The Revolution is Not Over, My Friends

Wingnuts have for a long time controlled the discourse on freedom and liberty, but these are liberal ideals, and we must take them back…

It says “We the People,” not “We the Evangelical leaders” or “We the corporations”

“Liberalism is, I think, resurgent. One reason is that more and more people are so painfully aware of the alternative.”
―John Kenneth Galbraith

Elisabeth Hasselbeck complained last week during a segment on a school that actually dared to teach its students about Islam, that,

A couple of years ago, the same high school fell under critique, by the way, for passing out a crossword puzzle to students that defined conservatism as “the political belief of preserving traditional moral values by restricting personal freedoms.

She was laughing by the time she finished saying this, as though in disbelief that anyone could suggest something so outrageous.

But it’s true.

Liberalism is about liberty. Conservatism is about defending the status quo, and, as Timothy Ferris writes in The Science of Liberty (2010), conservatives are “upholders of tradition.” As for liberalism, “Liberty means the observance of human rights and freedoms.”

No document in history is more dedicated to the idea of rights and freedoms than the United States Constitution. And to the idea that we all have these rights and freedoms.

Now granted, as Ferris points out, there are liberals and there are liberals – classical (“original”) liberals versus “leftists” – American liberalism that as often as not includes progressives, and they are not identical because, as Ferris points out, progressivism values equality over liberty, outcome over freedom of choice.

To define the two, Ferris provides examples of their accomplishments: for liberalism, “women’s suffrage and the thwarting of racial and sexual discrimination”) and for progressivism, “universal health care and state pension plans such as Social Security.” And of course, as with most things, the lines are blurred. Many of us are more or less liberal or progressive or conservative in different areas. The case of socially liberal conservatives is well known (today they are called RINOs).

But the truth is, most of us don’t think about whether or not wanting environmental regulations in the first place, and demanding they actually be enforced in the second, makes us liberal or progressive. We just want clean air and water for us and our children. Definitions are secondary – and often confusing. We just know that if we grant corporations the freedom to do what they want, they will make us serfs and poison our air, water, and food.

Conservatives are more than willing to help out with definitions by imposing their either/or paradigm. They are the ones who stand for freedom. Liberalism is a mental disorder, something better in theory than in practice. And indeed, they have controlled “freedom” discourse in this country for a long time, even while they themselves are freedom’s greatest enemies.

And look at how it has worked out: Religious Tyranny disguised as Religious Freedom laws. The right to persecute and to discriminate, to make some more equal than others, is somehow freedom: simply put, restricting freedom is somehow freedom, and granting more freedom is somehow tyranny.

If, in practice, the lines are often blurred, in theory, and by its very definition, liberalism is the antithesis of tyranny. And Ferris reminds us that, “Liberalism is inherently nonpartisan: it means freedom for all, or it means nothing for all.” We are all diminished when some among us are not free.

Examples are easy to find: freeing the slaves, giving blacks the same right to a political voice the rest of us possessed; granting women the right to vote, or to control their own biological functions; granting equal rights to atheists, or to gays and lesbians, or to people who are not Christian.

We have, since the Constitution was written, been inching incrementally forward, spreading that freedom to groups that once did not have it.

And we are not through: women can now vote, but they cannot earn as much as a man can in the same position. And to show just how far we have to go, look at the argument of South Carolina Republicans that they have the right to discriminate not only against gays, but against women – a classic defense of the status quo, that women and gays are lesser people, if they are people at all.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck laughs at the idea that conservatism is anti-freedom even while Republican Party fights day and night against freedom. You can hardly look at the news without seeing a fresh example of Republican repression, from voter suppression laws to the so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Indiana to David Barton’s call to outlaw “homosexuality.”

The American left tends to see freedom as something that must extend to everybody if it is to have any meaning, and to that extent, many who call themselves progressives are classically liberal. We want everybody to be able to vote. Conservatives want to restrict the vote, as a whole slew of voter suppression acts demonstrate, or take Ann Coulter’s recent call to revisit the idea of literacy tests as a pre-requisite to voting.

By the same token, we want atheists to be treated like people, or blacks, or Heathens like me, or women, or disabled people, or Latinos, or Muslims, or gays or lesbians or transgenders. The United States Constitution says (if you exclude the late and unlamented three-fifths compromise that enshrined slavery) we are all equal before the law.

To that extent, liberalism and progressivism are joined as one: equality is mandated by the law of the land: you do not have the freedom to be “inherently” better than your fellow citizens because we are all endowed with the same inalienable rights. The problem is in seeing this laudable goal through to its conclusion and against the entrenched view that the Bibles makes some people better than others.

We can differ as to how best get there, we liberals and progressives, but one thing is certain: conservatism, with its devotion to the status quo, stands in the way. Conservatives are not now, and have never been, defenders of liberty or champions of freedom.

The United States Constitution is by definition a liberal document. A “Constitutional Conservative” is an oxymoron and a logical impossibility. The American Revolution was a liberal revolution. It shook the status quo to its foundations to a degree that terrified even the Founding Fathers, thus one of the underpinnings of the Constitution itself, to corral these “excesses of democracy.”

Liberals and progressives are sometimes at odds, and should be. It is part of the discourse of finding solutions to debate. But in America, right now, the discourse of freedom is the property of a more or less unified left, and we must put an end to its hijacking by the right.

We cannot grant the freedoms we want to extend to our fellow citizens without also taking the word back, and restoring its true meaning as a counterpoise – and a solution to – an entrenched status quo.

The revolution is not over my friends.

Obama Turns The Tables On GOP By Invoking god and The Children In Climate Change Fight

President Obama says climate change threat can’t be ignored.

President Obama turned their own argument against Republicans by suggesting that we must act against climate change to protect the nation’s God-given natural wonders, and our children from disaster and harm.

The President said:

Wednesday is Earth Day, a day to appreciate and protect this precious planet we call home. And today, there’s no greater threat to our planet than climate change.

2014 was the planet’s warmest year on record. Fourteen of the 15 hottest years on record have all fallen in the first 15 years of this century. This winter was cold in parts of our country – as some folks in Congress like to point out – but around the world, it was the warmest ever recorded.

And the fact that the climate is changing has very serious implications for the way we live now. Stronger storms. Deeper droughts. Longer wildfire seasons. The world’s top climate scientists are warning us that a changing climate already affects the air our kids breathe. Last week, the Surgeon General and I spoke with public experts about how climate change is already affecting patients across the country. The Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate risks to our national security.

And on Earth Day, I’m going to visit the Florida Everglades to talk about the way that climate change threatens our economy. The Everglades is one of the most special places in our country. But it’s also one of the most fragile. Rising sea levels are putting a national treasure – and an economic engine for the South Florida tourism industry – at risk.

So climate change can no longer be denied – or ignored. The world is looking to the United States – to us – to lead. And that’s what we’re doing. We’re using more clean energy than ever before. America is number one in wind power, and every three weeks, we bring online as much solar power as we did in all of 2008. We’re taking steps to waste less energy, with more fuel-efficient cars that save us money at the pump, and more energy-efficient buildings that save us money on our electricity bills.

So thanks in part to these actions, our carbon pollution has fallen by 10 percent since 2007, even as we’ve grown our economy and seen the longest streak of private-sector job growth on record. We’ve committed to doubling the pace at which we cut carbon pollution, and China has committed, for the first time, to limiting their emissions. And because the world’s two largest economies came together, there’s new hope that, with American leadership, this year, the world will finally reach an agreement to prevent the worst impacts of climate change before it’s too late.

This is an issue that’s bigger and longer-lasting than my presidency. It’s about protecting our God-given natural wonders, and the good jobs that rely on them. It’s about shielding our cities and our families from disaster and harm. It’s about keeping our kids healthy and safe. This is the only planet we’ve got. And years from now, I want to be able to look our children and grandchildren in the eye and tell them that we did everything we could to protect it.

Republicans reflexively invoke God and the children to justify virtually every single one of their unpopular positions. Some extremists on the right invoke God as a reason nothing can be done about climate, or they argue that the planet will fix itself.

The President cleverly turned the Republican argument around. Human beings have a duty to protect the natural wonders that were given to them by God. To neglect this duty would be akin to abusing a gift from Almighty.

Republicans never mention “the children” while discussing climate change. Conservatives only worry about “the children” while legislating morality or trying to take away women’s rights. The children don’t have a say in the Republican plan to let the planet be destroyed in the name of corporate profits.

Science denial is a losing argument for Republicans, and it looks like even God and “the children” are on the side of Democrats when it comes to protecting our planet.

Republicans Admit Defeat and Silently Surrender In Their War On Obamacare

While Republicans aren't waving the white flag publicly, the GOP is becoming quietly aware that they have lost their war against Obamacare. …

Republican presidential candidates still try to drum up support by attacking Obamacare, but behind the scenes the Republican Party has quietly transitioned from pushing repeal, towards begrudgingly accepting many of the key provisions of Obamacare. According to a Saturday piece by Noam N. Levey at the LA Times, Republican congressional leaders are unwilling to threaten another government shut down to try to overturn Obamacare.

Furthermore, Republican leaders have silently incorporated many of Obamacare’s main protections into their own counter-proposals. For example, the most detailed GOP alternative plan to Obamacare, being pushed by Senators Orrin Hatch (UT) and Richard Burr (NC), and Rep. Fred Upton (MI-06), can best be described as “Obamacare light”. The Hatch-Burr-Upton plan includes guaranteeing coverage for pre-existing conditions, allowing young adults to stay on their parent’s plans, and providing government subsidies to help low-income consumers purchase insurance, all key components of Obamacare.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has now been the law of the land for over five years. Congressional Republicans have voted over 50 times unsuccessfully to repeal it, but despite their relentless efforts, they have been unable to overturn the law. Having failed repeatedly, some Republican leaders are signaling their desire to move on to other priorities.

With 22 million Americans directly benefiting from the law, and with uninsured rates plummeting from 18 percent to under 12 percent for American adults, many Republicans are beginning to recognize the folly of repealing the law.

Bashing Obamacare is still fashionable in GOP political circles, but for a significant number of Republicans, the attacks are now simply empty rhetoric designed to rally the base. Despite the harsh words, many GOP politicians now lack the willpower to actually strip away coverage from over 20 million Americans. When it comes to taking away their constituents’ health care, talk is cheap, but action is politically risky.

As long as Republicans confine their attacks to the abstract concept of Obamacare their words are well-received by conservative voters, but actual repeal of the ACA would have a negative impact on many Republican and Independent voters who, perhaps unwittingly, are some of the law’s primary beneficiaries. If they lose their insurance, they may finally put two and two together, and direct their retribution at the Republican politicians responsible.

With an impending Supreme Court ruling coming that might reshape the debate on Obamacare, Democrats should not yet declare victory. While an unfavorable Supreme Court ruling could prove double-edged for the GOP, it could also erode the health care progress America has made with the passing of the ACA.

However, regardless of how the Court rules in the King v. Burwell case, one thing is clear. For Republicans, repealing Obamacare was a far easier goal to achieve before it started helping 22 million Americans. Now that the law is working, the Republicans have little choice but to surrender and give up their war on Obamacare. While many party leaders aren’t waving the white flag publicly, the Republican Party is quietly aware that they have lost their war against Obamacare.

House Republicans still trying to cut taxes for the rich, Obama still trying to help others

Once again, the House is gearing up for a vote to repeal the estate tax, a little ritual Republicans have routinely embraced since the turn of the millennium. So much for fresh ideas. They may not have gotten the memo but tax cuts for the rich aren't broadly popular and they haven't proven to do anything to help the economy, which is basically what the White House said in response. Bernie Becker has the details:

Jason Furman, the chairman of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, cast the estate tax repeal as a giveaway to the richest of the rich - helping just 5,400 families out of the millions in the U.S. 

"That's not even a tax cut for employers," Furman said on a conference call with reporters. "That's a tax cut on the wealth of some of the very wealthiest people in the country."

So wealthy, in fact, that it affects families whose fortunes are around $11 million, not to mention the fact that it would hit the federal government with a $270 billion loss over the course of a decade. According to the White House, that tax break would affect only about 970 families while President Obama's suggested tax break for two-earner households would help more than two million families.
The president has also floated new credits for child care, overhauling education incentives and expanding preferences like the Earned Income Tax Credit - all to be paid for by raising the tax rate on capital gains and other tax hikes aimed at the wealthy.
Furman and Munoz maintained Monday that those proposals would augment the tax changes that Obama has already implemented - including raising the tax rates on the country's highest earners - that they said had helped boost the current economic recovery.

"I don't think the vast majority of economists would tell you that eliminating the estate tax is the way to raise wages for middle class families," Furman said.

Nor would the middle-class families tell you that.

More

Stephen King On GOP Presidential Field: ‘Hey, I Thought I Was Supposed To Write The Horror Stories’

You have to love Stephen King – well, unless you’re a Republican.

Read more 

New Hampshire Dud

Scott Walker Speech Bumped To A Smaller Room Due To A Wedding 

In less than a month, Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) has gone from the hot Republican pretender candidate to seeing a wedding bump his New Hampshire speech to a smaller room.

Reid Epstein of The Wall Street Journal tweeted:

Reid J. Epstein        ✔ @reidepstein 

Scott Walker, getting no favors from NHGOP. His speech tonight moved into far smaller room b/c wedding taking over main venue.

11:12 AM - 18 Apr 2015

The candidate that is taking Walker’s place among Republicans is Marco Rubio (R-FL).

The Boston Globe reported that Rubio was given a prime speaking slot at the First-In-The Nation Republican Leadership Summit, “Rubio, given a prime dinner speaking slot, stressed his family’s humble roots as Cuban immigrants, who were “never rich and they were never famous,” but, a few decades removed from poverty, they owned a home and retired.” Rubio has also raised $40 million in the days after he officially launched his campaign.

New Hampshire Republicans are giving Rubio the plum speaking slots while moving Walker to a smaller room. It is easy to see what is happening. The bloom has fallen off of the Scott Walker rose. The Republican Party is moving on to their new golden boy.

Walker will still be a force in Iowa. He may even be favored depending on how Mike Huckabee fares. Even though recent a recent poll showed Walker leading in New Hampshire, it’s clear that the party establishment is pushing other candidates.

The Granite State is currently being flooded with Republican presidential candidates. All told, at least 21 potential GOP candidates are in the state this weekend. When a candidate has their speech bumped for a wedding, it’s a sign that his campaign is being minimized. After several high-profile gaffes, Walker has been hiding from the media, and it looks like the New Hampshire Republican Party is sending the message that a new flavor of the week has replaced Scott Walker.

Rand Paul Is Trying To Fool The Left Into Thinking That He Is Their Friend

There is an archaic idiom of biblical origin from Jesus Christ’s famous Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 7:15 warning the people to “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Today the saying, “beware of a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” is apropos of many Republicans posing as decent human beings pretending to care about the American people. During biblical times, wolves were regarded as greedy and malevolent predators that were a threat to the innocent, and a great number of Americans are gravitating toward a greedy malevolent politician for a variety of reasons and curiously, many are so-called progressives, liberals, and young people wary of supporting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her presidential bid.

What is sickening is that the above stated group looking for a new champion in Kentucky libertarian Rand Paul are allegedly Americans with a semblance of intelligence and possess the ability to read, research, and comprehend that there is no such thing as a beneficent libertarian. In fact, the same people that apparently hate the libertarian Koch brothers are looking on Rand Paul as a decent human being; a monumental error one expects moronic Republicans to make, but not anyone on the left.

Americans should make no mistake that Rand Paul is any different whatsoever than the most vile Koch Republican or evangelical teabagger; except for his ability to convince idiots that he cares about any American other than the very rich, the very war-happy, and the very religious. In fact, if anyone took the time to give even a cursory look at Rand Paul’s past statements and current positions, they would discover that he hates all Americans nearly as much as he hates the government he seeks to lead; one he wants to take apart on the same level as his libertarian cohorts the Koch brothers.

If there is any American who doubts that Rand Paul is not the one percent’s best hope for president, they are unaware he would give the wealthy an even bigger tax cut than Ayn Rand acolyte Paul Ryan by completely eliminating all taxes on capital gains, dividends, and other investment income. Not only does eliminating those taxes not help the economy on any level, studies show that the single biggest driver of income inequality destroying the middle class is low tax rates on investment-type income; eliminating them will finish off the middle class and send them straight to the poverty ranks to starve. No matter who proposes eliminating all investment income taxes pays for them by eliminating all domestic spending. To further hand the rich more of the nation’s wealth, Paul advocates a flat tax that cuts the highest tax rate by two-thirds and raises taxes on the poor and middle class substantially to ‘flatten out the tax burden’ and pay for the 22 percent tax cut for the richest Americans.

Libertarians believe that education is reserved for those who can afford it and subsequently like the Koch brothers, Rand Paul wants to abolish the Education Department and bring all funding for public schools to a virtual halt and leave it up to the states. He believes that states are better equipped to take care of education leaving Republican-controlled states with the freedom to impose religious education without federal government interfering on the ‘liberty’ of theocrats to “practice” religion freely.

Along with eliminating the Department of Education, and the funding that it allots to states, Paul proposes some of the Koch brothers’ favorite ideas for eliminating government interference into their ability to make unrestricted profits. Departments and agencies such as Commerce, Energy, and Housing and Urban Development, and the EPA would be the first abolished according to Rand Paul’s libertarian sensibilities, and give predatory corporations free rein to conduct business with “absolute liberty” and unrestrained from government oversight or regulations. It is what the ‘liberty’ in libertarian is all about.

Although not entirely abolishing Social Security and Medicare like the Koch brothers propose, Rand Paul proposes raising the Social Security eligibility age and privatizes both programs. An idea that not only enriches Wall Street, it wipes out workers’ savings during economic downturns while Wall Street continues drawing administrative fees. Paul’s Medicare privatization scam is more extreme that Paul Ryan’s and would radically drive up senior citizens’ healthcare costs even more than Ryan’s because the Medicare coupon is worth even less than Ryan’s plan.  Paul’s budget would raise the Social Security eligibility age and gives workers the option of opening private retirement accounts; an idea that would demolish workers’ savings during economic downturns.

One of the subjects that apparently appeals to some progressives, liberals, and young people is Rand Paul’s alleged libertarian stance favoring privacy rights and absolutely no government interference in Americans’ personal lives. It is another crock of libertarian bovine excrement. Paul adamantly opposes a woman’s right to choose her own reproductive health as much as he wants government to prevent Americans from marrying the person they love. The theocratic policies Paul supports is the definition of government intrusion and contrary to “individual liberty” he claims informs his libertarianism. To make matters worse, he is supporting government intrusion according to theocratic edict. He also claims he opposes the federal government’s surveillance practices put in place by Bush-Republicans’ Patriot Act, and yet he voted against reforming the NSA when he had the opportunity.

Maybe more curious than anything about why some on the left are supportive of Rand Paul is his opposition to equal rights for all Americans; especially gays and people of color. He is notorious for opposing the Civil Rights Act as a libertarian, particularly the provision that all Americans are treated equally under the law. Paul’s excuse for opposing civil rights is that true liberty is leaving the decision up to the states; particularly former Confederate and highly-religious states that want to restrict other Americans’ right to vote, marry the person they love, and for women to choose when they give birth. Although Paul opposes women’s liberty to choose when they give birth, he does support a man’s liberty to commit violence against women and it is likely why he voted against the Violence Against Women Act.

There is nothing whatsoever about Rand Paul’s positions or proposed agendas that should remotely appeal to any American that is not a rabid Koch Republican and evangelical teabagger. He supports more war, government intrusion for the sake of imposing religion, and yet opposes taxation on the rich, regulations that protect the people, and all government services the taxpayers’ dollars fund. Americans are predominately stupid people whether it is because they are willfully ignorant, illiterate, or under the influence of conservative media, but can almost understand why those morons would give Rand Paul more than a passing glance. However, it is a complete and enduring mystery why so-called informed Americans on the left would ever entertain the idea of supporting a greedy malevolent religious predator and racist like Rand Paul even if they are unsure about Hillary Clinton. Maybe assuming everyone on the left is semi-intelligent is a monumental error, and after considering that the Ham-Wald emoprogs love them some libertarian Rand Paul, that is certainly the case.

Clueless Republicans Turn To Job Killer Carly Fiorina As Their Answer To Hillary Clinton

Carly Fiorina, slated to be the Republican party’s 2016’s “pit bull” and “mama grizzly” presidential candidate who can attack former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with impunity because she also has ovaries, set the stage for making it all about her girlness by using Alicia Keys’ “This Girl is On Fire” as she exited the stage Saturday.

Fiorina was speaking at the First in the Nation Republican Leadership Summit in New Hampshire. She hasn’t yet officially entered the Republican primary race. In an interview, she told the interviewer that she was “not from the political class” but she does understand how the economy works. She also touted her understanding of “executive decision making” which is “making tough calls” during tough times with high stakes.

“Not being of the political class” is a pretty obvious attempt to try to diminish Hillary Clinton’s vast experience in international diplomacy as well as being a part of two administrations during which we actually added record making jobs. Fiorina is an infamous job-killer, so this is a topic she needs to gloss over quickly.

Republicans keep citing “business” experience as a qualification for being president, but if we look around at Republican governors implementing “business” expertise, it’s not looking so applicable to the economy– especially when Republicans are forced by the big money controlling the party to tout policies that don’t add up, and would thus be unlikely to be utilized by a successful business.

Fiorina tried to pull a Palin by condescendingly saying that she knew more world leaders than anyone on the presidential stage with the exception of Hillary Clinton, “But I didn’t do photo ops with them, I actually did something with them.”

This attempt at nasty fell flat. Maybe it was the lack of an audience, but she doesn’t have Palin’s presence or stunningly gluttonous appetite for cruelty. Fiorina is not a Mama Grizzly and the base requires blood lust to get fired up. She will be a boring poster “girl” for anti-feminism, but Republicans have to take what they can get these days.

There is no word yet on whether 2008 and 2012 President Obama supporter Alicia Keys gave the okay for her song to be used by the Republican, but Republicans have made a habit of abusing artists by co-opting their populist messages as cover for a distinctly pro-1% policy party.

And that is the point here. Because Republicans believe that they need to find someone of “color” to attack someone else of “color” in order to avoid being called “racists”. They use women the same way. For Republicans, it is always made personal in order to avoid discussing policy.

So Carly Fiorina is the “girl” on board, who will be used to lob sexist attacks at Hilary Clinton, demonstrating yet again that Republicans don’t understand what sexism is. Fiorina is going to be the “Republican feminist”. You know, the feminist who doesn’t believe in policies that support the feminist agenda. Yeah, that feminist.

All of this will greatly annoy voters who want to discuss things like why women don’t have equal pay yet, but when they ask that question they will be painted as tiresome and angry women who can’t get along with men and aren’t successful. Look, Carly did it, so stop being a loser, ladies! You shouldn’t ask the government to save you! (Republicans – and some Democrats – are too busy using government to save Big Oil to help actual voters.) Rinse, repeat.

Republicans need to come up with new game because this game is beyond rancid. Hillary Clinton is going populist gangbusters, hiring former Wall Street cop Gary Gensler as her CFO. Clinton is going to discuss policies for the middle and working classes. And they will listen to her because she has consistently polled as a most liked political figure.

All of the Carly Fiorina attacks in the world can’t stop Hillary Clinton from explaining that when women are paid equally, it will help middle and working class families. As to the tired Republican talking point that there is no need to regulate equal pay, if that were the case, it would no longer be a problem. But like trickle down, women are still waiting for the promised rain.

If there is a “girl” on fire in this picture, it is not Carly Fiorina.

Meet the GOP’s Newest Darling Mouthpiece Deanna Alexander

From the "Public Enemies" Department

Read More

Hey folks, because the GOP is the gift that keeps on giving, I'm pleased to present Deanna Alexander. She's …

Good Question

Louie Gohmert Blames Gyrocopter Landing On Obama's Immigration Policies

From the "Look at me, I'm fucking insane" Department:

Louie Gohmert said yesterday that “it ought to scare people” that a man was able to land a gyrocopter near the U.S. Capitol earlier this week, blaming the incident on President Obama’s immigration policy. In an 'interview' with wingnut hate speech radio hack Lars Larson, who was b... MORE

Just what you'd expect ...

Republican Compares Obamacare To North Korea

From the "Hey, look at me, I'm more fucking insane than Louie Gohmert" Department:

David Brat, R-Va., took issue with a PolitiFact post that rated a recent anti-Obamacare statement he made as “false,” telling wingnut hate speech radio hack Lars Larson at the “Hold Their Feet To The Fire” conference that the Affordable Care Act represents a s... MORE

Link Dump

Ted Cruz can't be hashtagged away

student debt strikers grow in number and power

the psychology behind environmentalism

scientific journal retracts article on plagiarism because of plagiarism

the search for the real number of police killings in the u.s.

agents who busted silk road drug ring charged with stealing bitcoins from the arrest
it's against the law to discriminate against atheists in Madison, Wisconsin
chef ticketed, facing $2,000 fine for feeding the homeless

how the media enables the anti-worker movement
5 myths about bi-polar disorder
black girls face harsher school discipline than white girls
some people may be predisposed to PTSD

tax records you can toss

main street lagging, wall street booming
how to prevent identity theft at tax time
american income, american injustice
1.3 million people killed in the war on terror
the poor get prison
trying to explain the non-existent jobless recovery
7 common tax myths
the vanity of wingnuts
superbugs could kill a million Chinese a year
the roots of frat boy racism
5 Obama successes the republicans have to pretend never happened

us weapons have a nasty habit of going AWOL

1 in 13 African Americans are prohibited from voting
being armed and trained did not help these people
why don't animals get schizophrenia?

ruins in the argentinian jungle may be those of a secret nazi hide out

the California miracle
but Wisconsin shows the biggest drop of the middle class
depression distorts your sense of time
San Diego pd body cams = fewer complaints, less use of force
us troops, contractors abused Colombian girls with impunity
gun ownership and anger issues go hand in hand
whales go through menopause

why the 99% keeps losing

Rand Paul randsplains his positions to Savannah Guthrie
and Mr. Paul is good friends with conspiracy it case Alex Jones
woman held 8 days in mental ward for saying Obama follows her on twitter - even though he does

prevent another crash, reform wall street
at least 400 doctors kill themselves every year
significant pension cuts looms for retirees
we need a new theory of capitalism

the growing degradation of work
ACLU sues for details of TSA's 'behavioral detection' program
UN women cancel partnership with Uber
the big dick school of patriotism

military children more likely to attempt suicide

5 reasons the 2016 election is the most important of our lifetimes
how Americans are brainwashed to fear the wrong thing
the earth is halfway to being inhospitable to life

most people think the wealthy don't pay their fair share in taxes

the right's made-up white supremacist jesus

wind power will be cheaper than fossil fuels within a decade

why the police are so bad at keeping women from getting murdered

Rich Neighbors Refused To Let George Lucas Build Studio, So He’s Building Affordable Housing Instead

George Lucas is best known as the man behind “Star Wars,” but for many people it will be his incredible passion for philanthropy that will...

He’s Building Affordable Housing

Hunter Trampled To Death By Elephant He Was Tracking To Kill For Ivory

Karma will get you every time! 

It is unknown if the elephant tried to harvest the hunter’s teeth afterwards.
Read more

It’s not why they suck, but ‘who they’re sucking’

Bill Maher hammers GOP on climate change: It’s not why they suck, but ‘who they’re sucking’

Court Nixes Houston Anti-LGBT Petition That Included Forged, Invalid Signatures

The law is Houston's first to ban discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or a host of other factors.

The Daily Drift

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Czluchow, Gdansk, Grodzisk, Lodz, Poland

Braga, Costa de Caparica, Portugal

Bucharest, Romania

Bolshoy Kamen, Moscow, Vladivostok, Russia

Belgrade, Serbia

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Barcelona, Madrid, Spain

Lulea, Sweden

Zurich, Switzerland

Ankara, Turkey

Dnipropetrovsk, Kiev, Ukraine

Asia

Guangzhou, Shanghai, China

Amedabad, Bangalore, Gubbi, Kolkata, Shillong, India

Bekasi, Jalarta, Indonesia

Kyoto, Japan

Amman, Jordan

Seoul, Korea

Kuwait, Kuwait

Buket Mertajam, George Town, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Port Louis, Mauritius

Islamabad, Pakistan

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Bangkok, Lat Krabang, Thailand

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Africa

Cairo, Egypt

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Tripoli, Libya

Johannesburg, Pietermaritzburg, Roodepoort, South Africa

The Pacific

Homebush, Melbourne, Sydney, Australia

North Carolina’s Governor Says Offshore Drilling Should Be Closer To Beaches

Pat McCrory says a 50-mile buffer zone is too much.

Bernie Sanders Rolls While Demonstrating How To Knock Down Fox News

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) rolled through all of Bill O’Reilly’s attempts to split the left while knocking down Fox News’s attempts to use him for propaganda purposes.

Sen. Sanders didn’t bat an eye when Bill O’Reilly began the interview by trying various techniques to get him to say something negative about Hillary Clinton. Sanders was aggressive and seized the interview from O’Reilly. He forced Bill-O to pivot away from his usual blustering attacks and towards a friendly softer tone. Sanders even got O’Reilly to admit that the top dog on Fox News agrees with him on some issues like money in politics.

What really stuck out was Sanders’s ability to shift O’Reilly and the interview anywhere he wanted it to go. It is rare that a guest on O’Reilly show is more aggressive than the host, but the senator from Vermont was aggressive without being combative. The segment never turned into a scream fest. In fact, Sanders handled Bill O’Reilly fairly easily by keeping the tone civil and not falling for the loaded questions that the Fox News host was leading trying to lead him with.

Bernie Sanders was able to successfully take apart Fox News by weeding through the bias that most of the questions were based on. Sanders took on the Fox News and showed them what a strong liberal looks and sounds like. O’Reilly could rely on his gimmick of being the voice for the “folks,” because he confronted with an authentic voice that works tirelessly for ordinary Americans.

The lesson for any member of the left who appears on Fox News is that it is important to be aggressive while not taking the questions at face value. The political motivation for Sanders to appear on Fox News is that he is trying to rally grassroots support on all sides for his potential presidential campaign.

Bernie Sanders wasn’t going to be used to divide the left ahead of 2016. In fact, it was O’Reilly who ended up bending to the iron will of the liberal champion.

4 Reasons Why State and Local Races Are Great News for Democrats

4 Reasons Why State and Local Races Are Great News for Democrats

President Obama Shined at Working Mothers Town Hall

President Obama Shined at Working Mothers Town Hall

Bad News For Republicans As Americans’ Optimism About Finances Hits An 11 Year High

The bad news keeps piling up for Republicans as a new Gallup poll found that American optimism about their own finances has reached an 11 year high.

According to Gallup:

A majority of Americans, 52%, say their financial situation is “getting better,” the highest percentage to say this since 2004. It is also the first time since the recession that this sentiment has reached the majority level.

Gallup has been asking Americans whether their financial situation is getting better or getting worse since 2001. Americans were most positive about the outlook for their personal finances in 2002, when 60% said their financial situation was getting better, while they were least optimistic about their condition in 2011 (29%), as the government showdown over raising the debt ceiling led to instability in the stock market.

Not only is there a sizable gap between young and older Americans’ views, but there is also a significant divide between Republicans’ and Democrats’ perceptions of whether their financial situation is getting better. Thirty-eight percent of Republicans say their situation is getting better while 63% of Democrats say the same. Republicans barely budged from 37% last year, while Democrats jumped 11 points from 2014. Independents’ views fall roughly in between the two main parties, with 52% saying that their situation is getting better. This matches the overall percentage of Americans who say this.

Optimism about the economy is horrible news for Republicans who have been arguing over the course of the entire Obama presidency that his policies were failing and making the economy worse. The 2016 Republican candidates have all embraced the mantra that President Obama has failed, and that the path to true economic recovery is tax cuts for the wealthy, deregulation, cuts to programs that benefit the middle-class and the poor.

The Gallup poll reveals that the only people who are buying the dire Republican rhetoric about the economy are fellow Republicans. Republican candidates who badmouth the economy run the risk of looking like they are out of touch with reality. The growing optimism is a perfect match for what us likely to be Hillary Clinton’s campaign message that she can turn the Obama economic recovery into an economic boom.

The Obama recovery is rolling, and the American people are noticing.

My Promise To Ted Cruz: I'll Buy A Gun To Fight Government Tyranny If You Win

It's what he wants, after all.

Fighting Government Tyranny

Obama Goes Off On McConnell By Calling His Senate Leadership Embarrassing

President Obama ripped Mitch McConnell without mentioning his name by calling the Senate dysfunctional and calling McConnell’s leadership embarrassing because the Kentucky Republican is refusing to call a vote to confirm Loretta Lynch.

The President mentioned the recent bit of bipartisanship in Congress then went off on Mitch McConnell for holding up a final vote on Loretta Lynch.

President Obama said:

Yet, and what we still have is this crazy situation where a woman who everybody agrees is qualified, who has gone after terrorists, who has worked with police officers to get gangs off the streets, who is trusted by the civil rights community and by police unions as being somebody who’s fair and effective and good manager. Nobody suggests otherwise. Who’s been confirmed twice by the United States for one of the biggest law enforcement jobs in the country, has been now sitting there longer than the previous seven attorney general nominees combined, and there’s no reason for it Nobody can describe a reason for it beyond political gamesmanship in the Senate on an issue that’s completely unrelated to her.

This is the top law enforcement job in the country. It’s my attorney general who has to interact with his Italian counterparts, or her Italian counterparts, in dealing with counterterrorism issues, in dealing with Interpol, in dealing with our national security, in coordinating with our FBI.

What are we doing here? And I have to say there are times where the dysfunction in the Senate just goes too far. This is an example of it. It’s gone too far. Enough. Enough. Call Loretta Lynch for a vote. Get her confirmed. Put her in place. Let her do her job.

This is embarrassing a process like this.

President Obama didn’t mention Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s name. He didn’t have to. McConnell has made it very clear that he is going to continue to block a final vote on confirming Loretta Lynch until Democrats agree to the anti-abortion language that Senate Republicans added to the human trafficking bill. McConnell is refusing to fill the top law enforcement job in the country unless Democrats agree to language that they find objectionable.

McConnell is trying to prove his power by holding Loretta Lynch’s confirmation vote hostage.

The president was right. McConnell’s games are embarrassing, but they aren’t embarrassing for Obama. Mitch McConnell is embarrassing himself and his party. What McConnell won’t publicly admit is that his party’s chances of keeping the Senate if Hillary Clinton wins the presidential election are slim. Sen. McConnell is desperate to prove that he is capable of pushing through the Republican agenda. His desperation is behind his decision to hold a final vote on the Lynch confirmation.

Obama wasn’t only criticizing Senate Republicans for playing games. The President was taking McConnell to task for his poor leadership. Mitch McConnell can’t govern, so he is pulling a page out of the Boehner playbook and ruling by dysfunction. Democrats aren’t going to cave, so the biggest loser in this whole embarrassing fiasco is destined to be Mitch McConnell.

The Republican Cabal Blasts Obama On Cuba,’Forgets’ Reagan and Bush Had Relationships With Dictators

The “do as I say, not as I do” memes that permeate today’s GOP like a fatal and infectious disease continue to reach Olympian levels of hypocrisy.

President Obama, enlisting the help of the freaking pope, shocked many when he revealed that he had been working for quite some time to bring about a rapprochement with Cuba — the feisty communist island-nation that has perturbed American presidents for decades.
The act of starting a path toward the restoration of diplomatic relations with the erstwhile enemy could be likened to the moment when President Nixon normalized relations with China. But Nixon was the original angry white guy and wasn’t exactly the Dalai Lama when it came to forgiving his enemies, so naturally he wasn’t excoriated by the democratic opposition for his actions.
Senator Marco Rubio, perhaps upset that he couldn’t find a bottled water and looking to take a shot at the president to cement a potential 2016 run, slammed President Obama over his actions on Cuba.  Rubio, who previously lied about his parents escaping Castro’s Cuba and clings to the reactionary and cold war-like thinking, called Obama’s actions (ones that even freaking Rand Paul seems to agree) a “concession to tyranny.” But what little Ricky and his fellow Koch Brother-owned Republicans fail to mention (or grasp) is that Bush and Reagan had diplomatic ties with a great many dictatorships, and they were totally cool with it.
1. Zimbabwe

The Sub-Saharan african country that Americans never hear of (Africa is a country, right?), ruled by notorious dictator  Robert Mugabe, has diplomatic ties with the United States. In fact,  the US has given the country $400 million in humanitarian aid, according to juancole.com.
2. Belarus

FOr those unfamiliar with this small European country, think Putin’s Russia but not with as good PR. Belarus is one of the few nations that failed to adopt democratic norms and transition to democracy following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Ruled by brutish dictator Alexander Lukashenko (scary looking man with a mustache and sexual frustration), western journalists have dubbed Belarus “Europe’s last dictatorship.”  and often criticized by Human Rights Watch. Notwithstanding, The US has an embassy in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.
3. Brunei

The Sultanate of Brunei is a great place for a man to just sit back and relax in a den full of scantily clad  harem. In fact, what happens in Brunei, stays in Brunei.  But seriously, what really happens in Brunei is a series of basic human rights violations. Nonetheless, the Us has fabulous relations with Brunei and maintains an embassy there.
4. Uzbekistan

In 2011,  failed Republican Presidential Candidate Herman Cain famously didn’t know who the leader of U-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan when he turned the FSR into a rap remix. Most Americans didn’t even know this greater middle eastern country existed, but just figured it had to be evil and sucked for tailgating parties since it ends in stan.
The fact of that mater is that its leader, Islam Karimov, had his own freaking daughter locked up!  Okay, so maybe Americans would start loving Billy ray Cyrus if he were to do the same, but Karimov was a total di*k about it. In fact, Parade Magazine labeled Karimov as one of the “world’s worst dictators.” Nonetheless, the U.S. has diplomatic ties with Uzbekistan and the country has served its interests int the war on terrorism. IE, it has provided dark bases for some yummy rectal feedings.
5. Saudi Arabia 

Ah, always save the best for last. There’s really nothing else to say about Saudi Arabia other than that it is ruled by a decades-old absolute monarchy and bars all political parties and any form of public dissent. It also loves stoning women for doing nothing other than being women  (maybe it’s the dry heat or oilfield fumes?). But hey, this nation sits on a freaking dinosaur bones mausoleum so we have loved this country. Not only do we maintain diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia and have embassies, but we still have 5 military bases there after Invade Iraq part one and part deux.
6. Egypt

Ronald Reagan is to republicans what McDonald’s is to food; it’s actually kind of crappy and unhealthy but we simply venerate it anyway.

Prior to being ousted in the 2011 Arab Spring, Mubarak experienced quite a kinship with Ronald Reagan. Time has shown that Egypt might have been better of with the pro-west strongman, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he had a lot of enemies killed and suppressed his own people for decades. What makes this relationship especially contradictory is that Reagan was credited for helping end the Cold War and importing democracy. But the fact of the mater is that he supported a great many nasty dictators, in what would be known as the Kirkpatrick Doctrine.
As Wikipedia points out:

The Kirkpatrick Doctrine was the doctrine expounded by United States Ambassador to the United NationsJeane Kirkpatrick in the early 1980s based on her 1979 essay, “Dictatorships and Double Standards“.^[1] The doctrine was used to justify the U.S. foreign policy of supporting Third Worldanti-communistdictatorships during the Cold War.^[2

Cuba has unquestionably suffered under the thumb of Fidel Castro. But ever since he has become a washed up mob boss in a track suit and handing power over to his brother Raul Castro, attempting a rapprochement with Cuba and working to achieve the same type of diplomacy and economic reforms like with Deng Xiaoping in China has never been more important.

Senate Democrats Push McConnell To The Breaking Point By Refusing To Back Down

Senate Democrats sent a strong message to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell by refusing to back down on their demand that anti-abortion language be removed from the human trafficking bill.

In remarks on the Senate floor, Democratic Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) said:

The most important question for a party in power is simply: “Can you govern?” Or in other words, “Can you steer this ship? Can you pilot this great nation of ours?” We are just over 100 days into this Republican-controlled Congress, and it is already clear that the Republican Leader and his side are not up to the task.

For evidence, look no further than Republican’s botched handling of the human trafficking bill before the Senate. The Majority Leader and the Assistant Majority Leader took a good, bipartisan piece of legislation and steered it right into the rocks.

….

What has taken place on the direction of human trafficking is an effort to obfuscate, to hide the real purpose of the legislation. We all agree that human trafficking should stop. With this legislation we have before us is a step in the right direction and we want to support that legislation and our friend the republican leader says all ire complaining about is a sentence or so. That’s why people spend all these years going to law school and taking these contracts courses. That’s why my friend, Assistant Republican Leader who served as a trial court judge, a Texas Supreme Court justice, he dealt during his entire career with lawyers coming to him talking about sentences in a contract or sentences on a piece of legislation. That’s what this is all about. And we should eliminate those sentences that here allow Hyde to be expanded to non-taxpayer money. We cannot allow that to happen.

It’s over 100 days into this Congress, we should move forward and get this bill done and it’s time on this legislation Republicans right the ship. If human trafficking legislation is any indication, Republicans haven’t a desire to govern dependably and I think that’s unfair. I hope, I hope that this cloture vote will be defeated. Perhaps at that time people will finally come to the realization we’re willing to do whatever needs to be done to change this language so that Hyde language does not apply to taxpayer dollars.

Like I said, we’re just over 100 days into this Congress. It’s not too late. There is time for Republicans to right this ship, if they want to. But if the human trafficking legislation is any indication, Republicans haven’t any desire to dependably govern.

Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans are trying to prove that they can strong arm their agenda past the Democrats. For Republicans, this legislative battle is about demonstrating their power. Democrats don’t want to set the precedent of agreeing to anti-choice language that gets unnecessarily attached to legislation. Senate Democrats have a legitimate complaint about what Sen. McConnell has done to this piece of legislation.

Reid pointed out in his remarks that Democrats have offered four different potential solutions, but Republicans have rejected them all. Senate Republicans are tanking their own legislation by turning it into a partisan power play, Republicans have demonstrated that they aren’t interested in coming to the middle and governing. The difference is that it is Mitch McConnell’s job as Majority Leader that is on the line.

McConnell has grown increasingly desperate to demonstrate that he can lead a majority that is capable of governing. Democrats are well aware of McConnell’s desperation, which is why they aren’t backing down. Pushing is coming to shove for Sen. McConnell, and he has to make a decision. Either he is going to come to the middle and govern, or he is going to go down with the sinking Republican ship.

One thing is certain. Democrats aren’t going to be strong-armed, and they are not going to back down.

Congratulations on ignoring public

Over and over, you tune out those meddling citizens

TO: Legislators and other political leaders
FROM: The Powers That Be
SUBJECT: That meddling public
We wanted to send this quick memo just to commend you on your performance in ignoring members of the public on matters that directly affect them. As you know, this is an essential part of our approach to governing, and your performance recently has been stellar.
Indulge us and let us single out a few individuals who have shone brightly in this regard.
First, N.C. Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry. Cherie has ignored a state law that requires her to meet with an outside advisory committee at least twice a year. Despite this burdensome regulation, Cherie has shown the courage not to call a single meeting of this group in five years.
The 11 citizens on the State Advisory Council on Occupational Safety and Health include labor advocates, a migrant labor expert and three others with an understanding of worker safety issues. They could be quite an annoyance as Cherie fashions a business-friendly approach at the agency created explicitly to look out for workers. Aside from not wasting precious time hearing from these labor advocates, Cherie is saving the state several dollars in travel reimbursements each year by not following the law. Thank you, Cherie, for your existence in the labor commissioner’s office.
Another group seeking to diminish the public’s input is Rep. Skip Stam and his colleagues of both parties who seek to abolish protest petitions in North Carolina. For nearly 100 years, those petitions have let ordinary citizens make developers work harder to show that their rezoning request is a good move. With House Bill 201, Skip admirably strikes a blow for the developers and raises the bar on the affected neighbors. Well done, Skip!
Skip’s bill also changes local policy from Raleigh, which brings us to our next honorees: Sen. Trudy Wade of Greensboro and Sen. Chad Barefoot of Raleigh. Trudy, in the face of opposition from the public and even fellow Republican legislators from Greensboro, has shepherded a bill through the Senate that would overhaul the Greensboro City Council. Her bill would cut the number of members and change how they are elected. It has been an unpopular idea and would surely be defeated if the people of Greensboro could vote on it. Congratulations, Trudy, for pushing on despite that.
Similarly, Chad led an effort to redraw the Wake County commissioner districts. Democrats won all seven seats last year, which cannot stand. Chad’s bill will take care of that. Opponents of the bill learned about one opportunity to speak out against it only two hours before the meeting convened. Then, legislators defeated an effort to let voters have a say on the change, and Chad’s bill is now law.
That’s the way! Now the rest of you, go and do likewise.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/editorials/article18526277.html?utm_content=buffera0618&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer#storylink=cpy