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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

The Daily Drift

Editor's Note: We are back to our regularly scheduled postings.
Hey, wingnuts, yeah we're talking to you ...!  
 
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Republicans: Always running away scared... !
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Teddy

What Happened To The First Children Being Off-Limits?

Wingnuts’ Renew Attacks On Malia 
President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, sit for a family portrait in the Oval Office, Dec. 11, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.ÊNo other president has had his children attacked so relentlessly more than President Obama. It’s amazing how graceful they continue to be in spite of it.

Fact Checkers Bust Wingnuts For Their False Claim About Hillary Clinton’s Speaking Fees

hillary-clinton-laughing
Last Thursday the fact-checkers at PolitiFact busted wingnuts like Glenn Beck for their “mostly false” claim that 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton makes more money in speaking fees than the average CEO does in a year. This, they determined, “ignores critical facts.”
Conservative pundits are calling out Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for reeling in hefty speaking fees when she left the State Department, saying the big checks belie her message of addressing income inequality as she runs for the White House.
“Let’s remember one thing about this woman of the people,” conservative radio host Glenn Beck said on his May 13 show. “She knows a few things about making money. She makes more per hour at a speaking gig than the average CEO does in a year. Let me say that again: She makes more at a speaking gig in an hour than the average CEO does in a year. But let’s have her lecture us about those out of control CEO salaries.”
The set up is an attempt to confuse voters by conflating a candidate’s financial position with their policy position.
This conflation is only helpful to Republicans, whose policies are economically harmful to the 98%. Whereas the Democratic platform is full of policies that fight for the working and middle class.
But you know how Republicans are about surface. If they can just put the right face on ripping you off, they are sure you will buy it. Mitt Romney was not that face. Their bad. They’re going to do it better this time. And that starts by smearing Hillary Clinton with Mitt’s smug privilege by pretending that having money is what made Mitt so egregious. (Hint: It was not. See noblesse oblige. It was probably his contempt for those who were not rich.)
So this whole claim is specious and full of wrong turns. It’s based on a faulty premise. But it is also “mostly false”.
Looking at CEOs of large companies, Beck’s claim completely falls apart.
The data that puts Beck’s claim in the best light, from BLS, is incomplete. It doesn’t include stock options, bonuses and other benefits that typically make up an executive’s compensation package. Nor does it account for CEOs of small and medium-sized business who have ownership stakes. At the same time, it includes people classified as chief executives in the public sector, as well as in Puerto Rico — groups that drag the average salary down.
Beck’s statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it Mostly False.
So no, Hillary Clinton does not make more per hour from speaking fees than an average CEO does in a year.
This is a claim that no honest Republican or conservative would make because they are all about making money. They tell the public over and over again not to be jealous of the “success” of the CEOs the public is bailing out with hard-earned, paycheck to paycheck taxpayer money. They tell everyone to aspire to be rich. They pretend they are all about the American Dream of building yourself up from nothing when really, their policies are all about protecting the dynasties of the top 2%.
So it’s odd that Hillary Clinton actually grew up in a middle-class family, with no mommy or daddy in politics, and — like the American Dream — got herself to a great college (Wellesley College) where she worked hard enough to go on to get her law degree from Yale. Along the way, she met a man from Arkansas who was really charming and smart. Eventually, she followed him back to his home state, where they worked hard — like the American dream — until they bought a home and started a family, Ms. Clinton working at a local law firm. And then this man became the Governor of Arkansas, and one day the President of the United States! Which meant that this hard-working girl from middle-class Illinois ended up the First Lady of the United States.
After that, she became a Senator and after that, she was the Secretary of State.
Now she is running for President. In between, she is often paid well to give speeches because as you can see from my brief paraphrasing of her biography, she actually knows things about things. And someone is paying her to talk about it.
In the meantime, this woman has a political platform and policies that are all about the middle and working class. Now, sure, many don’t know this because the media won’t stop talking about a conspiracy artist’s book about her, and now today we are back at Hillary’s hair (do not pass Go). But these are her policies. They are a matter of fact and they are no surprise. She has been championing these policies her entire political career, and in fact during her husband’s political career.
Naturally, since this is the one topic that will actually impact most voters, it is the one topic that is hotly avoided by the media. But Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are both determined to use this election cycle to actually talk about issues. They want to do this for a reason. That reason is why Republicans do not want to do it and why they distract with personal attacks like this one.
MOSTLY FALSE. Try again.

Bernie Sanders On The TPP: There’s Nothing Progressive About It

Bernie Sanders On The TPP: There’s Nothing Progressive About It
“The minimum wage in Vietnam is 56 cents an hour. Workers there cannot form independent unions. What does this trade agreement have to say about that? Not a goddamned thing”.

Now Bernie Sanders Is Hitler ...

... Wingnuts Claim Fight Against Inequality Leads To ‘Concentration Camps’
Now Bernie Sanders Is Hitler: Conservatives Claim Fight Against Inequality Leads To ‘Concentration Camps’Wingnut hack  blinks, writes first “Bernie Sanders is just like Hitler” column of the election.

Republican: Iranian Ayatollah Might Be More Trustworthy than President Obama

by Allen Clifton
I’ve sometimes joked that President Obama’s success has literally made the Republican party lose its mind. While there’s always a partisan friction between Democrats and Republicans, I’ve never seen such absurdity from a political party as I have when it comes to the GOP and some of the nonsense they say about this president.
It’s almost as if they’ve pushed their propaganda for so long that they’ve actually started to believe their own lies.
Take for instance comments made by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) who basically insinuated that he trusts the Iranian Ayatollah more so than he does President Obama.
“Now, a President who was awarded the 2013 Politifact Lie of the Year, if you like your healthcare plan you can keep it, period. If you like your doctor you can keep it, period,” Johnson said. “They lied boldfaced to the American public repeatedly with Obamacare.”
“I don’t know, I hate to admit it, but in terms of this framework, do I trust President Obama, or do I trust the Ayatollah? In terms of what the framework actually says? I’m not so sure I’m trusting President Obama on this,” he continued.
Wow.
So, now we’re at a point where Republicans are going to start insinuating that President Obama is so “diabolical” that he might be more dishonest than the Ayatollah of Iran?
This is getting flat-out ridiculous.
As if it wasn’t bad enough that Republicans invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak behind the president’s back or sent a letter to Iranian officials blatantly trying to undermine his authority – now they’re honestly trying to insinuate that this president is so untrustworthy that a key leader of a nation they’ve fear-mongered about for years is someone they might trust more than our own president?
Ever since he was first elected, Republicans have shown President Obama and his administration absolutely zero respect.
Even at some of the lowest points in the Bush administration (and there were many), Democrats still never acted this way. Because while there’s always petty partisan friction between the two sides, since 2008, Republicans have bordered on basically being anti-American. That’s what these kinds of comments sound like to me. That Republicans hate and loathe this president, someone who was overwhelmingly elected by the American people per our Constitution, so much so that they’re actually showing more respect to foreign leaders – including the Ayatollah of Iran.
This is the sort of nonsense I’m talking about when I say I just can’t take these people seriously anymore. These kinds of comments aren’t being made by rational adults, they’re made by individuals who are either insane or so full of their own b.s. that they’ll basically say or do anything to slander this president.
Because we’ve literally reached a point where Republican propaganda against President Obama has gotten so absurd that not only do they show more respect toward Prime Minister Netanyahu, but at least some of them might even view the Ayatollah of Iran in higher regard than our president.
And that’s absolute lunacy.

Sorry, Jeb, The Republican Cabal Can’t ‘Embrace Science’ And Climate Denial At The Same Time


Jeb Bush says of climate change, "I don’t think the science is clear what percentage is man-made and what percentage is natural. It’s convoluted." Actually, it’s pretty easy to understand scientists’ best estimate of what fraction of recent warming is man-made — all of it.

Republican Hastert Indicted On Federal Charges

Former GOP Speaker Hastert Indicted On Federal Charges
Dennis Hastert has been a naughty boy.

Ammosexual Calls For Texas Lawmakers To Be Hung After Open Carry Bill Is Delayed

Ammosexual Calls For Texas Lawmakers To Be Hung After Open Carry Bill Is Delayed (IMAGE) The left is often criticized for our objection to open carry bills across the country. Ammosexuals accuse us of trampling all over their Second Amendment...

Teens Are Leaving Religion In Droves ...

Teens Are Leaving Religion In Droves, And That Spells Big Trouble For The GOP It is no secret to anyone who bothers to turn on a television news show or use Google that the current incarnation of the Republican Cabal is hellbent on turning America...

Creationist Claims Proof Dinos And Humans Co-Existed; Scientists Fire Up Facepalming Machine

Creationist Claims Proof Dinos And Humans Co-Existed; Scientists Fire Up Facepalming MachineCreationist Ken Ham claims he finally found proof that dinosaurs lived with Adam and Eve. This ought to be good.

Oops: Creationist digs up 60 million year old fossil in basement ...

Stock photo: Businessman facepalms (credit: Shutterstock.com)
Nernberg works for a local excavation company and came across a school of fish fossilized in sandstone while he was digging a basement in a new development.

Gun nut arrested for pointing pistol at peaceful Muslim couple she considered ‘suspicious’

A woman holds a gun in the dark (Shutterstock)Around 11:00 PM last Friday, Majida and Adly Abumayaleh drove several miles from their house in Maple Grove to pick up their teenage son from a party in a residential neighborhood. Before they were able to get out of the car, a woman approached the couple’s vehicle, demanded they roll down their windows, and became violent.

Boulder cops declare ‘rock stacking’ a jailable offense to stop local artist who spent 7 years creating sculptures

Michael Garb/Gravity Glue (Facebook) 
Michael Grab, a Boulder artist who goes by the name Gravity Glue, said that police threatened to ticket or jail him for creating stacked river rock sculptures.

‘Breathtaking in its stupidity'

Confused student listens to teacher (Shutterstock)‘Breathtaking in its stupidity': Wisconsin Republican bill would allow high school dropouts to teach high school

Fake Groping

'Woman massaging a man' [Shutterstock]  

Republicans: A Special Kind of Stupid

Arkansas DHS keeps giving 'christian' wingnuts a pass on child abuse

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar at Starbucks - Duggar Family Facebook
“(He) can’t hide behind being a 'christian', being a Republican … I’m both of those, and what do people think when you say, ‘Oh, I’m a 'christian'’ all the time? It has to stop.”

Can We Talk About The Fact That One Of Josh Duggar’s Victims Was 5-Years-Old MAX?

Can We Talk About The Fact That One Of Josh Duggar’s Victims Was 5-Years-Old MAX?
Can we please talk about the fact that one of the children Josh Duggar molested was 5-years-old at most?