Fox Stacked The Deck For Walker In Debate, Walker Still Lost

Yes, yes, I know that the first GOP debate was days ago and is old news, but this was just too important not to share, IMHO.

Fox News had apparently stacked the deck to favor Scott Walker in the debate.

In May, Fox announced the debate and the requirements for the candidates to participate in them. Included in those requirements was that the candidates had to "file all necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC)."

Most of the candidates complied with these requirements. Scott Walker did not. He didn't file his FEC paperwork until the day before the debate.

Yet, despite Walker not complying with their own rules, Faux Newz gave Walker the third seat at the debate. Other candidates who followed the rules were demoted to the little kids debate table.

Pretty sketchy, right? Ah, but as with all things Walker. There's more. There's always more.

After the debate, Faux Newz had their squawking heads discuss the debate. One of the consultants, Marck Thiessen, couldn't praise Walker enough that night or the day after:

Thiessen also heavily praised Walker during an August 7 appearance on America's Newsroom, claiming that "the obvious winners are Bush and Walker because they were in the lead so they didn't need to hit home runs, and they both put in strong performances, especially Walker, I think, had a great moment when he took on -- jumped in and took on Hillary Clinton, which, I think, there was not enough of that in the debate last night."

However, as Media Matters reports, Faux Newz failed to mention that Thiessen was the ghost writer for Walker's "autobiography." Likewise, they didn't report that Thiessen is also an adviser to Walker's campaign:

The Washington Post, where Thiessen works as a columnist, reported on March 6 that "Walker is also seeking counsel from several hawks from George W. Bush's administration -- including Abrams, Bush's deputy national security adviser, and Marc A. Thiessen, a Post columnist and former Bush speechwriter known for his staunch defense of waterboarding and other interrogation tactics barred by President Obama. Walker selected Thiessen to co-write his 2013 book, 'Unintimidated,' and the two men became confidants during hours of Skype conversations each weekend."

Politico reported in February that Walker "said he sat down for three-and-a-half hours of foreign policy meetings" including with Thiessen.

New York Daily News Washington Bureau reporter Cameron Joseph criticized Fox News on Twitter, writing: "Curious how Marc Thiessen can be on Fox right now analyzing the debate. He co-wrote Scott Walker's book, and they don't even ID him as such."

Yet despite all the help that Faux Newz gave to Walker, he still was the biggest loser of the debate.

I'll give Walker one thing. He always find new and unique ways to be an embarrassment.

Scott Walker Will Send YOUR Kid to War!

By Jeff Simpson

Scott Walker is running for President and he knows what it takes to win.   War Hawks are very popular in the Republican circles for numerous reasons and if Scott Walker has a talent, it is appealing to the mouth breathing hard core base.

Scott Walker runs to Fox News every chance he gets, to let you know, he has no problem sending our your children to war!

Scott Walker is supremely qualified in the realm of foreign policy, because he broke the unions.

You can not make this stuff up.   Scott Walker knows what its like in a war zone because, after "dropping the bomb" on the people of Wisconsin, his wife was forced to see a couple protests.   The events scarred her so deeply that she was given the "You too could be best friends with a blood thirsty Chilean dictator" award by Right Wisconsin.

Don't worry while your chidlren are fighting terrorists in the desert, Scott Walker's kids will be here holding down the dance floor:

John Cleese Explains Fox News

Watch it all the way through to the end (it's only a minute):

Arby's Racist Bo, Yes Sir

By Jeff Simpson

Why, in God's green earth, with 324 million people in America, would Arby's decide to hire Bo Dietl as a spokesperson is beyond my understanding.

Now we can grab a chicken bacon swiss, turn on Fox News and see why the officer in Ferguson was guilty because bullets just tend to fly towards the head and that the real tragedy of Ferguson was that Capt. Ron Johnson shared his experiences as a black father.


I know that Mr. Dietl has yet to influence my lunch selection on a positive note for Arby's.

John Elway Is Super!

By Jeff Simpson

Basking in the lights of the Super Bowl, John Elway gave an interview to Fox News:

Well, it goes to what my beliefs are,” Elway explained. “I believe that we’re giving the opportunity to succeed or not succeed.”

“I don’t believe in safety nets,” he continued. “Obviously, we’ve got to have some kind of safety nets. But I think my philosophy is when given the opportunity to go take advantage of that, I think that’s when you get the best out of people.”

It was nice of John Elway to take time away from lobbying to have the taxpayers of Colorado build him a new stadium where he can do business, to explain the problem with safety nets.

In one of the most massive legislative lobbying efforts in recent memory, two dozen lobbyists have been drafted by eight groups to win a tax-subsidized stadium for the Denver Broncos.
According to state records, the Broncos and others are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to win approval of a bill that would let taxpayers decide if they'll pay $266 million to replace Mile High Stadium.
"I've never seen such an aggressive effort on any piece of legislation down here, especially since there was no real organized opposition - no paid, professional lobbyists against it,'' said Sen. Mike Coffman, a 10-year veteran of the Legislature.
What's at stake that so much is spent on a legislative blitz? There are varied answers depending on who's talking, but most boil down to money.
Broncos owner Pat Bowlen says the new stadium is needed so the Broncos can stay competitive in the National Football League and to continue to get good players. His detractors say he needs it to raise more money for his company. The city of Denver says it wants to keep its NFL team. Other companies want to build the stadium, sell beer or just profit from a ride on the coattails of a winning team.

In case your wondering about their current stadium?  

Year Opened: 2001

Cost: $400 million

Percentage of cost borne by taxpayers: 75% (reported by Denver Post)

 

 

  

 

 

Phil Robertson - My Favorite Heel!

 

By Jeff Simpson

I have never watched a second of Duck Dynasty and I can not change the channel quick enough when  "reality" TV comes on.   I was also getting sick of the whole Phil Robertson 'fiasco", then it hit me.   Phil Robertson isn't a redneck racist(well he might be) but instead he is a brilliant marketer of himself. 

While I no longer watch professional wrestling either, I used to be a huge fan of the WWF and even beofre that as a kid watching All Star Wrestling on Sunday mornings with the High Flyers, Vern Gagne, nick Bockwinkle, Rock and Roll Buck Zumhoff and even the very beginnings of Hulk Hogan.

The person who always garnered the most attention was the heel.  The heel, for those who have never watched wrestling, was the person they marketed as the "bad guy" A good wrestler could go back and forth between being a heel and being a "face" (good guy).

One of my favorite "heels" was always Bobby Heenan.  Heenan would say and do anything to piss people off.  The more crazy things he said the more popular he became.  

The problem that Heenan had though was he was limited to professional wrestling.

Then the phenomena that is Fox news came along.   This allowed the marketing division of the republican party to turn people into "faces" and "heels" without them even being involved.   They could whitewash history with no worries about facts, intelligence or even logic. 

One of the by products of this phenomena that no one had foreseen was what would happen when they made someone a star.   All Roger Ailes propaganda machine had to do was find someone the "liberals" did not like and their star would shoot up faster than Trey Radel. It did not matter what their intelligence or talent was.  The liberals are bad message is a money maker.

For instance, a plumbers apprentice named Sam, asked a fake question under a made up name that actually pointed out that President Obama's tax policy was better for the average American than John McCain's was.     The media pointed out that he was a complete phony and the Fox Phenomena turned Sammy into a victim and he then transformed himself into "Joe the Plumber" who now is a hero to the far right.  






Exhibit 2: is of course Sarah Palin.    Sarah Palin was picked to be John McCain's running mate, strictly on her looks and gender. Early on in her unveiling as a national candidate, they offered her up to the queen of softballs, Katie Couric, who tripped Ms. Palin up with the hard hitting question - "What do you read"!

   

Ms. Palin and Mr. Ailes then were able to tun that into the liberal media attacking poor Sarah with "gotcha" questions.  Instead of being relinquished to the answer in a trivia game, she rose to right wing superstardom. 

In both of these instances(and others), we find out that the stupider, more racist, homophobic quote you can on nation TV the better.  Say something that upsets a "liberal" and you will find right wing extremists all over the country willing to send you their hard earned money.   

Which brings us back to the Duck guy. 

 All the right-wing religious zealots are up in arms about the suspension of the family idol Phil Robertson for the now widely distributed remarks which have not only offended many Americans, but has landed him in the A&E jailhouse. What is the response of the shows huge Redneck following? Well, it appears to rush down to the nearest Walmart store and buy Duck Dynasty stuff right here at the ” prime time” of the holiday sales season. Great timing for a promotional stunt wouldn’t you say?

 

 

I do not know for sure if Phil Robertson is a racist homophobic bigot.  I do know for sure though, that he is playing YOU!   And laughing all the way to the bank!

 As someone once said, "If you look around and can't tell who the sucker is...its you!"  

If you're playing a poker game and you look around the table and and can't tell who the sucker is, it's you.
Paul Newman
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/sucker.html#XecFLous3u7b2aQ1.9

 you're playing a poker game and you look around the table and and can't tell who the sucker is, it's you.
Paul Newman
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/sucker.html#XecFLous3u7b2aQ1.99

If you're playing a poker game and you look around the table and and can't tell who the sucker is, it's you.
Paul Newman
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/sucker.html#XecFLous3u7b2aQ1.99

The Real War on Christmas!

 

By Jeff Simpson

Recently fake journalist, and WPRI republican hack Christian Schneider wrote a column on the wonders of offshoring(in a defense of Mary Burke).   Apparently you have to be an adult to understand what a great thing it is:

But while the outsourcing issue is a Sheboygan-sized target on Burke's campaign, Republicans should avoid simply hammering her for the act of outsourcing itself. It is an easy tactic — and in the end, winning is all that matters, after all — but campaigns should be careful how they foment anger among voters. Especially if it means confusing the public about a nuanced issue that deserves an adult conversation.

First, a point of clarification: While Burke's detractors refer to "outsourcing," they really mean "offshoring." Companies "outsource" their operations to other businesses when it isn't cost-effective to do the work themselves. It's not as if Grimace and Mayor McCheese are at the McDonald's headquarters milking cows to produce the company's dairy creamers; they outsource that task to an actual dairy company.

"Offshoring," on the other hand, means moving jobs overseas, where products can be produced cheaper due to lower labor costs. For the workers whose jobs are moved to India, China or Mexico, offshoring — to use a technical economic term — "sucks."

 We at CogDis pointed out that Schneider is economic illiterate, which was of a surprise to no one.   What I failed to do though was point out the "real world"consequences of offshoring that no one seems to want to have an adult conversation about(hint: don't look to Schneider for adult conversations).  

 

1.  What is considered one of the most dangerous jobs in the world?  Bangladesh garment worker makes the list.    Who knew making your cheap T-shirt was so dangerous?  

In Bangladesh, there are 4 million garment workers — they’re getting starved to death too with pitiful wages, and they’re brutally overworked. And there are no health and safety standards. We saw the result of that in the Tazreen Factory fire on Nov. 24, 2012, which killed at least 117 workers. Less than a month later another factory, Smart Fashion, went up in flames.

 When we were in Bangladesh, a boy named Korshed —15 years of age — was working a night shift, all night long from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. during the monsoon season. It was July 17, 2012, when in the middle of the night at 3:00 a.m. a gigantic metal slab fell and crushed this young kid. Killed, dead on the spot. There’s no health and safety records whatsoever, the workers are just sitting ducks.

 2.  A lady in Oregon bought cheap crap Halloween decorations from China and found a letter:

"People who work here have to work 15 hours a day without Saturday, Sunday break and any holidays. Otherwise, they will suffer torturement, beat and rude remark. Nearly no payment (10 yuan/1 month)."
Ten yuan is equivalent to $1.61.
"People who work here, suffer punishment 1-3 years averagely, but without Court Sentence (unlaw punishment). Many of them are Falun Gong practitioners, who are totally innocent people only because they have different believe to CCPG. They often suffer more punishment than others."

Schneider did get that right....$1.61/month is definitely cheaper labor.  See what happens when you get rid of the unions, companies are free to prosper!  Time for ACT11 to cut teacher pay again.  

3.   A reporter tried to see where her shirt was made in India and was lucky to make it out alive! 

 As a child, Aruna dreamed of going to college. But by the time she was 15, when her government-subsidized schooling ended, she understood that she was too poor. Then, a stranger promised to change her life. He offered her a job at a textile factory that has supplied companies including, until recently, UK-based maternity wear maker Mothercare. Her pay would be about $105 a month—enough for food for her family, her further education, and most importantly, the chance to build a dowry.


When Aruna arrived at the factory, about 40 miles from her home, she found a vast facility where close to 1,000 girls, many in their teens, lived 10 or 15 to a room. From 8 a.m. till 10 p.m. every day, including weekends, she fed and monitored rusty machines that spun raw cotton into yarn. Her bosses often woke her in the middle of the night because, she recalls, there was "always some sort of work, 24 hours a day." Aruna made just a quarter of the $105 a month she was promised, about $0.84 a day.

Aruna shows me a scar on her hand, more than an inch long, where a machine cut her. She often saw girls faint from standing for too long. One had her hair ripped out when it got caught in a machine. Others were molested by their supervisors. "They said we would get less work if we slept with them," Aruna says. Sometimes girls would disappear, and everyone would speculate whether they'd died or escaped. Still, she needed the money, so she worked there for two years.

 Last April's building collapse in Bangladesh's Rana Plaza, which killed more than 1,000, briefly drew attention to the plight of garment workers. India is an even larger global player than Bangladesh: It's the third-largest textile and garment exporter in the world (after China and the European Union), with about $29 billion in 2012 sales. Between June 2012 and June 2013, the United States imported about $2.2 billion worth of cotton clothing from India, and that number is expected to grow as India ramps up its textile industry.

 4.  In Jordan a factory that produces products for WalMart, sexual abuse is a way of life:

In June, the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights released a report alleging that workers producing clothing for Walmart, Target, Macy's, Kohl's and Hanes at a factory in Jordan have been routinely beaten, underpaid and forced to work hours in excess of what the local law allows. The report added that workers have been forced to live in bed bug-infested dormitories that lack heat and hot water, despite the snow and ice that are a feature of local winters.
The report also alleged a pattern of widespread sexual abuse of female employees at the Classic Brands factory complex. The factory employs some 4,800 people, mostly guest workers from South Asia. One manager repeatedly raped female Sri Lankan workers, prompting a strike late last year, according to the report. Workers wanted the manager fired. Instead, the factory's owner sent the manager on a recruiting mission to South Asia as a means of temporarily removing him from the complex. The owner did not publicly discipline the manager or remove the man from his employment, said Charles Kernaghan, the institute's director, and the lead author of the study.

Whats a few rapes of 13 year old girls, they aren't in school anyway.    When your working a 17 hour shift, 7 days a week,  its the only way they get a break.  

5.  There there was this clown that people actually thought could be President of the United States. 

 And the one thing that gets you mad is someone saying "Happy Holidays"?    

Wisconsin Free (of facts)

By Jeff Simpson

A new parody website just went up and its called Wisconsin Free(of facts).  Its started by Ed Willing who started some RWNJ group called Founders Intent, where he mistakenly thinks that the Tories founded America. 

Where Willing preaches "independent reporting"  besides Ed himself,  there is a collection of "knotsies" , kooks  and clowns -  like this guy - Josiah Cantrall:

Josiah Cantrall

Josiah Cantrall is publisher of The Wisconsin Free. As a writer and consultant he has worked in both politics and the entertainment industry. Previously he served as Rick Santorum’s National Coalitions Director and later worked with Webster & Associates to design and implement the RNC’s celebrity surrogate program.

With those kind of credentials, you would think that he would be writing a republican puff piece.  Mr Cantrall, did not disappoint. 

Mr Cantrall did a complete rewriting of the history of United Sportsmen, one where Scott Walker comes out of it the hero. 

The fallout continues over a controversial $500,000 grant given to the United Sportsmen, a group affiliated with big money GOP donors. Scott Suder, former GOP Assembly Majority leader originally left the Assembly on Sept. 3 to take a high-paying position with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. This week, however, Suder abruptly announced his resignation and acceptance of a private sector position with the Wisconsin Paper Council.

Even conservatives have voiced their embarrassment over the situation. Led by Suder, the GOP Assembly designed the grant specifications to uniquely favor the United Sportsmen. The group received the state hunting recruitment grant despite lacking any previous experience in this area.

We all know that Scott Walker thought so much of United Sportsmen, that he promoted Suder!

 "Representative Suder has long served the residents of Wisconsin," Walker said in a statement. "The Public Service Commission will benefit from his talents and experience."

Not so much! 

Then the independent journalist who did not grow up in WI, then went back to his memory of the Doyle Administration:

While conservatives concede the United Sportsmen should never have received the grant, they are also quick to call foul over the Democrat's double standard. During Jim Doyle's tenure as governor his administration illegally raided the state's medical victim malpractice and transportation funds. Acts like this led his opponent to label him, “Diamond Jim Bingo Doyle.”

The only problem of course, by this "independent" "journalist" is that (with the exception of Maciver) no one ever used that label.   If his opponent did, no wonder he lost!  

 

Yes, just what this state needs, another extremist website that caters to the fringe?  It is very telling that sharing the banner of "Wisconsin Free" is the anti teacher union, silly org Association of American Educators(who everyone's favorite Knot works for ). At least Willing is smart enough to disguise it in "independent" clothes.   However there is not enough humor in the world, so this new site definitely helps fill that!   

Seriously though, there are two ways to govern.  

1.  Govern for and by the people and they will keep electing you! 

2.  Ram through an extreme agenda, and muddy the waters so bad that no one will know what to believe when they look to the "news".   


Guess which one we are living in WI!   

Power to the Proletariat

In the words of the immortal Stephen Colbert, "...every time I watch Eric Bolling, I want to kill myself."

Eric Bolling, Fox News' jackass extraordinaire made the suggestion that, instead of paying striking Walmart employees a living wage, they should all just be fired. You know, no big deal. Why should they want employment? Hell, in this economy, they should be on their knees thankful they even have a job, right? No.

What Mr. Bolling, Fox News, and the rest of anti-labor America don't understand is that people shouldn't have to be begging for a job that pays in 2013. The point of WHY Walmart employees are angry has been lost on them. They don't understand that there shouldn't be a NEED to be protesting for living wages, especially when working for companies who make billions a year off the backs of American and foreign laborers. Why can't they unionize? Well, the management is afraid of worker's being treated fairly because they might make .00000001% less than the $400+ billion they made last year. They can't stand to see a hard working single parent be able to live without their financial bondage to their jobs. Employers want to make their employees believe they need their employers, when in actuality, it's the employers who need the employees.

One might wonder, "How come Walmart can do this? What makes it possible?" Well, not only do loose labor laws and years of right-wing attacks on unions help, but the bottom line is this - capitalism is 100% exploitative of labor. This is evident in Walmart's main practice of slave wages, selling their product at a low price due to their working with factories in countries with no concept of labor, and raking in the profit. This "logic" always confused me. Don't these people understand that without labor, there is no product? And without product, there's nothing to sell and no money to be made? And mostly, why are Republicans so against a living wage? It makes no sense. We do know though, that their political and financial overlords are the same people who own the companies who pay their workers like peasants. They pay to elect teabaggers into office, and then those teabaggers turn around and try to convince you that labor is destroying America. Truly though, it is the employer walking hand in hand with capitalism that has given us the economic state we are in.

So today I issue Mr. Bolling a challenge: switch employers for a month. Leave your cushy Fox News job and go work at a Walmart. Get paid minimum wage. Get on SNAP assistance and apply for Medicaid. Take your paychecks and grocery shop, pay rent, and pay bills. Live how other Walmart employees live. Feel what they feel when they don't have enough money to buy their kids clothes, or feed them, or pay for college. Feel what it feels like when you're a FULL TIME employee of Walmart, yet still need government assistance. I don't think it would take long until we saw him leading the charge for changes.

Most importantly, Americans should be openly encouraging all forms of work place protesting, whether it's over the right to unionize or having better wages and benefits. If you work in a place that isn't paying you fairly, speak up. Talk to your coworkers. Nothing can change unless you get the ball rolling. Don't wait for someone else to do it. You can make the change.

Fast Food, Fox News and Minimum Wage

Apparently Fox News is to news, what A Taco Bell Steak is to a Ruth's Chris Filet:

 From the Daily show!

Fox News Exposes the Mooslems....

By Jeff Simpson

Watch this interview and tell me your not embarrassed at the stupidity of former beauty queen Lauren Green and anyone who works for Fox News:  I hope that Reza Aslan has the sense to never go on Fox News(term used loosely) again!  PS: His book looks pretty good!

Full Interview here!

 
I can just imagine the conversation right now:

Jesus:  You gave them free will and the best they could come up with was Fox News?

God:  Very disappointing isn't it!  

Jesus: Don't send me back there for a long time!

God:  Let's check and see how Tim Tebow is doing.  

Lauren Green gives Miss South Carolina hope!

The Right Wing Fear Machine

By Jeff Simpson

The horrendous and cowardly acts of the bombing of the Boston Marathon have claimed many victims and shown us many heroes! 

Unfortunately for one person, a Saudi man, he was victimized twice.  Once by the bomber and then again by the right wing fear machine.  The NY Post, with the help of Fox news, Vicki Mckenna, various right wing bloggers, "tea party" hero Congressman Steve King, Glenn Beck, Senator Susan Collins, and various other right wing conspiracy theory "news" websites. 

All of the fear that these crazies keep projecting on the impressionable base that they have led to more hell than deserved for this poor person.    As described in this brilliant piece in the New Yorker by Amy Davidson. 

A twenty-year-old man who had been watching the Boston Marathon had his body torn into by the force of a bomb. He wasn’t alone; a hundred and seventy-six people were injured and three were killed. But he was the only one who, while in the hospital being treated for his wounds, had his apartment searched in “a startling show of force,” as his fellow-tenants described it to the Boston Herald, with a “phalanx” of officers and agents and two K9 units. He was the one whose belongings were carried out in paper bags as his neighbors watched; whose roommate, also a student, was questioned for five hours (“I was scared”) before coming out to say that he didn’t think his friend was someone who’d plant a bomb—that he was a nice guy who liked sports. “Let me go to school, dude,” the roommate said later in the day, covering his face with his hands and almost crying, as a Fox News producer followed him and asked him, again and again, if he was sure he hadn’t been living with a killer.

Why the search, the interrogation, the dogs, the bomb squad, and the injured man’s name tweeted out, attached to the word “suspect”? After the bombs went off, people were running in every direction—so was the young man. Many, like him, were hurt badly; many of them were saved by the unflinching kindness of strangers, who carried them or stopped the bleeding with their own hands and improvised tourniquets. “Exhausted runners who kept running to the nearest hospital to give blood,” President Obama said. “They helped one another, consoled one another,” Carmen Ortiz, the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, said

When this particular injured person was running away from the bomb and looking for help with his injuries he was treated differently:

 In the midst of that, according to a CBS News report, a bystander saw the young man running, badly hurt, rushed to him, and then “tackled” him, bringing him down. People thought he looked suspicious.

 What made them suspect him? He was running—so was everyone. The police reportedly thought he smelled like explosives; his wounds might have suggested why. He said something about thinking there would be a second bomb—as there was, and often is, to target responders. If that was the reason he gave for running, it was a sensible one. He asked if anyone was dead—a question people were screaming. And he was from Saudi Arabia, which is around where the logic stops. Was it just the way he looked, or did he, in the chaos, maybe call for God with a name that someone found strange?

 At this point is when the true piling on began, some lunatic Ayn Randian blogger practically had this kid tried and convicted.   Then Fox news did what they do best....start talking bullshit and stirring up the fears of their loyal followers:

 “There must be enough evidence to keep him there,” Andrew Napolitano said on “Fox and Friends”—“there” being the hospital. “They must be learning information which is of a suspicious nature,” Steve Doocy interjected. “If he was clearly innocent, would they have been able to search his house?” Napolitano thought that a judge would take any reason at a moment like this, but there had to be “something”—maybe he appeared “deceitful.” As Mediaite pointed out, Megyn Kelly put a slight break on it (as she has been known to do) by asking if there might have been some “racial profiling,” but then, after a round of speculation about his visa (Napolitano: “Was he a real student, or was that a front?”), she asked, “What’s the story on his ability to lawyer up?”

These people are just disgusting, but I digress.  There is a reason that David Sirota wrote a piece on how he hopes that the bombing was done by a white American.   After we see the way the right wing in this country tried and convicted an innocent and injured kid in less than a few hours, with absolutely no evidence but his skin color, I can only imagine the fear and hatred they will show towards all people of the same(or close) nationality of the person who actually did the bombing.  Unless of course he is a right wing Christian warrior, then he will get a pass and anyone who brings it up will be attacked! 

On a personal note, I hope that Paul Fischer sues and gets a restraining order against Brian Sikma.  The way that he is stalking and harrassing him is very creepy.   Also I know Brian Sikma isn't the brightest bulb on the tree, but if he spent a couple minutes on google, he would find out that Patriot's Day IS an important day for the right wing militia movements AND that the right wing militia movements and hate groups have risen 813% since President Obama took office. 

Conservative America - A Fable!

By Jeff Simpson

One of my favorite writers, David Sirota, has been documenting lately how the reality of America is that we are NOT a right leaning Conservative country(emphasis mine). 

Conducted by the University of California's David Broockman and University of Michigan's Christopher Skovron, the survey of nearly 2,000 legislators from across America documents politicians’ perceptions of their constituents' views on hot-button issues like universal health care and same-sex marriage. It then compares those perceptions with constituents' actual views.
The juxtaposition reveals a jarring truth: Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers hugely overestimate the conservatism of the very people they are supposed to represent. In all, the report finds that “conservative politicians systematically believe their constituents are more conservative than they actually are by over 20 percentage points, while liberal politicians also typically overestimate their constituents’ conservatism by several percentage points.” Ultimately, that has resulted in a political system inherently hostile to mainstream proposals and utterly unrepresentative of public opinion.
The first obvious question is why: Why do politicians - aka people who are supposed to be professional experts in representing others - so misunderstand their own communities?
Broockman and Skovron argue that one answer has to do with the prevalence of right-leaning mythology. Citing “Richard Nixon’s pronouncement that a 'silent majority' of Americans backed his policies” and “Sarah Palin’s suggestion that a latent 'real America’ supported her,” the researchers correctly note that there remains “a folk theory among conservative politicians that the American public is considerably more conservative than it seems at face value.” This theory is undoubtedly fueled by a Fox News-ified media that pushes such inaccurate fables.

 Then Sirota wirtes a case study on how the Colorado Democratic Party was able to turn the formerly red state - BLUE! 

 1. The first state in the Intermountain West to embrace serious gun control
 2. The home of Focus on the Family legalizes civil unions
 3. Rejecting Tancredo-style politics and allowing children of undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates
 4. An anti-fracking uprising in the middle of oil/gas country
 5. A historic victory for drug policy reform
 6. A major reevaluation of the death penalty and failed “tough on crime” policies
 7. Expanding funding for public education and healthcare
 8. A huge vote against corporate money in politics
 9. A decimated and demoralized Republican Party

 In light of those words, Americans should be looking at what’s happening here to know what could soon be happening all over the country. If “as Colorado goes, so goes the nation,” then this square state is a glimpse into America’s potentially much brighter political future.

There you go, a 9 point plan to turn the book title of Scott Walkers new book from "unintimidated" to One term wonder.   The question is will the Wisconsin Democratic Party embrace a progressive future or continue with the right leaning, consultant listening too, minority status?  


 

Quote of the Day:

By Jeff Simpson


Jim Carrey Edition:

“Since I released my “Cold Dead Hand” video on Funny or Die this week, I have watched Fux News rant, rave, bare its fangs and viciously slander me because of my stand against large magazines and assault rifles. I would take them to task legally if I felt they were worth my time or that anyone with a brain in their head could actually fall for such irresponsible buffoonery. That would gain them far too much attention which is all they really care about.
I’ll just say this: in my opinion Fux News is a last resort for kinda-sorta-almost-journalists whose options have been severely limited by their extreme and intolerant views; a media colostomy bag that has begun to burst at the seams and should be emptied before it becomes a public health issue.
I sincerely believe that in time, good people will lose patience with the petty and poisonous behavior of these bullies and Fux News will be remembered as nothing more than a giant culture fart that no amount of Garlique could cure.
I wish them all the luck that accompanies such malevolence.”

Republican Thugs - Fox News (update)

By Jeff Simpson

A  few months ago, we brought you the story in Michigan, where breitbardt wanna-be Steven Crowder was assaulted by union supporters.   We pointed out that while, Mr. Crowder was just trying to play the innocent victim, he was just a journalist who was trying to get a story, thats not quote how it happened. 

A Michigan County prosecutor, agreed with us!  

Crowder soon filed a police report following the December 11 incident. But the county prosecutor, Stuart Dunnings III, has now said that he will refuse to prosecute. Dunning explained that he viewed an unedited clip of the same situation — captured by The Young Turks — and that it clearly shows that the protester who threw the punch was first pushed down, and that it appears that he was simply acting in self defense against a larger crowd that first attacked him.

 “I’m not holding that against him, but why would they provide the edited video? The longer video clearly shows the guy got pushed down and came up swinging,” said Billings.

Why Indeed? 

Waiting for Fox News to end their relationship with Mr. Crowder, do not hold your breath!  

Beloit College Alum Points Out Ignorance of Right Wing Pundit

Denver Post Editor and Beloit College Alum Curtis Hubbard pointed out the ignorance of a right wing pundit!

Then the fun began!

Why do they always become unhinged when you do? 

O'Keefe Justice!

By Jeff Simpson

James O Keefe had always played Gilligan to Andrew Breitbardt's Skipper. While they had been popular in the far right circles, they really bust onto the scene when they did their hidden camera exclusive on community organizing group ACORN!  

A quick rundown, Mack Daddy  James O' Keefe(JOK) and his strumpet girlfriend Hannah Giles paraded into local ACORN offices and "pretended" to be a pimp/prostitute.   A combination of poor judgement of a couple staffers, ridiculous claims and heavily edited video's it made it appear as though they were willing to help with OKeefe with human trafficing, child prostitution and tax evasion.  JOK & his prop even went on Fox News racistly dressing the part. 

After all it must be a corrupt organization to help someone out dressed like this right?  The problem is he only dressed like that to go on Fox News, never in the ACORN offices.   Despite the slander and lies of Fox News and Andrew Breitbardt, ACORN was cleared of ALL charges!  This story stunk so bad even crazy John Stossel passed on it! 

Thanks to our court system and Open records, we now know a few things.  

1.  It turns out O Keefe and Giles were actually prostitutes.  Breitbart and his business partner paid them $120,000 for this disgusting public display!

The pair admitted under oath to signing contracts with (the now recently deceased) Andrew Breitbart and his business partner, attorney Larry Solov, for the sum total of $120,000.

 2.  They so heavily edited the video of ACORN worker Juan Carlos Vera that he was just awarded $100,000 in damages! 

According to the final 5-page agreement, signed by O’Keefe and his legal counsel Mike Madigan this past Tuesday, the boy detective now publicly “regrets any pain suffered by Mr. Vera or his family.” O’Keefe and his counsel have also consented to fork over the $100,000 within 30 business days of the settlement agreement’s being signed.

Breitbart protege O Keefe, lost the first of his many lawsuits for damaging and ruining people's lives with his own brand of "citizen journalism".  

I look forward to many more of these stories as time goes on!



 

The Girls on Fox News

Seriously?

BillO Didn't Write That!

BY Jeff Simpson

H/T Media Matters.

Fox news blowhard and loofa lover Bill O'Reilly recent book called Killing Lincoln has been a best seller, Which led to BillO also writing Killing Kennedy and has just announced he is will be writing the third in his series called Killing Jesus.

As the right wing website - Newsmax points out, it seems that BillO is following in the footsteps of an actual author -  Jim Bishop, a veteran newspaperman who once reported for the New York Daily News and later was a syndicated columnist.

The late Jim Bishop, a veteran newspaperman who once reported for the New York Daily News and later was a syndicated columnist, saw his book "The Day Lincoln Was Shot" become a runaway best-seller in 1955.
A series of similar-themed books followed, with Bishop penning "The Day Christ Died" in 1957 and then in 1968 "The Day Kennedy Was Shot" — a minute-by-minute account of JFK's 1963 shooting in Dallas.
Perhaps his most critically acclaimed book, "FDR'S Last Year," came out in 1984.
The parallels with O'Reilly are uncanny.
In 2011 O'Reilly penned a book about Lincoln, "Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever." The book, co-authored with Martin Dugard, became a New York Times best-seller with more than 5 million copies sold.
Last October, O'Reilly and Dugard followed up with "Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot," which debunks many of the conspiracy myths holding that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone in the assassination of the president.
It too became an instant best-seller, and in fact remains No. 1 on Amazon.com in several categories.
Now O'Reilly has announced that, like Bishop, he will write a book about Jesus Christ. Titled "Killing Jesus," it will recount the life and times of Jesus and the Christian legacy he left behind.

 

No word yet on when Billo will be penning a series of novels that he has come up with about the adventures of an orphaned boy wizard who goes off to Wizard school.    

In a side note, it seems that the Ford's Theatre gift shop will NOT be selling BillO's book, due to "lack of documentation and factual errors".   

Who knew?  

Paul Ryan's Ego!

This could be THE best four minutes of video I have seen in ages.

It seems President Obama gave a speech condemning the Paul Ryan (R-Wall St.) ridiculous budget and Paul Ryan (R- Ayn Rand) was sitting front row, center for the verbal abuse.    The stories of Paul Ryans tremendous (unearned) ego are not just stories, he ran out of the speech immediately after with his tail between his legs and ran right to Fox News to whine and show everyone that he was not actually paying attention to what the President had to say!

“I mean, Jesus, it was heavy,” former Sen. Alan Simpson told FRONTLINE. “He didn’t use Ryan’s name, he just made fun of anyone who could propose anything like what he had read recently as a proposal presented to the House Republican leadership that did this to old people, and it went on and on. It was tough. And it was nasty.”
White House economic adviser Gene Sperling chased Ryan down after the speech. “All I was trying to do was to let him know that — that we didn’t know they were coming,” Sperling told FRONTLINE. “His response was that he felt the President had ‘poisoned the well.’”
The episode, titled “Cliffhanger,” airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET, coinciding with Obama’s State of the Union address. It details the budget clashes to come, following the fiscal cliff deal, and covers House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) disappointment after his “Plan B” fiscal cliff proposal failed.

Watch "Poisoning the Well" on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.