some, or I should say MANY Americans and alot of them right here in Blogland, are saying Obamas response to the oil gusher disaster has been SLOW, I went Googling for some info and found this interesting and truthful piece here.

 Former Secretary of State Colin Powell minced no words in a talk with ABC News. Powell said President Obama should muscle BP aside and move in with “decisive force.” The general had one thing in mind, and that’s a military response and seizure of the operation. Powell thinks and talks like a hard-nosed military man. So his demand for a military solution to the BP spill is understandable. Powell didn’t say how the government, let alone the military, could cap the runaway well and insure that it stay capped. But Powell and the wave of media pundits, politicians, and much of the public still shout at Obama to impose a total government takeover of the operation. The shout is futile and wrongheaded. The Obama critics shout it at him in part to beat up on him, and in part out of ignorance at what the government can do.

When a hazardous substance poses a major threat to the health and well-being of U.S. citizens, the president can invoke provisions of the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act to take full charge. But the BP spill is in international waters and technically federal law doesn’t apply to that. Even if the government makes the compelling legal case that the BP spill poses a grave enough threat for government agencies or the military to step in, then what? Every credible military expert who’s weighed in on what the military can do if it were called on to take over the cap and control of an errant offshore drill operation has said that it would be totally lost. Its deep sea technical capability and undersea imager technology is too limited, and untested in this kind of complex operation. The bitter pill that the public must swallow – according to every scientist, engineer, and technician who’s weighed in on the spill -- is that BP created the problem, and despite its flop so far in fixing it, it has the technology and expertise to do the job. The military and government agencies can take over containment, cleanup and construction. BUT THE GOVERNMENT HAS DISPATCHED MORE THAN 20,000 RESPONDERS, DOZENS OF SHIPS, AND FLOATING OPERATION STATIONS THAT ARE DOING THOSE FUNCTIONS.

Government agencies can bar any company that engages in fraudulent, reckless or criminal conduct from doing business with the government. Given BP’s dismissal of safety rules, costing dozens of lives and maiming and injuring many others, the pile of lawsuits against it, and the lies its officials have told regulators and investigators about its operations, a solid case could be made that the government can and should bar BP from government business.

But there are problems with this. BP is the largest oil and gas producer in the Gulf of Mexico and operates some 22,000 oil and gas wells across the country. It is a top supplier of fuel to the military, and employs thousands. The disbarment process would take at least a year, and either BP, the military, or -- incredible as it sounds -- another government agency can claim in court that disbarment would pose a monumental national security risk to the country. This is not academic speculation. In the past when BP came under fire for legal and environmental malfeasance, these concerns were raised, and the talk of disbarment quickly fizzled.

Then there’s the clamor for indictments and jail. Attorney General Eric Holder says he’ll look seriously at criminal charges against BP.

But it would take months, even years, to build a case that BP executives willfully intended to commit the violations. That’s a nearly insurmountable legal bar. The best that can be hoped for are hefty civil penalties, fines and settlements. That’s been the case in the past with Exxon and BP, and the oil giants didn’t miss a beat. They were back to business as usual.

The BP spill is not solely about what Obama can or should do. The catastrophe is a political grenade that Sarah Palin, the GOP, Tea Party activists, and the pack of rightwing talk jocks have eagerly tossed at Obama to tar him as a weak, ineffectual leader and grab more seats from the Democrats in the November elections. When the first drop oozed out of the well, if Obama had declared a national security emergency, sent in the troops, and clamped the cuffs on BP CEO's, the Obama bashers would have screamed dictator, heavy-handed government interference, and socialist takeover. When that didn't happen, they dredged up the phony comparison to Bush's Katrina bungle and reamed him for being cautious, vacillating, and sending out mixed signals.

The BP spill is the perfect storm of political one-upmanship and environmental catastrophe. This insures that the shout for Obama to do what he can’t do with BP – that is, muscle BP aside -- will get even louder.


Ain't that just the friggin truth!!!

Thank You Joe....

Look at the poll in this video...

69% of the public has a negative view of the governments response to the Gulf oil spill
62% had a negative view of the governments handling of the Katrina disaster.

Listen to what Joe Scarborough says about this terrible poll. I don't know what is happening in our country but it ain't pretty! So many rightwing know-it-alls are slamming President Obama for absolutely no legitimate reason whatsoever!

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OIL??? What OIL???

Haley Barbour, Mississippi GOP governor, just one of many GOP living in a dream world. Do they not watch NEWS? Do they not venture out their back doors? This wacko rightwinger says the national press corps is the problem in the Gulf region, not this little oil gusher and the minuscule tar balls washing ashore in his beautiful state. It's those pesky news people down there reporting, getting all the tourists scared and going elsewhere for vacation this summer. The PRESS is INFLATING this massive oil spill, DAMN THEM!! 

"The truth is," Barbour said, "we have had virtually no oil. If you were on the Mississippi Gulf coast anytime in the last 48 days you didn't see any oil at all. We have had a few tar balls but we have had tar balls every year, as a natural product of the Gulf of Mexico. 250,000 to 750,000 barrels of oil seep into the Gulf of Mexico through the floor every year. So, tar balls are no big deal. In fact, I read that Pensacola or the Florida beaches when they have tar balls yesterday didn't even close. They just sent people out to pick them up and throw them in the bag."
"The biggest negative impact for us has been the news coverage," Barbour added. "There has been no distinction between Grand Isle and Venice and all the places in Louisiana that we feel so terrible for that have had oil washing up on them. But to the average viewer [of] this show thinks that the whole coast from Florida to Texas is ankle-deep in oil. And of course, it's very, very bad for our tourist season. That is the real economic damage. Our first closure of fisheries in Mississippi waters came just earlier this week after about 45 days. So it may be hard for the viewer to understand, but the worst thing for us has been how our tourist season has been hurt by the misperception of what is going on down here. The Mississippi gulf coast is beautiful. As I tell people, the coast is clear. Come on down!"

This guy is dreadful, a moron for sure. How embarrassing for the thousands and thousands who have had their livelihood ripped out from under them by this horrific disaster! Even if Mississippi hasn't felt the full brunt of the oil spill, surely he has seen the pictures on TV, good grief the guy's making a fool of himself!
Barbour has been one of the most defiant skeptics about the impact of the crisis in the Gulf, comparing the spill, early on, to the sheen commonly found around ski boats. 
 On Sunday, Barbour joined a growing chorus of Republican lawmakers to criticize the president for putting a moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf. An investigation as to what went wrong with the BP well may not be completed. But the likelihood of another accident was statistically small, he stressed. And by the time the six-month suspension of drilling had ended, companies will have gone looking for oil off of different coastlines.
"They'll be in West Africa, Indonesia, in China, and drilling oil wells elsewhere in the world," said Barbour. "And the loss of production that we're going to suffer will make us even more dependent on the Middle East, on Venezuela, on people that aren't our friends. let me tell you one other little thing environmentalists ought to think about. The ten worst oil spills in American history, seven of them were from ships."

Barbour has skipped out on 2 meetings with President Obama but has this to offer...
As for the job that the administration was doing in handling the spill, Barbour insisted that he wanted to remain above the partisan fray. After, all, he added (with a wink and a nod) what kind of politician would he be to get in the way of another's self-destruction?
"The American people are making up their minds pretty clearly about what they think of the administration's performance in this disaster," said Barbour. "And I'll let it stand at that. You know, Napoleon said never interfere with the enemy while he's in the process of destroying himself."

What an ASSHOLE!! Oh, and one more thing,  as Barbour was suggesting President Obama was "destroying himself" by not adequately responding to the spill, he had nothing negative to say about BP. For you see Barbour received $1.8 million from oil and gas companies for his gubernatorial campaign......

They don't have a clue, the righties still cry Drill Baby Drill...

 This is heartbreaking.

This afternoon, AP photographer Charles Riedel filed some of the most disturbing images yet of the effect the BP oil spill is having on Gulf Coast birds:



No wonder BP is trying to keep journalists away from the region.

 And as we see pictures like this being released, the right wingers are still crying Drill Baby Drill.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal wrote President Obama a letter on Wednesday criticizing his decision to implement a temporary moratorium of deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
Arguing that his state had already suffered crippling economic consequences, the Louisiana Republican urged Obama to rethink his decision to suspend activity at 33 previously permitted deepwater drilling rigs -- including 22 "currently in operation off the Louisiana coast."
Joining Jindal in his call to lift the moratorium is Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) who accused the Obama administration of pursuing a policy that "could kill thousands of Louisiana jobs."

Seriously?? Jindal and Vitter do realize this OIL DISASTER in the Gulf has already cost thousands their jobs, their generations old way of life has come to a halt because of deepwater drilling turned disaster, Right?? Who are they kidding, doesn't sound to me like they give a damn about the small business mans plight.

Here's some of the reply from the White House to Jindals cries for help,


The 6-month moratorium on deepwater drilling was instituted for a clear reason: the President believes we must ensure that the BP Deepwater Horizon spill is never repeated. This will allow for the new safety equipment and procedures announced in Secretary Salazar's May 27th report to be implemented and for the independent commission to review the cause of the spill and analyze the rules and regulations governing offshore drilling.

A repeat of the BP Deepwater Horizon spill would have grave economic consequences for regional commerce and do further damage to the environment.
Among the drilling rigs that have frozen exploration in the Gulf are 2 operated by BP, and 2 jointly operated by BP and another company. Proceeding without the moratorium would mean that BP would continue deepwater exploration in the Gulf.
Economic impacts were certainly taken into account - the moratorium is surgical and shallow water drilling, in which the risks are better known, is continuing under stricter safety rules. Additionally, oil and gas production is continuing at the existing set of production wells, so we are not expecting short term effects on our oil and gas supply.
Under the administration's legislative proposal to assist those harmed by the spill, workers unemployed because of the 6-month moratorium would be eligible for unemployment assistance. The proposal would also create jobs for cleanup, restoration, renovation and recovery. And the Small Business Administration is currently offering economic injury loans to impacted businesses on the Gulf Coast.

Good for you President Obama! Do not cave to these greedy oil company addicted snakes. And speaking of snakes here's a good read from Think Progress. Can you say Halliburton??

Hideous liars!

As the country and the world watches as oil gushes from a pipe 1 mile under the Gulf waters, causing a catastrophe of biblical proportion, Palin and Bachmann can't find it in themselves TO SHUT THEIR STUPID MORON MOUTHS!! Palin in her Drill Baby Drill, Mine Baby Mine STUPIDITY,  and Bachmann accusing Obama and the Coast Guard of acts that are the most hideous of lies. It never ceases to amaze me that these morons have followers.....

The righties hate America, it's just that simple....

 

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