The Watering Hole, Monday, November 26th, 2012: Time to Go, Senator McCain

Wave Bye-Bye Now!

As Rachel Maddow so perfectly pointed out recently, John McCain’s regular – some might say ubiquitous – appearances on so many of the Sunday morning political talkfests only serve to show McCain’s desperation to remain relevant at any cost. Unfortunately, that ‘cost’ seems to be the remnants of McCain’s respectability along with the shards of his integrity.

McCain’s latest insanity is shown in his recent calls for a “Watergate-style” investigation of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice regarding the Benghazi, Libya, attack. McCain’s rabid and, IMHO, unfounded attacks on Ms. Rice (including calling her “not very bright”, and his vow to block her possible nomination as future Secretary of State) were supposedly tempered a trifle yesterday, if by ‘tempered’ one means asking for the same information from Ms. Rice, presumably sans the “Watergate-style” investigation. Regardless, McCain still will not say whether, even if he (undeservedly) receives the requested information from Ms. Rice, he would consider NOT blocking her possible future nomination for Secretary of State.

But in McCain’s interview on Fox Sunday, he shows his characteristic bungling of essential facts:

HOST: You say that you will do everything in your power to block Susan Rice’s nomination if the President decides to name her to be secretary of state . . . . Is there anything that Ambassador Rice can do to change your mind?
MCCAIN: Sure, she can give everyone the benefit of explaining their position and the actions that they took. And I’ll be glad to have the opportunity to discuss these issues with her. Why did she say that al Qaeda has been decimated in her statement here on this program? Al Qaeda hasn’t been decimated. They’re on the rise. They’re all over Iraq.

Yes, John, of course Al Qaeda is “all over” Iraq, sure they are…NOT.

In the same Fox News Sunday interview, on women’s issues, McCain had this to say:

McCAIN:… And as far as young women are concerned, absolutely. I don’t think anybody like me, I can state my position on abortion, but, to — other than that, leave the issue alone. When we are in the kind of economic situation and, frankly, national security situation we’re in.

CHRIS WALLACE (HOST): When you say leave the issue alone, you would allow, you say, freedom of choice?

McCAIN: I would allow people to have those opinions and respect those opinions and I’m proud of my pro-life position and record, but if someone disagrees with me, I respect your views.

So, that would be a ‘NO’ to ‘freedom of choice”?

Since the 2008 Presidential election, when Senator McCain foisted Sarah Palin on us, it seems that his tenuous ties to reality, and his sense of decency and honor, have rapidly strained to the snapping point. I think that we all agree (and I wouldn’t be surprised if many in the Republican heirarchy agree, too), that it’s way past time for McCain to, shall we say, spend a lot more of his time at one of his seven -or was it eight? – homes.

This is our Open Thread. Feel free to discuss this topic, or anything else that comes to mind.

Hole the Watering: Day of Woden: 10/10/12 Prelude to the Vice Presidential Debacle Debate

Walker digs up the dirt on the upcoming Vice Presidential Debate.

Tomorrow night is the one-and-only debacle debate between Vice President Joe Biden and his Republican Challenger Paul Ryan. Walker, The Zoo’s underground journalist, sat down with their Invisible counterparts to get an inside exclusive of what to expect.

Invisible Biden

Invisible Biden: Ok, ok. Everyone knows and expects me to say something stupid, to put my foot in my mouth, but not tomorrow night. Tomorrow night it’s game on! I was a U.S. Senator while Ryan was still in diapers. What’s he worked on…one budget? One budget? And he can’t even explain the math? I’ve voted on over 35 budgets, Republican and Democrat, and math is math. Ryan’s budget doesn’t add up, and that’s a fact.

Invisible Ryan

Invisible Ryan: Oh yeah? Well, I can explain the math, but you wouldn’t get it anyway.

IB: Try me.

IR:

IB: Sure, but do you know what it means?

IR: Not a clue.

IB:

IB: In other words, the math behind your budget is the same math that brought us the atom bomb.

IR: You may be entitled to your own Math, Biden, but you’re not entitled to your own facts.

IB: Ok, let’s take your facts. Your main man, Mitt, says he’ll cut every program that he doesn’t want to borrow money from China to pay for. He’s gonna take the axe to Big Bird.

IR: So? We can’t keep going into debt just to fund some tv show for children.

IB: We have to borrow billions because of tax cuts to millionaires. What about getting rid of the Bush tax cuts for the very wealthy? We borrow from China and give subsidies to big oil. is it worth borrowing from China to give money to Exxon? What do you have to say about those facts?

IR: Mitt Romney and I are going to eliminate subsidies for big oil. We’re going to raise taxes on the rich and cut taxes for the middle class. We will guarantee the Social Security lock box for generations to come.

IB: Huh?

IR: We will increase spending for food stamps, subsidized housing, welfare and unemployment.

IB: WTF? Where—when did you guys come up with all this bovine excrement?

IR: Just now. I’m entitled to my own facts, and my facts are the facts whenever I say they are. And the fact is Mitt Romney and I will do whatever it takes, say whatever it takes, to get elected.

Invisible Goin’ Rogue

“It ain’t as easy as that.”

Walker: Invisible Goin’ Rogue? How’d you get in here?

IGR: I should be up there where Joe the Vice President is sitting. I should have been queen…I mean Vice President. But noooo….that good ol’ gotcha media jus’ couldn’t wait to take this hockey mom down a notch or two. Well I ain’t goin’ down any more. Jus’ ask Todd.

Walker: Security?

As Invisible Going Rogue was escorted out of the building she screamed, “Alaska will secede from the Union if Obama is re-elected! Mark my words! I didn’t quit bein’ governor jus’ to become a nobody! I’m gonna be queen of Alaska! I’m gonna be—” Mercifully the slamming of the door squelched her squawking.

WELL, THIS IS THE OPEN THREAD. PLACE YOUR BETS…

The Watering Hole: Wednesday, June 20, 2012: Does it really Matter?

Ok, so for the next few months, if you’re in a “swing” State, you’ll be inundated with SuperPAC commercials designed to get you to vote against your own best interests. We will also be systematically bombarded with messages from the Mainstream Media designed to influence our thinking.

IT’S ALL A SHOW. IT REALLY DOESN’T MATTER.

If the Powers That Be really want Obama out, all they have to do is raise gas prices to about $5.00/gallon. Instead, gas prices are going down, heading into the summer vacation season. That’s not to say they won’t go up between now and the election – but they are an accurate predictor of where our economy will head. So, pay attention to the pump, not the talking heads.

Ok, that’s my $0.0199 cents. And you?

OPEN THREAD
JUST REMEMBER
EVERYTHING I SAID
DOESN’T REALLY MATTER

 

Sarah Palin – Killing by Proxy

 

Sarah Palin's Bullseye Map

So she really thought there weren’t some idiots out there who would put a bullett where she indicated it should go? So she really thought words have no consequences? Advocating political assassination was a hallmark of the German right between the World Wars. It was a hallmark of NAZISM! Sarah Palin is an accomplice to six counts of murder and 12 counts of shooting with the intent to kill. Period.

 

UPDATE: BREAKING NEWS:

Sadly we can add 5 more to the total, and one wounded Democratic member of the House of Representatives:

Arizona Rep. Giffords shot, at least 5 killed

By TERRY TANG, AMANDA LEE MYERS and DAVID ESPO, Associated Press Terry Tang, Amanda Lee Myers And David Espo, Associated Press – 47 mins ago
TUCSON, Ariz. – Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head Saturday when an assailant opened fire outside a grocery store during a meeting with constituents, killing at least five people and wounding several others in a rampage that rattled the nation.

Press, Palin. Palin, Press.

HT: Crooks&Liars

They wouldn’t dare to say what they really think about Sarah Palin. This woman could be history by now, if they had. It took an open mic to hear that.

Sarah’s Twitter – Todd’s Job

From Twitter:

From Wikipedia:

For eighteen years, he worked for BP in the North Slope oil fields of Alaska. In 2007, in order to avoid a conflict of interest relating to his wife’s position as governor, he took a leave[10] from his job as production supervisor when his employer became involved in natural gas pipeline negotiations with his wife’s administration.[3] Seven months later, because the family needed more income, Todd returned to BP. In order to avoid potential conflict of interest, this time he accepted a non-management position as a production operator.[1][10] He resigned from his job on September 18, 2009, with the stated reason of spending more time with his family.[11]

The family needed more income, that was before she got all those clothes?

The Scary Part Is…

… these mindless and unthinking people vote.  They proudly display their ignorance.  Their comments demonstrate what happens when people are under educated and use Fox News and News Max as their sources for information.

(h/t to Dr. Hussein Matt at TP for the link)

Don’t let the Door Hit you on the Way Out

Today is supposed be Sarah Palin’s last day as governor of Alaska. To honor this memorable occasion, we offer this:

Hat tip: KayinMaine at ThinkProgress.org

Feel free to add your own snarky comments below.

Why do we pay so much attention to Sarah Palin?

By Guest Poster misscoleopteramolly

Why do we pay so much attention to Sarah Palin? I’m guessing it’s the same reason Florence Foster Jenkins was so popular in her time.

For those of you unfamiliar with FFJ (and I only know of her historically, since she died before I was born), she was a woman who had always wanted to sing, and once she had inherited a sum of money that allowed her to pursue her dream, she went for it. God love her, she was so talentless that listening to cats fighting in an alley was probably a better musical experience than listening to her. But she never allowed anything to discourage her, and categorized herself with the other (genuine) great sopranos of her day.

Her popularity was due to people finding the way Mrs. Jenkins murdered the classics to be highly entertaining. Tickets to her recitals were highly sought after, and her single Carnegie Hall performance in 1944 was sold out weeks in advance. Her performances were delivered in serious earnest, and she seemed quite oblivious to the fact that she provided her audience with comic instead of musical entertainment.

And here we have Sarah Palin. A woman so completely unfit for national office that it’s laughable. This laughter keeps her in the public eye, of course, but her popularity appears to have given her the idea that she’s statesmanlike, politically intelligent, and a leader of her party.

She really doesn’t have a clue that her party regards her only as a token woman when they needed one, an attention-getter who could draw a crowd, someone who looks good on the teevee, and a sock puppet for the PNAC and other party power.

And the rest of us regard her as an endless source of entertainment — a guilty pleasure. Because a Sarah Palin interview (or speech, or column) makes as many people laugh today as an aria sung by Florence Foster Jenkins did over 65 years ago.

Articles about Florence Foster Jenkins

Any perceived whine…

I guess this only applies to female politicians who are not Sarah Palin.

Ohhhh, the hypocrisy…

HT:  ThinkProgress

Paul Begala eviscerates Palin

Huffington Post

I wish Hunter S. Thompson had lived to see this.

As Hunter said, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” Sarah Palin makes Mark Foley, the congressman who sent filthy emails to pages look almost normal. She makes David Vitter, the senator who was hanging out with hookers, look almost boring.

Heh...

She makes Larry Craig, caught hitting on a cop in a men’s room, look almost stable. She makes John Ensign, the senator who was having an affair with a staffer, look almost humdrum (and compared to the rest of the GOP whack-jobs, he is). And she makes Mark Sanford, the governor with the Latin lover, look positively predictable.

It was an almost impossible mission, but in resigning from office with 17 months to go in her first term, Sarah Palin has made herself the bull goose loony of the GOP.

Let’s stipulate that if there is some heretofore unknown personal, medical or family crisis, this was the right move. But Gov. Palin didn’t say anything like that. Her statement was incoherent, bizarre and juvenile. The text, as posted on Gov. Palin’s official website (here), uses 2,549 words and 18 exclamation points. Lincoln freed the slaves with 719 words and nary an exclamation; Mr. Jefferson declared our independence in 1,322 words and, again, no exclamation points. Nixon resigned the presidency in 1,796 words — still no exclamation points. Gov. Palin capitalized words at random – whole words, like “TO,” “HELP,” and “AND,” and the first letter of “Troops.”

Gov. Palin’s official announcement that she is resigning as chief executive of the great state of Alaska had all the depth and gravitas of a 13-year-old’s review of the Jonas Brothers’ album on Facebook. She even quoted her parents’ refrigerator magnet. (Note to self: if one of my kids becomes governor, throw away the refrigerator magnet that says: “Murray’s Oyster Bar: We Shuck Em, You Suck Em!”) She put her son’s name in quotations marks. Why? Who knows. She writes, “I promised efficiencies and effectiveness!?” Was she exclaiming or questioning?

Wowie…ouch!

I’ve always thought of Begala as a kindly milquetoast sort of moderate guy.  I think Sarah Palin stomped on his last nerve.

Read the rest of Begala’s post here.

“The world is literally her oyster.”

The insanity — it burns!

Anderson Cooper is such a gentleman.  He resisted an obvious urge to say “What the Fuck!?”  The interview starts out sorta reasonable, but spirals down, down, down, into bugfuck insanity.

Enjoy…

HT:  Mudflats

Hitler Finds Out Sarah Palin Resigns

(snicker, snicker, snicker  😆  )

The Right Can Do No Wrong

Imagine this…A major news story is reported that Michelle Obama’s sister was  arrested for breaking into a house, for the second time in one week, to steal money.   Now imagine the right-wing reaction to that story.  No, wait, let’s look at right-wing reaction to a real story; a story about one of their own.

Oops! Breaking news from Alaska

Hot off the presses . . . or at least hot off the radio.

Levi is going to need some painful tattoo removal.

The engagement is off for the teenage daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and the father of her baby.

Levi Johnston told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he and Bristol Palin mutually decided “a while ago” to end their relationship. The 19-year-old Johnston declined to elaborate.

Eighteen-year-old Bristol Palin said in a statement to the AP that she is “devastated.”

The two are the parents of a boy named Tripp, who was born Dec. 27.

Sarah Palin revealed her daughter’s pregnancy days after being named John McCain’s running mate on the Republican presidential ticket.

In an interview that aired on Fox News last month, Bristol Palin said her fiance saw the baby every day and described him as a “hands-on” dad.

The two had said they were considering a summer wedding.

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Please tear my eyes out now!

For the sake of all the lovely people who read TheZoo, I’m going to stick the graphic below the fold. You really don’t need to see this, honestly.

I really wish this was a link to The Onion, but no.  Someone out there honestly believes that people want to have Sarah Palin’s mug smirking out at them every month of 2009. “Over 50 photographs of Gov. Sarah Palin and her family”. The creepy part, of course, is that there really are people out there who will buy this, unlike Plumber’s Helper’s book. It’s even available at Amazon. And, no, I’m not linking to those sales. You’re on your own.

Palin’s Turkey of an Interview

Today, while giving a presser at a turkey hatchery, Sarah Palin allowed herself to be interviewed with the backdrop of turkeys being beheaded – and bleeding out – as she spoke. This was just after she had “pardoned” another foul feathered friend.

If you do not want to watch the sanitized version of this grisly backdrop, David Schuster notes that Palin approved the backdrop herself.

Sarah Palin. The gift that keeps on giving.

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The etimology of “Palin”

Palin: n:

1. An applicant lacking even basic job skills.

2. Someone supremely un-self-aware or lacking any relative sense of what s/he does or doesn’t know.

HR sent me another Palin for the marketing manager job.

Derived from Sarah Palin, Gov. of Alaska, picked to be Senator John McCain’s running mate in an unsuccessful bid for the White House in 2008. Sarah Palin instantly rose to national prominance, only to plummet just as quickly when she gave her first nationally televised interview, revealing near-total ignorance of the most basic political subjects and issues of the campaign.

HT – Urban Dictionary

Sarah Palin gets to talk to Nicolas Sarkozy!

Sarah Palin got to talk to Nicolas Sarkozy. Listen to the two talk about hunting from a helicopter, Sarkozy’s “hot wife” and Joe the plumber.. until she figured out she’s been had by two Canadian talk radio hosts.

UPDATE: Here’s the YouTube version – so you can see who it is that made the call..

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Talking “bad” about Palin infringes her 1st Amendment rights

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ABC News’ Steven Portnoy reports: In a conservative radio interview that aired in Washington, D.C. Friday morning, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin said she fears her First Amendment rights may be threatened by “attacks” from reporters who suggest she is engaging in a negative campaign against Barack Obama.

Heil Palin

Palin told WMAL-AM that her criticism of Obama’s associations, like those with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, should not be considered negative attacks.  Rather, for reporters or columnists to suggest that it is going negative may constitute an attack that threatens a candidate’s free speech rights under the Constitution, Palin said. “If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations,” Palin told host Chris Plante, “then I don’t know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media.”

You have got to be kidding me. I realize that it is asking too much that someone running for the second  highest office in the land should have a grasp of what the constitution says.  I realize that it is a god-damnned piece of paper in some Republican’s eyes and is meaningless to those some people.  I, though, am outraged that this stain on American politics can so brazenly distort the Constitution of the United States of America! Ms. Palin, please allow me to provide you a quick civics lesson, ok? You betcha!
This is the text of the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Freedom of speech was specifically written into the constitution to allow the press to freely speak out against the government. This right is supposed to maintain the ability of the people to be able to know what its’ government is doing and the press to report it.  Let’s take a closer look.

Palin Rally Attendee: Obama is a ni**er!

Palin stumbles for a brief moment but keeps on going after someone attending her rally yells “He’s a ni**er” as Palin discusses Obama.

Well, the First Dude did hold up a sign the other day comparing Obama to Charles Manson. I wonder who is next; Jeffrey Dahmer? Pot Pol? Stay classy, Republicans.

Palin: Obama is a Communist who will take your freedoms

Apparently, the Socialist line isn’t strong enough. Now Obama is a full-out Communist who will create a collective and take away your freedom.

Could the Republicans become any more unhinged?

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Palin’s Pipeline to Nowhere

New details came out today regarding Palin’s Pipeline. It turns out to be worse than the fact that a) it won’t be built for years and b) it won’t make the lower 48 energy independent.

No, it’s starting to look like Palin picked the people to build it herself.

Gov. Sarah Palin’s signature accomplishment — a contract to build a 1,715-mile pipeline to bring natural gas from Alaska to the Lower 48 — emerged from a flawed bidding process that narrowed the field to a company with ties to her administration, an Associated Press investigation shows.

No wonder she was hand-picked to succeed Cheney. She’s already got the whole business of handing business to business croneys down cold.

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The Vet Who Did Not Vet

 

h/t Andrew Sullivan

Palin Presidency – Day One

Run your mouse over this.