Michigan Citizens Strike Back At Rick Snyder’s Corporate Wealth Transfer

Of course the mainstream media has not reported on events in Michigan because the last thing corporate media wants is to give Americans across the country the truth that they have the power to stop the Republicans…

It is hardly a secret that Republicans exist solely for the benefit of the rich, corporations, and the religious. It is particularly evident in Republican-misled states where Republican governors and legislatures are stealing everything from the people, and state governments, and giving the booty to corporations and the rich. Now, it appears that finally one state’s population has had enough of Republicans’ ‘reverse Robin Hood‘ economic policies and are sidestepping the Republican governor and legislature by appealing directly to the people for redress, and much-needed funding for infrastructure repairs. Of course the mainstream media has not reported on events in Michigan because the last thing corporate media wants is to give Americans across the country the idea that they have power to put a stop to Republicans transferring wealth to corporations and the rich at the expense of the poor, elderly, students, middle class, and infrastructure.

Anyone keeping track of corporate-puppet Rick Snyder’s wealth transfer in Michigan understands that the state is being ravaged to increase wealth for corporations. A group of Michigan residents is not only aware that their state is in the grips of corporations, they have watched their roads, bridges, and highways crumble around them while the Governor complains there is no money for transportation repairs due to revenue shortfalls resulting from tax cuts for corporations. Since the idiot Snyder or the Republican legislature refuse to take any actions to address the decrepit state of Michigan’s roads, a group of Michigan citizens is circumventing the governor and state legislature and going straight to the people. The “citizen-initiated ballot initiative” is a referendum to raise corporate taxes from 6-percent to 11-percent to raise close to $1 billion to repair the fourth worst roads in the entire nation. The citizens are acutely aware that even if the Republican legislature miraculously pass legislation rescinding even a part of the “massive tax giveaways” to Snyder’s corporate friends, the governor would never sign the legislation; he may even appoint an ’emergency manager’ to disband the legislature if they even thought of taking away the gifts to corporations.

The crux of the problem, typical of Republican-misled states across the nation, was best explained by Tom Lutz of “Citizens For Fair Taxes.” Lutz said, “They (Snyder and Republicans) promised us that giving away billions of dollars in tax cuts to corporations and CEOs would lead to more and better work for Michiganders, but the only thing they did was make life harder on Michigan’s middle class and working people. They raised taxes on seniors and retirees. They raised property taxes on working families and the middle class, and they even raised taxes on poor families with children. But none of that money went to capital or key funding for infrastructure. It was simply given to corporations who took it as profit. This ballot proposal will bring fairness back to families who have paid more than their fair share.”

According to Citizens for Fair Taxes, what is happening in Michigan is exactly what is happening in every other red state and would be the case nationally if Republicans controlled all three branches of government. Snyder and Republicans handed corporations over $2 billion in tax cuts being paid for with tax hikes worth $1.6 billion on poor and middle class families and senior citizens. Fair Tax Fix reports that the Snyder-Republican corporate tax giveaway is the “single biggest shift in money from poor, middle class, and senior individuals to corporations in Michigan history.” Of course, the trickle down pledge that handing over billions to corporations would create a job bonanza never came to fruition because it was never intended to do anything but transfer wealth.

In its 2014 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the state revealed that while corporations “barely contributed $400 million to state coffers,” poor and middle class families and seniors watched their taxes “skyrocket 25% that sent $8 billion” to the state treasury to fund corporate tax cuts. The result of the wealth transfer through “monstrous corporate tax cuts” has not created jobs or helped Michigan workers; but they were never meant to. In fact, according to study and report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Michigan median income dropped an astounding 21.6% to only $48,273 last year compared to $61,551 before Snyder and Republicans began transferring income from regular households to wealthy corporations. It is noteworthy that there is a nearly identical correlation between the 25% tax hike on regular Michigan residents and the nearly 22% decline in their income.

As the ballot initiative’s organizers noted, this direct approach circumventing the Republican legislature and corporate governor “may well be the only way to fight back against failed and harmful Republican policies and laws.” The group intends on expanding ballot initiative scope to create an independent commission to “fairly redraw” gerrymandered Republican districts and reinstate a fair graduated income tax. It is a clever means of combatting an aggressive Republican legislature and governor that continues stealthily inserting nasty appropriations “into every law they pass to prevent citizens from taking action” or having a voice in democracy.

Remember, Snyder has already instituted an “emergency manager” law that abolishes city council, mayoral, and school district” authority and given one Snyder appointee dictatorial power, but the Republicans have not completely wiped out democratic representation through abolishing the referendum process; the last semblance of democracy and likely the people’s last, and only, opportunity to rein in Snyder’s fascist takeover of Michigan. This populist move is about so much more than improving Michigan’s pathetic roads, or the transfer of wealth from the people directly to corporations and it should be a model for other sad, poor, and beleaguered Americans living in Republican-controlled states suffering the gross wealth transfer to the rich and corporations.

The Trump Paradox

He Can Win A Crowded Primary, But He’s Doomed In A Two-Way Race 

Despite his early success in a multi-candidate race, Trump lacks the breadth of support needed to win a general election.…

Trump continues to dominate the Republican pretender field, with polling numbers putting him well ahead of any other Republican cabal pretender candidate. Yet, despite his apparent strength in the polls, he remains the least liked candidate in either major party who is currently running for president.

That Trump is a polarizing figure should come as no surprise. However, the juxtaposition of him widening his lead in the Republican cabal primary, at the same time that most American voters have an unfavorable opinion of him, may seem paradoxical.

A recent YouGuv poll finds that Trump has surged to a double digit lead in the Republican field with 28 percent support, to 14 percent support for his nearest competitor, Jeb. Trump enjoys this commanding lead in the Republican primaries, even though along with blowhard Chris Christie, he is one of the most disliked candidates with Republican voters. A full 42 percent of Republican voters have a negative opinion of Trump, compared to 53 percent who view him positively.

While those numbers aren’t terrible, they are quite a bit less favorable than Wisconsin's moron Walker’s 57-18 favorable spread or that idiot, Rubio’s 63-17 favorable rating. Trump isn’t as well-liked by Republican cabal voters as those men, but he is still beating them soundly in the Republican field.

Trump may be benefiting from deep support even though he lacks depth of support. Not many voters like him, but the voters that do like him seem to like him better than anybody else in the race. That sort of deep support is powerful in a multi-candidate field where a candidate who can secure as little as 20-30 percent of the vote can win. However, it creates problems in a two-way race, where victory requires amassing support from half the electorate.

Trump’s current success in the crowded Republican race masks his weakness in a two-way contest. His commanding lead is largely a function of the size of the Republican cabal field, rather than a testament to his political strength.

A Gallup Poll released Friday July 24, 2015, found that 56 percent of American adults had an unfavorable opinion of Trump, compared to just 32 percent who viewed him favorably. Those kind of numbers are politically fatal in a two-way general election match-up. As long as Trump continues to hold a lead in the Republican cabal field, he will create the illusion of being a formidable political candidate. However, despite his early success in a multi-candidate race, he lacks the breadth of support to win a general election.

Trump’s “fifteen minutes of fame” may go into overtime, if they haven’t already, but ultimately he doesn’t have the numbers needed to win a presidential election. The question isn’t “if” his campaign will eventually flame out, but rather “when” it will.

U.S. Marshals Raid Lawless Racist Wingnut Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Office

U.S. Marshals raided racist wingnut Joe Arpaio’s Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office on Friday, in search of evidence that the department was unlawfully withholding from a U.S. District Judge. Judge G. Murray Snow ordered the raid, after it became apparent that the Sheriff’s Department was not cooperating with a February order, that had asked Arpaio to turn over identification cards, hard drives and other documents.

A court-appointed monitor alleged that Arpaio’s Department had withheld hundreds of documents and dozens of hard drives in clear violation of the judge’s orders, prompting the judge’s decision to order the raid.

Arpaio’s defense attorney, John Masterson, attempted to argue that the undisclosed evidence was irrelevant but an irritated Judge Snow retorted:

I’ll tell you this. They may not be relevant, but they may also be very relevant.

Defending his decision to order the raid, the judge added:

Somebody has to be held responsible sometime. … And it’s going to be now.

The raid is the latest twist in a seven year old lawsuit against Arpaio’s Department for racial profiling against Latino motorists. Arpaio has stonewalled repeatedly by withholding evidence and by directing his staff not to cooperate with investigators or with court orders.

The case took an especially bizarre turn in May 2014 when a former Maricopa County Deputy Sheriff committed suicide after a series of standoffs with law enforcement officials. In the ex- deputy’s home, authorities found illegal drugs as well as hundreds of drivers’ licenses, ID cards, passports, and wallets that were apparently confiscated illegally.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio is supposed to uphold the law, but he has consistently shown contempt for the law when he asked to obey it himself. His unwillingness to obey legal orders from a judge prompted U.S. Marshals to raid the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department on Friday. Sheriff Joe’s days of flouting the law are at an end.

Supposedly dog’s own cabal, the 2016 Republican cabal Still Doesn’t Care What jesus Said

By the time children step foot in school again this fall, it will have been two years since Pope Francis cautioned that the Cult had become “obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage and contraception.

“It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.”

Indeed, it is not. jesus never mentioned any of them. Not once.

He did, however, talk about the poor, and about the evils of the rich, and how the rich will not enter the kingdom of dog. He told his followers to turn the other cheek, to love and to forgive.

Pope Francis went on to say that, “The dogmatic and moral teachings of the cult are not all equivalent. The cult’s pastoral brainwashing cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently.”

We have to find a new balance, otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the gospel.

Two years later, here we are with the Republican cabal and religio-wingnuts focused as much on abortion, gay marriage, and contraception, as ever before. We are forced to continually re-fight the same battles as children starve, as people go homeless, and as corporations brutalize not only workers, but the environment.

Cruz’s campaign site features a “Life, Marriage, and Family” page, proclaiming,

Without life, there is no liberty. And ensuring every child is born into a home with a loving family provides the best chance for that child to achieve anything. That is why Cruz has been on the front lines defending life and standing up for marriage when it has come under assault from activist judges.

There is nothing about ensuring those children are fed. In fact, nowhere on his campaign site will you find anything about jesus’ condemnation of the rich and exaltation of the poor. Just a bunch of stuff jesus didn’t find particularly important.

Wisconsin's moron Walker, another pretender hopeful, just signed 20-week abortion band into law, which bans abortions after 20 weeks except for when the mother’s life is in danger. There are no exceptions for “severe fetal anomalies or for victims of rape and incest.”

jesus never talked about these things. Not once. jesus never called for strange men to probe women’s vaginas. Walker and his Republican legislature could have come up with a law protecting the poor from the rich. jesus talked about that. The Pope talks about that.

But Wisconsin Republicans would rather focus on their pet bigotries than on following jesus.

Lindsey Graham of South Carolina says on “Secure our Values” page of his 2016 campaign site that he wants to “ensure that America remains a shining city on a hill.” This means, apparently, that “America was built upon the fundamental notions that life and liberty are sacred and inalienable rights.”

Unless you are a woman, of course. Or gay. Or want to be safe from people exercising their Second Amendment rights at your expense. And really, it’s kind of funny when you consider the fact that living in a Red State is harmful to your health. Maybe there ought to be signs at the border, like on packs of cigarettes.

Graham insists that,

There is no part of society more vulnerable and in need of our protection than the unborn. The inalienable right to life of every innocent human being is an essential element of a civil society.

Nothing about the children after they are born of course. After that, children don’t need protection, apparently. And no mention of the poor, or their inability to take care of their children. Nothing about the rich people who oppress them.

You know, stuff jesus talked about.

There are now sixteen Republican candidates. You will find pretty much the same pablum* (that’s an intellectual term for, as vocabulary.com helpfully puts it, “a big load of hooey”) coming out of all their mouths. Even Trump, who is not particularly religious, supports a 20-week abortion ban, apparently, because everybody else does.

Not one single one of them is talking about anything jesus talked about. None of them is talking about forgiveness, or loving their enemies, or turning the other cheek, or caring for the poor or condemning the rich.

In other words, the cabal of shoving jesus down all our throats doesn’t really care much at all about jesus, let alone sanctifying life, but rather about sanctifying their own bigotries with the veil of religion. jesus may not have liked gentiles much (he called them “dogs” and “swine”) but he liked women. He liked children. He liked the poor.

And despised the rich, who were going to be last under his father’s new regime.

With the Republican cabal being the cabal of the rich, it’s no wonder that message gets lost. There is less excuse for the rest.

Pope Francis says, because it is true (“So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions”), however uncomfortable the thought makes you, that you must give up all your wealth to follow him, not just give to charity and take your tax deductions.

In Pope Francis’ words:

'christian' poverty is that I give to the poor what is mine, not just what is left over, but even that which I need for myself, because I know that he enriches me.

This is not communism, says the Pope. It’s jesus.

And he is right.

This doesn’t get talked about. It’s awkward, after all. How many 'christians' are willing to give up everything? And how will they follow him? jesus isn’t wandering around the Midwest as he wandered around Galilee. He’s dead. Been dead for 2,000 years.

But that’s what he said. He didn’t say “stop abortion,” or “stop gays from getting married,” or “don’t use contraception,” if you want to follow me. He never said any of that.

It is not that the Pope wants to ignore those three things, though nobody is likely to forget his explosive and controversial, “Who am I to judge?” remark. He is not a Free Thinker. Some have even questioned how much of a moderate he really is, despite the wingnuts' cries of “Marxist!”

Regardless of where he really stands, the Pope has said that abortion, gay marriage, and contraception have to be seen in a larger context:

I see the cult as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars. You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else.

Wouldn’t that be something? To talk about something else…

The Daily Drift

Hey, wingnuts, yeah we're talking to you ...!  

 

The Truth Be Told is read in 204 countries around the world.

Republicans - No cheesecake for you ... !

Today is - Cheescake Day

 

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That's MISTER Lame Duck to you

Republicans Are An International Joke

Republicans have become such a joke that President Obama got laughs by mentioning his birth certificate at a state dinner in Kenya.

The President said:

Part of what makes this a special evening for me is the presence of my family members who are here. My grandmother, Mama Sarah, who told me I had to come back to Kenya. And when she says you should do something, generally you have to do it. I’ve told this story before — the first time that I visited Kogelo, Auma and I and my brothers were there. Mama Sarah speaks Swahili and Luo, and I speak neither –and so Auma was serving as a translator. And I think about a half a day had passed before suddenly she turns to Auma and says something. And Auma starts laughing, and I say, what did she say? She says, he goes to Harvard; if he’s so smart, how come he can’t talk to his grandmother? Which was a good point.

My siblings are here, aunts, uncles. And so, tonight, I welcome all of them to a somewhat unusual Obama family reunion. I suspect that some of my critics back home are suggesting that I’m back here to look for my birth certificate. That is not the case.

Congratulations, Republicans. You’ve made it. President Obama is now capable of drawing laughs around the globe that are based on your racism and stupidity. As Trump recently demonstrated by still not believing that the President’s birth certificate is real, birtherism is alive and well within the Republican Party.

Republicans want to run the country again, but the fact is that they are being guided by an extremist fringe that is a joke. The Republican cabal’s inability to get rid of Trump and his racism is proof of who is in control of the cabal.

The Republicans are not being taken seriously around the world. Obama has turned the dumb wingnut doubts about his birth certificate into a punchline, and the entire globe is laughing at the racist Republican fools.

President Obama Lauds Wall Street Reform Accomplishments, Stands Firm Against Republican Cabal

While Republicans launch an all out war over the Wall Street Reform Act, President Obama is standing firm against them.

Read more 

Bernie Sanders Is The Only Candidate With A Positive Approval Rating In Iowa And New Hampshire

Two new NBC News-Marist polls of Iowa and New Hampshire found that Bernie Sanders is the only presidential candidate in either party who has a positive approval rating in each state.

Here are the net approval ratings for the top candidates in Iowa:

Sanders +3 (30 percent/27 percent)

Rubio -1 (31 percent/32 percent)

Walker -1 (30 percent/31 percent)

Bush -12 (34 percent/46 percent)

Clinton -19 (37/56 percent)

Trump -28 (32 percent/60 percent)

Here are the net approval ratings for the top candidates in New Hampshire:

Sanders +12 (41 percent/29 percent)

Bush -5 (40 percent/45 percent)

Walker -6 (28 percent/34 percent)

Rubio -6 (28 percent/34 percent)

Clinton -20 (37 percent/57 percent)

Trump -40 (27 percent/67 percent)

Bernie Sanders is easily the most personally popular candidate in either party. Sanders is benefiting from the fact that no one is attacking him. Clinton is facing daily attacks in the media from Republicans while the issue based Sanders campaign has been resonating with Democratic voters across the country.

Beyond election results, what this poll demonstrates is that Bernie Sanders has a well of personal popularity that resonates beyond the 2016 election. Sanders is building a movement that will last beyond any presidential campaign.

The fact that none of the top candidates beyond Sanders has a positive personal approval rating speaks volumes about the current negative political environment among the electorate. None of the Republicans is the kind of popularity magnet that can carry them to the White House.

Bernie Sanders is the one positive messenger of the 2016 campaign. Approval ratings will change as the campaign moves forward, but Sen. Sanders has built a level of popularity that no other current 2016 candidate can match.

Bernie Sanders Crushes Chuck Todd For Being A Media Hack

When Chuck Todd tried to accuse Bernie Sanders of being “pro-NRA,” and “dismissive” to race relations, the Senator let him have it.

Read more 

Wingnut Blog’s Plan To Expose Sanders Fans As Economic Illiterates Hilariously Fails

When it comes to economic illiteracy, wingnuts need to look in the mirror.
Read more

US Chamber Trains Its Sights On Teabagger Obstructionists

They're fed up with their agenda being hijacked by wildly insane wingnuts.

Big Talker Walker Can't Back Up Claims

Any relationship between what Walker says and reality is purely coincidental.

House Passes Bill That Would Limit Due Process For Accused Terrorists

Poe first proposed this bill just two days after the attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

B.C.

Mike Huckabee Says Obama Is Marching Israelis ‘To The Door Of The Oven’

Yes, He Really DID Go There

More Republican hate. 
Who will they insult next?
Read more

Wingnuts Swarm The Special Olympics Page To Attack Michelle Obama And Disrespect Athletes

Is nothing off limits? 

Wingnut jerks descended on the Special Olympics’ Facebook page to bash Michelle Obama for opening the games in Los Angeles.

Read more 

Last Week In Republican Stupidity

The Wingnuts' 5 Most Offensive Quotes

Why do they have to embarrass our country all the time?
Read more 

Weekly Tin Foil

WTF: Rubio Says The U.S. Will Have To ‘Defend Iran From Israel’ Under Nuclear Deal

Rubio gets to wear the tin foil hat this week.

Read more 

Last Week In Police Brutality And Corruption

You can tell a lot about police by looking at who they arrest, and by looking at who they don’t arrest — each other.

Read more 

'Christian' Extremists Form A New Caucus Dedicated To Republican jesus

Complete with a Revolutionary War-era flag and a dedication to turn our country into a religious cult, the newest version of the teabaggers is upon us.

Read more

This Week In Bad Christianity

Some So-Called ‘christians’ Are Just Plain Appalling

Insensitive, racist, clueless appropriation of a necessary movement is just one of the many things the bad 'christians' did this week.

Read more 

Top 5 Stupid Things Pseudo-Christians Said Last Week

Bestiality, the Third Reich, Donald Trump, Russia… the pseudo-christians had a lot to say last week. All of it ridiculous.

Read more 

Wisconsin Restaurant Owner Brilliantly Puts A Homophobic Teabagger In His Place

THIS is how you respond to bigotry!
Read more 

The Daily Drift

Hey, wingnuts, yeah we're talking to you ...!  

 

The Truth Be Told is read in 204 countries around the world.

Republicans - No chicken wings for you ... !

Today is - National Chicken Wing Day

 

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Utah tribal cult cites ‘religious liberty’ in fight against ban on using peyote in ceremonies

Utah tribal cult cites ‘religious liberty’ in fight against ban on using peyote in ceremonies

“People say it’s a hallucinogen, which it’s not,” cult member David Hamblin said during a protest in Salt Lake City. “It’s a plant portal to the spirit world."

Government Granted Patent Monopolies Are Not The Free Market

Those folks at the Wall Street Journal are really turning reality on its head. Today it ran a column by Robert Ingram, a former CEO of Glaxo Wellcome, complaining about efforts to pass "transparency" legislation in Massachusetts, New York, and a number of other states. This legislation would require drug companies to report their profits on certain expensive drugs as well as government funding that contributed to their development.Ingram sees such laws as a prelude to price controls. He then warns readers:
"There is no surer way to bring pharmaceutical innovation to a halt in the U.S. than letting governments decide how much companies can charge for their products or harassing them into lower prices. It also represents a fundamental misunderstanding of how pharmaceutical research works. Scientific discoveries involve trying and failing, learning from those failures and trying again and again, often for years."
Ingram bizarrely touts the "flowing pipeline of new wonder drugs spurred by a free market," which he warns will be stopped by "government price controls." This juxtaposition is bizarre, because patent monopolies are 180 degrees at odds with the free market. These monopolies are a government policy to provide incentives for innovation. Mr. Ingram obviously likes this policy, but that doesn't make it the free market.
Of course there are other ways that the government can finance research and development, such as paying for it directly. It already does this to a large extent. At the encouragement of the pharmaceutical industry it spends more than $30 billion a year on mostly basic research conducted through the National Institutes of Health. It could double or triple the amount of direct funding (which could be contracted with private firms like Glaxo Wellcome) with the condition that all findings are placed in the public domain.
This would eliminate all the distortions associated with patent monopolies, such as patent-protected prices that are can be more than one hundred times as much as the free market price. This would eliminate all the ethical dilemmas about whether the government or private insurers should pay for expensive drugs like Sovaldi, since the drugs would be cheap. It would also eliminate the incentive to mislead doctors and the public about the safety and effectiveness of drugs in order to benefit from monopoly profits.

More

These Never-Before-Seen Photos Of The White House Reaction On 9/11/01 Are Nauseating

Cheney was the first in charge, and some of these images will make you sick to your stomach…

Read more

Reality Is Winning

Fox News makes a big show of being the “most trusted” source of news, but that claim, like much of what we find on the wingnut network is a lie,...

Americans Increasingly Aren’t Buying Wingnut Lies

Even Republicans Are Starting To Hate Republicans

A new poll proves that the circus they are calling the 2016 pretender race may be turning off Republicans more than anyone, but it’s also turning...

Even Republicans Are Starting To Hate Republicans

No, Wingnuts, The Teabagger Affiliated Mass Shooter Was Not A Liberal ‘Obama Supporter’

Can you say “desperate?”

Read full story 

Another Mass Shooting, But The Republican Cabal Makes It Clear Some Lives Don’t Matter

Bill O'Reilly will not call for a law to protect movie-goers from white men carrying handguns in theaters. Because Second Amendment rights …

Making It Clear Some Lives Don’t Matter

Trump May Be The Worst Thing To Happen To The Religio-Wingnuts

Trump doesn't seem impressed by the religio-wingnuts and has shown no signs that he feels the need to impress them, or even that they matter…

This is nothing new, of course: Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council told a caller that dog would no longer protect the United States, thanks to marriage equality. Ever since the Manichaean Augustine of Hippo opened his mouth, religio-wingnuts have been looking for the city of dog, an effort which has left a morose dunghill in its place.

“Absolutely, absolutely,” Perkins replied, enthusiastically agreeing with the caller: “[We] put ourselves in a very vulnerable position” just like in “1973 when the court basically said it’s open season on the unborn, there were consequences to that and I believe it’s a part of removing dog’s hand of protection upon a nation.”

Right. Open season against blacks doesn’t presage anything dire, and that has been with us since the first slave arrived on these shores, centuries before Roe v. Wade. How about the genocide of the Native Americans, which began even before the first slave arrived? Or how about beating gays and transgenders? Or raping women? Or abusing the poor of any background? None of that bothered dog?

Or if none of that moves you, how about what we do to our own children in this country?

When jesus said, “Let the little children come to me” he didn’t mean hurry them on their way to heaven. But once they’re out of the womb, that is precisely what Republicans do.

Where is Perkins’ head that only the unborn matter to him, and not the living? jesus didn’t preach about or to fetuses. He preached to the living.

And Perkins is not alone. Take Santorum, Paul, or Cruz who insists freedom is tyranny.

Walker, for crying out loud, after doing his best to destroy Wisconsin, said its dog’s plan that he now destroy the entire 50 states by becoming pretender.

Trump is crass and boorish, but he may prove to be the dung-covered gem in the dunghill. He will not win, but for a moment, a whole bunch of Republicans are forgetting about this dog thing. Unlike Walker and Cruz, Trump hasn’t claimed dog wants him to run, or that he’s the messiah.

Trump says, “I’m a religious person. I go to cult. Do I do things that are wrong? I guess so.”

In fact, look what Trump told Frank Lutz last Saturday at the Iowa Family Leadership Summit, when asked, “Have you ever asked dog for forgiveness?”

Compare this to Jeb, who eagerly explains he does so often. (You think you’ve been cringing? Put yourself in the shoes of the religio-wingnuts):

I’m not sure I have. I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don’t think so. I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don’t bring dog into that picture. I don’t.

We I take, when we go, and church and when I drink my little wine – which is about the only wine I drink – and have my little cracker, I guess that’s a form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed, OK? But, you know, to me that’s important, I do that, but in terms of officially, I could say, ‘Absolutely!’ and everybody, I don’t think in terms of that. I think in terms of, let’s go on and let’s make it right.

We all missed this thanks to his next dissing John McCain, but think about how far off the reservation he has gone with this.

His little glass of wine and his cracker. And he got a standing ovation at the end of his talk.

Trump, alone of all the Republican candidates, isn’t acting like a frothing-at-the-mouth religious zealot. In fact, Ed Kilgore at the Washington Monthly said, “everything about Trump screamed the oafish tycoon speaking the unaccustomed language of delusion.”

And yet it is Trump who is leading at the polls. Attacking John McCain didn’t hurt him. Dismissing dog didn’t hurt him. Of the two, I would argue that the latter is the more important. It is an importance which cannot be overstated.

Erick Erickson claimed, over at Red State, where pregnant women are animals, that, “Donald Trump made a potentially fatal error yesterday in Iowa…. The media might not have noticed. But it was the talk of evangelicals yesterday and today at cult.”

But I don’t think anybody is listening to Erick Erickson. Certainly not enough to hurt Donald Trump’s polling numbers.

We can read at Right Wing Watch that “Russell Moore of the southern baptist coven’s 'ethics' and 'religious 'liberty' cabal and Samuel Rodriguez of the mational hispanic 'christian' 'leadership' coven said last week that they didn’t know a single evangelical who supports Trump…”

I don’t think anybody is listening to them either.

Is there actually a niche for a Republican pretender candidate who is not in the thrall of the likes of Tony Perkins?

Will all this come back to haunt Trump? Will the bubble burst? Sure, it’s possible. It is also possible he can provide wingnuts a moment of clarity, to show the Republican base that politics can be about something other than religion.

After all, Trump has yet to say a word about mantles of protection or divine snit fits dropping flocks of birds out of the sky. He just eats his little cracker and tries to do better.

This is not to make an argument for Trump. Rather, look at the significance of the moment. However far Trump may go in the 2016 presidential race, he may have shown a way forward for Republican candidates who are not in thrall to the religio-wingnuts, a sort of anti-Reagan, which is ironic given all the comparisons being made to Reagan by his adoring followers on Twitter.

For Trump, this isn’t a war of dog’s 'righteous' Republicans against Liberal Satan-worshipers, but a war of Trump against idiots and fools.

And you know what? That’s kind of refreshing.

***

Damn, who would have thought Trump could do any good for America, but putting the religio-wingnuts where they belong would be a great thing for America. They do not matter - they never have - they are just self-inflated perverted blowhards who's time it never was and it has passed.

Republicans Are Screwed As Trump Support Nearly Doubles After Attacking John McCain

The Republican attempt to get rid of Trump after he attacked John McCain has backfired, as Trump’s support has almost doubled with primary voters.

According to YouGov, Trump is still on the rise after attacking John McCain:

Trump’s rise in the Republican contest for the 2016 pretender nomination doesn’t appear to have been slowed much – at least not yet – by the recent controversy over his criticisms of Arizona idiot John McCain’s war record last weekend. In fact, although Trump’s favorable ratings among Republicans have declined, he is still ahead – and far ahead – when Republicans are asked to choose among the 16 currently announced candidates.

….

But there is clearly a core group of registered voters who identify as Republicans that has coalesced around Trump’s tough talk and proposals. He is even more clearly in first place than he was two weeks ago when Republicans are asked to choose among the current candidates. Two weeks ago, in the Economist/YouGov Poll, 27% of registered voters who identified as Republicans chose Trump as their first or second choice for the nomination. This week, 28% say he is their first choice, and another 10% rank him second.

The number of Republicans who list Trump as their first choice has gone from 15% to 28%. Trump’s attack on McCain moved people who listed him as their second choice more firmly into his column. Republicans appear to have miscalculated and made Trump more appealing by affirming his outsider status with lunatic fringe wingnuts.

The party did lower Trump’s approval ratings, but it appears that Republican voters don’t care if their chosen candidate is popular. The Republican cabal threw everything they could at Trump, and the result is that the racist billionaire is even more popular with voters.

As long as Trump’s poll numbers remain high, the media will keep covering him and as long as the media keeps giving him attention, Trump’s poll numbers will remain high.

In other words, Republicans are screwed. Trump put his foot in his mouth, and his poll numbers have stayed high. The Republican cabal built Trump, and now he is destroying them.

Jeb And Walker Campaign To Impress the Koch Brothers, Not the People

It would be difficult for even Fox News to argue against the idea that Republicans only campaign, and act, according to the will of the Koch brothers, and…

Jeb And Walker Kissing Koch

Senior Citizen Publicly Slams Jeb At Town Hall Event For Targeting Medicare

If there is one thing that senior citizens won’t tolerate it’s a hack politician who tries to take away their hard-earned Medicare.

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Rick Perry Loses As Court Rules That He Must Face Felony Abuse Of Power Charge

A Texas appeals court tossed one charge against Rick Perry but ruled that he must go to court to face a felony charge of abusing his power while…

Well, we'll be damned, a shred of sense in Texas

Texas Supreme Court Suspends Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance

The Texas Supreme Court argued that "The legislative power reserved to the people of Houston is not being honored."…

Texas Lunacy Unabated

Virginia newspaper apologizes after publishing racist ad ranting against ‘Democrats and black races’

Virginia newspaper apologizes after publishing racist ad ranting against ‘Democrats and black races’

“What I hoped would be illuminating has instead proven to be merely offensive to many of our readers,” News-Gazette publisher Matt Paxton wrote.

Republican Cabal Chairwimp Tells State To Ignore Roe v. Wade

The events that would follow, if Oklahoma refused to obey a federal court order commanding them to release an incarcerated abortion doctor, could resemble a miniature Civil War.

Arizona’s Welfare Drug Testing Screened 140,000 - And Found 3 Positive Cases

An essential part of the Republican cabal’s war against America’s poor has been to drug-test welfare recipients, as part of their relentless campaign to paint the poor as lazy, as moochers, as drug-addicts with no incentive to seek real employment. It’s very far from the truth; the American poor are victims of Wall Street-engineered income inequality and the plots of wealthy oligarchs to keep the poor repressed and maintain a permanent underclass of exploitable labor.New data shows just how wasteful and insulting the welfare drug testing program is. USA Today reports that the state of Arizona screened 142,000 welfare recipients- and found only THREE failed tests over a five year program. This saved the state around $3500 from going into the hands of “drug addicts” – out of $45 million distributed through the Temporary Assistance For Needy Families program.
Collectively, seven states have spent a $1 million on drug testing their welfare recipients- and together have netted under 500 positive cases. Virginia just abandoned plans to test their citizens after realizing it would cost $1.5 million and save only $229,000. It’s a disgraceful waste of taxpayer dollars in an insulting and presumptuous program that the date shows only serves to give credibility to the anti-poor narrative that FOX News pundits love to talk up so much.

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Police Force Only Hired Cops Who Said They Wouldn’t Arrest Other Cops

A recent investigation into the hiring practices of a Massachusetts-based police department revealed that officers in charge of the hiring process gave...

Police Force Only Hired Cops Who Said They Wouldn’t Arrest Other Cops

'Christian' Pastor Ousted By His Cult For Standing Up For Women And Children

These Missouri 'christians' have a hard time allowing women to be considered equals and children learning reality.

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