How Dare the President bid for the Olympics!

There has been much ado, of late, concerning President Obama trying to procure Chicago as the 2016 Olympic site for the United States of America.  Chicago, they say, is just part of the dirty Obama/Chicago Machine.

Let’s see what that dirty, liberal, Marxist, communist, Fascist, hippy President had to say about it:

Union League Club of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

11:35 A.M. CST

THE PRESIDENT: I want to thank the members of the 2016 Chicago bid to get the Olympics. Listen, Mr. Mayor, you and your committee have put together a great plan. It’s a plan that will make America proud.

They say that the Olympics will come to Chicago if we’re fortunate enough to be selected, but really it’s coming to America, and I can’t think of a better city to represent the United States than Chicago.

This is a well thought out venue. There will be — the athletes will be taken care of. People who will be coming from around the world will find this good city has got fantastic accommodations, great restaurants. It will be safe.

And so I — this country supports your bid, strongly. And our hope is that the judges will take a good look at Chicago and select Chicago for the 2016 Olympics.

Thank you all.

END 11:36 A.M. CST

Oh, wait, that wasn’t President Obama who said that, it was President Bush,  on January 7, 2008.

Must have been something to do with the tens of thousands of jobs that would be created over the next eight years and the millions of dollars that would be injected into this craptastic economy by dozens of countries worldwide.  We definitely don’t need that!

Nevermind.

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From the Old World: Concerns

From 1918 until 1933 Germany had a democratic constitution. It had very high standards when it came to personal liberties and free speech, even if the words were wielded to harm and ultimately destroy the first functioning Republic in Germany.

Enemies of any democratic order started to throw doubts on the legitimacy of the Government right at the beginning. Eschewing policy discussions, they used taunts, false allegations and ridicule to demean the Republic’s representatives, institutions and symbols, thus shattering the already weak support for the Republic. Add to that the economic woes of the 1930’s and you see the foundation for the dictatorship that followed and the loss of any civil liberties Germans has had before.

What I have seen in your blogs and newspapers lately leaves me concerned for the prospects of the Obama Presidency. It is not mainly the ever loonier ravings of the clueless. There are absolutely inane and insane claims out there, from the birth certificate to the death panels to the indoctrination of your children. Some of the screaming mob of the right are hardly eloquent enough to order a one course meal in one sentence. Some are more than a few cards shy of a full deck, like Glenn Beck or Ann Coulter. Their pathetic appearances tend to make us cringe or laugh or both. However, we should never underestimate the power of their vile propaganda. Grain by grain the very fabric of your President’s standing will erode. All criticism from the right aims at discrediting the person and not his policies, thereby destroying the trust in  the office of President.

What concerns me most is the institutionalized disrespect for your President. The heckling during President Obama’s speech is only one indication for that. Officials from Congressmen to school district supervisors are working hard to show that they neither respect Barack Obama as a President nor respect him as a man. They pick up the blathering of the crazies and disguise it in a more acceptable language to be made more palatable for the middle classes.

Let us not, due to intellectual disdain for the clearly anti-intellectual, underestimate the danger they pose. Many German intellectuals did it during the Weimar Republic and paid a very high price for it.

Just sayin’.

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The Extremist’s Threats Continue

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***UPDATE 6/26: It appears that the Savage Weiner has walked back his threat.***

Yesterday, ThinkProgress reported that Hal Turner, a White Supremacist blogger, was arrested and charged with making:

…internet postings threatening to assault and murder three federal appeals court judges in Chicago in retaliation for their recent ruling upholding handgun bans in Chicago and a suburb.

What did Turner say?

“Let me be the first to say this plainly: These Judges deserve to be killed.” The postings included photographs, phone numbers, work address and room numbers of these judges, along with a photo of the building in which they work and a map of its location.

This was Turner’s second arrest this month.

Earlier this month, he turned himself in to the Connecticut State Police on charges of “inciting violence” against three state officials. He urged his audience to “take up arms” because he was reportedly “angry over legislation that would have given lay members of Roman Catholic churches in Connecticut more control over their parish’s finances.”

But Hal’s not the only right-wing extremist out there. Michael “Savage Nation” Weiner has decided to throw out a few threats of his own.

Right wing talker Michael Savage vowed yesterday during his broadcast that he will retaliate against media watchdog Media Matters for America by posting pictures and “pertinent information” about the organization’s staff on his website.

Also from the article on Savage:

The history of right wing extremists using “wanted” posters against abortion providers is well documented. Recently the right wing Christian group the American Center for Law and Justice celebrated its court victory for the “truth truck” that promoted incendiary attacks on Dr. George Tiller. Sadly two days later Tiller was dead, assassinated in his place of worship.

David Neiwert, Managing Editor at Crooks and Liars, has been writing about extremists for a long time. Check out his posts. They are very enlightening – and terrifying (which is the point of these extremists).  David has also written an exceptional book; The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right, in which he talks extensively about the extremist dynamic. From Amazon:

Neiwert (Strawberry Days), founder of the political blog Orcinus, links the proliferation of radical conservative ideas in the political mainstream to the looming specter of eliminationism, an ideology rejecting dialogue and debate in favor of the pursuit of outright elimination of the opposing side, either through suppression, exile, and eviction, or extermination.

If you want to be informed on this subject, Neiwert’s book is the place to go.

But this eliminationist rhetoric isn’t just about Turner or Savage.  It goes deep, all the way into people in our government.

A tour of the frothing at the mouth, head-spinning, spittle-flecked wingnut hate machine

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I’ve noticed something lately.  Racism, fear, and hate are running rampant in this country.

Well, not just lately, it’s been bubbling under the surface for years — it just seems much worse and “in your face.”  I would pinpoint the escalation at or about the time of the nomination of Barack Hussein Obama for the office of President of the United States.  Little by little, insinuations and fear-mongering became the order of the day for some people.  “He’s a Muslim!”  “He’s not an American!”  He’s a Socialist!!”  Cue the scary music!

Recently, President Obama nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to take the place of Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court.  Judge Sotomayor has a typical American “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” story — the kind we all love so well — and she’s totally qualified for a seat on the Supreme Court, having more experience than anyone currently sitting on that Court.  But who cares about all that!?  Apparently, she’s really a super-scary racist white-hating Mexican who wants to take away our guns! Eeeekkk!!!!

How about a little walk on the darker side of wingnuttia?  Come on, I’ll hold your hand…just make sure you hold mine, ok?

Hal Turner, a white supremacist and anti-Semite internet radio talker/blogger, has been arrested for inciting violence against two Connecticut lawmakers, because they want to pass a bill changing how the Catholic Church operates in that state.  Turner posted this on his blog:

“It is our intent to foment direct action against these individuals personally,” the blog stated. “These beastly government officials should be made an example of as a warning to others in government: Obey the Constitution or die.”

He also promised to list the home addresses of the Connecticut lawmakers.  I’m thinking jail is a great place for Mr Turner right now.

Next, we have Rob Williams and Arnie States of the KRXQ radio station in Sacramento, California.  These organisms (I hesitate to called them men — or human) went on a sickening rampage against gender dysphoric CHILDREN, calling them “freaks” and “idiots.”  States even made the claim that if his own son put on a pair of high-heeled shoes, he would beat him with the shoes and mentally degrade him.  Here’s a sample:

“I’m not open-minded once I look into sumpin'” one of the two men grunted at the beginning of the segment, their voices interchangeable. “I have every right to call you a freak and judge you on that. It makes me sick. ‘Mommy, I’m a girl trapped in a boy’s body,'” he simpered, mimicking an effeminate little boy. “I want to wear a dwess.”

It’s not good enough to shred adults they deem “effeminate” or “girly,” these two creepazoids are so inadequate that they have to go after children.

Are you still with me?  Ok, let’s descend a bit further into this pit of horrors…

“CO2 is a natural byproduct of nature!” So is shit, honey…

The Crazy Bachmann does it again!  😆

HT:  ThinkProgress

UPDATE:  Rep Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) smacks Bachmann for her idiocy:

My good friend, the gentlelady from Minnesota, doesn’t think there are any problems with the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It’s interesting to listen to her say that something that was naturally occurring simply couldn’t be harmful, ignoring the fact that we have the highest concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for 2/3 of a million years.

If you think about it for a minute, it’s obvious this is a problem, but having the science to back it up makes it rather devastating.

Oops, I said “think” in regard to Michelle Bachmann.  Nevermind…

HT: The Wonk Room at ThinkProgress

RedState Does it Again

I  realize that conservatives are anything but compassionate, but this says it all.  From a front-page post from the not-so-fine folks at RedState, in talking about a conservative Democrat, Scott Murphy, who is running against Kirsten Gillibrand in New York’s 20th Congressional district:

Murphy opposes the death penalty for terrorists because it’s too expensive to execute them. He apparently also wants to make sure that when people like the 9-11 hijackers are captured, they get a fair trial where we are certain of their guilt before we lock them away.

These are not the views of a conservative Democrat, or of a Democrat who has learned the lessons of 9-11. Murphy’s views sound more like an old-line liberal in the mold of Mario Cuomo: legalistic and out-of-touch with reality. (Emphasis added)

Wow.  Just wow.

Why on earth would someone want to make sure that a person convicted is actually guilty of something in the United States of America?  I mean, really. Accuse them, jail them and then electrocute them.  Guilty or not.  It doesn’t matter.  Why even bother having trials at all? In their world-view, we just need to kill them.  Period.

This is the thinking of the right-wing in this country.  Watch out for these people, because they are the one’s trying to make history repeat itself. It it going to take a concerted effort on the parts of all Americans to ensure that this is not allowed to happen.

Saddam Hussein was Involved in the Oklahoma City Bombing?

According to Frank Gaffney, yes, indeedy.

Yesterday, we had Ari Fleischer on Hardball saying that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11 and “how DARE” anyone say that 9/11 happened on Bush’s watch. Today’s Hardball brought us Frank Gaffney, neocon extraordinaire, saying that not only was Saddam responsible for 9/11 but he had ties to the Oklahoma City bombing.

You can watch the video here (be prepared for a LOT of cross-talk as David Corn from The Nation tries to call Gaffney on his many, many lies.)

This begins at the 1:41 minute mark:

Gaffney:  He [Saddam] kept saying he was going to try to get even against us for Desert Storm, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable for people to conclude maybe that that’s what he was doing. There is also circumstantial evidence, not proven by any means,  but none the less some pretty compelling circumstantial evidence of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq being involved with the people who perpetrated both the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center and even the Oklahoma City bombing.

Really?  Saddam Hussein was involved with Timothy McVeigh in blowing up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995?  I imagine this is another attempt at “It’s All Clinton’s Fault!” which is the biggest bunch of rubbish to spill from these rubbish-filled neoconservatives yet.

I cannot believe that there are so many people out there on this Bush Revisionism Legacy Tour ™ who can easily spit out such lies, lies I might add, which have been repeatedly debunked – this one (Iraq and 9/11) by George W. Bush, no less!

I hope Chris Matthews brings this up tomorrow and slams Gaffney for this outrageous lie.

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Blogging from the state of Wow

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As I was perusing my favorite blogs, this site was brought to my attention.  Wow is all I can muster.  I often forget that the internets, that vast series of tubes, is far more than just a place where you can catch up on the daily news, find a quilting pattern, or locate the perfect recipe for dinner (or a bomb, I suppose).  It is more than just liberal and conservative.  The internet provides a home for every flavor of nutcase alive.

Exhibit A:

When I see that our people are either too doltish to perceive their degradation or too craven to care, I am close to despair. Even a few decades ago, I should not have believed it possible that here in the United States Aryans would willingly see their children hauled to “schools” to be defiled by enforced association with savages and to be robbed, beaten, raped, and mutilated by the animals.

Exhibit B:

You see, I am now working towards a doctorate — a doctorate in Anthropology and advanced tribal behavior in today’s New America. I foresee this becoming the next big thing in intellectual circles, as we witness the eventual slide of the US into the sub-Saharan lifestyle planned out for us by Big Jewry.

Exhibit C:

You know, all of us Evil Whiteys who are out looking to ”oppress” and deny all those “deserving benefits” and the non-stop giveaways of our tax dollars to certain other races living in this country; even to their worthless overseas countries that they consider first before the good old US of A.

I especially love Exhibit C, because, apparently, the socially retarded ignoramus who writes this drivel, seems to selectively choose who he has issues with being recipients of those evil tax dollar giveaways.   Meet  the Campbells.

What Keith Olbermann doesn’t mention is that both Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are on the government dole.

End-Times Prophecies and More: How Electing Sarah Palin Endangers Your Life UPDATED

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UPDATE 10/24/08:  The New York Times did this piece exposing Palin’s religious fundamentalism. It’s about time.

What is known, however, is that Ms. Palin has had long associations with religious leaders who practice a particularly assertive and urgent brand of Pentecostalism known as “spiritual warfare.”

Its adherents believe that demonic forces can colonize specific geographic areas and individuals, and that “spiritual warriors” must “battle” them to assert God’s control, using prayer and evangelism. The movement’s fixation on demons, its aggressiveness and its leaders’ claims to exalted spiritual authority have troubled even some Pentecostal Christians.

…

The governor’s relationships with practitioners of spiritual warfare appear to go back many years. Mary Glazier, an Alaska Native who helped bring together the prayer warrior networks in the state, told a prayer conference in June that Ms. Palin “became a part of our prayer group out in Wasilla” when she was 24, and that “God began to speak” to her about entering politics.

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What do Sarah Palin and witches have in common? A pastor. A pastor who is a witch hunter. What does Sarah Palin have in common with the End of Times? Right, another pastor. And then what is the commonality between Sarah Palin and violent church extremists? If you guessed a pastor, you would be again be correct.

This post is part vlog, part blog. It’s long. Kick back and watch, read, learn and become terrified.

[YOUTUBE= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk4JBDzlI2Q%5D

Ok, that was an odd story. Not so scary, just different. Keith often does odd stories. Usually, though, they are not about political leaders and their witch-hunting pastors. Keith Olbermann picked up on the witch hunter aspect of Palin’s speech, but neglected to cover the most terrifying part of this particular speech. Olbermann’s guest addresses it, but it winds up being glossed over. What is so terrifying? Palin’s reference to Revelations, the Prophecy, Alaksa’s role in the prophecy and the response from the pastor. This deserves much more attention. Much, much more.

By the time you finish this entire post, you will be horrified and terrified that Sarah Palin could ever possibly ascend to the role of Vice President of the U.S. (and very possibly President of the U.S.).