Political Jackass

Far-right blogger Michelle Malkin made a statement about the assassination of George Tiller this morning:

Late-term abortion doctor George Tiller was gunned down at his church in Kansas Sunday morning in a thoroughly evil, cold-blooded act of domestic terrorism. Yes, terrorism. Not “extremism.”

As Steve Benen writes:

We’re dealing with an act of politically-motivated violence, against a law-abiding American on American soil, intended to scare, intimidate, and change U.S. policy.

One can support or oppose abortion rights; one can defend or reject the legal medical services Tiller provided for his desperate patients. But whether yesterday’s murder constitutes domestic terrorism isn’t an especially tough call.

In other news regarding the assassination, the right wingers were showing their true colors on twitter.

When reading things like those tweets and seeing heinous acts of violence performed in the name of the Christian God, I have to think of the great Gandhi quote:

I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.

At what point do we realize that these far-right Christian fundamentalists are no different than fundamentalists of other religions and ideologies?

The Republican Road to Recovery must be some kind of sick joke. It includes a huge tax cut for the wealthy, reducing their taxes another 10% from what it is now, which had already been reduced 5% by Bush. Do these people not realize the tax cuts didn’t work during the past 8 years. What makes them think they will work this time? Especially such a drastic cut.

House Republican leaders called a press conference Thursday to unveil their “alternative budget.” While it was thin on specifics, it does include one major policy proposal: a huge tax cut for the wealthy.

Under the Republican plan, the top marginal tax rate would be slashed from 35 to 25 percent, facilitating a dramatic transfer of wealth up the economic scale. Anyone making more than a $100,000 would pay the top rate; those under would pay 10 percent. Source

How will the country run without all this tax revenue? Do the Republicans really want to see America crumble? It appears so.

Gov. Sarah Palin is refusing to accept more than 30 percent of the federal economic stimulus money being offered to Alaska, including dollars for schools, energy assistance and social services.

The news Thursday drew anger from those who accused Palin of putting her national political aspirations ahead of the state’s interests, and admiration from others who say she has courage to turn down money that would expand government. The state Legislature will have an opportunity to override her decision.

Palin is not taking about $288 million of the $930.7 million that Alaska is due in the federal stimulus. Palin said she is accepting the federal stimulus money that would go for construction projects, but not funding directed at government operations.

The Anchorage Daily news is even reporting that the biggest single chunk of stimulus money that Palin is turning down is $160 million for education. There’s also $17 million in Department of Labor funds (vocational rehabilitation services, unemployment services, etc.), about $9 million for Health and Social Services and about $7 million for Public Safety.

Doesn’t she realize she’s not relevant anymore? Even the Republican Party can’t be stupid enough to see her as their future. Someone needs to tell her. Really, how dumb is this woman? I guess she thinks that if she turns down the education money her constituents will be as dumb as her and keep electing her and supporting her. What a joke.

I’ve not blogged about politics for a while, mostly because I’ve been burnt out on the subject since the election.  I get this way after every national election and can’t write about politics for a long time after.  Lately, there have been things that have been bugging me though, so I’m going to go on a little rant.

Republicans
Republicans need to grow up.  I’m so sick of them publicly announcing that they want President Obama to fail.  Seriously.  How patriotic is that?  That is disgusting.  You may not agree with the guy’s policies, but he’s doing what he thinks is best for America and by wishing he fails you are wishing that America fails.  Rush Limbaugh needs to shut the hell up (so does Ann Coulter) and the Republicans actually need to reach out to the other side.  The Dems and Obama have reached out numerous times (even when I wish they hadn’t) but each and every time the hand comes across the aisle the Republicans slap it.  It’s no wonder that the polls are showing that people have a more favorable opinion of the Dems than the Republicans.

Democrats
Grow up.  You are also having problems.  Pay your taxes.  Don’t show up to the big dance with the hot date and then brag the entire time.  Yeah, you have reached across the aisle, but you have done it with a bit of smugness that you don’t really need.  I know, I know, the Republicans were like that when they were in power.  But they aren’t anymore.  There’s a reason for that.  Don’t get to cocky.

President Obama
Mr. President, you’re making some great speeches and getting some things done, but I do have some issues with you.  Stop being so eager to get support from Republicans.  They are just going to burn you.  You’ve gotten a little better lately with not caring what the Republicans think.  You even reversed Bush’s policy on funding for stem cell research, which is a definite “F You” to most Republicans, and that’s good.  Play hardball with them, especially when they aren’t doing anything to give you support and are publicly bashing everything you (and your wife) does.  They aren’t the only ones you need to play hardball with though.  Start playing hardball with Wall Street.  It is time to say no more.  Giving them more and more money isn’t going to help.  They will keep asking for more and more.  Instead, give stop giving to Wall Street and give to the people.  How about a stimulus check please?  Hell, you give me $600-$800, I know I’m going to spend that a lot more wisely than Wall Street bankers.  I’ll do something to stimulate the economy of real people.  Not the economy of corporate jets and retirement packages.

That’s all I got.  It’s a scary time right now and I’m sick of all the right-wing rhetoric being blasted my Limbaugh, Coulter, CNBC, and anyone else who wants to see the President fail.  At least when Bush was in office we didn’t want to see him fail (we knew in the back of our minds that his policies would anyway).

This is the legacy George W. Bush leaves behind.  History will not be kind to the worst president in U.S. history.  Looking back at the last 8 years it is amazing that this guy has not been charged for any of the numerous criminal activities he’s engaged in.  What is really sad is that he probably never will be either.  Nor will anyone in his administration.  So very sad.

Now that the election has come and gone I think it’s best to leave you with one thought. Obama did it, not on his own. This is a win for the millions and millions who donated money, time, and energy to bring change to this country. Your job isn’t over though. Obama cannot do this alone. You must not give up. Keep participating in government, especially all you first-time voters out there. You can’t just vote for change and expect it to come without any effort. Become involved in your local governments, let your Senators and Representatives, state and national, know your positions on issues. The only way democracy survives is by participating in it. Now that it’s been shown that we can, let’s show them that we will. Participate!

• http://tinyurl.com/682qz7 #
• Touching Story: http://tinyurl.com/5k8yfz #
• palin a victim of racism! http://tinyurl.com/6khegq what an idiot #

Stories like this is why I think Obama has to, and will, win this election.

There has been a lot of speculation that Barack Obama might win the election due to his better “ground game” and superior campaign organization.

I had the chance to view that organization up close this month when I canvassed for him. I’m not sure I learned much about his chances, but I learned a lot about myself and about this election.

Let me make it clear: I’m pretty conservative. I grew up in the suburbs. I voted for George H.W. Bush twice, and his son once. I was disappointed when Bill Clinton won, and disappointed he couldn’t run again.

I encouraged my son to join the military. I was proud of him in Afghanistan, and happy when he came home, and angry when he was recalled because of the invasion of Iraq. I’m white, 55, I live in the South and I’m definitely going to get a bigger tax bill if Obama wins.

I am the dreaded swing voter.

So you can imagine my surprise when my wife suggested we spend a Saturday morning canvassing for Obama. I have never canvassed for any candidate. But I did, of course, what most middle-aged married men do: what I was told.

At the Obama headquarters, we stood in a group to receive our instructions. I wasn’t the oldest, but close, and the youngest was maybe in high school. I watched a campaign organizer match up a young black man who looked to be college age with a white guy about my age to canvas together. It should not have been a big thing, but the beauty of the image did not escape me.

Instead of walking the tree-lined streets near our home, my wife and I were instructed to canvass a housing project. A middle-aged white couple with clipboards could not look more out of place in this predominantly black neighborhood.

We knocked on doors and voices from behind carefully locked doors shouted, “Who is it?”

“We’re from the Obama campaign,” we’d answer. And just like that doors opened and folks with wide smiles came out on the porch to talk.

Grandmothers kept one hand on their grandchildren and made sure they had all the information they needed for their son or daughter to vote for the first time.

Young people came to the door rubbing sleep from their eyes to find out where they could vote early, to make sure their vote got counted.

We knocked on every door we could find and checked off every name on our list. We did our job, but Obama may not have been the one who got the most out of the day’s work.

I learned in just those three hours that this election is not about what we think of as the “big things.”

It’s not about taxes. I’m pretty sure mine are going to go up no matter who is elected.

It’s not about foreign policy. I think we’ll figure out a way to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan no matter which party controls the White House, mostly because the people who live there don’t want us there anymore.

I don’t see either of the candidates as having all the answers.

I’ve learned that this election is about the heart of America. It’s about the young people who are losing hope and the old people who have been forgotten. It’s about those who have worked all their lives and never fully realized the promise of America, but see that promise for their grandchildren in Barack Obama. The poor see a chance, when they often have few. I saw hope in the eyes and faces in those doorways.

My wife and I went out last weekend to knock on more doors. But this time, not because it was her idea. I don’t know what it’s going to do for the Obama campaign, but it’s doing a lot for me.