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Americans Love Their Socialism

Bernie Sanders Voted The Most Popular Senator In The US

A new poll found that Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has been voted the most popular senator in the United States.
A Morning Consult poll of 75,000 voters in all 50 states found that Sanders has the highest approval rating with his constituents of any senator in the country. Sanders has an 83% approval rating in Vermont. The second most popular senator was moderate Republican Collins of Maine (78%). Third was John Barasso of Wyoming (73%), and fourth was Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont (71%).
The pollsters pointed out that senators from smaller states tend to have higher approval ratings, “Members from smaller states tend to have higher approval ratings: All 14 senators from states with just three electoral votes sport approval ratings north of 50 percent, and seven have approval ratings higher than 60 percent.”
A 2011 PPP poll found that Sanders was the country’s third most popular senator with a 67% approval rating. In the years since, Sanders has become even more beloved by voters in Vermont.
The popularity of Bernie Sanders is no fluke. Sen. Sanders has been popular for years. The only reason he flew under the radar until he ran for president was the bias within the corporate press that causes them to ignore popular liberals and progressives. The media has been conditioned to reject liberals by decades of wingnut badgering about media bias.

The presidential campaign has helped Bernie Sanders go mainstream, but he was already hugely popular. His run for president is helping Sanders become one of the most powerful figures on the left, and definitely the country’s top grassroots leader.
Whether or not Sen. Sanders wins the Democratic nomination, his campaign has been good for the Democratic Party, liberalism, and has given voice to millions of ordinary Americans who are trampled and ignored in our current political system.

Democrats Are The Inclusive Party As 81 Percent Of Iowa Democrats Welcome Syrian Refugees

81 percent of likely Iowa Democratic caucus goers support accepting Syrian refugees into the United States.…

A Quinnipiac University poll of Iowa Democratic caucus goers, released on November 25th, found a competitive race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, with Clinton leading the race 51 percent to 42 percent over Sanders. Beyond the horse race numbers, the poll also revealed an important truth about Democratic voters.
While wingnuts are cowering in fear over the prospects of Syrian refugees settling in the United States, Democrats are overwhelmingly in favor of welcoming the refugees. 81 percent of likely Iowa Democratic caucus goers support accepting Syrian refugees into the United States, compared to just 13 percent who oppose accepting the refugees.
The welcoming spirit of Iowa Democrats contrasts with the fearful approach being taken by many Americans in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks. A recent Bloomberg Politics poll, for example, found that 53 percent of Americans wanted to reject all Syrian refugees, and an additional 11 percent wanted to admit only 'christian' refugees.
The Democrats’ approach to the refugee crisis stands in sharp contrast to the hysteria being drummed up by wingnut politicians, who have exploited fears of terrorism to whip up anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment. To their credit, all three Democratic presidential candidates have expressed their desire to continue to admit refugees into the United States. That position aligns well with Iowa Democrats, who are committed to the same position.
President Obama has also staunchly defended the policy of allowing refugees to enter the country. Many House Democrats caved to fear and opposed the resettlement, but those nervous Democrats are a minority within their party. As Iowa Democrats have made clear, the activists who are willing to attend precinct caucuses to determine the future of the party, are strongly in favor of an inclusive America that does not shut its doors on refugees in need.

Democrats who favor refugee entry, will be well served by any of the current Democratic presidential contenders. Democrats will continue to push for an inclusive America, and Iowa Democrats will lead the way when they cast their votes in the nation’s first presidential caucuses.

Republican Stupidity Forces John Kerry To Explain the Vetting Process For Syrian Refugees

In a letter sent to all governors, Sec. Kerry had to explain again which refugees are getting priority (hint: it's not the terrorists) and that the Syrian refugees…

 

As you can imagine, Secretary of State John Kerry is a busy man. He’s flying all over the world to hold diplomatic talks with various heads of state because that’s his job. But now he has another job: the job of redundant explainer of the Syrian refugee screening process to the slow, the fact-challenged, and the fearful.

In the wake of the Obama administration’s announcement that we would be increasing our acceptance of Syrian refugees from 1,682 in fiscal year 2015 to 10,000 in fiscal year 2016, Governors like Walker (R-WI) issued meaningless but stern refusals to Syrian refugees based on a false belief that there is no vetting process.
Walker believes, for example, “It has become apparent there are not proper security procedures in place to appropriately background and accurately ascertain the identities of those entering our country through the Syrian refugee program.”
How this has become apparent to the man whose failure to grasp foreign policy — even at the frayed edges — contributed to his early drop out as a pretender candidate is anyone’s guess. I’ll go with right wing blogs for $100.00.
Thus, Kerry and Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson were forced to send letters (published Monday but issued Friday) to all state governors and to the mayor of D.C., even after the White House already had a phone call with governors around the country during which they explained the procedures. Which were already laid out in multiple places on the web, which is still open and even free to use. Nothing like a little government waste.
Kerry had to explain again which refugees are getting priority (hint: it’s not the terrorists):

“It is important to note that the overwhelming majority of Syrian refugees we have accepted and will accept are families, victims of torture, and children… A very small proportion of these refugees have been, or will be, adult males who are not accompanied by children nor joining families in the U.S., and those adult males who are accepted will generally be especially vulnerable adults, such as survivors of torture, LGBT individuals, or those with disabilities.”

By all means, we should refuse to open our doors as even France opens its doors to Syrian refugees. After all, nothing says giving in to terrorism like turning our backs on orphans and disabled refugees of terrorism.
Republican governors are pretending that the House bill that President Obama dropped the veto hammer on would make security stronger, when in fact it is not only redundant but its true goal appears to opponents to be to ban all refugees from entering the country in what Republicans are calling a “pause.”
The Obama administration said of the wingnut bill, “This legislation would introduce unnecessary and impractical requirements that would unacceptably hamper our efforts to assist some of the most vulnerable people in the world, many of whom are victims of terrorism, and would undermine our partners in the Middle East and Europe in addressing the Syrian refugee crisis.”
Oh, so unnecessary and impractical. Sounds about right for the House, where they clearly think they know national security better than the DHS, DOD, and FBI, in spite of their repeated leaking of classified information from their Benghazi witch hunts. Okay then.
Kerry reminded governors that our screening process for Syrian refugees is the most robust process, “It is the most robust screening process for any category of individuals seeking admissions into the United States… Additional precautions have been added with regard to Syrian refugees.”
Republicans (and a few Democrats) are desperately whipping up fear and then trying to play Big Man on Campus by demanding stronger screenings, when they don’t seem to be aware of the actual existing process, let alone the fact that their “more rigorous” screening suggestions are redundant at best, and wasteful and showboaty at worst.
Republicans can’t let an opportunity to waste government resources while bad-mouthing Obama and instilling panic in the public just pass them by. Nope. Every tragedy is fodder for fear, dirt, and mud.
Next up: The Obama administration forced to publish “Syrian Refugees for Dummies” booklet to be passed around D.C. with high hopes.

Democrats Demand That Hypocrite Republicans Stop Supporting Arming US Terror Suspects

36 members of the Senate Democratic caucus sent a letter to McConnell (R-KY) demanding that he and Ryan (R-WI) allow a vote on a bill that would block gun sales to suspected terrorists.
In their letter 34 Democrats along with Independent Sens. Bernie Sanders and Angus King wrote:
Republicans and Democrats alike — should have the opportunity to do their part to keep our country safe by ensuring terrorists cannot obtain firearms and explosives. By passing the bill, we could save American lives and help prevent terrorists from obtaining dangerous weapons.
….
There is no reason why suspected terrorists who we consider too dangerous to board airplanes should be able to walk into any gun store in the United States and purchase a firearm or an explosive for the purpose of carrying out a terrorist act. But today, suspected terrorists can legally purchase guns in the United States — and they’re doing so, even while law enforcement may be investigating them or pursuing their arrest or indictment.

If Republicans want to prevent a Paris style terrorist attack in the United States, their top priority should be to close the loophole that allows suspected terrorists to buy guns. Paul Ryan signaled early opposition to the bill that would prevent terror suspects from legally buying guns by saying,”We are just beginning this process of reassessing all of our security stances.”

House Republicans had no qualms about acting quickly to pass a bill that keep orphaned Syrian refugee children out of the country, but they want to take their time on a bill that would prevent terror suspects from buying guns.
The NRA is opposed to the bill because potential terrorism money is just as green as anybody else’s. The NRA is hiding their opposition to the legislation behind concerns that innocent Americans may be denied their guns if they are placed on the terror watch list.
Republicans are the NRA are supporting legally arming individuals to commit acts of terror against American citizens.
American lives are being placed in jeopardy because Republicans and the NRA would rather sell guns than stop terrorists.

America's Political Landscape Providing Fresh Soil for Fascism

America's Political Landscape Providing Fresh Soil for Fascism

Republicans Just Don’t Get Stephen Colbert: The Fox News-Watching, Science-Denying Crowd Is Stumped by Satire

Republicans Just Don’t Get Stephen Colbert: The Fox News-Watching, Science-Denying Crowd Is Stumped by Satire

John Oliver hits a nerve: Fox hosts whine after HBO host debunks their anti-refugee paranoia

John Oliver hits a nerve: Fox hosts whine after HBO host debunks their anti-refugee paranoia

Alan Grayson rips Rubio for using Syrian refugees to score political points

‘That’s pathetic’: Alan Grayson rips Rubio for using Syrian refugees to score political points

Trump Probably Doesn’t Want You To Know Who’s Making His ‘GREAT’ Hats

The irony is deliciously palpable…
Read more 

In The Battle For The Soul Of The Republican Cabal, Trump’s “White Nationalism” Is Winning

Trump, who is running a blatantly racist and xenophobic campaign, holds a double digit lead in the wingnut pretender race. …

Thanksgiving week began with two national polls showing Trump holding a double digit lead over his nearest wingnut opponent. The two polls demonstrated the incredible resiliency of Trump’s campaign. With each outlandish statement Trump makes on the campaign trail, pundits predict his political demise, only to find Trump holding steady or gaining strength after each supposed gaffe.
What beltway pundits have not seemed to grasp yet, is that Trump’s racist slip ups and his verbal tirades are not a bug, but rather a feature of his campaign. Trump is running as a white nationalist, and his campaign appeals to racists, bigots, xenophobes and insecure white voters who are growing uneasy with an increasingly multicultural America.
Since Trump is a major party candidate, the media has been overly cautious in avoiding labeling Trump a racist, but his campaign has not been cautious about demonstrating that Trump is in fact, a racist. Trump’s blatant racism was on full display on Sunday when he tweeted bogus crime statistics from a neo-Nazi twitter user, falsely claiming that 81 percent of white murder victims are killed by black perpetrators. The real percentage is 15 percent. The vast majority of white murder victims (82 percent) are killed by other white people.
While Trump’s tweet elicited some shocked outrage, his racism has been on display throughout his entire campaign. So far, it is serving him well politically. He kicked off his campaign by accusing Mexican immigrants of being rapists and criminals, and he has called for revisiting Dwight Eisenhower’s “Operation wetback” to deport undocumented immigrants.
Furthermore, Trump has lied about witnessing New Jersey Muslims celebrating the fall of the twin towers on 9-11, using that malicious propaganda to malign Muslim-Americans. In addition to drumming up anti-Islamic and anti-Arab hysteria through lies, Trump has also called for tracking Muslims in America through a national database. He has also suggesting shutting down American mosques.

At a recent Trump event, a “black lives matter” protester was assaulted by several Trump supporters. Violence against “black lives matter” demonstrators has also spilled fresh blood on America’s streets, with anti-black assailants apparently opening fire on protesters in Minneapolis.
Trump’s pretender campaign has been dominated by ugly racist rhetoric and a slew of lies that promote a white supremacist agenda. Wingnut leaders should denounce Trump unequivocally, but many of them are silent or timid in their criticisms of Trump, because he is resonating with the wingnut base. Wingnut voters may reject the notion that they are white nationalists, but as long as Trump is leading the race while running an explicitly racist and xenophobic campaign, their claims to being anything other than white nationalists will ring hollow.

It's Been Fun. But Seriously, Folks, It's The Presidency.

Knowing they have nothing to offer their followers, the Republican cabal keeps coming up with irrelevant attention-getters, hoping nobody will notice.

Time For The Rest Of The Media To Label Trump As A Liar

Rachel Maddow called it out. But other media outlets are shy about saying the word.

Trump’s “toothpaste politics”

Trump’s “toothpaste politics”

Trump lies faster than the media, and his opponents, can keep up.

Trump Campaign: We Gave You Proof Of Muslim 9/11 Celebrations But You Suppressed It

But of course, the Trump campaign can’t admit their narcissist lied….

Read full story

Fact Checkers Bust Trump For Two Racist Lies In Less Than A Week

This week alone, PolitiFact has already given Trump two Pants on Fire ratings, both stemming from his racist beliefs.…

Rarely has a politician consistently fared that well under a fact check, but things are particularly dire for wingnut front-runner Trump, who talks first and thinks later — if ever.

This week alone, PolitiFact has already given The Dumbass two Pants on Fire ratings, both stemming from his unfounded, conspiracy-oriented, racist beliefs.
The first was for a tweet in which the wingnut falsely claimed that blacks are responsible for 81% of white homicides. Not so. Who is to blame for white homicides? Well, this is awkward, but it’s white people.
Of course the perfidy goes deeper than just some inaccurate statistics. Trump tweeted those inaccurate statistics one day after a black activist was was shoved, tackled, and punched at a Trump rally in Alabama.
The Washington Post had a reporter in the crowd who reported that “one of the men put his hands on Southall’s neck and heard a female onlooker repeatedly shout: ‘Don’t choke him!'”
Trump’s reaction to this? Blame the victim and say it’s what he gets for exercising his free speech rights. From the Washington Post:

Trump said Sunday that the protester who interrupted his rally at a convention center here on Saturday morning was “so obnoxious and so loud” that “maybe he should have been roughed up.”

The agency cited in Trump’s image in crime stats doesn’t exist, so that’s comforting for a presidential contender, but it does explain why it’s so hard to get through to wingnuts. They live in a false construct supported by epistemic closure.
The year is also not over, but the stats cited by Trump are for “2015”, so that’s problematic. Actual stats are not released yet because, you know, the year isn’t over yet. But PolitiFact had a gander at 2014 and the actual number of whites killed by blacks is 15%, as opposed to Trump’s claim of 81%. Yeah, that’s a huge difference.
And it’s not a one-off. PolitiFact notes this has been the trend for decades, “Trump cast blacks as the primary killers of whites, but the exact opposite is true. By overwhelming percentages, whites tend to kill other whites. Similarly, blacks tend to kill other blacks. These trends have been observed for decades.”
It’s worth noting that Little Green Footballs traced the image Trump used and it led to a symbol of the neo-Nazi German Faith Movement with a bio warning, “Should have listened to the Austrian chap with the little moustache.”
So, neo-Nazi associations praising Hitler. Not a good look for a prestender candidate.
This earned Trump a Pants on Fire.
Then Trump got another one- two in one week, and we’re not done yet, it’s only Tuesday. On Saturday during a speech, Trump said, “I watched in Jersey City, N.J., where thousands and thousands of people were cheering” (as the World Trade Center collapsed).
On This Week with George Stephanopolous Sunday, Trump doubled down, saying he witnessed “thousands and thousands” of Arab people in New Jersey cheering the fall of the World Trade Towers on 9/11.
When Stephanopulous seemed dubious, Trump countered, “It was on television. I saw it. It was well covered at the time, George.”
Oh, it was on “television”. AKA Fox News. AKA it didn’t happen that way. Yes, it turns out it is an urban myth, spurred on in part by “chain emails and perpetuated by shock jock Howard Stern’s radio show.” Doesn’t that just scream “pretenderish” to you?
PolitiFact wrote, “This defies basic logic. If thousands and thousands of people were celebrating the 9/11 attacks on American soil, many people beyond Trump would remember it. And in the 21st century, there would be video or visual evidence.” And thus they slapped Pants on Fire on Trump’s Arabs cheering in New Jersey urban myth.
Trump earned another Pants on Fire for this one. There were people cheering (sick), but they weren’t in the U.S..
So dies another two lies with the reality based community. Which of course excludes the Trump voters, lucky for him.
Perhaps this is what Trump means when he says he’s not a “politician” – he knows nothing about politics and doesn’t care to learn. So he will just believe whatever he wants to, and if you challenge him, well, that makes you an enemy deserving of being choked. For the freedom.

New York Times Shreds Trump’s ‘Racist Lies’ In Scathing Editorial

New York Times Shreds Trump’s ‘Racist Lies’ In Scathing Editorial

The editors of the New York Times have recently taken Republican pretender candidate Trump to task for the racist comments he’s made about...

O’Reilly Obliterates Trump On-Air For Proving Liberals Correct

Trump gets a total roasting from O’Reilly for letting the liberals win.
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Montel Williams: 3 Glorious Days Of Smacking The Shit Out Of Trump Trolls On Twitter

Montel shows the uneducated, low information Trump bigot brigade why he’s the better man.

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Black Man Attacked At Trump Rally: They Called Me ‘Monkey’ And ‘Nigger’ As They Beat Me

The protester attacked by Trump supporters says the Republican’s fans prove “all lives matter” means “shut up, nigger.”

Read more 

If it quacks ..

Wingnuts Have a Very Twisted View of What Pro-Family Means

Wingnuts Have a Very Twisted View of What Pro-Family Means

Carson tells anti-choice cabal: Abortion is like slavery, not ‘an issue of women’s rights’

Carson tells anti-choice cabal: Abortion is like slavery, not ‘an issue of women’s rights’

Cruz knows less about climate science than the average kindergartner

Scientists: Cruz knows less about climate science than the average kindergartner

Climate change is perhaps the most daunting global problem facing humanity. But when it comes to climate science, at least one candidate to lead the world’s most powerful nation is only as informed as the average kindergartner.

Cruz boasts about endorsement from anti-gay pastor and convicted stalker

Cruz boasts about endorsement from anti-gay pastor and convicted stalker

Wingnut pretender candidate Cruz considers it a boasting point that a convicted stalker religious fanatic has endorsed him.

Jeb: We should check Syrian refugees’ names and birth certificates to determine if they’re 'christian'

Jeb: We should check Syrian refugees’ names and birth certificates to determine if they’re 'christian'

On Tuesday, Jeb (R) said he believes the quickest way to separate 'christian' Syrian refugees from Islamic Syrian refugees would be to ask them their names and have a look at their birth certificates.

Palin Gets SCHOOLED By Seth Meyers After She Defends Wingnut Refugee Bigotry

Meyers proves Palin doesn’t know a damn thing about what she’s talking about. This is a thing of beauty.

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Narcissistic Religio-Wingnut Preacher: Criticizing Me Is Just Like Criticizing Dog Himself

Narcissistic Religio-Wingnut Preacher: Criticizing Me Is Just Like Criticizing Dog Himself

The Republican cabal is really scrambling to secure the vote of religious bigots. Included in these efforts is, of course, courting the most extreme lunatic fringe religio-wing preachers...

Limbaugh's 'Waterboarding' Rationale Is So Stupid, It Hurts

Limbaugh justifies "waterboarding" by calling it the patriotic thing to do.

Facing A Budget Crunch, Alabama Cuts Voter ID Access While Keeping State Liquor Stores Open

"Is liquor more important than the right to vote?"